Cold weather shooting 1911 .45 accuracy issues.

hawkmp9

hawkmp9

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At the range today we weren't able
To hit targets we normally do with ease.
It was -8 with no wind and gorgeous sun in eastern Ontario.
I'm shooting a SAM manufactured Iver Johnson.
WE tried several brands of ammo and two shooters.different mags. Checked our grip and stance. Shot with and without gloves. We couldn't even hit the 12" target at 8 yards.
Normally it shoots low but can easily hit bullseyes at this range by aiming an inch or so high.

My friend was shooting low with his m&p9 by 6" or so at similar distances.
We usually laugh it off and say wtf just a bad day at the range and switch to our rifles and shotguns and shoot perfectly accurate.
I shot my Marlin lever and was literally taking out the 10-ring.

But after a few years shooting in the cold and having the same issue happen several times.. There has to be a reason. Could it be the short guide rod in my 1911?
Is it possible the barrel has shallow grooves that effect the trajectory at low temperatures?
I'm mystified.
 
i shoot mine well below -20 and ive never noticed any issues.
but wow, neither of you could hit the 12" gong at that distance.... that does sound like something is off.
where you able to see where it was hitting?
what i do is get a bit piece of plywood or cardboard and put that up first behind the target so i can see where its hitting.

did you check the gun to make sure everything was tight still?
both sites are solid and not moving around?
 
It was hitting the bottom left of the idpa cardboard target...
Sights are all solid, freshly cleaned. Assembled correctly...I'm clueless.
 
Did you happen to notice how smartly the empties were ejecting? I've seen where some powders seem to be temperature sensitive. A big change in muzzle velocity might account for the issue.

If you and your buddies shoot a lot of cast lead loads it might be that the last batch of bullets or the temperature is affecting them and they are leading up the bore. A badly leaded bore will sure make the groups spread out radically.
 
No cast lead.
All winchester, AE, and Wolff reloads in fmj that normally shoot fine.

All ejected just fine.
 
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It's all factory ammo...
But I can't see it being powder when it's dropping so low.
It almost had to be my sight alignment. But this fall I was shooting 2-4" from bullseye same gun, same ammo, same distance
Just one of those days I guess.
 
ya, ive got lots of video of myself shooting those little spinning metal targets with my pistols at well below -30 and those are like 6" plates at the most.
it definitely sounds like something was off.
im at a loss.
 
Different metals contract at different rates in the cold. Maybe the SAM's slide, barrel and bushing are different enough that once they got cold, allowed for more slop than usual? Or the opposite and the bushing was applying some weird pressure causing the barrel to misalign? Just a thought.... Does seem like a real oddity though.
 
hawkmp9 said:
At the range today we weren't able
To hit targets we normally do with ease.
It was -8 with no wind and gorgeous sun in eastern Ontario.
I'm shooting a SAM manufactured Iver Johnson.
WE tried several brands of ammo and two shooters.different mags. Checked our grip and stance. Shot with and without gloves. We couldn't even hit the 12" target at 8 yards.
Normally it shoots low but can easily hit bullseyes at this range by aiming an inch or so high.

My friend was shooting low with his m&p9 by 6" or so at similar distances.
We usually laugh it off and say wtf just a bad day at the range and switch to our rifles and shotguns and shoot perfectly accurate.
I shot my Marlin lever and was literally taking out the 10-ring.

But after a few years shooting in the cold and having the same issue happen several times.. There has to be a reason. Could it be the short guide rod in my 1911?
Is it possible the barrel has shallow grooves that effect the trajectory at low temperatures?
I'm mystified.
Click to expand...

SAM manufactured? Huh? I heard they were being done in Florida ... Mostly, anyways?
 
gnmontey said:
-8C It aint that sensitive!

Go hunting in -20 to -25 all the time and never had issues with a rifle not performing.

M
Click to expand...

Agreed. But for arguments sake a rifle is typically higher pressure and longer burning so it damn well should be less effected. The 45acp is low pressure even by handgun standards and has a very short barrel So a slower burn would be more impactful. Especially if he was running loads at the low end of the scale.

As it was factory, Im not sure. He could easily test the theory by keeping everything warm before shooting.
 
wbaad said:
From my experience the temperature will affect your shooting more than the ammunition!
Click to expand...

I would suspect this^ I have shot several of my HGs this winter at temps equal to or colder than the OP and experienced no difference in performance. Two 1911s in the fray as well. Titegroup, Bullseye and Unique in the pills.

Carefully start from square one with the basics and I bet that your accuracy will pick back up. For a gun to get that sloppy in the cold would be pretty hard to imagine, think of the Russian Front in WWII, sure they changed the lube but they kept on shooting.
 
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