N-310 temperature sensitivity

The temperature in NE Ohio has been swinging from 30 to 80F in the last couple of weeks and so has the performance of the N-310 that I have the most of.  I also have smaller amounts of Bullseye, WST, and Titegroup.  Does anyone know how these are with respect to temperature stability.  

The only way I have been able to use N-310 in the colder weather is to preload magazines at home and leave them on the heated seats in my car with the engine running.  Fortunately I can drive to the firing line at the club I belong to.

Whilst the climate here on the Oregon Coast is much less severe than Ohio in the winter, it has been unusually cool during the past 6 weeks. I use N310 exclusively for 45 and my solution is "winter recipe" with about 0.2 grains more than "normal". Or, a 180LSWC instead of a 160LSWC with the same amount of powder. Works for me with a reasonably accurate, but slightly loose 1911.

Usually, using Winchester primers will help with any issues.  Winchester LP primers are for Standard and Magnum loads and really helped with the consistency of my VV 310 loads.  However, very light loads of VV310 will still be problematic.  It seems to need a certain load level to start behaving consistently, but when it does, it is really good.  

CR

Hey guys at what Temperature do you start seeing the problems? Here is SW Florida it doesn’t get cold but it does up in Jacksonville in the spring when the Dixie Match comes to town.

It usually has to be in the low forties for me to have trouble with my loads when using a temperature sensitive powder.   
Once you get up to fifty everything seems to function ok.   
    I do feel a lot more perceived recoil on a hot day at Canton than up here in the thin cool air of the Rocky Mountains.   

My solution for either cold weather or the backup gun is to keep extra long line loads which are hotter with a heavier bullet in the bag for emergencies.   

When I was a newbie  I once made the mistake of loading Federal primers when I ran out of Winchester for my short line/ indoor  loads.   Big difference.   I had to change the spring in my gun in the middle of the match.

While I admit to having made it through two gunnery courses at Fort Sill Oklahoma, I didn’t learn much about powders other than temp is something you must account for when shooting big bullets  at things far far away.   A thermometer was kept in the powder magazine for the data needed for firing solutions on any given day. 

I have been told by chemical engineering types that know:  Single base powders, are generally much more temperature sensitive than double base powders.   VVN310 is a single base powder.   

Best metering is generally ball powders.   So if you can find a double based ball powder, it would be the least temperature sensitive, and also meter the best in a progressive reloading set up.

And we have a winner:

https://shop.hodgdon.com/winchester/winchester-wst

Thanks for the link! I didn’t know they sold
direct to customers!

Ho hum!

[quote="James Hensler"]Hey guys at what Temperature do you start seeing the problems? Here is SW Florida it doesn’t get cold but it does up in Jacksonville in the spring when the Dixie Match comes to town.[/quote]

I would also say somewhere just below 50F, but relative humidity, cold gun, dirty gun, tight/loose gun all have an effect. At the first 2 matches this season I kept a hand warmer in my thermal vest pocket and put the magazines in there when we went downrange to score. - just in case.

30 rounds of long line ammo usually warms my guns up enough that I don't have a problem by the time it comes to my "softer" short line loads. But, as Kate mentions, shooting long line loads through the subsequent stages is one way of avoiding any problems.

Below 45 F use .1 to .2 more powder, WST or N310.

SonOfSwede wrote:  I also have smaller amounts of Bullseye, WST, and Titegroup.  Does anyone know how these are with respect to temperature stability.  

WST will have the same problem from others I have know to use it.  I know Bullseye and Titegroup do not seem to have any issue.

If supplies are an issue I would bump your load up a little and that should help or use 200gr bullet if you are normally using 185gr.

radjag wrote:"WST will have the same problem from others I have know to use it."


Yes, Chris is correct, WST is similarly temperature sensitive (and is also very hygroscopic - don't leave it in an unsealed container - it quickly gets damp and useless).

You need to move.  :-)   We don’t have that problem out here in the Rocky Mountains.

I have shot a few matches in NJ/OK/TX in the 40s with no issues in my N310 load.

Val

I was shooting over the winter at temps down to the low 20's.  I needed to keep it warm or I had unburned power on the bench and all over the gun. It took me a little while to figure out what the straw colored particles were.  I then started loading magazines at home and keeping them in the car with the engine running

At the Bullseye Clinic at Colonial last month, the temperature was in the 30's.  The lightest spring I had with me did not cycle and I did not have the same ability to keep loaded mags in my car.

Today was 50.  I added 2 lbs to the recoil spring and had no problem. 

So between 20 and 50 N310 changes a lot.

Summer is here now.  Happy days are here again.