I'm from upstate NY and every weekend I fire whether it's 90 degrees or 10 below. How do both conditions effect my rifle and my shooting? Is this bad in any way for my rifle?
Range Report Extreme Weather Shooting
- Thread starter SmallBoreSnipers
- Start date
Re: Extreme Weather Shooting
A friend and I are trying to figure this out as well. We, well I should say I haven't had the chance to shoot in really cold conditions, and I don't think I will. I do want to know what effect it's going to have on my shot. In my opinon only. I feel the firearm dosen't care if it's 90 or -10. The ammo your shooting does. Temp. has a effect on chamber pressure. I have proven this with trips to the range. Now with that being said. I'm reloading with Reloader 15, temp has an effect on it's overall peformance. I've noticed a change in chamber pressure and velocity and so on with a large drop in temp. I've seen it make a 1/2 inch diffrence in my zero at a 100 yards. So what I have decided is best for my rifle and myself is to figure out what my max load is during the summer months and work from there.
A friend and I are trying to figure this out as well. We, well I should say I haven't had the chance to shoot in really cold conditions, and I don't think I will. I do want to know what effect it's going to have on my shot. In my opinon only. I feel the firearm dosen't care if it's 90 or -10. The ammo your shooting does. Temp. has a effect on chamber pressure. I have proven this with trips to the range. Now with that being said. I'm reloading with Reloader 15, temp has an effect on it's overall peformance. I've noticed a change in chamber pressure and velocity and so on with a large drop in temp. I've seen it make a 1/2 inch diffrence in my zero at a 100 yards. So what I have decided is best for my rifle and myself is to figure out what my max load is during the summer months and work from there.
Re: Extreme Weather Shooting
One particular time when I was off work for an extended period a friend asked if I would ride to the range with him and help him take some notes... with my chronograph of course. We were at the range on both the hottest day that year as well as the coldest day that year. And 2 or 3 times a week in between.
We were checking 223, 308 and 30-06. He used (I think) at least 3 powders for each caliber. Since I don't have his data I can't remark which powder did the best. But there were differences with ALL the powders tested. But a couple weren't nearly as bad as the others.
I'm pretty sure Varget was one of the powders that was good to go. I think one of the others was a Hodgden "extreme" powder.
If you check some of the other threads here you'll find a lot of information you can use. At least as far as temperature sensitivity goes.
One particular time when I was off work for an extended period a friend asked if I would ride to the range with him and help him take some notes... with my chronograph of course. We were at the range on both the hottest day that year as well as the coldest day that year. And 2 or 3 times a week in between.
We were checking 223, 308 and 30-06. He used (I think) at least 3 powders for each caliber. Since I don't have his data I can't remark which powder did the best. But there were differences with ALL the powders tested. But a couple weren't nearly as bad as the others.
I'm pretty sure Varget was one of the powders that was good to go. I think one of the others was a Hodgden "extreme" powder.
If you check some of the other threads here you'll find a lot of information you can use. At least as far as temperature sensitivity goes.
Re: Extreme Weather Shooting
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SmallBoreSniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm from upstate NY and every weekend I fire whether it's 90 degrees or 10 below. How do both conditions effect my rifle and my shooting? Is this bad in any way for my rifle?</div></div>
depends on the rifle
...leave the lube in the firing pin spring in extreme cold....and see what happens
....breathe on the optics and regret buying anti-fog
.....get a muzzle full of snow ?????....then what ?
.... when you hunt do you bring it in or leave it out ?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SmallBoreSniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm from upstate NY and every weekend I fire whether it's 90 degrees or 10 below. How do both conditions effect my rifle and my shooting? Is this bad in any way for my rifle?</div></div>
depends on the rifle
...leave the lube in the firing pin spring in extreme cold....and see what happens
....breathe on the optics and regret buying anti-fog
.....get a muzzle full of snow ?????....then what ?
.... when you hunt do you bring it in or leave it out ?
Re: Extreme Weather Shooting
I forgot to mention. Disassemble and clean the rifle every time you get it wet. Or have a rusty rifle.
I usually do a quick clean between range times. I drag out the borescope and clean them spotless 2 or 3 times a year. Especially in the winter.
If you're using a wooden stock as an all weather rifle I would suggest pulling the barreled action and spraying the inside with some kind of sealer to keep the moisture from swelling the stock.
I forgot to mention. Disassemble and clean the rifle every time you get it wet. Or have a rusty rifle.
