snow

willie332

I like working and developing new loads during the winter because of the cold and not having to wait long times for barrels to cool down, but I wont shoot when it snows. Im worried that since Im trying to be as accurate as I can, taking out all variables that could affect bullet flight like wind, that the bullet flying threw the air on its way to the target is striking snow flakes along the way that might start the mushroom formation process. Any thoughts? [?]

charliemeyer007

Back in the early 70's I loaded winter ammo, that was only shot as cold. Never given time to warm up in the chamber or it would loosen primers when fired. Most of the work was done with full metal jackets in 308 or 30-06 for yote hunting.

I never shot very far in falling snow or ground blizzards as it was too hard to see the target.

I would think that lightly constructed high velocity bullets would not do well in snow. I know that I have pushed them to self destruction from just rotational forces.

As a side note at 25 below zero I could watch in slow motion my Nylon 66 cycle. At the first hint of forward bolt travel the next round would "hop" into the chamber, to be later followed up by the bolt.

rsnyder55

One problem with developing loads in cold weather is when they are shot during higher temperatures.

FWIW, I have 300WM loads that were developed and shot when it was 60 degrees, but showed serious overpressure signs when shooting at 90 degrees.

sandwarrior

I agree with the others about being careful not to overdo your loads, so as when summer comes you aren't blowing primers.

As far as shooting in the snow affecting accuracy, you will be amazed that shooting in light rain and snow does not adversely affect accuracy that bad. Mostly because the air pressure wave in front of the bullet knocks it out of the way.

My problem with shooting most of my stuff in any kind of moisture is getting it cleaned and re-oiled. I hate having to clean rust by the time I get back to the house. Summer showers in Minnesota had rust growing pretty fast.

iceracerx

Snow flakes make doping the wind easier.

babun

quote:Originally posted by iceracerx
Snow flakes make doping the wind easier.


+10000
When I was doing a lot of long range shooting, the bullet drop was fairly easy to figger out. But cross winds would knock your butt into the ground!! In a lite snow fall, you have a thousand "wind flags" all the way to the target.[;)]

nemesisenforcer

Just stay within the recommended parameters in the manuals and you won't have any problems, though the velocity may vary slightly.

Stick or extruded powder is more resistant to temp changes than ball powder and Hodgon's Extreme series is even more stable and consistent. Alliant's Reloader series is also highly temperature resistant.

elubsme

Snow, even lightly packed snow doesn't have enough resistance to deform a bullet. To prove this shoot into a snow bank and either dig the bullets out or go back in the spring and pick them up off the ground totally intact except for rifling marks. I still get a lot of bullet casting lead this way. EZ

Mobuck

Bullets push a "pressure wave" in front of them that would not allow a snowflake to actually touch the bullet. I've shot a couple of times in heavy snow when you could see the flight of the bullet by the swirl of the snow. At least if you were looking through the riflescope.

JustC

never have an effect on trajectory or bullet integrity during flight. I have shot in summer squals/downpours and was still putting the bullet right on the crosshairs.