Cold weather shooting

J

Joe McNeill

Member
I shot a match today and the temperature was 33 to 34 F. I shot really poorly and while I'm not a really great shooter my score certainly did not reflect
my normal score on the 25 bull target at 50 yards. Afterward, while having lunch with my fellow shooters, some of which shot really well, they asked me
if I had kept my ammo warmed up! I said no because I just had my ammo on the bench out in the cold. They said that they had their ammo in a box with
a hand warmer keeping it warm. Since my gun was slinging shots out in the 7 ring occasionally and theirs were not I concede that they had a "better" idea.
I guess my question in all of this rambling is, "is there a temperature that is best for 22 LR ammo to shoot well" and what temperature would that be??
Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions on the subject.
Regards,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
 
It has been my experience

Joe McNeill said:
I shot a match today and the temperature was 33 to 34 F. I shot really poorly and while I'm not a really great shooter my score certainly did not reflect
my normal score on the 25 bull target at 50 yards. Afterward, while having lunch with my fellow shooters, some of which shot really well, they asked me
if I had kept my ammo warmed up! I said no because I just had my ammo on the bench out in the cold. They said that they had their ammo in a box with
a hand warmer keeping it warm. Since my gun was slinging shots out in the 7 ring occasionally and theirs were not I concede that they had a "better" idea.
I guess my question in all of this rambling is, "is there a temperature that is best for 22 LR ammo to shoot well" and what temperature would that be??
Appreciate any and all comments/suggestions on the subject.
Regards,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
Click to expand...

that shooting in cold weather is pretty much a waste of time and ammo, unless one simply likes to shoot. I don't shoot in weather colder than 50F now a day and even at 50, the best results seldom , if ever occur.

Pete
 
A friend & I were shooting the other day in 30 degree temps & a stiff wind & the Eley I was "testing" wasn't doing well at all. But I suspected that given what has been told to me. I too just had my ammo out on the bench.
Same with some Midas+ which I had at least acceptable results meaning if I were a patient person should have scored well.
I believe the lube was the difference in the results I was seeing.

Keith
 
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It's gonna be tough much below 50deg., wax will not get carried all the way down the bore.
 
I f you want better scores in cold weather, shoot the Biathlon ammo. It is designed for cold, since they carry it while skiing.
 
And for sure, never test ammo during the winter that you plan on using during the summer!!

Over the years I've know of several shooters, including myself, who figured the off-season was the best time to play around with ammo testing, then after finding what appeared to be a "GREAT" Lot have ordered at least a case. And after the case arrived, to help prevent Cabin Fever from setting in along with to reaffirm the earlier findings, were thinking they were all set for the next season to begin.

Now the weather warms back up and the matches being, but it doesn't take long before they realized the ammo they had just spent ±$1500.00 on during the dead of winter shoots like crap once the temps are back up above 50°. Kind of the same as you found with your warm weather ammo when shot at 32°. But, the good news was, we all were set for many years to come for winter shooting. The bad news: we all had to go back out and start the whole process of ammo testing all over again, and then throw down another large chunk of money after finding something to compete with for the warmer weather.

Dave
 
"Standard Conditions"

Joe
I do not have the answer to your question,

however

There is/are numbers for a "Standard Atmospheric Conditions day"
Temperature=68 degrees F.
Barometric pressure=29 in Mercury
Wind = 0 mph

ie; Aircraft performance standards are based on these numbers
You vary the #'s and the performance varies

Another Question
The bullet speed on your box--was it determined on "Standard Conditions" day????
Also was you bullet tested at the factory on such a day???

Maybe we should
Test our bullets on a "Standard Atmospheric Conditions Day"
So maybe the perfect temperature to test bullets is 68 degrees F ????????????????????

I'm not sure there is any logic to the above thinking,
but until something better comes along---
TRY 68 degrees F.

CLP
 
Boy I would love to do some testing at 68 degrees. It's 25 today and that's 10 degrees warmer than yesterday.:(

Ken
 
We're at 20° right now, which is also 10° better than yesterday. Not to mention the fact it snowed ½ a foot on Tuesday, then another foot+ on Thursday, along with only a few inches last night, but now we're waiting on another ±foot for tomorrow into Monday. Whoopy!

Ken, you should have mentioned how much your snow totals are for so far this year. I remember in years past it was somewhere up around the eves on your house. Now that's snow!

If Ken wants to test ammo in a tunnel, all he has to do is grab a shovel and head for the range. Hey, maybe that's why he always seems to have such great ammo? Snow Tunnel Testing. :cool:

Dave
 
Joe, no one answered your question. Next Thursday come out and try shooting with warm ammo. Temperature is forecast (as of today) is to be 35 degrees with a 2 mph wind.

If your would like to see for your self if this works, also put a second box of ammo on the bench and let it cool off and see how the two shoot.

George
 
George,
The more I thought about this, weather conditions have always made changes in my target shooting! I started shooting CF bench rest
about 4 years ago. At first I watched what others were doing and was surprised that after shooting a great group shooters would change
almost everything for the next target, seating depth, powder charge? They were chasing conditions, ie.. temperature and humidity.
So why should I not think that rimfire ammo would be different? Since I can't change the ammo, except for lot #'s, your point of keeping
ammo warm makes sense to me now.
Thanks for all your help and introducing me to RF bench rest.
Regards,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
 
Bill/ML.
The Biathlon shooters shoot in cold weather and I think I remember seeing the rifles with ammo magazines in
pouches on the sides of the stocks so the rounds should be cold. So is the only difference the lubrication on the
bullets or is the powder different or???
Thanks,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
 
Biathlon ammo

Absolutely! I have a few boxes of Eley Biathlon EPS left from a case I bought so long ago that I don' t remember when. I bring it out occasionally to demonstrate the feasibility of winter shooting with my Model 12 BSA. Speed is 1079 and the lube is definitely less viscous than normal ammo.
 
This was extensively discussed several years ago. Bob Collins wrote a paper called "Eley by the numbers". His conclusion was that you need slower ammo when it is cold and faster when it is warm. He recommended a Kestrel meter to follow Density Altitude. When the DA was less than 500, his rifle liked a speed of 1053. As it warmed up and DA increased his rifle liked faster ammo. With a DA over 2000, he used 1071. You really don't need a Kestrel, just try a slow speed when it's cold and go faster as it warms up. You really have to try it on your own to see what works for you. Just Google "Eley by the numbers".

Larry Hoffman
 
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