Discussion question

[Artilleryman]

How would today's heat of 95+ degrees affect artillery fire?  I have a thought but I would like to see what anyone else has to say.

[Doc Brown.]

How would today's heat of 95+ degrees affect artillery fire?  I have a thought but I would like to see what anyone else has to say.

I think during the civil war both sides would have agreed to temporary truce until the heat wave passed. That heat would have killed them.

[Double D]

Well, I can only judge from my own experience shooting black powder cartridge and small bore cannons. 

Barrels get hotter, and guns seem to recoils more which leads me to believe the  powder might be burning faster.  Fouling seems to increase and range tables change and it seems they change radically...my mortars shoot long.

[GLS]

With 103 degrees yesterday and expect the same today, no rain for weeks and grass fires all over the place,  strong winds,  the effects on my artillery is they won't fire.  The county has a burn and even fireworks ban till this drought is over.  My plans for the fourth have been dashed.  I'll just go in the cool basement and keep working on the 1819 mortar.
GLS

[oltom]

all the smoke and soot from firing would stick real good to the swety people! They would all be VERY miserable...as for the guns~naw, just another day !

[The Jeff]

How would today's heat of 95+ degrees affect artillery fire?

I would expect hotter temperatures would make shots go farther. Even ignoring the outside temperature affecting the burn rate of the gunpowder, shots should go farther due to decreased density of the air. How much that affects the distance of the shot I don't know.

[keith44]

With 103 degrees yesterday and expect the same today, no rain for weeks and grass fires all over the place,  strong winds,  the effects on my artillery is they won't fire.  The county has a burn and even fireworks ban till this drought is over.  My plans for the fourth have been dashed. ...

GLS

not many fires locally, but too dry to send a shower of hot unburned particles into the tender box that passes for a yard.


If a battle was needing won I believe artillery would be used to full effect regardless of the weather. 

[Leatherneck]

You're all along the right track. Higher humidity decreases air density, therefore decreasing aero drag.
Thats a general rule, even in small arms. Experiments were done with M700s in .308 Win and what an effect a round with cold powder would have. It was noticeable at 100yds but nothing drastic since the projectiles werent dragging that much due to their shape.
 
However something shaped like a sphere is generally accepted to be the least aero dynamic of all the projectiles used. Especially if fired from an unrifled barrel.
 
 
I dont have the stats on hand right now but if you asked around in the benchrest community about powder temperature being a variable, you'd hear enough theories. You can usually tell this by the way they store their ammunition prior to firing and if its out of the sun. As well as the rate of fire they maintain to allow for cooling.
 
 

[Leatherneck]

If a battle was needing won I believe artillery would be used to full effect regardless of the weather.

I agree. By directing your fire at the caissons and taking out that gun's ammunition dump is more effective than going after the crew of the gun itself.
 
 

[armorer77]

My experience in Korea ,Jan 78 , was that cold powder  does not burn as well , so hot powder should burn better , giving longer range . Armorer77