Loading In The Cold

[Z-man]

Just a simple question, I'm looking to move my reloading bench into the garage and was wondering what adverse (if any) effects temperature change might have on the loading. In Idaho the winters will drop into the 20's and below on occasion and the summers get pretty warm. Any possible issues with keeping a reloading press and components in a garage without heat?

[al503]

We don't dip into the twenties very often in my neck of the woods but I haven't had any issues with my loader, ammo, etc., all being out in the garage in the cold and heat.

I do try to keep any powder and primers that aren't going to be used in the near future in the house though.

[rtr]

Any possible issues with keeping a reloading press and components in a garage without heat?

Yeah your gonna freeze your ass off reloading in the winter:)

But seriously I store my primers and powder in my garage (temp range is probably 10-100 degrees) and haven't had any problems.

[Tom D.]

Same as rtr for me. I do my loading before it gets so cold my fingers go numb. Kinda hard to handle bullets & cases when you can't feel them!!

[IronEqualizer]

Just a suggestion.....you might want to consider storing powder and primers in a large cooler or something else dark and airtight to prevent possible moisture problems.

[38superman]

My loading bench and all compontents are in a storage shed.

Components are subjected to whatever temperatures the Alabama climate can produce.

Temps from 10 degrees in winter to 110 (or more) in summer have never created a problem for the ammo or the equipment..........just problems for the operator.

If bullet components couldn't stand up to extreme temperatures, small arms ammo wouldn't be very useful to the military.

I expect ammo gets pretty warm in Iraq.

It's not a problem. Don't worry be happy.

Tls

Edited December 21, 2006 by tlshores

[hitman]

If you ever had a weapon blow up in your hands you would no be so quick to say that.

I would sugest you read the powder and primer MFG. info and store accordingly.

And yes it happened to me twice, once in a land to our south where they thought the same way.

[EZ Bagger]

In the end, it's pretty simple...get a heater. You will not regret it. I use a propane heater unless it's really cold and then it's a 55k btu kerosene. Leave a window or door partway open though. We don't need to read about a really bad case of CO poisoning.

[basman]

I reloaded in the garage for many years. In the winter I would back the cars out and warm up the Garage with a kerosene heater (took about 25 minutes). In the summer I would go out to reload at 5-6 am before it gets hot.

In both cases, I kept the powder and primers, inside.

[Sam]

Z-man, back when I was even poorer than I am now, (which is really hard to freaking believe), I used to reload in an un-heated steel shed in the back yard. But, I stored my components in the house. Keep the press and dies, scale, ect. well oiled with light machine oil. My stuff tended to get a little rust on it if I neglected this, probably from my condensed breath. And resist the urge to stick your tongue to anything.

[Z-man]

Thanks all, I figured the only problems (besides freezing) would be powders and primers. For now I'll keep them inside.

[38superman]

If you ever had a weapon blow up in your hands you would no be so quick to say that.

I would sugest you read the powder and primer MFG. info and store accordingly.

And yes it happened to me twice, once in a land to our south where they thought the same way.

I was speaking in the context of storing powder and primers in a shed where there is no climate control.

I have never experienced or even heard of powder or primers spontaneously igniting, even at temps well over 100 deg.

I routinely keep as many as 10-15k of primers on hand and I don't feel comfortable keeping them in the house.

In the case of a house fire they would put my family at greater risk and create an unacceptable hazard to firefighters.

Years ago I was living in Kansas City when a fire truck rolled up to a burning trailer on a construction site.

Before they even got out of their vehicle explosives in the trailer detonated and killed all six men.

I will not be a party to that sort of thing happening again.

I can see where exceptionally hot ammo might cause excessive pressure when fired in a weapon.

Can you tell us a little more about how this happened to you?

Tls

Edited December 22, 2006 by tlshores

[Allgoodhits]

Extreme cold and extreme heat will likely have an effect on the loading and in the the finished product. The extreme of the effect will be proportional to the extreme of the loading conditions. The effect on the shooter is up to the shooter.

If you are loading beyond SAAMI spec ammo in a cool to moderate climate, then you take that ammo to a very hot area, let the ammo bake in the sun, then shoot it....you may well be in for an awakening.

Besides all that the sailors of ancient times quickly learned that brass and iron expand and contract at significantly different rates, hence the "freeze the balls of the brass monkey". Which had nothing to do with testicles and our pre-human ancestors, but of cannon balls and the storage rack called a monkey.

MJ

[bubback]

All my reloading is done in 20 to 30 degree temps. throughout the winter.Never had a problem.The best thing is it's to cold for the wife and kids to come outside to get you,so I get some theraputic,peaceful reloading time.

[kevin c]

Extreme cold and extreme heat will likely have an effect on the loading and in the the finished product. The extreme of the effect will be proportional to the extreme of the loading conditions. The effect on the shooter is up to the shooter.

If you are loading beyond SAAMI spec ammo in a cool to moderate climate, then you take that ammo to a very hot area, let the ammo bake in the sun, then shoot it....you may well be in for an awakening.

MJ

If you mean that a load made up to specific ballistics by testing in one set of conditions (temperature is what we are talking about here) performing differently when shot under different conditions, I agree with you. If you mean that changes in the actual temperature under which the load was made up will affect later performance under later, uniform condtions, I'm not so sure.

Seems to me that the more extreme conditions at the time of firing (hot or cold ammo, hot or cold chamber) would have more effect on the load than whether it was unusually hot/cold/humid/dry at the time of loading.

True that powder might deteriorate with poor storage conditions, especially very hot conditions, but that is over the time of storage, not at the time of loading.

My apologies if I'm misunderstanding you.

[dillon]

If you have a digital scale, keep it indoors. If kept below freezing, the LCD display will freeze, bursting the display somewhere. This is typically not covered under most warranties.

[David Sinko]

I don't have any problems but then I usually avoid maximum loads. I do a lot of shooting with cast bullets and the lube will sometimes run out of the cast bullets, but only if they are left in the car during a match or range session in the summer.

Dave Sinko