Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Another Bear Stopping Thread

Pete 53, thanks for the information. Now I understand, but as T Inman posted, it was more a maintenance problem than design problem. Frozen or very sluggish firing pins in super cold weather are not exclusive just to Remington 700s. For example, in 1990, my two hunting buddies and I went to Wyoming on a booked elk hunt, out of DuBois. It was October and very cold. There were seven of us dudes in camp. At night, everyone left their rifles in a separate tent where the saddles and tack were stored. Temperature at night got down to below 0°.

First day was "blue bird" weather... until afternoon when a snow storm rolled in. As everyone was out seeking the wily wapiti, our rifles got snow on them. The following morning, before we hunters left camp, the outfitter gathered us in the cook tent and said he wanted us all to check our rifles for any problems. We unloaded and of seven rifles, six of the firing pins were "frozen."

We all took out the bolts, stripped and cleaned them, and then without any oil, replaced them in our rifles. The firing pins then struck as they were supposed to strike.

I was carrying a Ruger 77, tang safety, in .338 Mag., one of my buddies was carrying a Ruger 77, tang safety, 7mm Mag., my other buddy was carrying a Rem. 700, .30-06, another hunter was carrying a Win.70. I do not know if it were pre or post '64. I think it was a .300 Win. Mag. Another Rem. 700 and another Win. 70 had "frozen" up. If I recall,the only rifle still working correctly was a Sako one of the hunters was carrying. Although I kept my rifles clean and knew how to strip the bolts and clean them, it never crossed my mind to do so. Thereafter I did so with my other rifles at home.

As an aside, of the seven hunters, we killed six bull elk on that trip. Two were killed by hunters using Remington 700s. That was great elk country.

FWIW.

L.W.