[dugtrap]

Hi,
Real cold here in Boston.. Iam wondering if the cold has any effects on either promo or clay dot. I noticed my shells sound different and iam missing more than i would like to... can I blame it on the cold effects of the powder or me and winter clothing, cold etc.. thanksfor your advise

 

[dhip]

I've heard cold weather can effect the lower grade powders.Usually I up the load(grns) in cold weather.If I really suspect my promo,I'll switch to Green Dot,I've been told it's more consistent in colder weather.Haven't used Clays or any others yet.especially since powders seem to be difficult to get.

Doug H.(Pa.)

 

[Barry C. Roach]

The cold effects ALL shot shells. Store a couple of boxes of your reloads and a couple boxes of new shells in the same freezing conditions and you will find they both will have problems.

Store them warm and you wont have performance problems. Reloading powders are not the problem. It's the temperatures. I used to shoot night leagues and my reloads where always stored around the furnace, transferred in the front seat of the warm car and brought in to the clubhouse. When I was ready to go out and shoot, I put them in a shooting coat pocket with a hand warmer. Never a squib load.

 

[Ajax]

Look on the thread "lowest pressure loads" I just moved to the top. It has some information on cold weather and how it affects some loads. Some more than other.

Ajax

 

[mike campbell]

Some loads are temperature sensitive. Some not so much...

Never a bad idea to keep it warm.

 

[Joe Potosky]

Store them in the house, not the garage or vehicle.

When you take them to the range put them in an insulated cooler. Take out a box at a time....

 

[YOTESLAYER]

I had a couple of boxes in my truck over night in 10 degree temps, some were really lousy sounding and no felt recoil, but some of them like that still broke targets. They were loaded with 16.5 gr of 700x behind 1 1/8 of shot. I now keep my shells warm and have no issues... Except I miss with warm shells too.

 

[635 G]

Get a travel cooler/heater--keep the shells in it before & during the trip to the range

Phil Berkowitz

 

[ILClaysshooter01]

I know it's seems like Red Dot will make a popping sound in cold weather. In may have something to do with faster burning powders and cold weather. I know around Chicago we have had our share of cold so far this year.

 

[ou.3200]

Just had problems today with 3 dram 1 1/8 oz 7.5 factory Estate Super Sport Competition Loads. I have used the "same" Estate loads in all kinds of weather in the past with no problems. The shells used today were the first box of a lot recently purchased. They were kept in the house, taken from the warm car and used for handicap in 20 degree weather. The first few shells sounded normal, then probably 10 of the last 15 were obviously off sounding and weak. The temperature was actually warmer today than in the past when previous lots of Estates were used and the 2 3/4 dram Federals used on the 16 yard line exhibited no evidence of weak loads. No confidence in the Estate loads now.

 

[davidjayuden]

I have seen PROMO reloads produce occasional bloopers on bitter days when fired thru a .740 bore barrel. I never did my research to determine the exact cause, but it is my SUSPICION that the problem is that the wads (Clay Busters) were cold and did not expand to seal inside of the barrel. But that is just suspicion.
But like the others have said, keep those shells warm and you should have no problems.
dju

 

[SHOOTOFF KING]

I had the same problem once the shells just seemed to go poof no recoil light hits if any. Went looking and found the wads had splintered apart found pieces near the trap house at the time I ws using the red Versalite wads , yet when the weather was warm the same batch worked fine. I guess the cold made the plastic brittle . I kept them in the truck year round . Gary

 

[snapthecat]

Better stay away from Solo 1000 in cold weather. I had a very bad and embarrassing experience with it at a shoot once. I had made the mistake of buying a keg of it. Finally shot it all up during summer shoots.

 

[goose2]

Who ever told you green dot was not affected by the cold does not know what there talking about.
If you load lower pressure G.D. loads you will quickly find out how much un burnt powder is in your barrel.