I usually do a quick clean between range times. I drag out the borescope and clean them spotless 2 or 3 times a year. Especially in the winter.
If you're using a wooden stock as an all weather rifle I would suggest pulling the barreled action and spraying the inside with some kind of sealer to keep the moisture from swelling the stock.
Re: Extreme Weather Shooting
As mentioned, temperature affects speed of pressure developed and maximum pressure reached, in any given cartridge; sort of like altering both the type and volume of powder. Obviously it also will affect trajectory. These are additive. That means when it gets really cold, POI will drop substantially. How much exactly, you have to figure out from testing.
Additionally, barrel stiffness of long, thin barrels is increased, making the frequency of vibration different (higher). In addition to a lowered POI, general accuracy theoretically also decreases for that reason; but again how much it does has to be determined from testing your exact gear.
Conventional 'old-days' wisdom also said to never carry a rifle by the barrel in extremely cold weather, as it might break when firing right where you've been grabbing it. Never have seen or heard of that happening though - maybe it's valid for old Damascus steel.
It is a property of steels that they do lose strength very quickly at some temperature point. That's why drilling rigs made for US Gulf Coast drilling are de-facto prohibited here for winter drilling. They have dangerously low critical strength levels because of the different (cheaper) steel used in the warm-weather rigs. It's also the reason for the urban legend of car thieves spraying steering wheel locks with freon to make them brittle so that they can be shattered. It's also the probable reason for the Titanic sinking. The ice-cold North Atlantic waters apparently reduced the strength of primitive steel plate available at the time so much that it (or its rivets) cracked open on impact with the iceberg. Wiki the 'Charpy test'.
At below -30 degrees, I've had several misfires of medium-bore ammo made with old primers left over from revolver cartridge reloading. The first time that happened cost me a very nice whitetail buck. Needless to say, that batch was 'disposed of' the next summer.
Any load developed to high velocities and maximum pressures over the winter can be dangerously high in the summer. That's especially if a lot of your cartridges have been sitting in the summer sunlight while you are slowly and carefully taking your time practising your shooting. Be particularly conscious of flat primers and sticky cartridge ejection then.
Finally, the colder it gets, the quicker a non-stainless rifle will rust when brought inside a tent or trailer. House rules back in the day were that all rifles had to be hung in a tree outside, where they always stayed cold. Even if stainless steel, they should be stored into an airtight case if brought inside to avoid all sorts of condensation problems.
As mentioned, temperature affects speed of pressure developed and maximum pressure reached, in any given cartridge; sort of like altering both the type and volume of powder. Obviously it also will affect trajectory. These are additive. That means when it gets really cold, POI will drop substantially. How much exactly, you have to figure out from testing.
Additionally, barrel stiffness of long, thin barrels is increased, making the frequency of vibration different (higher). In addition to a lowered POI, general accuracy theoretically also decreases for that reason; but again how much it does has to be determined from testing your exact gear.
Conventional 'old-days' wisdom also said to never carry a rifle by the barrel in extremely cold weather, as it might break when firing right where you've been grabbing it. Never have seen or heard of that happening though - maybe it's valid for old Damascus steel.
It is a property of steels that they do lose strength very quickly at some temperature point. That's why drilling rigs made for US Gulf Coast drilling are de-facto prohibited here for winter drilling. They have dangerously low critical strength levels because of the different (cheaper) steel used in the warm-weather rigs. It's also the reason for the urban legend of car thieves spraying steering wheel locks with freon to make them brittle so that they can be shattered. It's also the probable reason for the Titanic sinking. The ice-cold North Atlantic waters apparently reduced the strength of primitive steel plate available at the time so much that it (or its rivets) cracked open on impact with the iceberg. Wiki the 'Charpy test'.
At below -30 degrees, I've had several misfires of medium-bore ammo made with old primers left over from revolver cartridge reloading. The first time that happened cost me a very nice whitetail buck. Needless to say, that batch was 'disposed of' the next summer.
Any load developed to high velocities and maximum pressures over the winter can be dangerously high in the summer. That's especially if a lot of your cartridges have been sitting in the summer sunlight while you are slowly and carefully taking your time practising your shooting. Be particularly conscious of flat primers and sticky cartridge ejection then.
Finally, the colder it gets, the quicker a non-stainless rifle will rust when brought inside a tent or trailer. House rules back in the day were that all rifles had to be hung in a tree outside, where they always stayed cold. Even if stainless steel, they should be stored into an airtight case if brought inside to avoid all sorts of condensation problems.
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