...At the gathering we started off with some pistol drills and it was immediately apparent, and discussed that the handgun ammo was not performing like it did in warmer weather. I was running a G34 and it felt sluggish, as if I was shooting .380s. I was using a mix of Blazer ball and some Federal ball. instead of the usual sharp crack of a report, the ammo was making a light "Pop" sound. Very scientific, I know, but I did not have a chrono and I doubt one would work long in the temperature anyways. The G34 seemed to be barely cycling. I had a single failure to fire, and in examining the round, it had a very light primer strike. On a second go-round, the cartridge fired.
On a personal performance note, I noted that my speed was restricted by clothing, and overall I felt like I was losing 15% or so on the combo of speed and accuracy. On the positive side, I have a fiber optic front sight, and it was so bright, due to all the snow, that it looked like it could have been battery powered...
Rifles...
I ended up pulling my BCG, and using a leatherman, I held it over some red hot coals in the outdoor stove. After heating it up, I disassembled it, wiped almost all of the lube off and re-assembled it.
After that the rifle ran flawlessly.
I also noted, and multiple people discussed that the rifle ammo/powder did not seem to be affected hardly at all by the extreme cold.
Great report, Mac!
While I have a fair bit of cold-weather camping/outdoors experience behind me, I've done little shooting in truly cold weather. I think my coldest hunting was done as a kid, hunting snowshoe hares on snowshoes with a .22 rifle, in Alberta and on the farm back in Saskatchewan before that. My uncle taught me to clean the bolt/firing-pin and raceway with varsol when winter came, which he said made my bolt-action more reliable than his Winchester pump. Anyway, bunnies met their makers just as reliably at -30 to -40 as they did in the summer, I found.
Never did get a chance to use a pistol in such frigid temps.
I do know, from a couple of my patients back in Wisconsin who served with the 5th Marines at Chosin reservoir, that the M1 Garand and 1911A1 pistol both functioned well in extreme cold once they were stripped of all lube, as did the M1 Carbine. But unlike the Garand and the 1911, the carbine exhibited poor terminal performance... Chinese soldiers could absorb multiple hits from a carbine before they died. Makes me wonder if the carbine cartridge was more affected by the cold due its smaller size, or what?
Anyways. Thanks for your good report.
