Water-cooled target rifle?

[TargetRick]

This is probably an Idle Idea, but...

I like target shooting, but with how the barrel heats up with a few shots, I'm wondering if it's possible to create a water-cooling jacket for the barrel. That way, one could bang away and still keep a cool barrel for good shots and longer barrel life.

It's not like the technology doesn't already exist and could be updated. There would of course be the Cool Factor of looking like an old Maxim gun or Vickers MG. There would no doubt be leak issues to address - cork washers, anyone? Hauling it around would be kind of a non-issue, since you only set up once for a target shooting day anyway.

Sound do-able? Might be an interesting winter project.

TargetRick

PS of course if one wanted to sell it in the U.S., there would have to be an office south of the Medicine Line, so it could be claimed to be "Made in U.S.A." The you-alls seem to like that.

[Stinky Coyote]

don't think it would be too hard, small copper tubing spiral wrapped around the barrel and a little recirc pump, 5 gallon pail of water, use poly tubing from the pump to and from the copper pre-wound around the barrel for flexibility of where the jug will sit, take a cooler with a half dozen 2 liter pop bottles full of water pre-frozen as your ice packs to drop into the pail of water and exchange as the day wears on....should keep things pretty consistent on barrel temp, might be able to do without 115v power supply, 12v deep cycle battery & rv pump, or little generator if you need 115v? sounds like a fun project

maybe an electric pump not needed, throw a temp gauge on there somewhere and even use a foot pump sporatically to keep it in a happy range?

[David Henry]

You might be on the right track Target Rick, don't stop thinking. Downside might be a slow day on a January coyote hunt causing a freeze up, but as Canadians it would only be a matter of time before beer or stronger spirits were employed as a coolant in such temperatures. There's a fix for everything. D.H.

[Atlas12]

I was thinking about this too.
Piece of aluminum tube slid over the barrel.
O-ring on the inside on both sides to seal it to the OD of your barrel.
One fitting on each end like a hydraulic cylinder for in and out flow.
Small aquarium pump going to a 5 gallon pail filled with water. (or even a small radiator with a fan)

I wouldn't bother with ice packs in the water, just replace the water once in a
while. Depending on what you're shooting, the surface area of a 5gallon pail might be more than enough to radiate out enough heat to keep the barrel a consistent temp, even if it doesn't keep it ice cold.

[Mulehahn]

When I read this my first thought was converting a computer water cooling system. They come with radiators, fans. a pump, and a reservoir (could up its size if wanted to). You wouldn't need to use the water block, just the tubing. I have never run my barrels hot enough to melt plastic so doubt you would need copper tubing.

Now, I have no idea if this would work but can't see why it wouldn't. All the parts would be super light and portable.

[Pioneer2]

Just get a Maxim

[Groundhogger]

I had a lengthy (online) discussion with a "prairie dog" shooter in the US who organized yearly trips for he and his buddies. I ended-up connecting through a US forum when asking about .204 loads, scopes for prairie dogs/gophers, etc. Anyhow, he sent me some photos of his buddies on a busy "dog town" but draped over the barrels (expensive rifles, too) were wet towels to keep the heat down. Seemed extreme..potentially risky to the barrel's finish, etc. At the time, it got me thinking about water-cooled varmint barrels..but I had the idea of a barrel sleeve, vs. anything wrapped around it. Imagine those integrally-suppressed guns with the over-sized (looking) barrels. It would represent some engineering/manufacturing challenges, add a fair amount of weight...and wouldn't be cheap to make either.

What occurs to me is the importance of barrel temperature staying relatively consistent. Were you machine-gunning...shot-to-shot accuracy wouldn't be as big a factor, but in a precision..bolt-action rifle...the expectations are much different of course.

I'd be VERY interested in seeing whether or not anyone tries this. If so, I'd love to see some photos, hear the results, etc.

[6.5 shooter]

You would have to somehow get even cooling from muzzle to chamber so "wrapping" the barrel with tubing would not work but like one poster suggested a water jacket similar to a ww1 machine gun might work but would have to have a high volume pump and a much smaller jacket. The pump would need to move a high volume of fluid to make up for the smaller jacket diameter.( which in it's self would produce it's own heat)

You would have to pre heat or pre cool the barrel so the fluid/barrel temps were the same at the beginning and end of each shooting session.

[Don_Parsons]

Coalman Battery operated air mattress filling pump.

They weigh about 2 lbs and move air fast.

Best $20 kooling system going.

https://www.amazon.ca/Intex-Quick-Fi.../dp/B004HC5Y4Y

13.4 cfm air flow

[Grizzly Adams]

A solution looking for a problem ??

Grizz

[Ricochet Ranch]

Would it not alter barrel harmonics and accuracy?

[mattthegorby]

Originally Posted by Ricochet Ranch

Would it not alter barrel harmonics and accuracy?

That is what I was wondering...

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by Ricochet Ranch

Would it not alter barrel harmonics and accuracy?

Only if you un evenly cooled the barrel..

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Ricochet Ranch

Would it not alter barrel harmonics and accuracy?

Absolutely it would, there would probably even be differences between fluids based on density/viscosity. I would think that the water-based coolants/lubricants used in CNC machining would be a good option as they'd pump more easily than oil and probably have corrosion inhibitors in them. Plain water might be fine for a stainless barrel though, or even a mixture with one of those coolant additives like RedLine's WaterWetter that increase your coolants thermal transfer rate for performance cars or vehicles operating in deserts or tough mountainous towing situations. I think for it to work really well it would have to shroud the chamber as well. I would be sure to use silicone supply and return tubes over to the pump/radiator/coolant reservoir.

