Best cartridge in the cold?

The only difference i noted in temps -55 -75 with the wind chill is the difference from the rounds in my 88 [308] and the ones in my pocket my buddys 70 [30 06] was the same.

Wind chill has no bearing on this subject. Temperature is temperature.
Please tell us when and where you were shooting in -55 degree temperature.
 
North of Grande Prarie Alberta it was a bad winter that year i don't remember what year it was and wind makes a big difference when there is no cover your in the open.That year the trucks stay'd running 24/7 or you wouldn't get them running again without alot of work i am from Ontario so you just dressed for it.I remember that because i was trying some new gun oil i got from a friend made from fish oil.The guns always went bang though the rounds just worked better coming out of my pocket you could see and feel it in your shoulder.That year Yellowknife had record temp.I was doing oil field work that year.


Wind chill has no bearing on this subject. Temperature is temperature.
Please tell us when and where you were shooting in -55 degree temperature.
 
If your going to get into reloading use a magnum primer like a CCI 250 Large rifle way better burn in cold weather the powder well you will have to work that out with CGNers i use 4350 but am try some new ones right now to see if i can find inprovements.[An all weather powder] Hodgens has good ones and a site where you can do the math.[charts]




I of course forgot to mention that I do not reload. So I guess my question is for factory ammo.

(And yes, I do plan to get into reloading:wave:)
 
Hi,

I just read on another forum a thread regarding 308 vs. 30 06. One poster stated that the 30 06 is better than the 308 in lower temperatures. He mentioned lower than 38 degrees fahrenheit as being the temp where the 30 06 would be better.

I am curious as to what would be the best cartridge for use in cold weather as I hunt in extreme cold conditions and have several times had bullets that did not fire due to the cold. Both 270 win and 308 win.

So what would be the best cartridge for extreme cold weather hunting?

The cartridge that is best suited for the game you hunt. really. There is no magic to picking a cartridge as the primers and powders in commercial loads are all affect the same. You don't need to be giving this much thought, really.
 
As an aside, wind chill cannot reduce the temperature of an inanimate object BELOW the ambient temperature.

It CAN, however, pull the heat out of LIVING tissue (convection, conduction, etc) more quickly, thus replicating the effects of a lower temperature.

Whatever it does...it sucks.
 
Why does the temp.drop when there's wind then coming off a lake,ice,or snow?

"Wind chill" is the effect of convection, as Even2 said it will be felt by living things because it means the heat you are losing is carried off faster and you can lose more. A rock or a piece of metal at ambient temperature is not producing any more heat to lose and has no more stored heat to lose so it stays at the ambient temperature. Moving more cold air around/past it doesn't change that.

Wind coming off a lake (or other body of cold water) or ice, snow is a moving mass of air, if it is colder than the air where you are, it is pushing away your warm surrounding air and replacing it with the cold air so the temperature drops.

Nothing I know about how powder ignites, burns, and produces expanding gases to push a bullet suggests it would be affected by colder temperatures more in one cartridge than it would in another cartridge. So, .30-06 vs .308 is no difference that is particular to the calibre/cartridge. Some powders are affected by cold, but it will be the same effect in either or any cartridge. Powder doesn't know what cartridge it is in.

Ammunition made with a temperature sensitive powder might be affected by being kept in your pocket instead of chilling in the gun.
 
As an aside, wind chill cannot reduce the temperature of an inanimate object BELOW the ambient temperature.

It CAN, however, pull the heat out of LIVING tissue (convection, conduction, etc) more quickly, thus replicating the effects of a lower temperature.

Whatever it does...it sucks.

Your right it will not reduce it below ambient temperature, but if you take something from a warmer environment to a colder one, wind will bring the object to ambient temperature quicker.

Imagine your vehicle radiator without a fan!
 
I run magnum primers in my 30-06 and 9.3x62 to avoid ignition problems in cold weather. Maybe that's a throwback to the old days but it doesn't cost me anything to do so. I also run my bolts completely degreased and lubricated with powdered graphite. Lubrication is necessary but oil is a no-no within the firing pin assembly under any circumstances, IMO.
 
