Hunting Washington Forum
Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: PacificNWhunter on July 27, 2009, 09:13:52 PM
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Just got my gun all put together (new scope and rings) and need to take it out shooting. But with the weather in the 70's by 6 am is it worth going out or will the barrel heat up to much? I shoot a .300 win mag. I usually rest between shots but with the heat I don't imagine it is going to cool off to much.
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Anything above 80 to 85 for me. At that point barrels take to long to cool and I'm sweating my @$$ off.
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I prefer temps to be under 70. Otherwise it just takes too long for barrels to cool down. And I will not shoot a rifle if the barrel is hot to the touch. I would wait a week or two and see what happens with the weather. I can't see it staying like this all summer.
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Shoot early before the sun is up all the way. The bbl will cool. I realy prefer to shoot in the winter just for this reason.
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70 and below.
Above that you could run into some pressure issues with some powders if you are at max charge.
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Thanks guys.
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As long as you let it the cool in the shade... with the action open and facing up... you should be fine. I shot some great groups over the weekend and it was 88 degrees. Just make sure that you're not shooting with a hot barrel.
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With 100grs my gun heats up in cool weather,i use a shammy soaked in water and put it on end of barrel to cool it.
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I knew I guy in Montanna that did ALOT of critter killin in the summer. He shot a 22-250. His trick was to use his oxygen bottle and blow down the barrel. He could shoot alot and get things hot and cool it off in a few seconds. He had the oxygen because he needed it for breathing. He got it for free and just sid he needed more in the hotter weather for his breathing.
He had a regulator set up and lil hose that worked great. after several shots he gave it a little puff and was back to killin them critters.
Kris
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Last summer I shot sage rats in eastern OR with some pards. It was over 100* all three days. We used wet rags to cool the BBls.
My 22-250 and .223 got pretty hot a few times when the shooting was fast but a wet rag out of the cooler cooled them down pretty fast.
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70 and below.
Above that you could run into some pressure issues with some powders if you are at max charge.
There's your answer....worry about pressures, not the barrel.
Hodgdon came out with their H-series for temp extremes.
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I use one of those battery powered air pumps, the ones for inflating air mattresses and such, to cool the barrel down. I have a piece of hose that I run from the nozle up tight into the bore... turn the air on, and wet down the barrel... it'll cool it in about 5 min. I started using it at the range when testing loads and the next time I went there were 3 guys who'd coppied my set-up... all of them complimented on how quickly the pipes cooled down... I should be getting royalties for it.
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Never.My dad's side of the family is from Arizona and we would shoot on 115 and up days.We would bring lots of water a source of shade and at least a few guns to rotate.Not good for shooting groups but plinking some .22s and ar15s is always fun.
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I just finnish shooting some clays. Its way to hot to shoot.
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I usually give my gun a rest when the stock starts to smoke. :chuckle: :chuckle:
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heading out in the morning to fire a few rounds. i'll try a few of the tips.
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If you will be hunting in hot temps, you should be testing your loads in comparible temps. You don't want to be the guy who only gets one shot off then has to beat his bolt open with a rock. However, you will have trouble getting accurate groups at the range in hot weather as noted before, the barrel just doesn't cool down enough unless of course you have a cooling device. I've been testing handloads in 85 degree weather for my Yakima area elk hunt in Sept. I was looking for pressure signs due to hot weather with max loads. I found out what my max loads were but didn't get very good groups at that temp. I figured the barrel was getting too hot so I tried them again at 70 degrees and found that I had tight groups after all. Work them up in the heat and group them in the cool.
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Worked out pretty good...Took two times of going out to get her dialed. The first day I went from bore sighted to decent groups in about 75-80 degree weather. Went yesterday morning right when the range opened and shot a pretty tight group, and the range thermometer said 65 degrees. First 2 were touching the third and forth were a little off. But the barrel never really cooled that well after the first two.
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No problem shooting year-round. I've shot at zero degrees (brrrr) and at something like 108 degrees (just a couple of days ago).
Watch what you're doing. Don't let the ammo sit out in the sunshine. Take care of yourself and the rifle. Consider hauling along a .22 for practice while your big rifle is cooling a bit... Shoot from the shade. No real problem shooting in hot temps. Or cold.
Regards, Guy
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never I use a damp rag in a iced cooler to cool barrels. I only have SS barrels, but it will easily cool very quickly.
