When does it matter?

[avidflyer]

For the serious / competitive ARA type shooters, when does temperature effect the round. Example... You have a great lot of center X that is a proven match lot, you've won with it, very happy with the lot. When does lower temps start to effect the accuracy?

 

[PWNolan]

I've always had it in my head that under 50 degrees is when things start going south ammo-wise but I'm thinking it varies with different barrels and guns. Could also be I just start to shoot worse as the temp drops.

I'll be interested to read what others have to say

 

[buckeye68]

I’ve shot same ammo all year and so far no issues and temps have been between 46 to 95 with no difference in accuracy.

 

[JimSC]

When I shot F class and the temps dropped into the forties and thirties I kept my ammo for the match in a small cooler with an electric handwarmer in my truck. Before my relay, I would transfer 25 rounds to a Crown Royal bag with a second handwarmer. I never thought about it last winter when I started rimfire but this winter I might keep the rimfire ammo in my coat pocket in a plastic bag along with the trusty handwarmer.

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

For the serious / competitive ARA type shooters, when does temperature effect the round. Example... You have a great lot of center X that is a proven match lot, you've won with it, very happy with the lot. When does lower temps start to effect the accuracy?

Are you asking if it does, or you want to compare what you have seen/experience?

I prefer to tune when the temperatures are in the 50's or colder and only difference, I see is a slightly higher POI during temperatures in high nineties to one hundred plus. this is shooting the same lots of CX.


Lee

 

[grauhanen]

I recently shot some M+ and CX in cool temperatures around 3 deg. Celsius (37 F). Both performed very similarly to when the same lots were shot in temperatures at 15 C (59 F). In all cases, before shooting the ammo is kept at whatever the outdoor temperatures may be.

 

[dstoenner]

I have found what has already been said that at 50f things don’t go well with some 22lr. I have found that Eley sort of goes to pot. By 32 eley is about 2x in groups. R50 on the other hand is stable from hot to cold. Center-X is in between. It’s breakpoint for me is around 40f.

David

 

[TRSR8]

Well known fact than much below 50deg with match ammo things go off the rails with regularity in a RFBR environment

 

[drover]

A few years back there was a well done comprehensive test done on the effects of colder temps with 22 ammo. I believe that it was a Precision Shooter article IIRC.
That particular test concluded 45 F. as the point where accuracy started deteriorating noticably. Over the years I have found that to be pretty darned close, of course different ammo and lubes will vary it a bit.

When I am shooting in colder temps I keep the ammo under my jacket in an inside pocket and only load the ammo prior to shooting so that it does not get a chance to cool off.

drover

 

[MUP]

Test the ammo at different temps and keep records. Some ammo is supposedly formulated for lower temps, such as Lapua Polar Biathlon I believe. Regardless, test to know for sure in your specific application. JMO

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

I have done test in cold weather under 50 degrees, and I really haven't seen a big difference on how the rifle shot or the ammo. I leave my ammo to acclimate to the surrounding temperature.
First target was not really testing cold weather effects. I used different lots to test extraction. as you can see not too bad for not really trying to shoot as best I as I could just load aim and shoot.

Second target I was showing how cold didn't affect the ammo. this was in 2018. started at 34 degrees. you will notice the lot shot fairly flat. first bull on the left is the first shot out of the rifle case clean bore followed by 5 shots then a single shot at each bull thereafter.

I will say this, hot weather and higher temperatures because of the change in burn rate with higher velocities makes hold off a bit different but otherwise shoots the same for me.

Lee

 

[moondog]

I'm not a BR shooter but, at matches that go out past 200 yards it makes a huge difference. We get dope out to 300ish in the morning, typically 50°. That same dope at 80° later in the match will be over the target. Not just me, but everyone on the line.

 

[avidflyer]

I'm not a BR shooter but, at matches that go out past 200 yards it makes a huge difference. We get dope out to 300ish in the morning, typically 50°. That same dope at 80° later in the match will be over the target. Not just me, but everyone on the line.

Makes sense. good info (overall)

 

[TaperPin]

As a teenager my silhouette gun was often shot at temps down in the 30f to 40f degree range, and at 100m there was a noticeable shift in poi, but groups weren’t worse - at least in my rifle. If the slight change in velocity takes a gun out of tune I’d bet lunch a slight change in barrel tuner setting would bring the groups back in most cases.

In cold weather tests, if the ammo was selected because it shot great when warm it makes sense it wouldn’t shoot as well when cold. Same thing for ammo selected as shooting best in cold weather then warmed up for a test. At least in my basic understanding of it, barrel tune due to velocity is the biggest influence.

 

[moondog]

D

As a teenager my silhouette gun was often shot at temps down in the 30f to 40f degree range, and at 100m there was a noticeable shift in poi, but groups weren’t worse - at least in my rifle. If the slight change in velocity takes a gun out of tune I’d bet lunch a slight change in barrel tuner setting would bring the groups back in most cases.

In cold weather tests, if the ammo was selected because it shot great when warm it makes sense it wouldn’t shoot as well when cold. Same thing for ammo selected as shooting best in cold weather then warmed up for a test. At least in my basic understanding of it, barrel tune due to velocity is the biggest influence.

Didn't say it didn't shoot good, prints higher as the D.A. goes up

 

[grauhanen]

It was only 1 degree Celsius (almost 34 F) when I shot 10 ten-shot groups at 100 yards this morning. The ammo was an unremarkable lot of Center X. The ten group average was just over an inch. On other occasions this month, this lot has given ten group averages from about 0.930 to 1.210 in temps ranging from 4 - 15 C (39 - 59 F). The smallest ten group average was on a 4 C (39 F) morning.

Below are three videos at 8.5X speed of the best groups from this morning. If the temperatures affected accuracy performance, it was hard to tell. The cool temps this morning probably affected the shooter more than the ammo. After an hour I was quite chilled.

I'm relatively new to editing videos.

 

[dgeesaman]

I just did some ammo testing last week and again yesterday morning. Temps dropped by 20 degrees from 57 to 37. All of them performed a bit worse, some much worse. If you have a few lots to pick from, it doesn't take long to determine which is no longer performing in the cold.

 

[Trashy]

Under 65 makes my accuracy fall on its face, but it's from me shivering.
Signed- a Phoenician.