Hot ammo

[fatelk]

I finally got out to do some shooting today. It was a nice stress reliever after a bad medical scare a couple days ago. I met up with a friend and burned up more rounds today than I think I have all year up to now, not that that's saying much.

It was plenty hot out there, and at one point I picked up some .223 ammo that I was working up a load with. It had been sitting on the tailgate and was so hot it burned my hand so I couldn't hold on to it. Since I was using it to work up a load, I dunked them in a bucket of water I had along to cool them down.

I'm not used to shooting in hot weather so I was curious as to just how much it will affect pressure to shoot ammo this hot? A veteran friend of mine said that in Iraq the guns and ammo would get so hot that cook-offs were common, so I assume they can get pretty darn hot before something bad happens.

On the plus side, they shot well. Nosler 52gr match bullets (I know, I know, j-words), H322 powder: five 5-shot groups and all under an inch, at a little over 100 yards. Might have been better too, if I'd had a better rest than my old folding table.

We shot plenty of cast too: .45 Colt, .44 Mag, .38 Special, .357 Mag, .40 S&W, 9mm Mak, 7.62x38R (had trouble with this one), and 8x56R. My friend really liked the 1894 in .44 Mag. He wouldn't believe me that it would kick more than his old '94 30-30, until he pulled the trigger. That thing shoots very well now, thanks to you all helping me with its accuracy issue a while back.:)

With work and family I just can't get out as much as I used to. Occasionally I have even contemplated getting rid of most of my gun and reloading stuff because I have bigger priorities in life right now. I still might get rid of some, but there's no use in getting in a hurry about it when I don't have to. Besides, where would I start?

[nicholst55]

A lot of match shooters carry a cooler with 'blue ice' in it to keep their ammo cool during hot weather. Some powders are more sensitive to heat than others, but high temps are known to raise chamber pressures pretty much across the board. I'd find a way to keep my ammo out of the sun if it were me.

[gray wolf]

A lot of match shooters carry a cooler with 'blue ice' in it to keep their ammo cool during hot weather. Some powders are more sensitive to heat than others.
+100 on that, and it only takes a small cooler to do the job.

[1Shirt]

Have used a cooler & blue ice when shooting Pdogs on hot days. Learned to do that when I blew a couple of primers on a K-hornet at over 95 degrees w/Lil' Gun loads. Had no problem shooting the loads in the a.m. when temps were in the 70's and 80's.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Wayne Smith]

And hang on to your stuff, even if you have to store it for a while. Kids leave. I didn't loose a son, I gained a reloading room!

[Cadillo]

I once worked up a good accurate load for .223 using H-335 and a 53 grain Sierra match flat base. It was great until I used it on a hot day in the California desert. BLOWN primers!

Some powders, H-335 is certainly one of them, will go over the edge when subjected to high temperature. Those people cooling their ammo know what they are doing.

[fatelk]

My friend thought I was nuts when I dunked the whole works in the water. I figured they were pretty water-tight for at least the minute they were submerged. It cooled them down and they still shot fine. I will definitely remember to bring an ammo cooler next time I go out in hot weather.


And hang on to your stuff, even if you have to store it for a while. Kids leave.
My youngest is about 16 months from her first birthday, so I've got a few years.

Another friend got me thinking a while back. One of my excuses for accumulating so much junk is that I can give it to my kids when they're grown. This guy has accumulated a LOT of gun stuff in his life and his kids are all grown with kids of their own. He is really disappointed that none of them are much interested in guns or shooting, so he has no one to pass his treasures on to as he gets older.

Another issue with all my stuff is that I'm really thinking that we may have to relocate sooner or later. My current work is not long-term stable, and there doesn't seem to be much of anything for work in this area, at least in the direction I want to go. I hate the thought of moving, and part of that is the thought of packing up and moving all my stuff. If a move in the future goes from likely to inevitable I will be getting rid of a bunch of stuff.

[kir_kenix]

ANY load that are near top end with h335 need to be kept cool in hot weather (in my experience anyway). Had some .223, .222, and I believe .221 fireball all go over the edge on a p-dog hunt once. They were being stored in those plastic flip-open ammo carriers and were hot to the touch from the sun.

Had to run into Broken Bow for Big Gulp's full of ice to cool our ammo. We learned our lesson after that and brought coolers next time!

[1Shirt]

Howdy Kir_kenix! Believe it or not we are getting a little rain down here in Omaha.
1Shirt!

[geargnasher]

Another friend got me thinking a while back. One of my excuses for accumulating so much junk is that I can give it to my kids when they're grown. This guy has accumulated a LOT of gun stuff in his life and his kids are all grown with kids of their own. He is really disappointed that none of them are much interested in guns or shooting, so he has no one to pass his treasures on to as he gets older.

Life is weird sometimes. Many of us "first generation casters" lament that we had to figure most of it out for ourselves, had to buy and scrounge all the tools, while one day we may have children to pass it on to that don't have any interest.

If my kids don't take to it, I'll try to "adopt" others to pass this hobby, and perhaps some of my equipment, on to one day. Who knows, maybe (if it happens this way) we might have grandchildren who want to learn if our kids don't.

I hope the job situation looks up for you, I know what you mean about moving stuff. Everything we have is paid for, and my wife and I decided if we ever have to move we'll just take what we need and leave the rest here.

I too use an ammo cooler, it's a little Igloo with a blue-ice block that snaps into the lid, very handy in Texas summer heat.

Gear

[canyon-ghost]

I always keep ammo boxes in the floorboards out of the sun then, pick a sunshade to shoot under. Never considered setting my ammo in the direct sunlight. The cooler is a nice idea, I have a lunchbox and a couple of blue ice inserts.

[kir_kenix]

Howdy Kir_kenix! Believe it or not we are getting a little rain down here in Omaha.
1Shirt!

I know! It was so nice to see even just a few minutes of rain in the middle of this drought.

Back to the topic...I found a MCM ammo carrier at Scheels today that looks like one of those blue freeze bags could sit in on top of loaded ammo. I'm pretty sure its for the long magnums, but an '06 size case would fit in just fine with room to spare for some sort of freezer bag.

[fatelk]

I see quite a few Nebraska members here. My folks tell me it's been real bad for a lot of folks there, with the drought and then hail. Most of their land is irrigated, but they did get some hail damage. They're a bit west of you near Elgin.

[hydraulic]

1shirt: Send some of that rain up here to Niobrara. Everything west of here in Keya Paha county burned up and we don't want that to happen to our park. CM.