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Winter shooting

Boisblancboy

Alright guys for those of you that shoot F class and that live where we get freezing temperatures and snow do you get out and do much practice? Just curious if you do and if you change your setup in anyway.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of building a heated shooting shack to make things a little more enjoyable to get out a shoot more during the winter.
 
I have shot matches in the snow and temps as low as 9º. Might think twice about practicing in that but one DOES need to get out of the house in winter!
 
The big downside to shooting with temps below 25-30 degrees is that your load will generally go to hell, especially if you worked it up when the temp was 60-70 degrees. I find winter a good time to practice at 300 yd with commercial ammo. It's sufficient to stay in form behind the rifle, without wasting a lot of time and reloading components.
 
Mirage is a killer shooting out of a heated shack. They do or used to shoot out of a heated firing line at Washtenaw. I shot there once and did alright but it is tough. Many here don’t experience shoot in negative temperatures like I think you have at Bob-Lo.
 
Uthink Uknow said:
Mirage is a killer shooting out of a heated shack. They do or used to shoot out of a heated firing line at Washtenaw. I shot there once and did alright but it is tough. Many here don’t experience shoot in negative temperatures like I think you have at Bob-Lo.
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The past few days were a bit too cold to even give it a try -1° as a high.

As I sit here I was thinking about the mirage problem. Maybe a small fan out the back to create a negative pressure to keep the heat from rolling out the opening for the gun if that opening was kept small enough.

I’d like to come down to Washtenaw to shoot. My bro lives just down the road from it.
 
Winter time is time to play with my RF BR guns and handguns at our local indoor heated range. I can shoot 100 yards indoor in relative comfort.
 
I would think that you would want to practice in the same conditions your matches would be held. If you’re going to compete in the cold, you better know when your fingers are going to stop working.:eek:

Inviting friends to your private range can have it’s downside. I spent too much time playing host and not enough time shooting. Then they’d drink all my beer and eat all my snacks.
 
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We shoot 12 months a year in Holton, Michigan. We are lucky in that the Holton Gun Club has the clubhouse and an enclosed area attached with 3- benches. This enclosed area I'm guessing to be about 18 x 20. From the 3 benches one can shoot at 75 yards, 100 yards, and 200 yards.
The club has informal shoots 3 Sundays a month. January - March, Egg shoots 2- saturdays a month(shoot @ 100 yards), and Paper Score Shoots every Thursday. The egg shoots and the paper score shoots are 22LR only. Great practice for keeping your shooting sharp in the off season. The club routinely has 25-30 shooters attending these shoots. Great Winter shooting!
Oh, they do place 2 propane heaters in this normally unheated area to take the chill off. When its 10-15 degrees the heaters will warm this area to appx 40 degrees. It helps greatly that the club house is attached as the shooters will wander in and out of the club house to the shooting area. Hot Lunches are available for Shooters. Yep, lots of senior shooters with time on their hands waiting for nicer weather to return so they can once again enjoy centerfire shoots.
 
joshb said:
I would think that you would want to practice in the same conditions your matches would be held. If you’re going to compete in the cold, you better know when your fingers are going to stop working.:eek:

Inviting friends to your private range can suck. I spent too much time playing host and not enough time shooting. Then they’d drink all my beer and eat all my snacks.
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Josh, you need more snacks I'll send you a big box of Milky Bones,,
 
We shot a rimfire sporter match last Saturday. 33 degrees with a full value 20 to 25 mph wind coming off a lake 1/2 mile to the north off the range. Got really difficult to handle the rimfire ammo with freezing fingers. Found myself questioning our sanity.
 
I shoot all year around at the range except when the temperature drops below 30 degree and / or winds are over 20 mph.

In the winter I dress appropriately and use Under Armour form fitting gloves, a hand warmer muff with "Hot Hands" disposable hand warmers. It works quite well and I can get in about an hour or so of comfortable practice time before I become uncomfortable. It's better than sitting in the house watching reruns of "Gunsmoke" which I've seen 50 times.
 
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