Loading in NQ, shooting in VIC

[Am88]

If people could provide with experiences they have, they only info I seem to be able to find, is people loading in summer or winter and then shooting in the opposite season in Thier living location.

But I'm wondering on powders from going where I live in Townsville, and for argument sake I will keep the seasons the same so say July, and shooting in the high country in Victoria. Where I live the average humidity in July is average of 63 or percent, humidity in the area hunted seems about the same but a huge change in temperature.

What is the biggest factor, temperature or humidity? May seem like a dumb question but I've never had to deal with anything like this so I honestly do not know. I go in July, so how would I go about load development, if I find a good load know with the bullets I'll be using, when it's colder or closer would I try again with less or more powder?

Cheers

[marksman]

ADI powders are pretty temp tolerant, l do my reloading year round but testing usually in the cooler months and before any heat or humidity,
l'm usually finished testing by 9.30 am no wind and no heat
l have done the opposite by shooting reds and pigs in beautiful one day and perfect the next with no change in POl using ADI powder but l cannot say what it would be like doing the opposite
l am sure you would be ok for safety but l would check your POl before hunting
time for a sambar Am88

[Gamerancher]

Humidity.
Mate of mine was living in Townsville, loaded up a bunch of ammo at home then travelled to Victoria in July for a National Title shoot. Had a bunch of fail-to fires. When we pulled the bullets, the powder had failed to ignite and came out in what definitely felt like moist lumps. ( ADI 2205 ) Don't know if it was the primers or powder that was worse affected but nothing went bang like it should have. Even when they did fire the shots were not where they should have been. This bloke is one of the best shooters in our sport in the country, so when he tells me, his spotter, that the shots aren't landing where they should be, I believe him.
Perhaps 28 - 30 + degrees and 70% + humidity while loading in Townsville, single digit overnight temps in Victoria, condensation was what we came up with.

[Am88]

I'll have access to a farm in Ballan and another in Bacchus Marsh to check zero and do a bit of hunting, may even get lucky as one backs onto a state forest, but that's not the experience I want. Not good news about the condensation, not an experience I would want

[GQshayne]

Humidity.
Mate of mine was living in Townsville, loaded up a bunch of ammo at home then travelled to Victoria in July for a National Title shoot. Had a bunch of fail-to fires. When we pulled the bullets, the powder had failed to ignite and came out in what definitely felt like moist lumps. ( ADI 2205 ) Don't know if it was the primers or powder that was worse affected but nothing went bang like it should have. Even when they did fire the shots were not where they should have been. This bloke is one of the best shooters in our sport in the country, so when he tells me, his spotter, that the shots aren't landing where they should be, I believe him.
Perhaps 28 - 30 + degrees and 70% + humidity while loading in Townsville, single digit overnight temps in Victoria, condensation was what we came up with.

How many years ago was this mate? I have not heard of this kind of thing happening in a long time.

[SCJ429]

I change my load from summer to winter, I find where the node starts and ends, say it starts at 45.1 and ends at 45.6. In winter I will load 45.5 or 45.6 and in summer I will back it off to 45.1 or 45.2 which should keep me in the same speed range.

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Im brisbane based i try to load my rounds in winter due to the horrid humidity and 40° heat have had issues with humidity causing missfires with primers. Since making the switch i havent had any issues at all.

[Am88]

So there appears to be some merrit to the idea then, example today was 78 or something percent humidity, finding the node makes sense SCJ, I guess I could load a couple of different rounds to take and try when I go

[Gamerancher]

How many years ago? 5 or 6, point was that it was with ADI powder, 20grains of 2205 to be exact. The rounds we pulled were damp inside and no, they hadn't gotten wet.
Those that did fire were erratic to say the least.
Can you load in a climate controlled environment? Perhaps cooler and low humidity, I dunno, maybe in an air-conditioned room?
When they say that ADI powders aren't temperature sensitive, it is in relation to varying external temperatures on a given load.
What I am relating to is the O.P's question about anyone having actual experience with loading ammo under certain conditions and shooting in totally different conditions. The above is my personal experience, yours of course,may vary.

[FNQ]

Side point.
I think Highland / Armscor are made in the Phillipines?
That’s hot & humid and they don’t seem to fail.

[Am88]

I can load in air conditioning yes, ammo is stored in garage which although gets hot as the day goes on its still under an insulated roof so it's not too bad heat wise, I have never had any dramas with any of my rifles rusting, other then a couple of light surface marks on my shotgun during the floods we had here when everything went moldy.

[wanneroo]

I shoot my reloads in temps anywhere from -20C to 35C and never had any problems. There are some temp variations you can get into where loads that run at max in the winter will be over the max in the summer but I rarely load towards max velocity or pressure anyways. Due to the mountainous terrain I live in I'd be hard pressed to find a way to shoot over 300 metres. I don't do any bench rest shooting so perhaps I would see some differences if I did but right now if it center punches the steel gong at 100 I'm pretty happy.

As talked about in another thread you probably don't want to expose any powder to too much humidity, so get a dehumifier going even if you have AC.

[Am88]

No worries I think it will be fine then, most likely over thinking it as usual, I just want to take all variables out, would hate to have my first Sambar lined up and it shoots like crap, will definataly check zero when arrive.

It only for me this morning think as the men I'll be with load as they need to when going and check zero.

Cheers

[marksman]

l'm pretty sure that to have wet powder in a fail to fire case from humidity is an extreme

humidity or dryness will effect burn rate as written better than l can explain in this artical
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/201 ... d-to-know/

[GQshayne]

How many years ago? 5 or 6, point was that it was with ADI powder, 20grains of 2205 to be exact. The rounds we pulled were damp inside and no, they hadn't gotten wet.
Those that did fire were erratic to say the least.
Can you load in a climate controlled environment? Perhaps cooler and low humidity, I dunno, maybe in an air-conditioned room?
When they say that ADI powders aren't temperature sensitive, it is in relation to varying external temperatures on a given load.
What I am relating to is the O.P's question about anyone having actual experience with loading ammo under certain conditions and shooting in totally different conditions. The above is my personal experience, yours of course,may vary.

Not doubting you at all. Just seemed unusual. I have never heard of that happening, and have never read any warning on the subject in handloading writings either. I have used ADI powders for more than 30 years, and have used tins of powder that have been stored for years. Done my share of loading in hot and wet weather too.