You put good money into one of the best extreme long-range rifles you could find, and chose a true ELR cartridge, like .375 or .408 CheyTac, for the chambering.
If you’re going to invest like that, you might as well invest in some know-how, too. How and when you shoot, and the conditions under which you shoot, will also impact performance and accuracy.
Case in point: a hot barrel can ruin accuracy. This short post will explore the physics and then get into what you can do to keep your extreme long-range rifle’s barrel cool.
What Happens When an Extreme Long-Range Rifle Barrel Gets Too Hot
Every round you send through a barrel is going to heat it up. This occurs not only through the barrel’s direct contact with hot, expanding gasses, but also sheerly through the friction of physically forcing the bullet through the bore.
Powerful ELR cartridges that generate enormous chamber pressures are also notorious for making a barrel hot in no time. The problem is, as the barrel gets hotter, accuracy erodes.
Chiefly this occurs because, as the barrel heats up, the internal bore diameter will expand slightly. Under normal conditions this is not cause for immense concern, but given the tolerances of extreme long-range rifles, and the pinpoint precision required for them to be effective, a hot barrel is a greater concern in ELR shooting than it is in other disciplines because slight changes get magnified.
When the inner diameter of the bore changes, the grip of the rifling on the bullet weakens, resulting in lower overall spin stability. This alone can cause accuracy to degrade.
But, what can also happen is that the inner diameter of the bore does not expand evenly in all outward dimensions, creating uneven pressure on the bullet from the certain rifling grooves. This is even worse, and it can impact the spin-stability that the rifling is intended to impart on the bullet.
The bottom line is that any shift in inner barrel diameter that is attributable to barrel heat is problematic and can and will cause accuracy to diminish.
Another, separate issue, is that a very hot barrel can distort the sight picture over the barrel, especially at extreme ranges, and especially when shooting through a high-powered optic.
The bottom line is this: keeping a barrel cool is better for accuracy, and there are things you can do to help keep the barrel cooler, too.
What You Can Do to Keep the Barrel Cool
Fortunately, there are several things you can do to keep the barrel cooler when shooting your extreme long-range rifle. Here are some of our best suggestions.
1. Swap the stock barrel for a fluted barrel
Many extreme long-range rifles, like the CheyTac M200 Intervention and M300 Praetorian, come with fluted barrels. Some ELR rifles may not.
If your rifle does not come with a fluted barrel, consider swapping it out. The reason for this is that fluted barrels have greater surface area than non-fluted barrels, which allows them to shed heat much more efficiently than barrels which lack fluting.
All else being equal, a fluted barrel will cool off more quickly, which will help you keep your rifle’s accuracy intact.
2. Shoot small groups, or take long breaks between shots
The best advice is to let your barrel cool off to the ambient temperature between each shot, which should only require a relatively short break (assuming the rifle isn’t in the sun and it isn’t very hot out).
However, if that’s not practicable for you, you can also fire small groups, in the area of three at a time, then let the barrel cool off for a minute or so before you fire again.
3. Pick your time of year
While it’s understandable to want to be out during the warmer months of the year, when the sun is shining and the weather is pleasant, it will take a lot longer for your barrel to cool off in the summer than it will in the winter.
Plus, in addition to the fact that winter weather will help you keep your barrel cool, it will also keep some people home and off the range. So by shooting in the winter you will avoid some of the crowds.
4. Shoot in the shade
Simple as it sounds, shooting in the shade can help keep your barrel cool too. If there’s an overhang at the range, or at one of the lanes, take advantage of it. Alternatively, you can set up an impromptu shade.
A black barrel, or just a dark barrel, will get surprisingly hot, surprisingly quickly, in direct sunlight. Even a little shade can help cool things off.
5. Understand the stovepipe effect (keep the action open when resting)
A rifle with its action open will cool off much more quickly than if you leave the breech closed. This is due in part to the stovepipe effect, which is much more effective if the muzzle is elevated.
The stovepipe effect occurs when a hot barrel that is open at both ends attempts to shed its heat. The warmer end, which is generally the muzzle, will cause the air inside to expand. The hot air will exit at the muzzle, creating low pressure at the breech, which will draw in ambient air, accelerating the cooling effect.
The way to take advantage of this is simply to open the action and elevate the muzzle between shots.
6. Active cooling methods
Lastly, there are a whole bunch of active cooling methods and techniques you can apply, along with a couple of commercial products.
Something as simple as a fan that you direct over the barrel between shots can help cool things off.
Explore Extreme Long Range Rifles Here
Hopefully you found this high-level guide on how to keep the barrel of an extreme long-range rifle cooler while shooting to be helpful.
If you’re here because you’re exploring your options in extreme long-range rifles, we represent the top contenders in the industry, from CheyTac to Barrett and McMillan. Explore our ELR and precision rifles and get in touch with us if you have questions about platform specifications or would like a recommendation.