So what your saying is if it is -35 out and your driving down the highway the temp on your windsheild will be the same as if you were standing still not moving that don't make any cense.
I will stick to what i am doing and continue to have 0 problems with my ammo and rifle thanks .
 
So what your saying is if it is -35 out and your driving down the highway the temp on your windsheild will be the same as if you were standing still not moving that don't make any cense.
I will stick to what i am doing and continue to have 0 problems with my ammo and rifle thanks .

That's exactly what we're saying. What if you're walking into the wind...windchill increases. If you're walking with the wind at your back it decreases. If you're walking at an angle then changes based on the angle and velocity. You have to change the windchill constantly in order to accurately snivel about the weather, rather than simply saying "It's cold. And windy. Effing winter!"

Windchill is for tourists and people from Ontario (much like the humidex). Utilization of either is grounds for revocation of your Man Card and your Canadian Citizenship.
 
So what your saying is if it is -35 out and your driving down the highway the temp on your windsheild will be the same as if you were standing still not moving that don't make any cense.
I will stick to what i am doing and continue to have 0 problems with my ammo and rifle thanks .

You got it. Your windshield will be the same temperature.
 
Yes, wind chill or not, in cold ambient temperatures, ammo in your pocket will be a bit warmer than ammo in your gun, so if your ammo's powder is going to be affected by temperature, keeping it in your pocket will help.
 
Knowing your rifle and your load is going to be critical, even more than in warm weather.

The only way you can know how much your POI is going to change in cold weather (and how reliable your rifle is going to be) is to test things. My .375 RUM bison load loses 85 fps from summer months to winter. Generally not uber critical, but good to know.
 
I load my own when i have time and this is what i have been useing it is insensitive to hot/cold temperatures which would be good for Norwegianinbaffinland if he starts loading for himself.308 or 30-06 his choice. [with a large rifle primer like a CCI250 mag primer]

H4350
This Extreme Extruded propellant is a burning speed that has been known to shooters for decades. During that time, Hodgdon has modernized H4350 by shortening the grains for improved metering and making it insensitive to hot/cold temperatures. H4350 is ideal in the WSM family of calibers (270, 7mm, 30, 325). H4350 is the standard in such cartridges as the 243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, 270 Winchester, 338 Winchester Magnum and many more. For magnums with light to moderate weight bullets, it can't be beat! Available in 1 lb. & 8 lb. containers.

Our exclusive line of extruded rifle powders – Hodgdon Extreme™ – was developed to give shooters consistent performance, load after load, in even the most extreme heat and cold.​


http://www.hodgdon.com/extreme.html




Yes, wind chill or not, in cold ambient temperatures, ammo in your pocket will be a bit warmer than ammo in your gun, so if your ammo's powder is going to be affected by temperature, keeping it in your pocket will help.
 
Wind chill is a measure of the rate at which the temperature of an object cools, but the object 's temperature never drops below the ambient air temperature. If the wind chill is -55 but the air temperature is -30, your rifle's temperature at 15 degrees when taken out of the house, will drop at the same rate it would if the temperature was -55, but would not get colder than -30 if that is the ambient air temperature.

An engine whose cooling system is exposed to -55 windchill or a machine with exposed hydraulic lines, will not be able to maintain enough heat for optimal operation. The cooling system will drop from 200 down to 150 degrees or even less and hydraulic valves will stick and finally refuse to move in a -50+ windchill condition, but both the engine and hydraulic system will operate fine at -30 in a no wind condition, under a similar work load.
 
So what your saying is if it is -35 out and your driving down the highway the temp on your windsheild will be the same as if you were standing still not moving that don't make any cense.
I will stick to what i am doing and continue to have 0 problems with my ammo and rifle thanks .
Yes it does, my airplane has a thermometer, that read +10 at 14000' yesterday, on the ground in a 10 kt wind tolerable, at 200 kts you'd be thinking it was 0c. but my aircraft still behaves like +10.

http://chemelec.com/Calculators/MetricWindchill.htm
 
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