Anyone else enjoy cold-weather target shooting

[musicmatty]

My wife and I really enjoy target shooting outdoors in 20 to 30°F weather. One thing for sure, the gun barrels stay very cool. There’s always a lot of walking involved for us going back-and-forth to the targets which allows us to keep moving. A couple hours outside shooting during the summer (75-85F) months can be brutal leaving us feeling very drained afterwards.

I’ve often wondered what other shooters preferences were with regards to winter and summer Shooting.

[gwpercle]

NO ... Not Me !

Louisiana Boy got no Cold Weather DNA ...

I don't go any farther North than Baton Rouge , Louisiana .
Gary

[44 AMP]

Despite having grown up where winters were multiple feet of snow and subzero temps for a couple of months straight, I have reached the age where I do not enjoy anything in, or about cold weather.

[1972RedNeck]

Anything and everything sucks below freezing - except sitting in my recliner in front of the wood stove. But cutting and splitting wood sucks.

[Aguila Blanca]

Absolutely not. I HATE cold weather.

[Shoots Left]

I’m glad that y’all enjoy winter time outdoorsy stuff. Not my bag though. Heck I get anxiety when I see someone flip a snow globe over and back again.

[Pumpkin]

Better than a hot humid day with all the mosquitoes buzzing around you.

No worries about snakes either in the cold or winter.

[ligonierbill]

I enjoy target shooting year round, and the weather is out of my control. But "cold" is not the same to everyone. Sunny and 20-30 wouldn't keep me home. But I prefer a test over numbers. If you draw in a sharp breath through your nose, and it freezes shut momentarily, then it's too cold. Or, as Robert Service put it, "When the careless feel of a bit of steel burns like a red hot spit".

[stagpanther]

Since I live in Maine--"cold" is close to zero or below. I like it for the simple reason the ranges I use will always be devoid of anyone else shooting or working--plus it's great fun to see and analyze tracks. I see some wildlife in the winter I never see in the summer. To each their own. To me cold is when the bullet only goes a few yards from the muzzle and then remains suspended in midair.

[rc]

Winter is the perfect time to go target shooting for me. Green grass, no foxtails and afternoons in the 60s. Summer it might be well over 100 at the same time of day

[Paul B.]

Most of my range work is during late spring to early fall either just shooting for fun or testing new loads. Temps run from the low 70s to as high as 115 by summertime. I still shoot the rest of the year een when it gets cold. It could easily be in the upper 20s when the range open but more likely to be in the low to mid 30s. That may not sound cold to some but when the mean temps run closer to 80+ than less, the 35 feels quite chilly. I have shot at the Whittington range in New Mexico at temps ranging from +4 to +14 while checking sights before leaving for the hunt the next morning. It wasn't much warmer when I shot my elk on those trips. Not all that comfortable but I have seen worse cold though not while shooting or hunting.
Paul B.

[44 AMP]

50 years ago I would spend hours and hours snowmobiling in -20F temps.

Today, the only time I would go out in that is to grab more wood for the stove!

[44caliberkid]

The OP looks younger than a lot of us. I used to be OK going out in the winter when I was young. But after 60 I had about had it with cold weather and it gets more intolerable every year. This current deep freeze we’ve been in for the last two weeks, through the middle of the country, just sucks. I’ll pack up a bunch of guns and go to the indoor range for 3 hours or so.

[5whiskey]

I'm still a younger buck at 44. I can do the cold. Ran a basic patrol rifle course earlier this week when highs were upper 30s. Day 1 was drizzling rain and we had to lay in wet grass to zero. Since I wanted to demonstrate how to use a sling for support in the prone, I plopped down in the wet grass myself (plus wanted to confirm zero on my rifle). It dipped down to the mid 20s before everyone finished night qualification on day 2, plus the wind was blowing. The last 2 hours of day 2 were pretty miserable, otherwise I was fine in just a hoodie and rain jacket the rest of the time.

Of course, I have a superior dad body with a not-obese-but-not-insignificant layer of fat in ode to the vast quantities of beer consumed over the years too!

[jmr40]

Only because the rifle range at the shooting club I belong to will be empty. I try to get to the range at sunup year round when I go. Temps will often be in the low 30's or upper 20's when I start shooting but it usually warms up into the 40' by the time I'm through.

A couple hours outside shooting during the summer (75-85F) months can be brutal leaving us feeling very drained afterwards.

That would be a COOL day during the summer here. That's a common temperature at sunup during summer months. It gets well into the 90's and low 100's as the day heats up.

I can park my truck pretty close to the benches where I shoot. I've had to resort to keeping the engine and AC running while I'm getting rifles zeroed. Fire a few shots then put them in the cab to cool down before another few shots.

[musicmatty]

I forgot to mention one of the bonuses for cold-weather Shooting for me personally is, no bugs buzzing around or ticks and snakes lurking in the grass and on the ground.

[RGRacing]

Hate t drop my brass and lose it in the snow - But I'm sure I'd come up with a work around. Looks nice out there.

[44 AMP]

The simplest work around is a large open cardboard box. Do some "pre-snow" testing, so you know where to put it so your brass lands in it.

[bigalshootmupper]

I'm in middle Georgia so I'd rather be slightly cold than slightly hot. About 42 F is my cut off which usually in Georgia it will get higher than that in the winter. I'd much rather it be 48 F and sunny than 90 F. I do more range time at my outdoor range in the winter than I do in the summer.

[jonnyc]

Do it?...yes. Enjoy it...NO!

[Skans]

I'm a wuss. Prefer to shoot targets between 50-77F.

[Erno86]

I prefer to shoot a rapid-fire 6-shot string in my ARs and AKs on a cold day to help warm my fingers an hands on a cold day when I can wrap them around a hot barrel.



Erno