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Rifles scorching hot in sun - use camo wrap!

Started by Marquis de M, May 28, 2017, 01:37:39 AM

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Marquis de M

Probably "old news" for most here, but was new for me:
On my most recent AS event, rifle positions were in complete sun exposure and participants eager to have any kind of covering on their rifles between shoots as to lessen them heating up and becoming scorchingly hot. Only one not complaining was a participant with camo wrap all over his rifle ;)

Guess what my rifle will soon be having  :cool2:
---

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.

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jmdavis

Covering with a light colored towel between stages works wonders, camo wrap will absolutely soak up heat. It's the physics.
"If a man does his best, what else is there?"  - General George S. Patton Jr

  ...We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
  For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
  Shall be my brother...-Shakespeare, Henry V
 

"There's a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates."
- General George S. Patton, Jr

"Your body can't go where your mind hasn't been."
- Alex Arrieta 1995 NTI Winner

azmule

At the hotter shoots in Arizona, we hand out the t-shirts early on Saturday so shooters can use them to cover rifles from ejection port forward during cease-fire periods.  Then, if they want to wear them on Sunday, they at least know the importance of bringing a towel or something to replace it.
Talk is cheap because the supply exceeds the demand.

Do or do not - there is no "try."'  -Yoda

navybowhunter

#3
I use a SHAM WOW!

Seriously, it is a knock off ShamWow type towel.

Night prior to a match, I typically am in some sort of a hotel room.

I have a process the night prior as well....

It includes very little to no alcohol, a decent meal, icy hot on the shoulders, lots of water and motrin.

Hydration begins the day prior.

I typically bring a case of 12 ounce water bottles in addition to my camel back.  I have a small flexible cooler, and freeze 2-3 bottles of water and re-fridgerate another 3-4.  I then soak the SHAM WOW in the sink and let it absorb a lot of water, I lazily wring it out, and wrap it around one of the frozen water bottles.

Place camel back in fridge as well.  In the morning, I add ice from hotel machine to about 1/4 of the camelback.  Then I take JMDavis advice and use the Nuun Tablets *Electrolytes* (caffeine and sugar free).  They are similar to alka seltzer tabs.  I break one off in a water bottle and drink on the way to the match.

During a match, I typically have another Nuun tablet after the 300 rapids, and some more motrin.

At 600 yard line....most people are already exhausted.  I know I am starting to get wore out.  600 yards is where we need to DIG DEEP.  It is also typically the hottest time of the day.

I take the sham wow out, and man that thing is awesome.  Ice Cold...and wet.  Wrap that around my neck as I cool down from the hump from the pits with my gear.  If scorekeeping, it stays on my neck.  When shooting, I have it and a golf towel on the deck with me.  Sometimes I lay that over the stock (the sham wow) and it is a nice cool feeling. 

But when shooting it is not on the stock.  It is on the deck as it would interfere with my cheek weld.

Apologize for the hydration digression, but it all somewhat ties together for me.

I wipe my stock off every couple shots as typically it is drenched in sweat.  Can also cause issues when wet with sweat as it gets slippery, and can affect my cheek weld. 

My UBR stock on the service rifle, I removed the plastic cover on top of the buffer tube.  I get a better cheek weld and sight alignment without it.  BUT....the sweat makes that buffer tube very slippery, so I wipe it off regularly.

FWIW

R/
Chris

rscottb

Wow, you prep more than I do when I did long distances running, even now on multiday across state bikes rides I do less. What counts is what works for you.  My camo stretch wrapped battle rifle does soak up some heat, but much less that the black metal does and the camo insulates my hands some what from the hot back metal and does transfer less heat to my hands than the black metal.  I do try to cover the rifle between hot range firing times (as in range status, not temps.).  I got the stretch wrap idea from .308 that he had on a rifle for a home made excellent check riser that beat my previous duct tape wonder.  I did get carried away with my previous training about camo everything.  Hard to shake good training.  Did I mention that black metal gets hot and absorbs heat better than anything else I know?