Bench shooting in the cold.

[Iwanttoshootbettter]

I'm born an raised down here on the Texas coast.Just got into bench shooting bolt guns for fun.Had to give up fishing,saltwater bacteria almost killed me sold the boat and all the rod n reels.The range I like is on the bay,it's in the 40s today just could not get my technique down my hands were cold and I'm old.I commend you guys up north for being able to shoot in the cold.I love cold weather we just don't get it like y'all do.Do y'all just get use to it or wait for warmer weather?

 

[lefteye]

It is 22 degrees here right now. I'll wait until LATE spring to pick up a rifle.

 

[Unclenick]

In the cold you wear clothes you aren't used to and it messes with your position some. Cold fingers can't feel a trigger worth a darn, either. Not the most fun you can have.

That said, there are a couple of things you can try. Take a foam garden knee pad with you to sit on. Nothing like a cold seat to get the shivers started. Most foams offer some insulation. A few layers of small bubble wrap do surprisingly well, but tape then so the backs don't slide off each other.

Get a pair of gloves and a large pair of mittens. Cut the index finger off your trigger finger glove, then keep the hand inside the mitten with a chemical hand warmer and don't take it out until you are ready to fire a shot.

Get a wool cap that is stretchy enough to slide over your hearing protection.

Unless you want to know how your ammo does in cold weather, keep it in an ammo pouch inside your coat and remove it from there when you need it. A few rounds that stay in your shirt pocket will be warmer, too.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Most shooters that I've known in this part of the country do tend to avoid shooting in the winter, unless the weather's hot and balmy (37 F and sunny ).
Very few people put in proper range sessions outdoors.


Personally...
I do more shooting from a bench in the winter than the summer. My local range is east-facing and I almost exclusively shoot at sunrise. So, when the sun goes south for the winter, I can shoot all I want. But during spring, summer, and fall, the sun rises behind my targets. With iron sights, the situation is very uncomfortable. With optics, it's torture (and harmful).
I get about 45 minutes of shooting before the sun crests the hill, if I start before official sunrise, and then I can't do anything more until 4+ hours later (when the wind is at full strength).

I just go out planning to get kicked off the range by shivers, frozen hands, or blowing snow.
No matter how well I prepare, mother nature always finds a chink in the armor.
More often than not, it's 0-15 F when I go out in the morning, and the wind picks up about an hour after sunrise.

Generally, if my finger isn't on the trigger, preparing to fire, my hand is in my pocket. (I can't shoot most firearms with a gloved trigger hand, and fingerless gloves have never worked for me. If one finger is cold, the whole hand is.)
The off hand usually stays in a glove and isn't an issue.

When I get uncomfortable enough to compromise my shooting for whatever reason... I leave.
There's no point in sticking around, suffering, and wasting ammo, when the results will be skewed by my discomfort.

 

[TMD]

It's South Texas. Just wait a few days and it will be warm again.

 

[lefteye]

It is 20 now with a forecast low of 14. I believe I will stay home.

 

[g.willikers]

Cold winter shooting?
That's what airguns in the garage are for.

 

[Rancid]

Here on the coast of NC it is generally quite nice but we do get a few chilly weeks in January-March. This morning it was 28 degrees and I did a few check shots to see if my dope was right based on sighting in temp (70) vs 28 degrees now. Strelok seemed to do well. No problem out to 500 yards. I built a shelter over my bench with a roof and two enclosed sides. Mostly for shade but it blocks the wind. That is the key. If you can get out of the wind it's not to bad. If it's sunny wear dark clothes that will absorb heat. I have a black rain jacket that if I wear it in the sun will literally bake you in 30 minutes when the temp is in the 40's and with no wind.

 

[kraigwy]

Since I often hunt in the mountains where it gets cool at times, I like to shoot my rifles in the cold to see what, if any difference, there is in accuracy.

We all know temps effect the velocity and can adjust for that, but different powders react different in the consistency department between cold and warm weather.

I think its necessary to shoot in the cold. I've spend a good deal of time training the AK Native Guard Units on the Bering Sea of western Alaska. The cold weather, like rain, effects the shooter more then the rifle. You may have to shoot, hunt, or what ever in cold weather, it makes no since to do all your practice in fair weather.

Like everything else, shoot in cold weather just takes a bit of practice.

 

[Erno86]

Happiness is a warm barrel, and since it's cold out, I usually don't worry about burning up the barrels on my toys --- So I just shoot about 6 rapid fire rounds...then I take a break by wrapping my cold hands around the warm barrel.

Otherwise...pocket heat packs work, thin glove for the trigger hand, portable propane heater, a blanket for the shooting bench and multiple layers of clothing.

I do get used to the cold weather, but you have to watch out for low wind chills and frostbite. Keeping your body fueled with food, is one of the necessities for keeping warm.

