Bench shooting in the cold.

"...in the 40s today..." That's not cold unless there's a '-' in front of it.
I once ran a CF range in a blizzard.
"...shoot from inside..." Did that in the CF too. One of the ranges had huts with firing loop holes. Always thought it a bit daft.
Anyway, cold weather shooting means you need to remove any oil and grease from the firearm. The stuff turns to iron and can stop the firearm functioning. Using magnum primers helps too. Otherwise, gloves or trigger finger mittens, parka's and mukluks. And a poncho.
 
It's either that or don't shoot at all,,,

It's either that or don't shoot in the winter at all,,,
This is in Oklahoma where it doesn't get too nasty very often.

A range acquaintance once told me,,,
He thought I was just a pile of old blankets,,,
Until he heard the rifle go off and saw the muzzle poking out.

One member of my rifle & pistol club uses a portable hunting blind,,,
He's out there for several hours at a time and is comfy,,,
But then again he also has a propane heater in it.

If I can keep my feet warm I'm okay,,,
So I bought some mil-surp (Polish?) arctic boots,,,
I feel like my feet are encased in small barrels but they are effective.

Insulated undies, jeans and flannel, gloves and a pair of carhartt coveralls and I'm good to go.

I won't hit very well,,,
But at least it's trigger time.

Aarond

.
 
I live in Minnesota, but have a lake home up in NW Wisconsin. I'm taking tomorrow off to go out and shoot. (Arrive up hear about 4:30, temp was 1 degree F). Looking at tomorrows weather, it looks like I will see a high of 14 degrees around 2PM! ;)
 
Living in Wisconsin makes shooting more or less a seasonal thing for me. I tend to shoot pistols much more in the summer and rifles much more in the winter.

Layers of clothing and boot warmers are the key to staying at the range for me. A good example though is last weekend. Me and my bud had 3 of his company's interns at the range shooting rifles. It was 25 degrees and lightly snowing for most of the day. To us (me and buddy) it was beautiful. I didn't even need gloves and my hands honestly didn't get cold. The interns being from Germany, were cold within a half hour of getting to the range and were very glad to be given boot warmers.

I personally like winter shooting. Something about being at the range with less people, the cold air and the barrel cooling off faster just makes me smile. Like a couple other "northerners" have said though, below about 15 degrees the fun factor diminishes faster.
 
Gun club I belong to here in Co are open year around and most time if wind chill isn't too bad have shooters at the range. Fri was mid 50's, Sat -5 /snow and next week suppose to be warmer.

This time of year lot be shooting their varmint rifles.
 
Being from Wisconsin I have some experience when it comes to shooting in the cold. As others have said there are benefits of shooting in the cold. I would consider myself average when it comes to dealing with the cold, below 30 and I start to layer up clothing. I have co-workers who work outdoors in 40 degree weather wearing shorts :eek:
 
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