Shooting in the Heat of Summer

[Bigahh]

Do you guys have a schedule to follow as far as shooting your rifles when it's warm out? I shot my rifles last weekend a little,but limited it to 3 shot groups, and only fired 2 groups with each rifle. I was up early in the morning also. It is cold in winter here, but also warm, and muggy in summer. Just can't be too good for a barrel, does not cool very well after firing them.

[Old Time Hunter]

I still try and maintain five shot groups...just have to use more guns to let 'em cool down a bit. I also seem to shoot more BP cartridge in summer, helps keep the state birds away('skeeters) and does not heat up the barrel as quickly.

[TedH]

I usually try and get out at first light to set targets, then start shooting as soon as there's enough light. I'm usually done before mid morning. Barrels cool ok then, as there is no direct sunlight baking them. Besides, it takes too much of the fun out of it when you have beads of sweat burning your eyes when your trying to aim.

It can be so humid here that my guns will almost instantly be dripping with condensation from going from the air conditioned house to warm moist outside air.

[Old Savage]

Don't pay any attention to it but I don't shoot that fast - 3 or 5 shot groups. I have never bothered to let any rifles cool down. Doesn't seem to matter with them. Maybe they are just trained to shoot well that way. I shoot in the hottest part of the day and the barrels are in direct sunlight. Temp here this week has been 110 to 112. Usually about 105 -107 when I shoot in the summer.

[J Miller]

I lived in AZ for 40+ years. During the summer a nice cool day might be a 110° in the shade. "If" you can find shade.
I did two things. I put my ammo in insulated ice chests, and I shot my guns till I decided it was too painful to hold them. Usually about one magazine full from my lever guns.

If I were shooting at the gun range where I was under cover I'd shoot slow and usually keep my shots to a 5 or 6 round string depending on the rifle and what I was trying to accomplish.

I was never bothered by wandering groups due to over heating the barrels. Probably because I can't shoot good enough to notice it. Or because I shoot with iron sights and I can't shoot good enough to notice it.

There were times I'd shoot my Enfields so much the barrel heat would start boiling the oils out of the forearms and hand covers.

GOD do I miss those days!

Joe

[perry owens]

Here in England we don't have any "heat of summer". We do get plenty of rain so steam off the barrel when shooting black powder gets to be a problem.Back when practical pistol was legal here and now for CAS and silhouette I always try to get out and practice in rain. My rationale is that most competitiors dislike rain, so if you practice in it you get to almost enjoy the conditions and it gives you a competitive edge. So far the strategy has worked pretty well.
Perry Owens

[Andrew]

There were times I'd shoot my Enfields so much the barrel heat would start boiling the oils out of the forearms and hand covers. Joe

I've done that with my Mosin before. Like you, I would shoot until it was difficult to hold even the wood.

I don't have a hot day shooting plan other than " load, shoot, repeat".

I would shoot a mag tube full, 15, out of the 9422 at three different plates then change and repeat. That's 15-load-15-load-15-change-repeat. I never seen the group size change nor did it's shape change either through the proccess. That's just one guy with one gun with one ammo though.

[RIHMFIRE]

we try to shoot early in the morning...
range opens at 9...but its already too warm...
and muggy....humidity is always high here in florida...
rifle barrel heat is not that bad....cause we dont shoot
round after round....
but skeet shooting is another story..
barrel on my wingmaster gets so hot, I have to put
the gun down...

[KirkD]

Compared to you folks down in the southern USA, it don't get hot here by your standards (seldom above 80 degrees). I still shoot 5-shot groups all summer and sometimes more. The barrels of my 100-year old leverguns sometimes get so hot they will burn you, but it doesn't seem to harm the guns, although I use nothing but cast bullets. Some guns will get a lower point of impact as the barrel heats up, like my '86 extra light made in 1901, but others maintain the same point of impact, like 'Old Savage' my 30-30. I've put 11 rounds straight through it and it just keeps shooting to point of aim, even though the barrel was so hot it would burn your arm if you touched it.

[Bill in Oregon]

I never trust three-shot groups, so don't ever shoot them. I was at the range Wednesday afternoon in 104-degree heat, and was shooting a Savage 30G Favorite in .22 LR and a CZ 452 in 17 HMR2, and barrel heating was not an issue. But then we shot a few clays with the little CZ .410 Bobwhite, and that rascal got very warm very quickly.

[86er]

Ricky and I got a pop-up canopy to shade everything and shoot from under. It helps a bunch. We shoot early and late when it's cooler and use a lot more low power practice loads than at other times of the year.

[El Chivo]

Well I'm learning about it, with reloading, I found a load that worked well at 60 degrees was terrible at 100 degrees. I had some left over and shot them yesterday at 85 and they were better, but still nothing to write home about.

I think those few degrees wouldn't affect the rifle much. "Hot" for metal is much hotter than hot for us. Where I've been shooting, I am in shade but the barrel end is in the sun. So that metal rod heats up quickly.

One interesting thing is, when shooting long range, the target isn't exactly where you see it to be due to air rising and so forth.

[scr83jp]

Both of the ranges I'm a member of have covered shooting positions so direct sun isn't a problem, just gets a little warm here in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mtns.I read in one of the forums that shooters carry cloths & bottles of rubbing alcohol that they use to wipe down their barrels to cool them down.