 

[redlightrich]

Today, in NJ, it was 28 degrees. I went to my outdoor club, which due to elevation and wind, always feels colder. Anyway, it started to snow. I waited it out. I wear layers of clothes and very thin gloves. I don't want a large glove to create an ND.
I don't like the cold too much. I also think my pistols seem to cycle better when it is warm out.

Anyhow, if you want to shoot, and it is cold, you have to adapt. I am sorry to hear about the salt water issue.

You are welcome to move to NJ, but I don't recommend it.

Be well

Rich

 

[PoiDog]

I draw the line at about 20 degrees. Below that it's just painful to shoot, even sitting there is too cold usually.

Today it was 20 degrees out. No shooting for me, although I made it to a gun show.

Winters in IL, much like the rest of the upper Midwest, can be deadly. So, we do other things; loading, reading about guns and loads, cruising gun boards, building rifles, etc.

If that wind is blowing hard, and the temp is below 20, I'll be near the wood stove.

 

[dahermit]

I live in Michigan and have my own gun range in my backyard. Although I am mainly a handgun shooter, when I do shoot in cold weather from the bench, I shoot from my yard barn I have built just for that purpose, with a shooting bench built-in. I keep a kerosene heater in there next to my shooting bench. In front of the bench I have a sliding plastic window through which I shoot. An hour or so before any cold weather shooting, I go out and light the kerosene heater that let the place heat up. It is quite comfortable in there as long as I do not leave the sliding window open too long. A drawback is that the sound is a whole lot louder in the confined space, but then I always wear earplugs as well as muffs when I shoot. Of course all that would not be possible on a public range.

 

[g.willikers]

Just move south.
No, wait, don't move south.
Too many people here already.

When we lived up north, our local private range had a shooting room made from scrounged storm doors and windows, (the kind folks use to make enclosed porches), complete with opening windows and a propane stove.
It was on a concrete slab floor and it kept us shooting all winter long.
Anyone not wanting to shoot from inside had a warming room when they got too cold.

 

[jmorris]

He is already South of Houston. Now that it's Monday he is back in the 70's and will be in there this weekend too but he still won't be happy and will need to start a "bench shooting in the rain" thread.

When it's nasty here, I open up a window in the shop and shoot from inside.

One good thing about having auto reset active targets, you never have to move from the firing location.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIOcNNcLxnU

 

[Erno86]

The snow pack and trees look beautiful at our outdoor range. We also have a warm range house, behind the 100 yard concrete firing pad. I would call it a day before freezing rain, sleet or snow hits --- Especially thundersnow --- Which has a greater likelihood of being more destructive than typical negative polarity lightning, because some thundersnow bolts have a better chance of being a positive polarity.

Some of us at the range...do like to shoot at snowmen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow

 

[Iwanttoshootbettter]

jmorris you are right 74' today but not south of Houston but east 5 miles from the bay.Allot of good info guys thank you very much.I hope to sneek off to the range soon but not in the rain even though I know it's good practice ha.

 

[Armed_Chicagoan]

40s would be a heat wave this time of year. ; )

 

[rpseraph]

MN man here I go out shooting in all temperatures. Sometimes you get a new gun when it's cold outside and you have no choice but to head to the range! Here are some things I do to mitigate the cold weather.

- Bring a thermos of Coffee, of course
- I often wear thinner gloves so I can still feel the trigger through the finger tips.
- If I'm hunting its usually mittens that you can pull back the fingers and expose your digits for the big shot. (I was once Coyote hunting in really cold (-8 F without windchill) and hand-warmers helped thankfully we got a few dogs early in the day!!)
- You can also go with a muff to tuck your hands in, depending what you're doing at the range.
- Soft-sided gun case opened way up and put as a barrier between my concrete benches and me leaning on it.

 

[ranger56528]

Mn guy here too,heck Christmas Day you find out what neighbors got guns for gifts it doesn't matter if it's 10 above or -20 they are going to shoot,it's one thing nice about living out in the country . We go out shooting pretty much all year round and sometimes deer season can hover around zero in the mornings or early evenings but anyway I've gone out rabbit and tree rat hunting when temps are around zero and then there is always the late night full moon coyote hunt at -10 to -20 but like most of us the older ya get the warmer it needs to be to get yourself dressed and out in the cold,I will not purposely go out if it's below 10 degrees outside because I'm one of those getting old and somewhat wiser hahaha.
Today I just bought a Windham 7.62x39 from my LGS and stopped by the range on the way home to try it out,nice AR no issues to speek of right now but I only shot 2 mags stacked to 28 rounds each time and that was enough,the windchill was -16 and I was only dressed for the ride into town in a warm truck....But I had to shoot it.