At the range-how cold
- Thread starter camp_13
- Start date
- Status
Rupestris
Member
Coldest day at the range for me was in the single digits. Took about 30 minutes without a glove on the trigger hand to realize I should have stayed home.
Gotta be above freezing (32*F/0*C) for me to sit at a frozen concrete bench and shoot rifles. Shotgunning is a different story.
Gotta be above freezing (32*F/0*C) for me to sit at a frozen concrete bench and shoot rifles. Shotgunning is a different story.
ARperson
Member
As long as it's not windy, I can handle some pretty cold temperatures. It's just like hunting as far as I'm concerned. The temp doesn't bother me near as much as the wind.
I don't know how much, but I do think temp plays a role a least a little bit.
I don't know how much, but I do think temp plays a role a least a little bit.
White Horseradish
Member
Hmm... I don't remember what the temp was, but I distinctly remember having much fun shooting while it was snowing...
all my load development is wrapped up by late summer.
i do believe the cold temps might skew your handload results a little - like if you are doing development in the winter, and then run out in mid-july to shoot prairie dogs, i'm sure you'll run into pressure problems, though i seriously doubt they'd be catastrophic (things like sticky bolt lift, blown primers...).
for me, it is extraordinarily rare to range work at all in the winter because i'm usually hunting then. load development in the spring, practice in the summer, hunting in the fall and winter, and repeat... how cold before i don't go hunting? dunno - haven't reached that point yet. already been hunting twice this year at -20 and -22... so, that's not cold enough, but it is getting damnedably close!
i do believe the cold temps might skew your handload results a little - like if you are doing development in the winter, and then run out in mid-july to shoot prairie dogs, i'm sure you'll run into pressure problems, though i seriously doubt they'd be catastrophic (things like sticky bolt lift, blown primers...).
for me, it is extraordinarily rare to range work at all in the winter because i'm usually hunting then. load development in the spring, practice in the summer, hunting in the fall and winter, and repeat... how cold before i don't go hunting? dunno - haven't reached that point yet. already been hunting twice this year at -20 and -22... so, that's not cold enough, but it is getting damnedably close!
I have certainly found the cold has an effect on handgun reloads. I shoot reloads thru my Sig P220 all summer with no problem. When it gets down to about 35 degrees I start having cycling problems. While this could be a result of lubrication thickening, I have found that for winter shooting I need to add 2/10ths of a grain to regain the reliability.
There is nothing worse then finding out that one of your favorite guns doesn't like it's ussual ammo in the cold. Cold hands/fingers, nose and toes tend to make the problem worse.
There is nothing worse then finding out that one of your favorite guns doesn't like it's ussual ammo in the cold. Cold hands/fingers, nose and toes tend to make the problem worse.
Range Day is Range Day, regardless of how the weather is.
Admittedly when I am making wind corrections measured in yards
rifle shooting becomes a little more challenging.
When you have to adjust a foot or more to hit your 25 yard pistol target it may be a bit too windy...
Admittedly when I am making wind corrections measured in yards
rifle shooting becomes a little more challenging. When you have to adjust a foot or more to hit your 25 yard pistol target it may be a bit too windy...
mountainclmbr
Member
I froze the tips of 6 fingers on a climbing trip to the Andes about 9 years ago. I can still count to 10, but cold weather is extremely painful to my fingers. However I have endured to about 10 F.
Skofnung
Member
I'm a Florida Cracker, so I don't handle temps below 20 degrees F very well. It gets down that low here in N Florida every now'n then, and I go out in it looking like an Inuit.
My groups open up quite a bit when the mercury drops below freezing. It has little to do with my loads though.
My groups open up quite a bit when the mercury drops below freezing. It has little to do with my loads though.
Have had the Garand out in 0 degrees with about a 15 mph wind. Gives you a little insight into what the Marines dealt with on a warm day at the Chosin Reservoir.
Coldest was minus 30 with a DA revolver. Manipulating anything at those temperatures is tough. The only kind of movements you can make are gross motor movements.
We haven't had temps that low in the last few years. If we do I will try the M1 and the 1911 next time.
BTW if you want an incredible read on what can be done, find and read a book called "The Mad Trapper Of Rat River" by Dick North.
Coldest was minus 30 with a DA revolver. Manipulating anything at those temperatures is tough. The only kind of movements you can make are gross motor movements.
We haven't had temps that low in the last few years. If we do I will try the M1 and the 1911 next time.
BTW if you want an incredible read on what can be done, find and read a book called "The Mad Trapper Of Rat River" by Dick North.
GunnySkox
Member
I bet some of you guys hang around at the range during hurricanes, too, just to see if you can get the bullet to hit the same target twice going the same direction with the wind. 
But yeah. It's, as I say, getting on toward "freezing ass cold" in Bleaksburg, but I plan on gathering ammunitions tomorrow, and hitting the range on sunday, if possible.