 

[Quack Shot]

Instead of blaming the powder for all of the issues, look at the primer selection. There are only about three or four primers I will use in cold weather. I had numerous issues with certain loads and simply changing primers and adjusting the powder charge to match the data, did the trick. Federal 209A, Winchester W209, CCI209M, and maybe the Rio G660 if I don't want to reuse the hulls with a standard primer. The Fiocchi primers are notorious for cold weather issues with some powders. Wads can also be a problem, but to a lesser extent. Bad plastic is bad plastic. Had Blue and Green Dusters that would fracture in under 50 degree weather. Any manufacturer can get substandard plastic, but if they test them, the bad stuff doesn't get to the reloaders. Sometimes the wad fit can be an issue.

I test my loads by putting half a box in the freezer and shooting them over a chronograph and comparing the velocities to the half box that are normal temp. I've tested factory shells the same way. It can be an eye opener. Needless to say, I know what to expect when shooting in colder weather. I do the same with metallic loads.

 

[mx8dave]

a couple 0f weeks ago ,I had my chono at the gun club,,,one of the shooters left his shells out on the bench,,,I told him to bring them in ,,where it was warmer...As an experiment we left one shell outside outside on the bench and one inside in front of the fireplace,,they were factory federal two and three forths dram loads,, After about 45 minutes we shot the cold one thru the chono,,,the cold load registered 761 fps,,,we brought the warm one out shot it and it showed 1145 fps was an eye opener for some of the fellows there ,,,MX8Dave

 

[Chugiakshooter]

I'm glad every place other than Alaska has this problem,NOT.

 

[Bruce Em]

Quack,

What factory shells are least affected by the cold?

I would enjoy your findings

thanks

 

[jake boy]

I have a couple of cases in my van for a month or 2. NO problem with my reloads 15 below yesterday shoot fine. Promo powder .

 

[Quack Shot]

Bruce Em

It would depend on what factory load and the lot number and when. I did not start out to compile a list of the best factory loads. I don't shoot that many of them anymore, mostly using my own reloads as a rule. I've seen no rhyme nor reason, but one year Remingtons could be great and the next year a new lot might fare poorly. I can tell you that the worst is easy to find. Blue Rios were horrible a few years back. I haven't tried them since then. Other similar loads from the same manufacturer did poorly as well. Did they fix it? Who knows. I won't buy them or shoot them. I tried shells obtained over a period of several years, so I don't think it was a fluke. You could hear the difference even at 40 - 50 degrees. The Nitros I've tried seemed pretty consistent. AA Handicaps were fine until this year. Had a couple of boxes that I could have thrown faster. They were fine when warm, but this cold weather can really put some stress on normally reliable ammo. A new box worked just fine. Federals did pretty well overall. Remington premium stuff did ok, with a few exceptions. Winchester AA did well, except for a few handicaps in recent history. You would think a handicap load should hold it's own in the cold, but not always so.

The idea is to see what the Factory shells generally do in the cold and compare the results for your reloads to them for comparison. I found some powders will lose more velocity when compared to others when used in target loads. An appropriate powder in an appropriate load will usually do well. At zero degrees, I would not expect to lose much more than about 100 fps or so, when compared to 70 degree weather. Primer selection seemed critical in some cases. Using a powder that isn't intended for the loads you are building might not work well either. Using powders that work well with heavier field loads, in light target loads is usually asking for trouble in the cold.

In all, there is no list of winners, but some were definite losers. Mention a "Best" load and then have a new lot do poorly. I doubt I tested a large enough sample to draw a definite conclusion for a clear winner or loser, with the exception I mentioned previously. If I were buying 50 flats at a clip, I'd certainly want to try a box from that particular lot number to be sure they would work in the cold as I would expect. Warm weather does not seem to be an issue as far as velocities are concerned. When you have a box of shells lose 400-500 fps on some shells, it has a tendency to make you lose confidence. I have a few flats of Nitros, STS, AA, and AA Handicaps I have used for my comparisons. They all gave similar results. Even the Estates I have on hand do pretty well. One box of Nitros were exceptional, but it was only one sample. 55fps drop on average. I'm sure I could open another box and get a different result, since other boxes were different from that sample.