I know many of you like to shoot, but have no patience in waiting for your barrel to cool off in the hot days of summer. What are your methods of cooling your barrels? I know some use a rag with water and rub the barrel, some use fan cooled devices such as BarrelCool, etc. Heck in the old days during world wars, soldiers would urinate on machine gun barrels to cool them faster. I won't be able to do that at the gun range.

My method is to shoot 2 or more rifles & alternate when they get hot.

Better yet, I practice some pistol shooting while rifle cools. I know that is only possible at a private range.

It's similar to what I do, I take more than two rifles and let one or two cool while shooting a third rifle.

I imagined this method, use my used aerator air pump that we use for keeping live bait and take a small cheap ice chest and drill a small hole on the top to run a small hose through it. With the ice chest (with ice)is closed, pump running inside and leave the other end of the hose in your chamber to blow cool air through it.

I bought one of these, works REALLY good. Its got a tiny computer fan in it. Pushes allot of air. This being said, pertnear is right, take two or three rifles to rotate. I also have a battery operated fan, which can be pointed along the barrel, or on you!!!, keeps mirage from barrel .

Some people also shoot "canned air" down the barrel

As Buzzsaw stated - I use a can of compressed air like you use to dust off a computer; their cheap, easy to carry and work

Chamois dunked in ice water, slightly rung out. Fold it long ways twice, drape it down the length of the barrel.

compressed air through the barrel and a rag soaked in rubbing alcohol draped over the outside. Cools things off nicely.

How many rounds are you guys putting down a tube in a session?

This is what I do, or a wet towel. The cold moisture helps cool it faster.

I rotate firearms and/or use wet paper towels or towels.
I've read in some books about the old buff hunters
pouring water down the bore of their rifles when
they ran into a big herd. I read another article
some time back about a guy that used a small bottle
of CO2 with a tube down his barrel for cooling.

Saturday, I put 20 rounds down a 308 in 2 minutes!

I tried this for the first time recently and was very pleased at how quickly the barrel cooled in really hot weather.

Shop air with a blower nozzle and zip tie.

Country a**

Nah...country a** would be if you used baling wire.


Anyone remember a movie about some guys who get involved in competitive shooting back in the late 1800s? In one scene the main character is concerned because his barrel is getting waaaay hot, and some guy takes his rifle and dunks the muzzle end in a bucket of water. For the life of me I don't recall the title and I only got to see parts of it. I think I'd like to watch the whole thing.

The movie was Wild Times it had Sam Elliott and Ben Johnson in it.

I believe you are right...that rings a bell. Thanks!

Without extra resources like wet towels and compressed air, something you can do that helps is sitting the rifle in the shade, barrel up. The shade is obvious, but keeping the muzzle pointed up will allow the warm air to escape that much faster.

I bring 2 rifles to alternate about 3 rounds at a time in each one and I also use a small battery powered aerator for a fish live well with a plastic hose placed in the chamber.

Maybe so but it works and is pretty darn fast lol.

I'm just mad that my country a** didn't think of it.