Ammo and freezing temperatures...

M

Mokumbear

New member
It's been established in previous posts that the hottest weather is not
going to cause any problems with ammo in a gun kept in a vehicle.

On the other hand, how about freezing weather?
Could this affect ammo in any way as long as it's dry?
I am certain there are lots of you out there with experience on this topic.
 
I leave my shotgun in the truck all night during hunting season sometimes it would drop to about 5 degrees and never a problem.
 
You are apt to get slightly lower velocities from cold ammo.

In the past, there have been a few instances of shotgun rounds discharging due to radical changes in temperature from very cold to warm - blamed on the primers not dealing well with the shrinkage and expansion caused by changes in temp.
 
According to the reloading manuals, if you are hunting in extreme cold conditions a switch to magnum primers might be necessary to maintain desired pressures.
 
I have never had issues with cols weather affecting ammo. I was out hunting here in Texas one winter and it was 5 degrees outside and my rifle fired and dropped me a deer.
 
Sheep dog, 5 F is not cold !!!:p There are some who hunt at -40 F but they are a bit off !! A big problem with sub-zero cold is cheap lube that gums up and condensation that freezes in your gun.
 
There will be a difference. I don't think we'll notice it in pistols/revolvers but you might see a difference in rifles.

Having said that, I carried M193 (military 55 grn ball) in my rifle. I was constantly checking to make sure my rifle still held its zero. The rifle was sighted in for 250 yards with the ideal that I could make a head shot out to 300 yards without holding over or under.

My Remington 700 Varmint, 223 did that with the above ammo summer or winter. Like I said in my other post (regarding rifles in cars) it gets nippy in Alaska in the winter.

There was a difference, but not enough to matter in my rifle out to 300 yards.
 
Sheep dog, 5 F is not cold !!! There are some who hunt at -40 F but they are a bit off !! A big problem with sub-zero cold is cheap lube that gums up and condensation that freezes in your gun.
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I was going to say, I've hunted in -20 wind chill with out a problem, I fact you can glean some heat off the barrel once you've fired.
 
I used to hunt and shoot in N. Ontario and N. Quebec as a kid. We'd often have daytime highs of -20C to -30C, and night time lows of -40C. I never had any ammunition problems because of the cold - everything from .22lr to .303 went bang when it was supposed to.

US Troops in Alaska, and Canadian troops in the Arctic use standard NATO ammo winter/spring/summer/fall.
 
The cold isn't going to effect your ammo all that much... but your choice of gun cleaning solvents, & lub's will. As it was already said, and I add, the lub can really slow down the action of the firing pin, etc. and add condensation... it is now locked up big time. Old school (which is a very Good School!) says "clean and DRY" in really cold conditions. Now days there are some lub's mfg's that say they won't change viscosity at lower temps, wonder it that Grizzly reads that ad:D?
 
I have never had problems with rifle ammo in the -40C range. Mostly use factory loads for hunting rather than reloads.
 
Cold Weather

Double Naught Spy,

Do you have any references to support your statements?

Lower pressures with cold weather. How cold, how much lower pressure?

Shotguns going off, why just shotguns?


ljg
 
Cold weather

I lived in Nebraska for a few years. I zeroed my rifle at 100 yards in the summer. Likely in the 90's. I hunted deer and varmints with that one rifle all seasons. There was never any change in point of aim, much less because of the change of temperature. We're talking 90's to below zero. Never a failure to fire.

ljg
 
It depends on the type of powder. In the desert souhwestern U.S. IPSC shooters will sometimes store their ammo in a cooler because if it gets too hot the pressure will drop off and it won't make Major power factor. Certain other powders will lose energy yield when the temps drop. It's not really a huge factor and I wouldn't worry about it. It did not seem to have much effect for the Russian and German soldiers in WW II fighting in extremely cold weather. Now as for lubricants, that is a much bigger issue than ammo when the mercury plummets.
 
I don't see a need to worrry about cold temperature having an adverse affect on ammo. On the other hand, I would worry about condensation forming inside the cartridges when going from cold to hot temp or when dealing with high humidity such as inside a cottage while buring wood for heat. This might cause problems with the gunpowder. I have never had this problem but it's something that I try to stay aware of.

There have been times when I have accidentally dropped rifle cartridges in deep snow and they worked fine after I picked them up right away and wiped them off. But I suppose that if I let them lay in the snow for extended time this could cause some problems.
 
Loosely related, well no, I guess it's directly related- but does anyone know right off hand how cold it got during the times of the battle of Stalingrad, the Bulge, Chosin Resevoir, when the Finns put it to the Russians up in their cold frozen mountains? Those are the places I ponder about when I think of ammo, ordnance, weapons, equipment, and men being pushed to the limits in cold weather extremes. No matter which side- I would have loved to had the oportunity to case study/AAR some of their NCO's.
 
We regularly hunt in cold temps in Taxconsin. -20F is about the coldest I've hunted in and there was no issue. Never heard about anybody having any issue with ammo not going off.

I HAVE had issue with too much oil in a bolt gumming up the works. A buddy did bring a rifle in the camp in the morning to load so his dainty fingers wouldn't get cold. He couldn't work the bolt when he got to his stand because of the condensed water freezing it shut. He had to zip it into his coat and hug it warm. You NEVER bring a rifle inside unless you are going to leave it inside long enough to warm up all the way and then dry it off 100% dry.

But ammo failing to fire because of cold? not a worry.
 
We regularly hunt in cold temps in Taxconsin. -20F is about the coldest I've hunted in and there was no issue. Never heard about anybody having any issue with ammo not going off.
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Same here. But I do notice the primers in my handgun hunting loads are less flattened when shot in sub-zero temps as compared to temps above freezing. I always assumed it meant less pressure and less velocity.
 
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