It's too hot for load work-up!

[Wyoredman]

Hey all you handloaders down south, how long does it take to cool your rifle durring a load work-up session?

I am working on a load for a new Reminton 700 .270 win. I loaded 5 each of four differant charges of R22 and 5 each of four different charges of IMR 4350 with 130 grain Sierras (40 rounds in all). Yesterday at about 3:00om I went to the range and began a "round robin" test to determine the Optimal Charge Weight for each powder. It soon became apparent that there was now way I was going to get the barrel to cool between shots without running out of daylight!

After the first four shots, it would take 15 to 20 minutes before the barrel would cool for the next four shot string! After three rounds of four shots of the R22 loads, I began getting fliers.

I would shoot four, walk to the target and back, wait five more minutes, and the barrel was still hot to the touch.

Fourty shots for the complete workup took untill 7:00 pm. Four hours and I still think the results are showing effects of the heat.

The air temp last night was 89 F with 20% humidity and a slight breeze of 10 mph. I would have thought that a barrel would cool faster.

So how do you guys do load work-up in hot weather?

[mrawesome22]

I don't. Shooting is supposed to be fun.

Sitting at a bench and sweating profusely is not fun at all.

Sent from HenseMod6.

[zplinker]

When I absolutely have to work in such conditions as we have lately, I use a system called the Winter Breeze. It is a tank of CO2, with hose attached to a bore guide, which slowly runs CO2 gas down the barrel, at about 34 deg., if I remember correctly. When it exits, it is still cool, so I put a cleaning rod tube over the end of the barrel, and run the gas back over the outside.

A guy in So. Dak. was selling these, but don't know if he still does.

[FiveInADime]

Wow! 89°F and 20%RH and that's too hot? I pray for a day that cool to go shoot here! We are in the peak of our monsoon season so we're seeing some rain and high humidity here in Phoenix. There's no such thing as barrel cooling when it's 113°. Can't wait till October when the cool mornings come back so I can resume serious shooting.

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[Wyoredman]

Five,

Arizona is brutal! How can you cope with no range time? I imagine your barrel could melt!

Any suggestions on accuracy and heat?

[jmorris]

I would shoot four, walk to the target and back, wait five more minutes, and the barrel was still hot to the touch.

Here in Texas, you don't even have to shoot your gun to make it hot to the touch. I've measured 150 degrees F with a "cold" barrel sitting on a non shaded bench.

[FiveInADime]

Well, I am just working on loading ATM. I went to the range a couple Weeks ago with just the rimfires. 2/3 of the year we have great shooting weather so it's not so bad here. I have about 300 pieces of 7mm Rem. Mag brass to process yet.

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[AllenJ]

So how do you guys do load work-up in hot weather?

Slowly, very slowly

In my area during summer we get high 90's low 100's most of the time. I go very early to the range and take a few rifles with me. After 2-3 shots with my 300 Winchester the barrel is hot so it goes in the shade, action open, and I move on to the next rifle.

[huntinaz]

Yeah, I hate trying to shoot groups in the AZ heat. Even in the shade it's a losing battle certain times of year, especially down south. When it's hot I try to be shooting at about sunrise and in the shade.

I had a buddy that would leave his truck and A/C running and would go put his rifle in the truck to cool between shots.

[arizona98tj]

I simply suspend any load work during the summer here in central AZ. I break out the handguns and work with those....range drills, steel challenge shooting, etc. Can't wait for it to cool back down so I can start load work for a FNAR.

[603Country]

I'm lucky enough to have my bench under a roof and not too far from my air conditioned workshop. Once the rifle is too hot, I'll take it into the cool workshop while I load a few more test rounds. It cools pretty fast in the workshop.

I'm still chuckling over what jmorris said. So true. It can get mighty hot here in Texas.

[Wyoredman]

I simply suspend any load work during the summer here in central AZ.

Thats what i thought! It's just too darn hot to get any consitancy. 89 F has been the coolest day for a month and I was just hopeing to get some groups.

[WWWJD]

Honestly, it's going to depend on your barrel contour. I have a heavy barrel .308 that doesn't care if it's cold or hot enough to mirage the scope; it shoots the same spot every time.

I think if time is valuable (as mine is at the range after work.. two hours of good light after setup), you'd want to shoot 10 or 15 taking your time to cool between shots, and then repeat with the identical loads in a care free fashion on a fresh target. Compare your results to see if you're just wasting your time by cooling off or if it's of real value.

I discovered I was wasting my time. Now... I don't go popping off a round every 30 seconds; probably once every minute or two. That gives me time to look through my spotter.. take a drink of water... swat mosquitos... check for overpressure signs.. etc.

[frumious]

I am thinking about building one of these:

http://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar195.htm

-cls

[was123]

In south Mississippi with summer temps in the mid 90s and high humidity, I do serious load development in the fall, winter and spring. Summer time is reserved for not so serious shooting.

