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Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Finland

What do you think about Longshot in cold weather, let´s say 0-10 Fahrenheit (-15 celsius)?
Any tested data?

Thanks

-r-

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 601 Location: Virginia

Keep the shells in your pocket until you see a bird! Laughing

Dan

Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Finland

Doesn´t work when hunting hares with hound dog.
One trick is to keep spare ammos in pocket and change them regularly.
But since some powders are better than others in cold, why not use them.

One thing sure is primer, I suppose example fed209A would be good choice.

And of course wad material.
I bet italian made gualandis are not top of the line in cold weather.
If we think italian cars, italian factory shotshells, primeminister Berlusconi....none of them are designed to be used in cold weather.
Berlusconi ain´t anybetter in any conditons.

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 596 Location: 17603

riude,
No experience whatsoever with Longshot, but I do know that Unique is to be avoided. I've been told that in very cold conditions it causes pressures to spike HIGHER, one theory is that the nitroglycerin in the double base crystalizes and this changes its burn rate characteristics. Temperature DOES affect smokeless powders, I'd get in touch with Hodgdon's and see what they say.
Cheers,
R*2

Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Finland

Thanks.
Reloaders in Finland believe Vihtavuori powders are "overhelming" in cold weather.
There´s some un-official data (speed measurements) available for 12g that supports this belief. I could search it and post it here.

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 596 Location: 17603

riude,
Vihtavouri is probably your cheapest and most available powder, seein' as how it's made in your country. Expensive here! I'm an Alliant shooter, and Blue Dot is one of the more consistent powders over a wide temperature range, some one on a cast bullet board that I used to frequent a lot before I got bitten by the shotgun bug, did a series of tests on velocity using dry ice in a cooler as the fridge for the rounds. This was in pistol cartridges though.
I'd be contacting Lapua about it.
http://www.lapua.com/index.php?id=850
Good luck!
R*2

Member Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 425 Location: Maine

I don't know that longshot is especially poor in cold weather as I've never tried it. A hot primer (assuming a published recipe) would be an asset. One powder I know works well is Green Dot. I witnessed a friend shooting mild 7/8 oz. 12g loads using Green Dot, in single digit temps (Fahrenheit), and they all went BANG!

Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 1460 Location: Eagle, Nebraska

I use Longshot a great deal in my hunting loads. Have never noticed any performance issues. 7625 or Blue Dot haven't caused me any problems either.

Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Finland

Hello Riude :

Use as fast a powder as you can for the velocity that you seek in real cold weather , giving up a small gain in velocity at a temp of 75 will pay big dividens at 20 or lower .

Use as hot a primer as you can as well.

Regards Charles

And yes Longshot along with Win 540 and Bluedot are wonderful powders indeed but not much gain when temps get below the 20 mark .

I've been shooting cold weather clays with Unique for years with no problem in 16g Cheddite reloads. around 22-23 grains..... 1275fps. Greendot works well toofor a quieter load or a 7/8 punch. Amazing how well 7/8 patterns.
Rizzy

I use longshot mostly in my 28ga &.410's. I do find that it does shoot a tad dirty in extreme cold -- not any noticable change in down range results at birds or skeet. Is you want to keep them warm put a chemical hand warmer in with them -- I find this works great -- keeps the shells warm and a convenient place to put your hand while waiting to shoot. Worhs on pockets & shell pouches.
Cheers, John (from the cold country)

Member Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 317

Longshot has been my go to cold weather powder for my duck/goose loads. No issues so far even when late season goose hunting in subzero weather.

Longshot is very similar to the now discontinued WW 581/HS7 ball powder. I have had some cold weather problems with some of the slower burning ball shotgun powders over the years. I gave up on 581 for 7/8 ounce loads in the 28 because of this problem. The loads would work to perfection down to about 45 degrees. Below that, good ignition became very iffy regardless of how carefully I crimped the loads. Left over the loads did not seem to winter well either. Performance would drop off the following season, dispite good storage methods. I can't explain why. It might be that once the loads are exposed to the cold, they do not recover much. Sometimes it is better to accept a componant's limits and move on.

Magnum primers and very heavy crimps help, but are not a gauranteed cure. These powders work best in 12 ga. shells with shotloads of 1-1/2 ounces and up. I think the added resistance of a heavy load of shot is required to help these slower ball powders reach a good burning rate. I know a couple of local turkey hunteres and waterfowlers who love the stuff. These guys pack as much shot as the can into their heavy loads. They do not seem to have cold weather issues either. So I think I'm on the right track here.

I find the slower flake powders like 800X, Herco, and Blue Dot are far less sensitive to cold weather conditions in the smaller gauges. Of course, hot primers and stiff crimps are still required, but the results are well worth the added effort.

I've used 2400 powder in a 1 ounce 28 gauge load with excellent cold weather results for over a decade now. Dispite being slower burning than 581, 2400 has never been known to give cold weather ignition problems in small gauges-- even in the .410.

16 Guy---
How do you get 1 oz. of shot into a 28g hull????
Do you have a recipe for the AAHS, with fps.psi?
That's the hull I usually load.
Many thanks, Rizzy!