Water in the bbl

R

Richard

Member
I have heard both ways. Do you really think a drop of water in the bbl will ruin it? The bullet is alot softer than steel. Why wouldn't it just deform the bullet. I have shot in the rain and had several "rain shots" and the bbl always shot fine later. I had a hall of fame shooter tell me the same thing. That rain ruining a bbl is an old wives tale.
Richard
 
Does the F-22 fighter have windshield wipers? My belief is that a bullet in-flight never actually touches water droplets due to the shock wave in front of the bullet. In the barrel the shock wave from the column of air in front of the bullet should push out the water drops before touching the bullet. In each case the disruption of the shock wave in front of the bullet will have a noticeable effect on the target, IMHO. I'm no Bryan Litz...but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
 
Bullets can and do hit raindrops. A long time ago I challenged some math bullies to figure out why it seemed that a bullet didn't hit raindrops unless it rained pretty hard. They returned individually with similar conclusions - that it was a matter of probability. One of the guys went so far as to build a raindrop counter that counted raindrops as they fell on a square foot of aluminum foil and calculated the average size of a raindrop.

Watch a sidewalk as it starts raining (before it gets too wet to see individual raindrops landing). You will see raindrops striking at random. Now, figure the time of flight and imagine the coincidence of a bullet and a raindrop being in the same place at the same time.
 
I agree with the teori that supports the idea of the bullet not hitting raindrops other than on rare occations in heavy rain! Try shootin a shotgun in the rain and you will notise that there will not be any visible "drop-hits" untill it´s close to downpour-conditions! I have seen raindrops beeing hit by both shotgunpellets and rifle bullets, but only a few times with a rifle in really heavy tunderstorm-like rain. It will ruin a group at 100 m/y with a benchrestrifle in 6 PPC, I have seen it at NZ back in 2001 at the WBC. I can´t remember for sure but I think it was Charles H in the US team that got a 1" group at 100 y in heavy rain.
 
Wilbur said:
Watch a sidewalk as it starts raining (before it gets too wet to see individual raindrops landing). You will see raindrops striking at random. Now, figure the time of flight and imagine the coincidence of a bullet and a raindrop being in the same place at the same time.
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Birds are less ubiquitous than raindrops, but over a lifetime of shooting I've seen one or two puffed. They're mostly bigger, I'd have to admit, & tougher to dodge.
 
THE OP was about water IN THE BARREL.

Water for all practical purposes is not compressable. A bullet traveling down a barrel would cause the water drop to press against the inside of the barrel to the point of causing a hydraulic "dent".

Just my thoughts.

George
 
I find it difficult to believe that the bond of the water drop(s) to the inside of the barrel is strong enough to overcome the compressed air column ahead of the bullet......now a frozen rain drop is a different story. Also if the water drop is just in front of the throat touching the bullet, then perhaps a bulge might be possible.
 
It would appear that the pressure column of air should move the liquid however even if not it would also seem that as long as the liquid were in front of the bullet and the bullet was in contact with the barrel it would be like a squeegee and push the liquid out.
I suppose someone with a little xtra time and an old barrel could test the squeegee theory with a bullet and a metal rod see if there is any liquid left after the bullet has been pushed through.

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I say this in regard to the barrel being dented, not in regard to the effect on group size or shot placement.
 
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To test this a few years ago I went to the range on a near perfect weather condition day. My bench gun was shooting about .200 consistently in 3 shot groups. I used an eyedropper to put a droplet of water just behind the crown. It shot .500-1.00" with the water droplet. I ran a dry patch through it and it returned to shooting as before.
 
mwezell said:
Don't know about water, but I've seen barrels "ringed" from oil being left in the barrel.
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Pretty sure Douglas Barrels did a test and proved that oil left in a barrel would "ring" it. Water is equally incompressible...so I suppose enough water...
 
Tony C said:
What is a barrel ring?
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Would think it would be opposite of a tight barrel........;)
Or would create a loose spot(s) rather than a tight spot...

I have seen barrels go no damage with a LIGHT coating of Kroil/Butches blend on every fouling shot...
Like Wilbur said... Wether Oil/solvent or water... It's the amount that can damage a rifle bore..

cale
 
A ring is a spot in a barrel that has a greater diameter than the rest of the barrel. As I recall, Douglas shot the same barrel over and over coated with oil and it kept making rings at different places. The theory was that the bullet would push up a "wave" of oil and then for reasons unknown the bullet would run over the oil causing a 3000 fps "hydraulic". Actually, I'm making this up as I go but it was something like I describe.

Pretty sure Cale is also correct that it matters how much....not that anybody has ever air guaged their barrel after shooting it with a light coating of kroil. Then again...nobody had a reason or an air guage to casually measure the effect.
 
Sooo based on this theory when someone leaves a light film of oil in the barrel after cleaning and then shooting.... it would cause a ring or dent or some other problem. And after doing this a couple of times the barrel would be so wonkered it couldnt shoot anything under say 3"?????????
Just a thought
 
Vern said:
Sooo based on this theory when someone leaves a light film of oil in the barrel after cleaning and then shooting.... it would cause a ring or dent or some other problem. And after doing this a couple of times the barrel would be so wonkered it couldnt shoot anything under say 3"?????????
Just a thought
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Think cosmoline...Would you feel the same if it were what's left in the barrel?
 
Vern said:
Sooo based on this theory when someone leaves a light film of oil in the barrel after cleaning and then shooting.... it would cause a ring or dent or some other problem. And after doing this a couple of times the barrel would be so wonkered it couldnt shoot anything under say 3"?????????
Just a thought
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Like Cale said - depends on your meaning of "light". And YES, accuracy suffers if there is a ring(s). The whole reason for the Douglas test was to determine why the barrels that were sent back were not like they sent out. As everyone knows, nobody sends a barrel back if it shoots well.
 
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