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Tactical Pointers
3 Tips for Shooting in Cold Conditions
Sonja Benčina
Feb 7, 2025
The Southern hemisphere is enjoying their summer months and would probably do better to read the post on shooting in hot conditions. But the Northern hemisphere is in the middle of winter. What better time, then, to offer a few tips for shooting in cold conditions? These may come in handy for people shooting at colder indoor ranges (perhaps even in the summer, with air conditioning on full blast) and those shooting at semi-open or open ranges in colder temperatures.
1: What to Wear
Choosing appropriate clothing is especially challenging for rifle shooters: a) in accordance with Article 7.5.2.1 of ISSF Rifle Rules, under clothing must not exceed 2.5 mm thickness, and b) anything too bulky will restrict normal or practiced movements. This is why it is important to layer up wisely. Wear moisture-wicking base layers to keep sweat off your skin, followed by insulating layers to retain heat. The same applies for pistol shooters, with the exception that they can add more layers; a vest is handy as it doesn’t restrict movement. In extreme cold, they can even wear winter jackets – and leave their shooting arm out, while zipping them up, to stay nice and toasty but keep full movement of their shooting arm.
Also: wear a hat! A significant amount of body heat escapes through your head. Choose a warm, light hat that doesn’t fit too tight and make sure it doesn’t interfere with your visor, shooting glasses, or ear protection.
2: Mental Preparation
Practicing in cold conditions will prepare you for colder competitions by building endurance or tolerance to cold, but also by making you think of things that can help.
During practice or competition, allow yourself enough time to do two things:
a) Visualise warmth and comfort. Include this imagery in your visualisations every few shots.
b) Break down your shooting session into shorter periods. When you get too cold, it makes no sense to continue. Ensure that you have enough time (if during competition) to take one or more breaks during which you can recover: go to a warmer area, put on a blanket, drink warm liquid (bring a thermos), use warmers.
3: Warm Accessories
On the shooting line, there are a few accessories that you can have with you to help you warm up. The first is a thermal bottle with a warm liquid. The second are hand warmers: keep them in your pocket or on the desk to hold them in your shooting hand between shots or after every few shots to ensure that your fingers do not lose their feeling.
While colder air may affect your mental game, not all things about the cold are negative:
Yes, your body may feel stiffer and less responsive, but you can turn stiffness into an advantage! Find the best shooting position you can and – freeze! This is very demanding for your body so you can train it by practicing longer holding in the same position (when it’s not cold).
Cold air will also bring down your pulse which is another factor that affects your performance. Your breathing rhythm will slow down, allowing you greater control over your breath.
Extreme conditions also sharpen your focus and point it to things that matter – in a competition, this is your precision. Enjoy your heightened awareness, be it muscle movement, position, hold, or triggering.
We understand that cold may initially seem like a huge setback, especially when you are not used to it, but embracing the difficult conditions will help you become a more adaptable shooter. Describe what you tried and what worked in your Shooting Notes and start a library of solutions for every possible scenario!
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4 thoughts on “3 Tips for Shooting in Cold Conditions”
I disagree with the statement that pistol shooters remain “toasty” in their winter jackets – when it’s cold and the concrete floor is getting your toes in flimsy shooting shoes and the hand is frozen stiff, no winter jacket can fix that, but yes, it helps delay the onset of being cold. Shooting in Estonian weather is not what I would call toasty, for sure 😀
Point taken! When cold hits, there is no solution that will save you 100%, you can only try and mitigate the effects as best as you can.
Sending you a toasty hug 😉
It’s true that there are some advantages being cold while shooting! First of all your hand doesn’t get sweaty and your grip is better. Also you are more focused to the technique because your body feels freezed. What I do, is putting on my winter jacket and even if it doesn’t keep me 100% warm, my mindset is that :now you must feel warmer, since you wore an additional layer. And some light stretching helps your blood function and you get a tiny bit warmer.
Yes! Once again, this proves true the old saying that shooting is a mental game. Realizing that mindset helps is such a huge step forward.