[ramonmark]

After my knee surgery I had a custom cooler for my knee swelling. It was a small cooler with a pump and a knee wrap that allowed cold water to run through it and back to the cooler. You'd fill the cooler with ice and water and have at'er. If you could get a wrap for a barrel it'd be easy peasy. The wrap was actually long enough you could easily wrap it around a barrel.

[mattthegorby]

repost

[Marten1576]

Excellent idea if all you want to do is spray bullets ! Barrel harmonics would be a problem!

[bubba300]

I think its a cool idea if it doesn't mess with the harmonics,I guess there is only one way to find out.I was thinking of wraping 1/4" rubber,silicone tubing or something like that around barrel and hooking it up to my garden hose,I suppose you would want to keep water a consistant temp. thow.
Something to do when I am bored on a hot day.

[Stinky Coyote]

i suggested copper tubing as it's heat transfer would be much better than the plastic tubing, the copper would then be left on the barrel so harmonics can stay the same, some john guest fittings to hook the poly tubing up too either end a thermometer somewhere in contact with the metal so you could keep it in a range by throttling your pump(read; throttle a little ball valve)

i think best idea so far is the computer cooling system, sounds like the right size of equipment and all the equipment you'd need, also like the idea of a rad/fan set up too instead of ice in the water

the wet towel is genius, aside from any finish concerns, evaporative cooling would be most efficient and can't think of a simpler idea than the wet towel, we are evaporating 20,000 gallons a day right now to cool the building i'm running

i was assuming said rig wouldn't need to be stripped down to go hunting so the permanent copper tubing would work good for a dedicated cooled range gun, stay put, and look pretty cool too, spiral wrapped tight to the barrel it wouldn't budge and just be a part of the barrel, i do see the attraction to a blanket that could move from gun to gun though

[Stinky Coyote]

Originally Posted by Don_Parsons

Coalman Battery operated air mattress filling pump.

They weigh about 2 lbs and move air fast.

Best $20 kooling system going.

https://www.amazon.ca/Intex-Quick-Fi.../dp/B004HC5Y4Y

13.4 cfm air flow

I like that too Don, now just need aluminum radiator fin kits that can slide onto a range of barrel diameters....turn the barrel into a cooling rad so to speak, that would be pretty simple and slick too

maybe said aluminum radiator fins can come in bands two inches wide and spiral wrap the barrel so any diam. barrel will work, will hold form and grip barrel like copper tubing would but air cooled vs liquid cooled....take air cooling to a whole new level

or just do the wet towel and your fan for max simplicity and efficiency lol

[trailraat]

What about a custom carbon fibre barrel with some kind of tubing run through the carbon fibre and connected to ports milled in the action. That way barrel harmonics wouldn't be an issue, plus it would look good.

[Stinky Coyote]

Originally Posted by trailraat

What about a custom carbon fibre barrel with some kind of tubing run through the carbon fibre and connected to ports milled in the action. That way barrel harmonics wouldn't be an issue, plus it would look good.

that's dedication! liquid cooled barrels, could be the next fad for p-dog/range duty

i think from what i've been able to read about proof carbon barrels dealing with heat i'd be happy with that for anything i would throw at a barrel on a range day? otherwise i just wait it out, might be different if i lived somewhere much hotter and shot a lot more

[Dean2]

How about a sleeve, 2 1/2" in diameter with a hole through the cntre 1/64 " bigger than you barrel, so it does not touch except at the front and rear friction fit points. Fill the sleeze with liquid Nitrogen or dry ice so that it cools the barrel but nothing corrosive touches the barrel. Would look like a large slip on suppressor filled with Nitrogen.

[Dmay]

These guys don't pump fluid through them, and done more for structural reasons, but they claim convection cooling.
From TACOMHQ.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[TargetRick]

I like the idea of beer in the cooler, for extra cooling efficiency! A little might slip into the drinkage, of course.

Might have to start working on this. Make a "Water-Cooled Rifle Club" (joking).

TargetRick

[TargetRick]

Originally Posted by Dmay

These guys don't pump fluid through them, and done more for structural reasons, but they claim convection cooling.

[IMG][/IMG]

Actually, the World War One-era Lewis gun used an aluminum sleeve over the barrel. Sleeve design pulled fresh air forward, from the back of the barrel to the front, to cool the gun. That was in ground use.

In the air, they took the sleeve off - it's so cold up there they didn't need extra cooling!

[Stinky Coyote]

the closer you can get to a heating rad/cooling coil the better, more surface area and heat conductive materials...alum fins would do the trick, inletting the stock would be a challenge though

[fps plus]

M1917 Browning machine gun

[TargetRick]

Originally Posted by fps plus

M1917 Browning machine gun

As much as I'd like one, I suspect the game wardens might frown on it for hunting.

[TargetRick]

I was out popping gophers today with the .17 HMR -highly amusing! Noticed even the heavy barrel on that gets hot. Got me thinking about water-cooling again (range only, of course).

Do you think it would be better to have direct of the barrel with the water/coolant? That is what the old-time Maxims and Vickers used.

Or would an external wrap be better? Some have for example suggested wrapping the barrel in copper tubing, and having the wrap carry coolant. That way does not directly touch the barrel, and heat is transferred only by the wrap touching the hot barrel.

Either way, as I understand it the hot water vapour goes out through a transfer tube to the catch tank, where it cools again. That way you don't have your MG position betrayed by clouds of steam!