Cold .22 Ammo Not Firing

THOR74

THOR74

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Location
The Twelfth of Never
Is it just me or has anyone else had problems with .22 ammo (assorted brands) failing to fire when they get cold.

I have quite reliably found that the colder the ammo, the more often it refuses to fire.

After waiting a little bit, I take the bullet, warm it up, refeed it and it always goes off.

This applies to assorted brands of quality ammo.

This has something to do with the liquid injected rimfire primer material.

As a result, I cannot really ever trust rimfire ammo is temperatures that dip below about freezing.

If this was common knowledge, no one ever told me - but the feedback would be appreciated guys.

Merry Christmas...
 
Gentlemen, I have observed this happening in an array of rifles and pistols, mine and those belonging to others.

It's not a gun-specific issue.

Also, when I warm up the dud it goes off when fired again.

The colder it gets, the more pronounced this effect becomes.
 
Never had a problem with cold .22 ammo. But I've occasionally had problems with cold .22 rifles whose pins failed to hit the rims hard enough due to the lube gumming up. I solved those probs by using Break Free.
 
I agree that the rifle may be sluggish but it could also be that the brass hardens somewhat as it cools.

How do your primer strikes look in the cold? Cold sensitivity could be the first symptom of a weak or dirty action.
 
cold

THOR74 said:
Is it just me or has anyone else had problems with .22 ammo (assorted brands) failing to fire when they get cold.

I have quite reliably found that the colder the ammo, the more often it refuses to fire.

After waiting a little bit, I take the bullet, warm it up, refeed it and it always goes off.

This applies to assorted brands of quality ammo.

This has something to do with the liquid injected rimfire primer material.

As a result, I cannot really ever trust rimfire ammo is temperatures that dip below about freezing.

If this was common knowledge, no one ever told me - but the feedback would be appreciated guys.

Merry Christmas...
Click to expand...
Must be why they make special cold weather .22 ammo for biathletes ;)
 
Hey,

I have to agree with MauserMike, I think that as the temperature drops the brass of the cartridge will become harder and therefore somewhat more resistant to impact by the firing pin. The shock sensitive material that is the primer will not be affected by the decrease in temperature. From my experience, if you are shooting a semiauto .22 during the colder months use BreakFree CLP as a lube on the moving parts and try to get ammo that is loaded a little hotter as it seems to work the action a little better, you will get better cycling in your gun. Hope this helps.
 
At extreme cold temperatures, the velocity, consistancy and accuracy of .22 ammunition may be reduced; this is why there is biathlon specific ammunition. When it is extremely cold, the bullet can be observed in flight, and the barrel fouls extremely quickly. It must be brushed to maintain accuracy, as often as after every 5 round string. I have never observed cold weather misfiring problems that was not firearm related.
One year when the trials for the NWT Arctic Winter Games .22 metallic silhouette team were held in Yellowknife the temperature was -45 the first day. There was no problem with misfires. In my 30+ years north of 60 I never observed .22 ammunition failing to fire because of cold, apart from misfires resulting from sluggish firing pins.
 
When I was younger, and living with the folks on the base at CFB Cold Lake, us kids used to take our .22's out plinking, often at very sub-zero temps. I don't recall ever having this problem.
 
I shoot all winter with my rimfires, sometimes at -35ºC. I have not experienced any misfires. However, there is a vast difference in the performance/accuracy of most ammunition in the very cold temperatures. Lately, I have been using Lapua Polar Biathlon, and it is amazing stuff in the cold! Very consistent, compared to the regular ammo, and even when compared to high quality match ammo not designed specifically for the low temperatures. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Years ago I experienced this when shooting "yellow box" Aquila (Mexican Match) .22 in my High Standard Citation. Just the drive to the range in the trunk was enough cool it off enough to creat frequent misfires. We would just place the brick of ammo on the electric heater at the range for 1/2 hour or so and the problem was gone - in hindsight I don't think I would recomend this practice though!
 
Eagleye said:
I shoot all winter with my rimfires, sometimes at -35ºC. I have not experienced any misfires. However, there is a vast difference in the performance/accuracy of most ammunition in the very cold temperatures. Lately, I have been using Lapua Polar Biathlon, and it is amazing stuff in the cold! Very consistent, compared to the regular ammo, and even when compared to high quality match ammo not designed specifically for the low temperatures. Regards, Eagleye.
Click to expand...
-Exactly -
must be why they make special ammo for biatheletes [LOL] :D:D by the way - I SHOOT ALL WINTER ALSO - but at -35 I sit at home and drink BEER ! - u r a better man than I eagle eye ----;)
 
all ammo is effected by temperature, some more than others. has to do with the sesitivity of the priming comound mostly( some "Magnum" rifle cartridges have been known to show signs of overpressure in cold temps, while behave normally in "normal" temps)
In 22 ammo the priming compound becomes erratic requiring more energy( heavier hammer, more heat) to ignite, with the small powder charge and relatively small crimp force on the case mouth the powder does not burn consistantly either

shooting winter pistol leagues I have found that 22 ammo that is accurate and reliable in 20 degree temps. becomes unreliable and accuracy suffers at lower temps to the point of not fuctioning in a self loading pistol.

tg
 
I've had lots of failures to fire from my two rim fires lately. Both semi auto one a ruger 22/45 the other a conversion for an AR 15 temperature about -20 celcius. Both worked well in the summer. Now I've shot a single shot TOZ for the past three winters with very few failures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom