My original method is very unhealthy. If you can light a cigarette on your barrel, it’s time to either let the barrel cool off or try to figure out a way to disengage from the firefight. But then in those times, and especially those days, when it was safe to do so, I always smoked too much and Drank Way Too Much! But then smoking and drinking way too much is not safe is it? What a paradox
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When at a match, which I still do some, I pray, when practicing, I check the temperature gauge on the barrel, when it gets to 110 or more, i give it a break. Back in my IHMSA days when we shot five shots in two minutes had the targets reset and continue for 40 or 60 shots, even then in the summer time, the barrels got really hot. The saving grace for my XP’s, I always shot light loads. If it was enough to knock down rams at 200 meters, it was enough.
I was very fortunate, I always could use the cooling off time, in 1971, the NVA were lying low, hoping we would go on and leave. All except for Mary Ann, for reasons they hold, they got pissed at Mary Ann and we lost a lot of good men that night defending that hill. History records that our team on that hill were dopers. Our team on LZ Chippewa was mostly southern boys who would drink when we were in the rear, but on the hill, we wanted our minds Clear. No drugs, not even to this day.