How cold is too cold for rimfire

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fljp2002

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Looking at the weather for next couple of days and when off it appear it will be -10 to -15.

So going out anyway, I have my ammo in an insulated lunch bag with chemical hand warmers in with the ammo

What are your tricks for cold weather shooting
 
I was out for a walk one day and it was -30. I shot my 22 at a Jackpine. The round fired just fine, but the tree was so hard the bullet bounced back and hit me in the leg. So I’d say if you are shooting paper, -30 is good, but if you are shooting trees -30 is too cold.
 
Hunted yotes 2 years ago with shotgun slugs and it was -30. Everything worked fine. I dont see that a .22 would be any diffrent. I would be concerned with keeping things dry rather than warm.
 
I've shot more rimfire rounds at @ - 30 C than I can remember , don't worry about the ammo , just make sure the rifles not over lubricated . Unless it's a low temp lube , the action can get a bit sluggish and it might not fire reliably .
 
Coldest temperature at which I have shot .22LR is -45.
Report is muffled, bullet can be seen through the scope (velocity reduced), heavy fouling left in the bore, brushing after every 5 rounds required to maintain accuracy.
 
We’re Canadian’s........shooting in the cold is what we do.
I shoot as much rimfire in the winter as I do in the summer. Dress warm and have fun.

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As much as I do like the much under-rated Thunderbolts, their dud to stud ratio seems to go way down when it gets around -20.
 
I got sk biathlon ammo shipped from temro it’s not the real expensive stuf and works fine at minus 20. I shot a few rounds at minus 30 but missed my little steel swinger offhand and quit shooting not a good test but I think it was too cold. I never shot 22 in the winter for years because it didn’t shoot right. I even bought a 22 magnum thinking it would shoot fine and it seemed ok but I didn’t like all the orange powder crap all through the bore after shooting in the cold. So finally I got this sk ammo it works for me I wouldn’t bother with my 22 in the winter without it.
 
No issues in very cold temps down below -30C for me. Like other dudes have said the big thing is not to over-lubricate your gun. I degrease the guns im going to use in the winter and just use a little of something like Rem Dri-lube, but i know a few guys that don't use any kind of lube at all during winter.
 
I have a Magnum Research MLR1722 with a match chamber and it’s considerably more reliable in warmer weather. I run it dry mostly and it just seems to cycle much more slowly when it’s close to zero. On summer days, I’ve run 500 rounds without a hitch but in the winter, it might fail to extract once every 10 rounds or so. I don’t shoot much in the winter so it’s not a huge concern,

Patrick
 
Other than say..an overlubricated semi that seemed sticky when things really got cold, the gear functions basically the same. Always hate adjusting cheap scopes in really cold temps though, you sometimes can't feel the clicks. If it's even cheaper, it's worse. lol In fact, I've had cheap scopes seem to not react to the click adjustments until a few shots have gone down the pipe. lol

I'm pushing 50, have lost a ton of weight (intentionally)..and without the insulation I've carried around most of my life, I find I don't tolerate the cold like I once did. I'll scratch the shooting itch with the 12ga./clays, but won't shovel snow to set-up my shooting bench...only to take it down 20 mintes later when I'm freezing. lol Ice fishing~I can wear bigger/warmer clothes...so I do a little more of that when winter really shows her teeth.
 
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