Heated ammo box for temperature controlled ammunition

[@Swactionworks]

Howdy, Dennis Ray here, the creator of the heated ammo box. I know most of us in this sport tend to tinker around. I’d like to advise against anyone attempting to make their own heated ammo box without adding an additional mechanical temperature switch. It’s crucial that shooters don’t shoot the match before arriving. John, thanks for taking the time to test the box. I’ve been discussing with fellow shooters who have heated ammo boxes about how they’re using them. More detailed examples should be available in the future. Personally, I use it to ensure I’m within my node by conducting a ladder test at the projected match temperature. Here in West Texas, we often see temperature swings as drastic as 40° from Match 1 to Match 3. With that in mind, I might heat my ammo for Match 1 and usually don’t need to for Match 2 or 3. Like a trigger or an optic, the box can potentially be a failure point. Please don’t rely solely on the box during a match. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that heating the ammo doesn’t seem to change my SD but it cuts my ES by around 25%. That might change as my sample size grows, just something interesting I’ve noticed. I’m also interested in experimenting with it alongside a tuner to determine tuner settings at different temperatures with a given powder charge. Unfortunately, the more we test, the more barrel life and components we sacrifice. Hope y’all have a great day and look forward to seeing everyone at the matches this year.

[@cheech1557]

This is a fantastic idea! How can I get one of these boxes for a 22LR?

[@RHG48]

Convinced it saved me at a 34° Colorado match. Had my ammo in this box at 70° where I worked up my load and wasnt having elevation issues like alot of others on the line.

[@colinarmstrong1892]

It makes sense. Seeing as propellants are all exothermic reactions, having the same starting temperature will give the best (most consistent) results. However there seems to be some work done to work out what the ideal temperature would be. That said, most shooters will have many things to sort out before they need to look at this.

[@foonus406]

Next we need the same thing to control the temperature of a barrel before and during shooting. I keep my cartridges in my pocket when i hunt or do pest control under -30Celcuis but when you see frost start to form on the tip of the barrel and crawl towards you as you are sitting there that it must have some impact on barrel harmonics.

[@careyemory7757]

Do they make headed ammo box for 22lr it’s really temperature sensitive

[@ewathoughts8476]

Ref. chart at minute 17:10. You should have figured the average SD/ES numbers from the average velocities of the strings, not by averaging the SD/ES columns. For example the ES of the Ambient strings is really 2950 - 2912 = 38 , not 20.7, and the ES of the Heated is 2960 - 2941 = 19, not 20.6. That correlates to the Mean Radius results much better in my estimate. The heated rounds are more consistent both in velocity and mean radius. Entered your averages into a SD/ES calculator, and Ambient is average V0 2930.6 fps., SD = 15.7 fps, and ES = 38 fps, while the Heated is average V0 2952.8 fps, SD = 4.7 fps, and ES = 19 fps. V0 gains is 22.2 fps, SD is less than half, and ES is half. For SD and ES to mean anything you have to use the total sample to be meaningful. Averaging SD and ES numbers is meaningless. Since we do not have the individual shots the Ambient and Heated SD/ES numbers are likely to be in reality greater because we do not have the real low and high velocity for each temperature range.

[@Ron-ni8uu]

This is awesome and funny😂

[@joearledge1]

Sweet hot box 😎

[@hbudsmalley6317]

That would help with temp sensitive powder like CFE-223 that sux in cold weather.

[@Swactionworks]

I’ve used single base powders at matches with great results. I’m still going to travel with the tried and true powders but I’ve won local matches shooting 6.5 stabal

[@Blackplagueprecision]

That’s interesting

[@JoshPlue]

Great video. Where are you shooting 1k?

[@ClaytonMacleod]

Mean radius was 26.6% better, man. I’d hardly call that nothing.

[@Swactionworks]

My current dada set shows something like a 25% improvement in ES. That improvement we see in mean radius in this video might be caused by the temperature swing throughout the day in John’s ambient temperature ammo. I’m apprehensive about relying on the heated box during big matches as it’s another potential failure point. I don’t anticipate a failure but a dead battery, a cord becoming unplugged could become an issue at a big match. With that in mind I try to be at all the big matches with a crash kit, spare batteries and a spare box. To help support shooter using a H.A.B.

[@ClaytonMacleod]

@@Swactionworks A few years ago we stumbled upon a lot number of CCI Standard Velocity that shot very good for smallbore silhouette and bought something like 14 cases of it. (Between 5-6 of us.) Found out in the winter (I’m on Vancouver Island, where winter is really just hovering around freezing at the worst.) that it turned horrible. My guess was their particular lube didn’t like the cold, considering how different it felt in the middle of winter when temps were hovering around freezing. I started keeping my loaded mags for the next round of targets in my hands in my pockets and that seemed to improve it a little bit. I extended the idea to keeping all my ammo for the day in a small, insulated lunch box with a bunch of those hand warmer packets in it to keep it roughly around 20° C / 68° F or so, and it was almost like it wasn’t cold out at all and the stuff seemed to perform practically the same as it did in warmer months. I went one step further one day and stuffed two or three of those hand warmers between my scope and the barrel just over the chamber area and my test results looked the same as in warmer months. We got a good laugh about having to stock up on hand warmers, but the truth is it did actually help. Hehe. I didn’t keep using the hand warmers on the barrel, but did use the lunch box until we ran through that ammo.

[@ronwilliams1026]

When is the A/C one coming out? It gets hot as balls down here 😂

[@mgillee1]

I'd really consider insulation and adding a Lion battery.

[@davidphillips7321]

How are you going to keep your Rifle Chamber - Warm - Seriously ? To Match your Ammo Temp...

[@bfox87]

👍

[@Johnsormani]

I don’t see the advantage of the internal temperature sensor. As long as you wait long enough , the powder will take on the same temperature as the environment. This works the same in real life situations. You if you go to a hot range it will also take a certain time for the round to heat up.

[@Swactionworks]

With the addition probe If someone wanted to shoot a temperature ladder test they can do it efficiently.

[@CrashRacknShoot]

Interesting. A lot of forums always suggest noting temp, humidity, elevation, and even noteworthy wind. While i personally dont see a use for my shooting, if I stretched out farther, i very much might consider this.

[@barts208]

Tried to check out the website, but both my Anti Virus and my ISP block the website.

[@FClassJohn]

I don't think he has an active website yet which is why he had me list his email.

[@Swactionworks]

Sorry I don’t have a website maybe one day but probably not

[@barts208]

@@SwactionworksI followed a web link on a Facebook page so that makes sense then. I was interested in this because of a rimfire match I did. I noticed the when I kept my rounds in my pocket with a heater they fired faster and had less of an extreme spread.

[@georgekelagis647]

haha u luv gadgets

[@Ron-ni8uu]

This is funny 😂 I love gadgets too