20 replies to this topic

[wksinatl]

Here in Georgia, the coldest I have shot in was only down to about 50 degrees. I'd assume you guys up north really deal with some crazy low temps.

I dress in layers and it's not that big of a deal. Sometimes I will even wear thin gloves until it's time to RO, shoot, or paint.

Stories???

thanks,
Keith

[sdm74]

50 deg...lol..thats a warm sunny day

[gose]

The coldest match I've shot was ~3 F when we got to the range in the morning. It wasnt a steel match, so I guess it doesnt really count, though I probably would have preferred it as a steel match. Patching paper targets in that weather was not fun.

Edited by gose, 29 November 2011 - 06:51 PM.

[Mark R]

Go to your local sports store and purchase some chemical activated hand warmers...twin packs so you can put one in each pocket. They are nice to keep and get your hands warm just before you shoot. Long johns top and bottom help also.

[wksinatl]

50 deg...lol..thats a warm sunny day

Yup, it's all relative. The flip side is I have shot in 104 degrees and about 80% humidity. That's an extreme but, I'll take the heat over the cold any day.

I think about 75 and overcast is about a perfect shooting day for me.

thanks,
Keith

[dshooter3]

Two weeks ago it was 9 deg at the steel match. We have propane heaters on the range that everyone stands around them when they are not shooting. We even have to point a heater at the paint cans so they don't freeze. The biggest problem was that the wax lube on the.22 was shearing off in the magazines and stoping the follower. Can anyone recommend a 22 with a dry lube that is inexpensive.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Negative 3 degrees... Last year on the last day of the year. I taught a rifle class here in Colorado. The high that day was 16 degrees and we had a great time!

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[markcic]

2009 Doubletap It was somewhere between 30 and 40. They key is dress in layers, handwarmers, gloves, and tape with you off hand and make sure you take your gear out of the car. I left my belt in the truck overnight. When I put my pistol on at the safe table I broke the retention mechinism on my Ghost. I had to shoot the whole match from lock. My buddy broke his holster right before I broke mine and managed to find someone with a spare.

[sdm74]

50 deg...lol..thats a warm sunny day

Yup, it's all relative. The flip side is I have shot in 104 degrees and about 80% humidity. That's an extreme but, I'll take the heat over the cold any day.

I think about 75 and overcast is about a perfect shooting day for me.

thanks,
Keith

Love the 70's ..the problem where I live is it goes from having to shoot in 100 deg in august to shooting in 20 to 30 deg in winter. Seems like we get both sides of the extreme around here.
and lately alot less of the good transitional temps. it goes from way hot to way cold

[wksinatl]

Wow, you guys are TOUGH!

dshooter3,I have noticed that too with .22 ammo. I shoot Blazer in my Nordic Component rifles and 10/22's. I have shot 29,000rds through just my Nordic match gun. They have the same POI as mini-mags and cost less. BUT....they are pretty nasty. They lead up my Buckmarks (factory and TacSol barrels) and Glock Advantage Arms conversion so badly that after about 190-200 rounds accuracy goes south. We can get through a match OK and they get cleaned after every range session anyway.


All, Thanks for the responses!

Keith

[JonF]

High 20's/low 30's in a December match here in NJ last year. My first match that cold and my CZ was binding up a lot towards the end of the day since i typically use grease on the slide rails (and didn't ever consider that would be an issue since i never shot in the cold like that). I could take the cold as i dress like im going skiing but take of my coat to shoot my strings. My CZ, OTOH, didn't agree but again, if had switched to using a thin oil, i would have been fine.

[Jaxshooter]

You guys are making me cold just talking about the weather you shoot in. I wore long pants to one shoot last winter. We shoot in 95+ 3 months of the year though.

[orangeman711]

SMM3gun 7or 8 yrs. ago. Rain,sleet and snow.They held our squad up for 20-30 mins.til the snow let up so we could see the long rifle targets. Most miserably cold I've been in my life. Loved it.

[Bansheex]

For us I would say it was low 30"s We had a few guys that brought propane heaters. Everybody wanted to shoot on their squad!

I had to drive 2 hours on iced roads to get to the match. It was fun!

[Chills1994]

UnderArmour is where it's at:

http://www.underarmo.../pid1000512-600

it is dual layer.

the tag on it says to wear when it is 55 degrees or colder, and they are absolutely right.

once I put it on and say a long sleeve T-shirt over that, I have to scadaddle out of the house quickly because I will break out in a sweat shortly.

[Steve Anderson]

The important thing about inclement weather shooting is to ignore it. Dress for it and enjoy the cold instead of bitching about it. You can get an edge over many competitors that way. Works well in the rain, too.

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

Check with the Green Mountain Practical shooters in Vermont.

Spring in Vermont

[Dan Sierpina]

The important thing about inclement weather shooting is to ignore it. Dress for it and enjoy the cold instead of bitching about it. You can get an edge over many competitors that way. Works well in the rain, too.

The issue is if you have problems with your hands, arthritis, etc. When fingers bend reluctently, it's hard to be cheerful at the range.

[Sam]

-21 degrees f, according to my practice log. The trick is to keep your head and neck covered really well. For some reason, your hands don't get cold very fast, if everything else is warm.


If you are at home, save the brass picking until spring thaw.






Yes, I have gun oil that works at -21 degrees. (Maybe this winter it will get cold, so I can report from -35.)

[photoracer]

At my age I'm not a fan of cold weather due to arthritis in my former dominant left hand. Be that as it may I have shot club matches here in Maryland as low as about 30 degrees. With the heat tricks I use for my guns, ammo, and loaders and using Eezox as my only lube I have no issues in cold weather except keeping my hands as warm as possible before shooting and creating enough body warmth with enough freedom of movement for shooting. My usual gear is lined combat type boots and socks, flannel lined jeans, Under Armor long sleeve compression T, flannel shirt and a good lined vest. plus a jacket on top till I shoot to keep the gun and mags warm. I use a pair of Riddell Wide Receiver gloves with the trigger finger cut 3/4 off. They have the best traction of any of several types of gloves I have tried. Otherwise the TS aluminum grips can get cold. And if it is really cold I put other gloves over those till I shoot, otherwise I stick them in my pockets with the mags and Walmart hand warmers.
You know you take this sport serious when they cancel a match because there is 3 feet of snow on the range and you are disappointed instead of relieved. Last winter when that happened again I took my snowblower down to the range during the week and blew the snow off the gate area and organized a work day to clean all the ranges off and we had 2 plow trucks, 6 snowblowers and 20 people show up to clean the ranges and got both matches in that weekend even though it was in the high 20's when the matches started.

[photoracer]

UnderArmour is where it's at:

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1000512-600

it is dual layer.

the tag on it says to wear when it is 55 degrees or colder, and they are absolutely right.

once I put it on and say a long sleeve T-shirt over that, I have to scadaddle out of the house quickly because I will break out in a sweat shortly.

That is my favorite undergarment for shooting in cold weather. When it is not quite that cold I will use the Walmart Starter brand clones.