Are there any downsides to working up loads in cold weather? I'm assuming pressure levels will change with the summer heat? I'd like to start working up some loads for a couple new rifles but I don't want to wait another 2-3 months for it to start getting warm.
Load development in cold weather
- Thread starter codybrown
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I have always held the opinion that nothing in all creation is impervious to temp changes.
One year I worked up a great load with RL22 in a 300WM in winter (5° to 30°) for hunting.
The next summer i decided to practice in 85° and had to ues a rubber mallet to open the bolt.
On the other hand,
recently i had an awesome load for 300wsm and IMR4350 last summer. This winter my perfect load completely fell apart!
Then i loaded my 2nd best load with H4350 and it held the same grouping or better and almost exactly the same velocity.
I always start load development with hodgdons extreme powder but sometimes i find a better load before winter hits and have to find out the hard way.
Hope this helps.
One year I worked up a great load with RL22 in a 300WM in winter (5° to 30°) for hunting.
The next summer i decided to practice in 85° and had to ues a rubber mallet to open the bolt.
On the other hand,
recently i had an awesome load for 300wsm and IMR4350 last summer. This winter my perfect load completely fell apart!
Then i loaded my 2nd best load with H4350 and it held the same grouping or better and almost exactly the same velocity.
I always start load development with hodgdons extreme powder but sometimes i find a better load before winter hits and have to find out the hard way.
Hope this helps.
Canadian Bushman
Well-Known Member
You can work up the loads now, just prepare to back off the powder charge to level out the load in the summer
rooster721
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2012
- Messages
- 212
I do my load-development during the winter months as well, that's just when there's time I guess. Because I use my rifles mostly to hunt, (and since hunting season is generally cold anyway) winter load developing works perfect for me. I just try to use days that are most-similar to my hunting-season temps for finalizing my loads...
Once I have one done, I'll then verify what that load is doing in THAT temp.. and make a note of it. Then check it when temperatures dip to the most extreme-temperature you figure you'll be faced with (or are comfortable enough to shoot in) And then, once spring rolls along, go out once more and shoot that very same load again-- again noting changes or swings in velocity, while looking for pressure signs* if any show up
Generally, with any extreme-line of Hogdon powder which is more-so stable than most others, so long as a guy isn't settling on a MAX charge on the line of pressuring when doing your load development in the winter, your pressure shouldn't spike into the danger zone after the grass turns green and coveralls turn to t-shirts. Only way to really be sure is to shoot and test it as the mercury climbs and note what is happening. That's really the only way to know if different powder charges are absolutely necessary or not.
**if there is a load or a reason to specifically be shooting in hot-weather, my suggestion would be to re-evaluate the load in the rifle you want to shoot (in that specific temperature) and focus on your powder selection and load to do just that. If it's an all-arounder type of load/rifle, I'd find a balance and settle on a load the way I first described myself doing. It does work good for me.
Once I have one done, I'll then verify what that load is doing in THAT temp.. and make a note of it. Then check it when temperatures dip to the most extreme-temperature you figure you'll be faced with (or are comfortable enough to shoot in) And then, once spring rolls along, go out once more and shoot that very same load again-- again noting changes or swings in velocity, while looking for pressure signs* if any show up
Generally, with any extreme-line of Hogdon powder which is more-so stable than most others, so long as a guy isn't settling on a MAX charge on the line of pressuring when doing your load development in the winter, your pressure shouldn't spike into the danger zone after the grass turns green and coveralls turn to t-shirts. Only way to really be sure is to shoot and test it as the mercury climbs and note what is happening. That's really the only way to know if different powder charges are absolutely necessary or not.
**if there is a load or a reason to specifically be shooting in hot-weather, my suggestion would be to re-evaluate the load in the rifle you want to shoot (in that specific temperature) and focus on your powder selection and load to do just that. If it's an all-arounder type of load/rifle, I'd find a balance and settle on a load the way I first described myself doing. It does work good for me.
I have done a lot of my load devopment during the winter months. I hunt in temperatures that range from 0-80 degreess, but mostly 15-50 degrees. In the past I have seen differenences when using loads developed at the extremes, but have pretty much elimated this is recent years using the Hogdon extreme temperature powders and avoiding maximum pressures in my loads. For example, if have found no temperature issues in my 6.5-284 and 300WM using Retumbo. In both loads, this powder gives me velocities that are at least as high as the next best powder choice, low ES, fills a majority of the case, and shows no pressure signs across the temperatures I see when hunting. All this, of course started with the requirement that load produced the accuracy I wanted.
"Generally, with any extreme-line of Hogdon powder which is more-so stable than most others, so long as a guy isn't settling on a MAX charge on the line of pressuring when doing your load development in the winter, your pressure shouldn't spike into the danger zone after the grass turns green and coveralls turn to t-shirts. Only way to really be sure is to shoot and test it as the mercury climbs and note what is happening. That's really the only way to know if different powder charges are absolutely necessary or not."
This has been my experience too. I once (winter) developed a very accurate near max load for my 223 bolt gun using Winchester powder. Went on a varmint shoot in the summer and discovered it was way too hot. Getting sprayed in the face with back blast is a really sobering experience. I switched to Hodgdon Extreme powders. Just be careful and know that temperature will definitely affect pressure.
This has been my experience too. I once (winter) developed a very accurate near max load for my 223 bolt gun using Winchester powder. Went on a varmint shoot in the summer and discovered it was way too hot. Getting sprayed in the face with back blast is a really sobering experience. I switched to Hodgdon Extreme powders. Just be careful and know that temperature will definitely affect pressure.
