Reloading question

[Mangum]

Does the humidity in the air while reloading affect the velocity and accuracy of the load?

[catclaw]

That is an interesting question and considering that a lot of the country has to deal with humidity all the time, it probably isn't something to worry about. I have never seen anything written about this before either. Most of my rifle loads have the cases pretty well full of powder- not a lot of room for extra air. I hope we don't have to start purging our loads with dry nitrogen before we seat the bullets

[Mike S]

My favorite ballistics program

 

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

 

has a field you can enter for humidity. I haven't played around with that aspect, but check it out and let us know.

 

Mike

 

 

PS- never mind, looks like I mis-read the question...

[Benbrown]

When I started reloading, I lived in deep South East Texas--one of the most humid places on earth. I hunted every year in Colorado and always stopped at a local range in Pagosa Springs as we went through to check the rifle's zero. Never had to make any adjustments. Now, 45 years later, I load in single digit RH here in New Mexico for my daughters and grandchildren who live on the Coastal Plain of south Texas. The chronograph differences are minor and probably due more to ambient temperature than anything to do with humidity. The rifles that I sight in here work exactly the same there. That said, I have had major differences impact point due to bringing wood-stocked rifles from areas of high humidity to low and vice-versa. You need to make sure that your wood stock is totally sealed so that it is impervious to moisture.

[Mangum]

Thanks for your input. I did find some interesting reading about it on the net. From what I gather so long as you don't leave your powder out in the open air during humid conditions too long it will produce consitent velocities.