Temperature effects on reloads

[Josh89]

Most of my reloads have been developed earlier in the spring,im guessing between 60-70 degree days.now with the colder temperatures coming in a few more months I'm wondering how much this is going to affect my loads.inhave a pretty good stock right now and was wondering if I should burn all those up before winter comes and we start hitting 40 and under temperatures if I'm gonna start having problems.mostly using titegroup,clays universal,cfe223 and cfe pistol.just want to get some input from some loaders who have been thru some winters.

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[Crohnos01]

You could always try what I have done; I take a cooler with some ice in it to the range and keep the rounds nice and chilly until I go to shoot them Gives you a pretty good idea what effect if any temperature will have on your loads

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

im definately curious as to what people have found when shooting in different temps.


im not saying its not a "thing" but my reloads shoot the same at 0 degrees, 100 degrees and all temps inbetween. if there is a difference its very marginal or me.

YMMV

 

[KKG]

im not saying its not a "thing" but my reloads shoot the same at 0 degrees, 100 degrees and all temps inbetween. if there is a difference its very marginal or me.

I too have never seen a great deal of difference between the way a given Load shoots at different temperatures. Certainly not enough to make it something of concern.

 

[slimmer13]

Ammunition temp only matters for long range shots. Probably not too noticeable until past 500 yards or so. The hotter the cartridge temp, the higher the velocity. Could be several inches at 1000 yds.

That's why if you work up data sheets using ballistic software, ammo temp has a column.

 

[Certaindeaf]

The thing is, Josh, you need to work on your wtf
"load", click action.
didna click

 

[ageingstudent]

Most of my reloads have been developed earlier in the spring,im guessing between 60-70 degree days.now with the colder temperatures coming in a few more months I'm wondering how much this is going to affect my loads.inhave a pretty good stock right now and was wondering if I should burn all those up before winter comes and we start hitting 40 and under temperatures if I'm gonna start having problems.mostly using titegroup,clays universal,cfe223 and cfe pistol.just want to get some input from some loaders who have been thru some winters.

You...might...
I've never had a problem with my AR or 22-250 with the powders I have used.

Lower pressure pistol loads though? Maaaybe. Depends on how cold. I had some issues with .38 special and some hp-38 loads last winter. The warmer +p loads worked better. I was specifically shooting in the coldest weather (during that big ice storm we had) to see how some of my stuff would work in the cold. If I warmed the ammo in my pocket or the truck and shot it right away it worked fine. You just have to try it out and see. No issues in .357 mag, .40 S&W, 5.56, or .351 WSL. I thought the .351 might give me some trouble but it shot just fine in the cold.

 

[ageingstudent]

You could always try what I have done; I take a cooler with some ice in it to the range and keep the rounds nice and chilly until I go to shoot them Gives you a pretty good idea what effect if any temperature will have on your loads

Well it can affect the way your gun works also. I shoot a lot of older well used revolvers and they can get arthritic when the temp goes below 25f or so. Clean gun with really thin oil helps.

 

[CLT65]

Long ago when I pushed the limits more than I do now with reloads, I had some trouble with some .223 loads in a Mini14.

I worked up a load that I thought was a good one. For some foolish reason I was under the impression that to be a good load it had to be pushing the ragged edge with the highest velocity possible. Some time later we were shooting on a hot day. The ammo was sitting out on a hot car hood. We were mystified when the rifle jammed a couple times, then we found blown primers falling out of the action. It's quite concerning to find half of your empty brass has blown primers.

I've never seen a problem the other way around, with loads developed in warm weather. I've heard that there can be issues, but my understanding that it was primarily with extreme cold weather.

 

[ageingstudent]

I should note, be careful if you are shooting over a chrony. Make sure of your point of impact first just incase they are shooting a little low in the cold lol.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

IMO it would take a drastic change in temps to make a difference; 300 yards or less.

Something like load in the 90s and shoot sub zero...

Seems to me that condensation would be a "killer". Firearms and other metal items sweat when brought indoors during the winter.

 

[dangerranger60]

Where I live it gets extremely hot. It can stay over 110 for weeks at a time. In a closed up car it can go over 150 deg.
I was worried about what that high heat could do to carry ammo stored in my truck so I called Hogdon to see what they say about heat. They say Powder can begin to deteriorate at 150 deg! Since then I have always kept my spare ammo in a cooler.

I have never had ammo go bad but I have been to a match or two where people had their bullet lube melt off their bullets! A foam cooler has kept mine cool enough that I have not had that problem.

The only cold weather problems I ever had was with a Mauser that when it was real cold the firing pin would freeze up. I finally stripped the bolt and boiled it long enough to get all the old grease and Cosmoline out of it. That's also when I started using Mobile one Full synthetic oil. Its supposed to be good down to -100 deg's.

Other than that I have not noticed any difference in the way they shoot. Good Luck DR

 

[No_Regerts]

Some powders are more temperature sensitive than others. Many newer powders have more consistent velocities through the temperature spectrum.

 

[Member 5605]

You can also use a non temperature sensitive powder...

 

[DizzyJ]

Some powders are more temperature sensitive than others. Many newer powders have more consistent velocities through the temperature spectrum.

This. Also as mentioned, if you're not on the ragged edge of pressures, a little more heat shouldn't make too much difference. A little colder, and you should be fine.

There are a few powders known for being more temperature stable than the others. Two I'm familiar with are Varget and IMR8298XBR. They are also excellent with regard to accuracy in many platforms. There are others as or more stable than these two as well, I've just not used them.


Oh, H322 is another extreme powder that is supposedly fairly temp stable.