Cooling a bull barrel

[jsoukup]

This probably sounds crazy but...

Three weeks ago I ordered a 243 handi and took a about a week to come in. Well when it arrived, they had ordered the model with the bull barrel instead of the regular barrel. It's heavier than I wanted, but I bought it anyway. I polished the bore and chamber, mounted a Nikon Monarch 3x9, and put locktite on all the screws. Last weekend I took it to the range and put 30 rounds through it. I'd get two rounds almost touching, but I'd always get a flier opening my groups way up. I figure I need to put 50 more rounds through it to finish breaking it in.

I shot those 30 rounds in about an hour, and while the barrel never got hot, it was definitely warm. And even after 15 minutes, the heavy barrel was still warm.

So here's the crazy question, can I clean the barrel with gun scrubber or some other aerosol cleaner to cool the barrel without damage?

I don't want to get it red hot and dump it in a bucket of water like a buffalo hunter, but I want to cool it when it gets warm to shorten my wait time.

[stimpylu32]

jsoukup

A trick that i learned last year was to put a towel in a zip lock bag and lay it on an ice pack or ice in a cooler to keep it cold , when the barrel starts to warm up , take the towel out of the bag and wrap it around the barrel , will speed cooling time a bunch .

stimpy

[quickdtoo]

I just take a bunch of guns to the range and cycle them, shooting the one that's been cooling the longest. I break the action open and put it in a rack so the open barrel acts like a chimney and they cool fairly fast unless the ambient temp is also hot, then they take a while to cool off. Stimpy's idea works good too, I've seen other shooters do that, even seen em pour water thru the bore using a funnel and vinyl tubing!!

Tim

[goodwrench6710]

Should have 5 minutes cool down between shots on breakin & clean copper fouling every shot for the first 10 shots. Clean every 3 shots next 10 or so. Takes 80 to shoot good. Read FAQ's.

[Big Al in Nebr]

Jsoukup, I was just cleaning some guns this weekend and noticed that on one of the containers it said to let the gun cool before using.  So as always, it is probably best to read the directions on the cleaner that you use.  I usually read them after I've screwed it up!

[mookster79]

You know what I like best about my handi.  I just shoot it whenever I want, only clean it when I think it is shooting poorly because it needs it or if it has been a long time and I am bored.  I take my .223 out and shoot at least twice a weak weather it is at paper or the rabid racoon that wondered across my driveway a week or so ago.  I pick it up and it shoots.  I keep it in a gun cabinet with a big sta-dri pack in the bottom and that is it.  I shot a lot of rounds to break in/find the ammo that worked  best, but I never got into the whole shoot 10 and clean, 3 more and clean.....etc.  I think you should just have fun with it and do what ever works for you.  Bang for my buck my .223 is the favorite in my cabinet. As far as cooling, mine is not a bull. It cools down pretty fast, but it also heats up a lot faster.  Now that it is broken in, it has to get real hot before it makes a huge difference at 100 yds.  I usually just open it up and let it sit for a while and the start back up.

[jsoukup]

Should have 5 minutes cool down between shots on breakin & clean copper fouling every shot for the first 10 shots. Clean every 3 shots next 10 or so. Takes 80 to shoot good. Read FAQ's.

Already read them,  and Varmit Al's, that's why I polished first and decided not to do the 10 shots, clean, all that stuff. And I'm not going to use the bronze brush.

I've been thinking about a little more polish since I'm half-way to break-in.

This seems to be a different beast than my other rifles, whether I got them new or used. Of course all of the other guns I've bought new, I just cleaned the grease out of them and shot them, and they've always been good shooters. Hell, the Remington 7600 30-06 I bought when I was 15, (18 years ago) probably hasn't has 80 rounds put through it, and I've killed a lot of deer with it.