.22 LR ammo and temp question

[nwflycaster]

I know bad things happen if you leave your ammo out in the sun or in a hot car on hot days, but what about the cold? I received my shipment of Eley Match and forgot it in my truck over the weekend with temps down into the mid 20's, I'm assuming I'm still good but thought I would ask people in the know.

[crankythunder]

As a former biathlon competitor and more recently having taken up rimfire bullseye and rimfire benchrest competitions, and after numerous 50, 100, and 200 yard dog sled runs to check and replace targets, I can positively confirm without a doubt that the colder the temperature, the slower and less accurate rimfire ammo is.

Now I do not have a empirical formula that at 20 degrees, eley match will be XX% less accurate and at 0 degrees, it will be YY less accurate, but even factoring out the shivering factor and ability of the shooter to hold zero while his hind teeth are chattering, your ammo will be less accurate at low temps then at more moderate temperatures.

Furthermore, as a bullseye shooter that has a pistol that shoots eley sport very accurately and reliably in weather above 50 degrees, when it gets cooler, I have to switch to a more powerfull ammo to reliably cycle the pistol. Eley sport looses too much horsepower when the temperature gets cold.

Now, in regards to freezing the ammo and then warming it up for competition, I have not noticed any ill effects.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Cranky

[nwflycaster]

Great new on the warming back up aspect, that's what I wanted to hear. That stuff's just too expensive to replace on a mistake like forgetting it in the vehicle for a couple of days.

Thanks

[Spencer]

Find a dry place to store the ammunition - bringing 20F ammo into a home environment is sure to generate some condensation.

[nwflycaster]

All firearms and ammunition gets locked up in the gun safe in the garage away from children, which is unheated except for the furnace pilot that actually does a decent job of taking the edge of the chill off so I think it should be fine.

[Spencer]

All firearms and ammunition gets locked up in the gun safe in the garage away from children, which is unheated except for the furnace pilot that actually does a decent job of taking the edge of the chill off so I think it should be fine.

I keep supermarket brand wardrobe moisture absorbers in my gunsafes and ammo storage.

[KatoomDownUnder]

All firearms and ammunition gets locked up in the gun safe in the garage away from children, which is unheated except for the furnace pilot that actually does a decent job of taking the edge of the chill off so I think it should be fine.

I keep supermarket brand wardrobe moisture absorbers in my gunsafes and ammo storage.

+1 on what Spence does.
I have one hanging on the inside of my safe door and over the past six months it has collected about 3 cups of water, not that hard considering how humid it can get here in Sydney.

As for temperature fluctuations affecting your ammo, only long term storage at extreme temperatures will cause damage to the propellant. So a day or so in the cold won't hurt, just bring back to a normal temperature in a dry place.