good cold weather powder.
04-07-2015, 05:06 AM
#11
Spike
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location:
Posts: 54
Cool weather propellants
Don't think I have seen H4831 or Imr 8208 listed depending on your bullet weight they may be a good consideration.
And while I have not worked with the new Enduron powders by IMR they may be a good choice. IMR 4166 & IMR 4451 may deserve a honest look. supposed to be temp insensitive and reduce copper fouling. Should be good if you look at the price
And while I have not worked with the new Enduron powders by IMR they may be a good choice. IMR 4166 & IMR 4451 may deserve a honest look. supposed to be temp insensitive and reduce copper fouling. Should be good if you look at the price
04-14-2015, 12:27 PM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Eastern wv
Posts: 3,648
ball powders are double based, they run as good in cold weather as any, heat is the enemy of ball powder consistantcy. you can switch to another powder or use a magnum primer, rework your load in cold weather, you'll probably hafta up the charge to get the same velocity, not a big deal if you keep your warm and cold weather loads separated.
RR
RR
04-14-2015, 08:18 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
I've not done a lot of cold weather experimentation with a rifle, but have done a good bit with pistol. The theory/experience is likely to be similar with pistol and rifle.
I was getting high hits in cold weather when pistol shooting. And finally hit on the idea that a pistol or rifle rarely recoils directly to the rear, on many rifles (and most all pistols) some of the recoil is up, it is in the design of the stock angle. I eventually hit on the idea that that fraction of second more the powder took to burn in extremely cold weather, was causing the barrel to recoil up higher before the bullet made it out of the end of the barrel. That was the only plausible reason I could think of for my consistent high hits in very cold weather.
This was kind of the opposite of what I expected, you'd think lower temps would lower velocity and cause bullet drop???
Another oddity I noticed was at the range I used to shoot rifle at long distance, out to around 350 yards, the air layers seemed to have a rather profound effect on bullet drop and/or where it would strike. The way the range was set up was it had a berm on three sides and raised shooting mounds every hundred yards. The farther you wanted to shoot, the farther back you moved and shot over the raised shooting mounds closer to the target. My groups were consistent, but the strike point would change as the air warmed up in the morning. The right conditions (a little ground fog) and you could actually see a vapor trail from the bullet. I have no idea if the visual path changed due to refraction or the actual bullet path changed as it passed through the different air temperatures between the mounds, but I found it interesting. My groups were good, they would just move around the bullseye in rather random ways.
IMR 3031 is my go to powder for my .308. The manufacturer said the rifle was designed to shoot 167 gr PSPBT bullets at around 2750 FPS. The rifle shoots way better than I do, so I decided to follow their recommendations.
I was getting high hits in cold weather when pistol shooting. And finally hit on the idea that a pistol or rifle rarely recoils directly to the rear, on many rifles (and most all pistols) some of the recoil is up, it is in the design of the stock angle. I eventually hit on the idea that that fraction of second more the powder took to burn in extremely cold weather, was causing the barrel to recoil up higher before the bullet made it out of the end of the barrel. That was the only plausible reason I could think of for my consistent high hits in very cold weather.
This was kind of the opposite of what I expected, you'd think lower temps would lower velocity and cause bullet drop???
Another oddity I noticed was at the range I used to shoot rifle at long distance, out to around 350 yards, the air layers seemed to have a rather profound effect on bullet drop and/or where it would strike. The way the range was set up was it had a berm on three sides and raised shooting mounds every hundred yards. The farther you wanted to shoot, the farther back you moved and shot over the raised shooting mounds closer to the target. My groups were consistent, but the strike point would change as the air warmed up in the morning. The right conditions (a little ground fog) and you could actually see a vapor trail from the bullet. I have no idea if the visual path changed due to refraction or the actual bullet path changed as it passed through the different air temperatures between the mounds, but I found it interesting. My groups were good, they would just move around the bullseye in rather random ways.
IMR 3031 is my go to powder for my .308. The manufacturer said the rifle was designed to shoot 167 gr PSPBT bullets at around 2750 FPS. The rifle shoots way better than I do, so I decided to follow their recommendations.
Last edited by MudderChuck; 04-14-2015 at 08:29 PM.
