"Stalingrad 1942" = cold weather reload powder testing

[Silvers]

Some fellow sporting shooters and I went out yesterday at a local gun club. It was winter league opening weekend. Temp on the car thermo was 11 degrees F when we got there, and 13 when we left. Wind gusts of 10-20mph with "snow devils" swirling all around. Very bitter. You can probably picture that, wind chill was 0 degrees or less. One of my buds commented we were in training for a repeat of the Stalingrad 1942 campaign. Yeah we are probably nuts.

It was a perfect opportunity to try some low pressure reloads in really cold weather. Santa brought an early Christmas present a month ago, a MEC 9000 progressive loader for 12 gauge. I've been experimenting with low pressure 1 ounce loads with IMR "PB" powder, and more recently with IMR SR 7625 which is reputed to be not so good for low temps. Hulls were Rem Gun Clubs, Winchester 209 primers, and Rem TGT12S wads. All load pressures were ~5500-6500 psi as per the references. I don't want to comment on the web what weight of powder I used for each, but if you're interested you can look at the IMR/Hodgdon website for recipes.

I shot a 32” A grade Fox. Shells were left in the car overnight and I even put the ones loaded with 7625 powder outside the cab when I drove up to the club. Results: all of the 7625 loads went off OK without any problems at all, they seemed comparable to my PB loads (same velocity) as regards recoil and time of flight to the targets, however the report was SLIGHTLY louder which I would expect from slower burning single base powder. That Fox has tight bores, I don’t remember but I think they’re .724” or therabouts. So just for the heck of it I asked one of my buds to shoot some of the 7625 loads in his factory overbored Browning (.742” bore) to see if the wads would seal. They did, no problems. The only thing about 7625 is that it burns dirtier than the PB.

I thought I'd share this experience here. It seems that web info about 7625 being a poor choice for cold weather might be be suspect, at least with the components I used. Doesn't get much colder than Stalingrad 1942 in most hunting or target shooting situations! Silvers

[mc15426378]

Frank

Thanks for the detailed testing & report. Not quite "Stalingrad" here in Dixie but it is 28 degrees & snowing!!!

Did you notice any more than usual barrel dirtiness from the PB with the lower temps?


Mike

[Silvers]

Mike, as you know the PB powder burns pretty clean. I looked but didn't see any significant difference +/- in the cold temps.

[al]

Frank your a maniac!! Excellent job! I am nominating you for Fox Collectors Man of the Year!

[fox-admin]

I shoot many days in the winter with temperatures below zero. I shoot low pressure handloads much like what Frank describes. I did have a problem a few years back when I substituted Claybuster TGT12 1oz wads for Remington TGT12 wads. I spent my working life in plastic's and the Claybuster's were poorly molded. The lip on the powder cup was not filled out and under size. The wads caused many squib loads in cold weather since the cold weather shrunk the already under sized wad and caused the gas pressure to blow by the wad cup upon ignition. The Remington wads are much better molded and their quality control seems excellent. I think many of the problems with cold weather and low pressure loads is wad related.

[mc15426378]

Thanks Craig. Interesting note on the wads as from what I have heard/read the "culprit" blamed has always been the powder or maybe the primer. I have used CB1100-12s and CB1078-20s with no problems but no sub 0 shooting down here, yet.

I will be changing to the orange Duster for my 3/4 oz 20 loads when my CBs are gone and may try some Downrange 12s once those CBs are history.

Good shooting to all and stay warm.

Mike