I have to cchukle at some of my fellow Southerners... I was born and reared in MS, suffered through the summer heat/humidity more times than I can recall... My thermostat stays on 60* in the winter any hotter than that and it starts getting stuffy.... Spent the past 5 years or so in Alaska and now Michigan, so I'll give you my best advice for cold weather shooting.
First and foremost, clothing, proper clothing, will make or break an outing of any kind.
Base layer: Under Armor ColdGear. Best stuff on the market, I swear by it.
Middle layer: Normally Levi's and a Red Head Shirt, maybe a fleece shirt if it's really cold (-10* or below).
Outer layer: Carhartt insulated bib overalls and jacket. There is no substitute, period. If you wash them a couple times, they soften up a bit, but lose water repelling coating, so get some of that spray stuff and put a couple of layers on it.
Socks: Red Head Lifetime Guarantee Smartwool socks. There is no substitue, period. At $20 a pair, they ain't cheap, but you can walk into any Bass Pro in the country and trade worn ones for a new pair, no questions asked.
Boots: Two recommendations here. For little/no snow, I wear my regular Ariat leather boots. For more than a little snow, I wear Kamik rubber boots, the ones with the removable felt liner. Felt is like wool, it'll retain heat even when wet. I've gotten back to the truck many times and poured a pint or two of water (melted snow that creeped in over the top of the boot) out of my boots. Never had cold feet.
Gloves: I like fleece gloves when I'll be on a shooting bench as they don't limit dexterity too badly. I like regular ol' Ironside leather/poly workgloves when I'm doing anything else. If it's bad cold, I'll put a polypro liner on under the Ironsides.
On the drive back to the house from the range, put the guns in the cab of the truck with you and gradually heat the cab. Take the guns straight from the cab into the house when you get there. Shouldn't be too bad on the condensation. If it is, just give it a thorough spritz of transmission fluid (or whatever oil you use) and a wipe-down. During hunting season I'll normally just spritz, wipe, and run a transmission fluid-coated boresnake through the bore and call it a night.
Steel targets are better than paper targets when it's cold, especiall if you are trying to tape the paper to cardboard.
Below 0* temps/windchill, I wipe all oil off the gun I'm carrying, as well as blow out all the oil from the 'hard to get to' spots with the air compressor. Then sprinkle some graphite powder on all moving parts. Haven't had any issues yet, and I was using my BAR MkII Safari (.30/06) on a caribou hunt outside of Nome one year... It was about -20* with windchill.
Stay dry and warm. The first is more important than the latter.
First and foremost, clothing, proper clothing, will make or break an outing of any kind.
Base layer: Under Armor ColdGear. Best stuff on the market, I swear by it.
Middle layer: Normally Levi's and a Red Head Shirt, maybe a fleece shirt if it's really cold (-10* or below).
Outer layer: Carhartt insulated bib overalls and jacket. There is no substitute, period. If you wash them a couple times, they soften up a bit, but lose water repelling coating, so get some of that spray stuff and put a couple of layers on it.
Socks: Red Head Lifetime Guarantee Smartwool socks. There is no substitue, period. At $20 a pair, they ain't cheap, but you can walk into any Bass Pro in the country and trade worn ones for a new pair, no questions asked.
Boots: Two recommendations here. For little/no snow, I wear my regular Ariat leather boots. For more than a little snow, I wear Kamik rubber boots, the ones with the removable felt liner. Felt is like wool, it'll retain heat even when wet. I've gotten back to the truck many times and poured a pint or two of water (melted snow that creeped in over the top of the boot) out of my boots. Never had cold feet.
Gloves: I like fleece gloves when I'll be on a shooting bench as they don't limit dexterity too badly. I like regular ol' Ironside leather/poly workgloves when I'm doing anything else. If it's bad cold, I'll put a polypro liner on under the Ironsides.
On the drive back to the house from the range, put the guns in the cab of the truck with you and gradually heat the cab. Take the guns straight from the cab into the house when you get there. Shouldn't be too bad on the condensation. If it is, just give it a thorough spritz of transmission fluid (or whatever oil you use) and a wipe-down. During hunting season I'll normally just spritz, wipe, and run a transmission fluid-coated boresnake through the bore and call it a night.
Steel targets are better than paper targets when it's cold, especiall if you are trying to tape the paper to cardboard.
Below 0* temps/windchill, I wipe all oil off the gun I'm carrying, as well as blow out all the oil from the 'hard to get to' spots with the air compressor. Then sprinkle some graphite powder on all moving parts. Haven't had any issues yet, and I was using my BAR MkII Safari (.30/06) on a caribou hunt outside of Nome one year... It was about -20* with windchill.
Stay dry and warm. The first is more important than the latter.
I remember driving past the dolomite plant to get to our fish camp. Excellent pike, walleye and smallmouth bass fishing.
The rest of me was fine. I wear ECWS ploy pro, a bear suit & gore-tex parka & pants but the real winner was the surplus Mickey Mouse boots.
