How many of us shoot during bad weather at outdoor ranges?

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My range has a lil covered Pavillion type deal and is nice for if it starts spritzing. The problem is the handgun/rifle range where I got is about 1/8 mile up a class4 trail with really lousy terrain and it's not really fun to hump all your gear up since it's winter and Vermont is really harsh this time of year. It's also just not really fun when it's freezing cold and you can't feel your fingers and you're loading mag after mag and it just starts to become painful and you don't enjoy it.

If my range was a lil more accessible I would just get a barrel fire going and set up and have a ball. I can deal with being cold as long as I can occasionally warm my hands and feet but for right now I can live vicariously through hickok45 and Tnoutdoors and the like and pop off my .22lr every now and then.

One thing is for sure, when I buy some property it will have a badass range and I won't be shut down for long winter periods.
 
If your range (our club) is Much longer than a 12 min. drive, and you must face either range temps < 40 F, with a wind above 4 mph, or drive on possible road ice from sunshine then freezing at night--

No.
 
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ApacheCoTodd said:
I don't know... is 112 degrees *bad weather*?:evil:
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What's the mirage like in those kind of temperatures?:D
Really. I can remember competitors sometimes complaining about the mirage back in our IHMSA days, and we seldom see temperatures over 95 to 100 in this part of Idaho. I can't imagine what shooting at 200 meter steel rams would be like in 112 degree temperatures. Just thinking about it makes me thirsty. I think I'll go to the fridge and get myself a cold beer.:cool:
 
My ancient US Army issued helmet liner is surprisingly warm:)

bundle up and make some noise

 
AK103K said:
I shoot a couple of times a week, year-round. I dont normally shoot in the pouring rain, or heavy snow, but if it starts doing something while Im shooting, I usually finish out what I was doing. You wont melt. :)

Ive worked outdoors, pretty much year-round my whole life, so its really no different than work, but usually a lot more fun. :)

This was earlier this year at the first measurable snow here. Unless we have a good "crusty" snow, I tend to shoot more revolver than auto when theres snow on the ground. Brass recovery is about impossible if the snow doesnt have a crust (at least until the snow melts off, and as long as someone else doesn't scarf it up).

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Luckily, snow comes and goes here, so we usually arent socked in. One week we get 15", two weeks later, it warms up and rains like hell and its gone. :)[/QUOTE
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AK103K said:
I shoot a couple of times a week, year-round. I dont normally shoot in the pouring rain, or heavy snow, but if it starts doing something while Im shooting, I usually finish out what I was doing. You wont melt. :)

Ive worked outdoors, pretty much year-round my whole life, so its really no different than work, but usually a lot more fun. :)

This was earlier this year at the first measurable snow here. Unless we have a good "crusty" snow, I tend to shoot more revolver than auto when theres snow on the ground. Brass recovery is about impossible if the snow doesnt have a crust (at least until the snow melts off, and as long as someone else doesn't scarf it up).

View attachment 978533
View attachment 978534

Luckily, snow comes and goes here, so we usually arent socked in. One week we get 15", two weeks later, it warms up and rains like hell and its gone. :)
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I like the idea of Snow shoes.!
 
If you're going to be walking around in snow a lot, snow shoes are the way to go. They just make things a whole lot easier.
 
Fortunately I have a 200yd range out my back door. I have made a point to target practice on some black birds. They make such a good contrast in this snow.
 
i never intentionally go but once there i will shoot so long as it is not too cold. i knew it was windy when i went to the range but not this windy.

 
I have shot in rain storms, hail storms, dust storms, and even tropical storms. These days I pick my days when I want to go. If the weather is bad enough and I still want to shoot, I will drop by the indoor range instead.
 
I always get a kick out of wind chill and heat index. Its just another way the media gets to scare the masses that only seem to live and work in temp controlled environments and make things sound worse than they are. Those trips from the house to the car and the car to the office, can be sooo brutal! :p
 
AK103K said:
If you're going to be walking around in snow a lot, snow shoes are the way to go. They just make things a whole lot easier.
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........Haven't used them at my club's range yet but that time may come. I recall once when I was there, using the 200 yard range when the snow was real deep and wished I had them with me. Nowadays I occasionally use them to go out and swap SD cards in trail cams on my friend's property and keep one of my two pairs in the truck all winter. Those gun racks now get used for snow shoes or long handled ice scraper/ snow brushes. I could see myself at the range with snow shoes one of these days if this snow keeps up. Here's a shot of them that was once in a thread here about the handy, multi-purpose use of gun racks in trucks. Outdoor range ? Deep snow ? 400 yard round trip to the 200 yard target frame ? No problem..... IMG_3901.JPG ... I enjoy snowshoeing anyway.
 
Shooting in the snow is a lot of fun. I tend to be alone at the range, which is the best part. I'm in a local Winter Warrior Shoot here in my area and it has to be cold, snow on the ground and use a Milsurp rifle with iron sights to participate at 100 yrds. I went to the range last week to put in my entry. It was 26 degrees and snowing with more then a foot of snow on the ground. I entered using my 03A3. Had a blast of a day.

VNdMYlP.jpg

Best Target
K3C19ni.jpg
 
Depends on what is considered bad. Some snow and/or sub freezing temps? Sure, all the time.

Dangerously cold or snowing to the point of being a road hazard? No. Don't much shoot when it rains either because I don't like getting soaked.

Usually just dry fire for an extra hour or so in the basement then.

Oh yeah, I'll wait a bit after a big snowfall too for the range to shovel out the pistol pit, hate trying to dig my brass out of a snowbank.

These days since my ammo supply is limited I'm more likely to be lazy about the live fire in unpleasant weather
 
I cheat having a range at home, but I'll go out in all sorts of weather to practice in weather that isn't ideal. I'm not nuts about it though. ;)
 
I live in Western Washington.

I have no choice in the matter. If I want (or am required) to shoot outdoors, it's almost always going to be in bad weather, no matter the time of year.
 
Do it all the time, some of my best times doing just that. Zeroed a Rifle in a driving rain storm. Lots of fun!
 
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