Colorado in the winter and Saudi Arabia in the dead of summer, those sucked.
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Want to test your fundamentals....
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I worked and trained in some pretty extreme weather. I worked in Vermont as Deputy State Game Warden and as a city LEO near the major Ski Area's around Mount Snow(where the X Games were held). We never got a break on training because of the weather. We worked in all weather conditions so we trained in real life. I have patrolled in Police Cruisers, boats, snow mobiles, snowshoes, ATV's and 4X4's. Originally issued S&W .38/ .357, upgraded to Glock 22/ 23. LEO's in Vermont now carry SIG's mostly. I moved south after retirement(14 years ago) because I HATE THE COLD WEATHER !!!!! and the people here are much nicer in general, I married a true Southern woman after moving here, Country as Turnip Greens.
We had qualifications on certain dates every year and we qualified on those dates regardless of the weather. Our qualification always consisted of two days and one night twice a year. Night shooting when it is snowing can be a challenge with the light reflections on the snow flakes, it is almost as bad when it is raining. On a side note, we never lubricated our weapons in the winter because of the chance of lube causing a malfunction in extreme cold. It will not hurt a gun to be run dry for the limited amount of use it may encounter on duty, usually never shot and if it is limited number of rounds due to the nature of most gun fights. I have seen and experienced rifles and shotguns fail to fire in below zero weather when lube gets thick/ sticky.
We had qualifications on certain dates every year and we qualified on those dates regardless of the weather. Our qualification always consisted of two days and one night twice a year. Night shooting when it is snowing can be a challenge with the light reflections on the snow flakes, it is almost as bad when it is raining. On a side note, we never lubricated our weapons in the winter because of the chance of lube causing a malfunction in extreme cold. It will not hurt a gun to be run dry for the limited amount of use it may encounter on duty, usually never shot and if it is limited number of rounds due to the nature of most gun fights. I have seen and experienced rifles and shotguns fail to fire in below zero weather when lube gets thick/ sticky.
Thats me!
Good observations... in winter a little lube goes a long way.
That's extreme... how did they run & what lube were you using?
Grenade training in heavy rain at Fort Benning. That is, rolling and throwing drills in mud puddles. NOT FUN!
Runner-up is M16 qualification in Iraq during a dust storm. That wasn't so bad, really.
Runner-up is M16 qualification in Iraq during a dust storm. That wasn't so bad, really.
Boots get heavy, did they?
Ugh, everything got heavy. And gritty. And chafe-y.
Wow... that brings back a bad memory. You're right about that.
Amazing how abrasive a little bit (or a lot) of sand can be when it gets in your drawers.
Monte, I was just in your area yesterday for my daughters cheer comp (exit 333 at the conv ctr) and it was coooold.
I have shot and trained in just about every type of environment except in deep freeze tundra of Alaska(which Im ok with).
Shooting in the cold is a very miserable condition, however I learned alot from how to keep your body and mind functioning while hitting your targets and how your dexterity and thought process is diminished after just a few minutes in the cold.
The training I have took was in Moyock NC (Blackwater USA oka Xe) in the heat of July and cold of January. Alot of training in Pickens County in the winter and fall and it came in handy while working short stints in Kosovo and during the Montenegro independence from Serbia in 2007. The weather there was cold as you could imagine, we had some M4's (truly AR15's with adj buttstock), FNFAL's/Cetme's and CZ's with the occasional shotgun. The temperature was so cold at times, our gas generators would freeze if you turned them off and there was no central bathrooms in many places, but similar to "Porta Johns" that would freeze over. I have seen two gun barrels crack during training due to the extreme temps during firing and mans finger literally "freeze" to the gun because his winter gloves were so thick, he removed the finger portion of the wool liner to get better "feel" on the trigger and his finger froze in place. The guns sometimes will fail, but mostly it was due to operator shaking so badly, it was almost operator error that caused "limb wristing" in the guns themselves. Doing mag changes and firing at targets were hard enough wearing winter wear, but when your fingers are not working due to loss of dexterity, it is even tougher. While training, we had to do "simple excersises" that made us use our minds more than our firearms, those "simple" excersizes were even tougher as your brain shuts down, so training outside is almost a must for anyone who wants to push themselves.
Extreme heat and tropical places like Afghan, S.America, C. America have their own challenges, moisture/humidity and dehydration/fatigue all play roles while shooting as your brain/body shut down.
Im not trying to sound as "Mr. Know it all", but that is what instructors like myself and Monte do, use our expierences to better prepare those who have not had such encounters, be able to learn to work through such circumstances if you had to. Imagine if you were out yesterday and had to protect yourself, could you do a reload with your hands being frozen or would you make a mental error and have a undisierable outcome ?
I have shot and trained in just about every type of environment except in deep freeze tundra of Alaska(which Im ok with).
Shooting in the cold is a very miserable condition, however I learned alot from how to keep your body and mind functioning while hitting your targets and how your dexterity and thought process is diminished after just a few minutes in the cold.
The training I have took was in Moyock NC (Blackwater USA oka Xe) in the heat of July and cold of January. Alot of training in Pickens County in the winter and fall and it came in handy while working short stints in Kosovo and during the Montenegro independence from Serbia in 2007. The weather there was cold as you could imagine, we had some M4's (truly AR15's with adj buttstock), FNFAL's/Cetme's and CZ's with the occasional shotgun. The temperature was so cold at times, our gas generators would freeze if you turned them off and there was no central bathrooms in many places, but similar to "Porta Johns" that would freeze over. I have seen two gun barrels crack during training due to the extreme temps during firing and mans finger literally "freeze" to the gun because his winter gloves were so thick, he removed the finger portion of the wool liner to get better "feel" on the trigger and his finger froze in place. The guns sometimes will fail, but mostly it was due to operator shaking so badly, it was almost operator error that caused "limb wristing" in the guns themselves. Doing mag changes and firing at targets were hard enough wearing winter wear, but when your fingers are not working due to loss of dexterity, it is even tougher. While training, we had to do "simple excersises" that made us use our minds more than our firearms, those "simple" excersizes were even tougher as your brain shuts down, so training outside is almost a must for anyone who wants to push themselves.
Extreme heat and tropical places like Afghan, S.America, C. America have their own challenges, moisture/humidity and dehydration/fatigue all play roles while shooting as your brain/body shut down.
Im not trying to sound as "Mr. Know it all", but that is what instructors like myself and Monte do, use our expierences to better prepare those who have not had such encounters, be able to learn to work through such circumstances if you had to. Imagine if you were out yesterday and had to protect yourself, could you do a reload with your hands being frozen or would you make a mental error and have a undisierable outcome ?
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