How Does Temperature Affect ELEY Ammunition and Its Lubricant

How Does Temperature Affect ELEY Ammunition and Its Lubricant?

Temperature affects every .22LR cartridge made by every manufacturer. Propellant burns less efficiently as temperature falls, which lowers muzzle velocity and shifts the point of impact. Lubricant becomes firmer. Metal contracts, tightening the chamber.

ELEY's answer to this is engineering rather than compromise: a temperature-controlled lubrication system that applies lubricant consistently in the first place, and four different lubricant specifications matched to the disciplines they serve, including a dedicated cold-weather lubricant on the biathlon range.

The Lubricant's Job

The purpose of the lubricant applied to .22LR ammunition is to ease repeated chambering. The idea that the lubricant sends the bullet down the barrel is a common misconception.

This matters when thinking about temperature. Because the lubricant acts at the chambering interface rather than as a propulsive agent, its behaviour in the cold is principally a chambering and consistency question, not a velocity question. Velocity change with temperature is driven by propellant.

Why ELEY Uses Different Lubricants

Paraffin wax remains harder than beeswax at any given temperature, because of its higher melting point. Beeswax-tallow is softer, thicker and stickier at any given temperature, which is exactly what makes it the best choice for precision, because the softer wax minimises the effects of chambering.

ELEY applies beeswax-tallow to ELEY tenex, ELEY match and ELEY team, where accuracy is the governing requirement. It applies paraffin wax to ELEY club, ELEY sport and target, ELEY force, ELEY contact, the pistol rounds and the hollow-point hunting rounds, where a drier lubricant that will not clog a mechanism is worth more. A third specification, EP2723, is used on ELEY tenex rapid fire pistol, ELEY ultra and both semi-auto benchrest products.

For the disciplines that are contested in genuinely freezing conditions, ELEY does not adapt either. It uses a purpose-designed cold-weather lubricant.

The Cold-Weather Range

ELEY tenex biathlon and ELEY biathlon club both use a scientifically engineered biathlon lubricant, developed to suit cold temperatures, aiding consistency and reducing barrel wear. ELEY tenex biathlon is lubricated for use to -20°C, a specification printed on the box.

Alongside the lubricant, ELEY made two further changes for the cold. The diameter of the cartridge was reduced, following examination of bullet and chambering characteristics at freezing temperatures, to aid cycling in bolt-action and straight-pull rifles. And the propellant charge was increased, giving enhanced terminal energy and the greater knock-down force needed for the biathlon target.

What This Means in Practice

If you shoot in freezing conditions regularly, use the ammunition built for it. ELEY tenex biathlon at a 4.50 mm maximum Radial Standard Deviation and ELEY biathlon club at 5.50 mm are engineered end to end for cold. That is a more reliable solution than asking a temperate-climate cartridge to work outside its design envelope.

Batch test in conditions close to those you will compete in. Every barrel has its own unique characteristics, and each batch of ammunition performs differently. Temperature is one of the conditions under which that relationship is established, so a lot selected for a summer prone season and a lot selected for a winter league are not necessarily the same lot.

Keep ammunition at a stable temperature. Consistency is the objective in everything else about a match cartridge, and it applies to the ammunition's temperature as much as to its manufacture. Rounds that have been kept together at one temperature behave more alike than rounds that have not.

Check strike depth and headspace before a winter season. The firing pin indent in the case rim is called the strike depth, and a minimum strike depth is necessary to transmit sufficient energy to the primer to cause ignition. The ideal strike depth for an ELEY cartridge is 0.012-0.015 in, and the recommended headspace is 0.040-0.041 in. Cold weather is when a marginal firing pin or a worn spring will show itself first, and both figures are simple to check with a gauge.

Velocity, Temperature and the Transonic Region

ELEY's flat-nose competition products run at a mean velocity of 317-330 m/s, or 1040-1085 ft/s, comfortably subsonic across the published band. This is deliberate, because the transition from supersonic to subsonic can destabilise a projectile and reduce accuracy.

Temperature moves velocity within that band, which is a further reason to select a batch under conditions representative of your competition, and to use the mean velocity figure printed on every ELEY box as part of that decision. That figure is the mean velocity of the batch measured across four barrels during ELEY's proofing process.

The Bottom Line

Cold affects all rimfire ammunition. ELEY addresses it by controlling lubrication temperature at the point of manufacture, by specifying different lubricants for different disciplines, and by engineering a complete cold-weather range with its own lubricant, reduced cartridge diameter and increased propellant charge. For shooting in freezing conditions, ELEY tenex biathlon and ELEY biathlon club are the products designed for the job.