[Mike Irwin]

Too hot to sit at a bench and shoot a gun?

Fuh.

Yesterday and today it's pushing 100 with high humidity in Virginia and I'm helping a friend hang ornamental iron work on his home.

I'd MUCH rather be sitting at the range shooting!

[jmorris]

The best way we have found to do it is with a good shade structure plenty of rifles and cooler close by. A 4 wheeler to cool down while checking/replacing targets is also a very good idea.

[Clark]

In Seattle it was still cold and raining every day for months, on the 4th of July.

Now it is in the 60s, and much dryer.

[FiveInADime]

Originally Posted by Clark

In Seattle it was still cold and raining every day for months, on the 4th of July.

Now it is in the 60s, and much dryer.

Way to make the rest of the nation HATE YOU!

Just kidding... I AM jealous, though. I have really been aching to go shooting and to try out some new loads I have ready to go.

Originally Posted by Mike Irwin

Too hot to sit at a bench and shoot a gun?

Fuh.

Yesterday and today it's pushing 100 with high humidity in Virginia and I'm helping a friend hang ornamental iron work on his home.

I'd MUCH rather be sitting at the range shooting!

I for one work out in the nasty heat all day long and even though I still spend some of my recreation time out in the heat, as well, the barrel heat issue is what keeps me from going out.

[Wyoredman]

Frumious, That is exactly what I was looking for! I am going to build it. It will help with load development in hot weather.

Mike, I am with you on shooting in hot weather, no hard work involved. It's just that developing loads for hunting through a hot barrel is not working for me. Almost all of my shots during a hunt are taken from a cold barrel, never from a "too hot to touch" tube. I need to be confident that the loads developed in summer are going to work in the fall without wasteing my time. I would like to spend my summer range time developing the load, then my fall range time practicing with that load before the hunt.

I think the fan that Frumious has linked to is a good idea for summer load work at the range.

[warningshot]

I know a guy whom dunked his custom .243 in a barrel of water when the barrel got hot. He brought it into the shop to complain that the gun lost some accuracy after the cooling practice.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by Wyoredman

It's too hot for load work-up!
Hey all you handloaders down south, how long does it take to cool your rifle durring a load work-up session? (truncated for brevity)

Not to mention that the temperature of you ammunition makes a huge difference to its burn, bullet velocity, PRESSURE, etc.

A load worked up at 90 F will be significantly "hotter" than the same ammunition. different velocity. barrel harmonics p.o.i., etc.

Lost Sheep

[farmerboy]

Here in central Texas it's hot in mid summer so I don't do alot of serious rifle shooting. You could early morning if you wanted before 10am or so. I concentrate on pistols or reloading. It helps when you stand on front porch and shoot pistols. Got my rifle range in backyard and that's where my deer hunting is done.

[jmorris]

Not to mention that the temperature of you ammunition makes a huge difference to its burn, bullet velocity, PRESSURE, etc.

A load worked up at 90 F will be significantly "hotter

That depends on the powder, and I can't think of a better reason so shoot in the heat in the summer and cold in the winter than to figure out what is the most consistant from "to hot" to "to cold" to shoot.

[Mike / Tx]

Like most here from Texas once we get into around mid May, loads development somewhat slows to a crawl. First off I don't like to sit and sweat, secondly I wear glasses and simply cannot stand to have sweat dripping in my eye or running down the frames onto the lens while I am trying to be precise even while working, much less while trying to shoot.

When I DO need to do some load work and the temps are up, I usually take a cooler of ice, a gallon of water, and a decent sized bath towel with me. I get the towel damp, not dripping wet, but enough to cool down laying on top of the ice in the cooler. When it starts to dry a bit I use the gallon jug to dampen it up again.

After shooting one or two rounds depending on what I am working with, I simply lay the towel over the barrel and slide it up to the front scope mount. I give it 3-5 minutes check it, and that usually keeps things somewhat cool. If I have a load that was developed for a specific temp I will try and keep the ammo reasonably cool sitting inside a plastic box in the cooler as well.

Usually however I work up loads from Jan thru Memorial day, then I will haul them out periodically during the summer and drop 5-10 of them just to check the differences in velocity with the higher temps. There has been a time or two where early developed loads shot fine in 70 degree weather, but flattened or blew a primer in higher temps. Since I might haul any one of my rifles to the country on any given weekend through out the year just in case I find a hog, I like to know that all laods are good in any temp I might shoot them in. Even when it has been 112 and mid day I have caught hogs making a break across out back pastures or my friends pastures heading for a water source.

With the towel trick your not going to get it down to 40 or 50 degrees, but you can get them down to a somewhat ambient or slightly cooler temp pretty quick. When you get home or while sitting there at the range take a patch with a drop or two of oil on it and slide it over any metal you might be concerned about. I have been using this for close to 30 years and not had any issues with rust or corrosion on any of my barrels.