Group count / number of shots before letting cool

[gtriple]

I've heard or read lots of anecdotes about letting a barrel cool after X number of shots or you'll exponentially erode the throat or your groups will open up. When you are shooting a 20 shot group, it's a pain in the ass and a waste of time if you have to let it cool after 5 or 10 shots.

Is there any reality behind letting a barrel cool when shooting a big group?

Does caliber or cartridge matter?

 

[wapitibob]

I have no need nor desire to shoot a 20 shot group but when I go to the range I shoot the first two shots without cooling, after that I use a chamber chiller after each shot for a minute or two or three. It cools the barrel and the suppressor. The first two are most important as they would represent a hunting situation. After that I want it to cool, fire cracking and throat erosion is a real thing.

 

[Cactus kid]

I doubt it’s exponential. I don’t let my barrels cool and shoot them at any rate I want. All barrels wear out eventually.

Life is to short to baby barrels.

 

[TaperPin]

I’ve never fired a 10 shot group, so what do I know, but the main GA precision guy said one of his friends is a coyote hunter and only fires a few shots a day and gets something like twice the barrel life of competition guys with identical caliber and rifle who fire more rounds at a sitting.

So, personally I’ll keep firing 3 shots max before cooling.

…other than heavy varmint guns that heat up slower.

 

[mtnbound]

I go to the range to shoot not wait around. I have always fired 10 round groups to get a better picture of accuracy. While the first round is important so are follow up shots under real world conditions. Most guys will never put enough rounds down range to wear out a barrel.


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[NWBLKTAIL]

I was thinking about this today while finding a load for a gun with limited time (family/other responsibilities)
What is technically cooled down? A temp, can I grab the barrel and not let go?
I’d like to know others practices as well. And people who have lived Both sides running it wide open all the time vs being kind to their barrel.

 

[wesfromky]

I've heard or read lots of anecdotes about letting a barrel cool after X number of shots or you'll exponentially erode the throat or your groups will open up. When you are shooting a 20 shot group, it's a pain in the ass and a waste of time if you have to let it cool after 5 or 10 shots.

Is there any reality behind letting a barrel cool when shooting a big group?

Does caliber or cartridge matter?

Cold bore zero versus (very) Hot bore zero “test”

Discussions around “cold bore shifts” and “cold bore zeroes” versus “warm or hot barrel zeroes” are constant. So is the belief that barrels “walk” when they heat up or that groups open when they heat up. After having multiple discussions, @Ryan Avery and Jake @Unknown Munitions and I set up a...

rokslide.com

 

[gtriple]

Cold bore zero versus (very) Hot bore zero “test”

Discussions around “cold bore shifts” and “cold bore zeroes” versus “warm or hot barrel zeroes” are constant. So is the belief that barrels “walk” when they heat up or that groups open when they heat up. After having multiple discussions, @Ryan Avery and Jake @Unknown Munitions and I set up a...

rokslide.com

Thank you! That covers the group opening up question. I'm still wondering if there's any testing on decreasing the barrel life

 

[SloppyJ]

I just be sure to take multiple rifles so I can work on those while I'm letting others cool. I typically take 5 to 10 shots and move to the next.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

I do what the above does as well. But also still curious about barrel life.

 

[gtriple]

I just be sure to take multiple rifles so I can work on those while I'm letting others cool. I typically take 5 to 10 shots and move to the next.

That's what I'm doing now.

 

[wind gypsy]

I just be sure to take multiple rifles so I can work on those while I'm letting others cool. I typically take 5 to 10 shots and move to the next.

^This. Mirage from the can slows me down as much as anything. If I had a 28 nosler or other crazy overbore cartridge I’d be a little easier on it but most the things I shoot arent awful on barrels.