~GnSx
But yeah. It's, as I say, getting on toward "freezing ass cold" in Bleaksburg, but I plan on gathering ammunitions tomorrow, and hitting the range on sunday, if possible.
~GnSx
rockstar.esq
Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,475
Handloads will definitely be affected. The powders react differently to cold, not to mention a "hotter than average" load would likely skate through without much incident on a freezing day whereas that same load would be harmful on a hot one. If you are loading to moderate or at least loads that are safe in the heat, they'll be fine in the cold. As for temperatures where I won't venture to the range, well I've shot right at 10deg F although I didn't much enjoy myself. I'm with most of you about the wind however I just can't stand being cold and wet at the same time. So rain/ sleet will = a no go for me!
Essex County
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2005
- Messages
- 1,247
Years ago, say when I was in my twenties, If I bought a rifle all it needed to be was clear and not too windy. Now, decades later it has to be 40 degrees Plus.........Essex
deputy tom
Member
My limit nowdays is 32 F. When I was a younger and dumber Lad I would go shooting in ANY weather.I still shoot in the snow and rain above freezing.(guess I'm really no smarter with old age LOL).tom.
my thoughts
as an avid reloader /hunter i go to the range for 2 reasons:
1. to shoot
2. to test accuracy of reloads
to just shoot i go in just about whatever weather i can stand
to test accuracy i go in what weather ill be hunting in
either cold or hot
as an avid reloader /hunter i go to the range for 2 reasons:
1. to shoot
2. to test accuracy of reloads
to just shoot i go in just about whatever weather i can stand
to test accuracy i go in what weather ill be hunting in
either cold or hot
JohnBT
Member
I was sitting in a boat in a marsh at 6 a.m. this morning and it was 22*F. The bald eagles caught more fish than we did ducks.
Five or six years ago I showed up at my parents' house on snowy Christmas Eve with a new handgun and my father drove us 26 miles to the range to shoot it. The last stretch was a little iffy going up the mountain, but there's nothing like shooting in a winter wonderland. My mother thought it was a dumb idea and didn't ride along...and she always rides along.
John
Five or six years ago I showed up at my parents' house on snowy Christmas Eve with a new handgun and my father drove us 26 miles to the range to shoot it. The last stretch was a little iffy going up the mountain, but there's nothing like shooting in a winter wonderland.
My mother thought it was a dumb idea and didn't ride along...and she always rides along.John
I found that my 30/30 always needs a few shots to warm up the barrel in the summer, before the groups really tightened up. Someone told me that as the barrel warms, the bore will tighten a little. I imagine it'll be worse in winter.
But if you want to shoot in fridigit weather, there are Neoprene gloves (for winter fishing) that you can peal back the tip of the trigger finger. They should work good for shooting too.
But if you want to shoot in fridigit weather, there are Neoprene gloves (for winter fishing) that you can peal back the tip of the trigger finger. They should work good for shooting too.
CBX
Member
I live in california and im not to sure what -20 even is. Coldest i can remember it here was 43 See guys cali isnt all bad for us shooters.
See guys cali isnt all bad for us shooters. Sam
Member
Spent all of last Wednesday on the range from 0 dark 30 till 1800. It was 14 when we got there, made it to 28 at 1400 and back to 20 at 1800. Winds SSW at 15 with gusts to 30.
Some days it does not matter what the temp is. If the unit is scheduled for range time, they are going to the range, period!
Don't acll wars for weather, quals either.
Sam
Some days it does not matter what the temp is. If the unit is scheduled for range time, they are going to the range, period!
Don't acll wars for weather, quals either.
Sam
TABING
Member
Living in Arizona, in the summer, HOT, and the middle east the rest of the year, HOTTER, I'd love to shoot in really cold temps again like when I was younger in upstate NY. It's frustrating waiting 10 minutes between shots for the barrel to cool down to a reasonable level.
Thin Black Line
Member
camp_13 said:
Yes, it will skew your results, but you should know what it does at different
temps. The loads you shot in the Summer will not behave the same in
the winter.
However, the real test is not of the loads, but of you and your rifle. I've
shot on single digit days where the wind chill easily went -XX. This is how
I learned that the Mini-14 is a total piece of cr*p in extreme cold when
the gas tap under the barrel broke off (a 1960s SKS continued to function
flawlessy as did an Israeli mauser on that day and for a number of other cold
weather shoots). My position has always been that the rifle should function
if I'm still able to function. If you are too cold to safely handle a rifle and/or
still have reasonable accuracy, then you have hit your limit.
It depends how you want to test yourself. I got back from Iraq and went
shooting on the range on a cold snowy day --needless to say I was the
only one there!
Matthew748
Member
If I want to go shooting I go regardless of the weather. Last year I went out sometime in January during a single digit cold spell. I grabbed my M91/30, fur hat, an extra sweater, and coarse wool Russian army coat and made a day of it. The range was totally empty, so I setup a bunch of targets at different ranges, dubbed it the Battle of Stalingrad day, and had at it. I went through a lot of ammo that day.
- Status
