Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Rifles in freezing temps

I've been running 'em dry for years, mostly because of the wet snow we tend to get this time of year in Montana, but it has helped in other places from Alaska to Africa.

If conditions are going to be really nasty, whether wet or dusty, I'll often take my old .338, made on a commercial FN Mauser 98 action with an original 98 K98 military trigger modified to a decent 3-pound pull. It's all Cerkote protected against rust except for the bore, where DBC does the same thing.

I soak and air dry bolt and trigger assemblies in Coleman fuel before a cold weather hunt and wipe dry a thin coat of Ballistol on bolt and lug surfaces. Never a problem since I started that regimen. Happy Trails

I take them apart and clean them with a solvent.

Then when going back together i do not use any oil,on the bolt or trigger.

Wipe them down but don't drown them in anything.

They won't get worn out on one trip.

Other than to wipe my rifle down with an oily rag once in awhile my rifles never see oil of any kind. I keep them dry as a bone. Im out in temperatures as low as -55 running my trapline and my rifle ( Ruger) always works. I have seen Remington triggers freeze even on cool fall hunts.

Its a good idea to leave your rifle outside in cold temps too. Condensation builds up if you bring them in and out. Just about every trappers cabin I've ever seen had a nail right beside the door for that purpose.

I've hunted in rain, rain/snow mix, falling and/or blowing snow at various temperatures and even on some nice days Northern NY for years. -20 below and I come out of the woods. My 80 year bones rebel any colder. Have seen guns freeze up.

My solution is spray and saturate with carb cleaner. Clean out all oil, grease, residue. Blow it out and repeat. When it's dry spray it with G96. That's good down to 20 below zero. The G96 is a relatively good rust inhibitor After thoroughly cleaning G96 is all I use. Keeps them functioning rain, snow, blow, cold, shine. Adirondacks and Newfoundland can and do quickly produce some interesting extremes in weather.

Yukon254 says all this in fewer words!

There are two reasons why a rifle might not fire in the cold. One is ice inside the bolt that keeps the firing pin from moving, and the other is stiff cold lubricant that slows or prohibits the firing pin etc. from moving normally.

Both are fixable. The solution to cold lube is to remove it all before the rifle goes into the cold. Several have posted on how to do that.

Ice inside the bolt is a field problem. Prevention is best and avoids most of it, but once in awhile thawing/freezing conditions may produce ice in spite of our prevention and so we need to expect it and be prepared to melt it. It is a bigger problem in wet country that hovers just above and just below freezing.

The usual cause of ice inside the bolt is moist air sweating to form droplets on the metal inside the action, and then when the rifle moves into below freezing temps, the droplets freeze. It does not take much ice to keep a firing pin from working. Moving a cold rifle into a warm vehicle and back into the cold is a recipe for ice inside the bolt. Unless the rifle stays inside the warm place long enough to totally dry out the inside of the bolt, it will condense some moisture inside that will freeze when moved outside again. Ditto for cold rifle into a house or tent.

The easiest solution to avoid condensation ice is to keep the rifle cold once it gets cold. Leave it outside the tent or cabin, covered from rain or snow but outside in the cold where it will hunt at dawn.

The second main reason for ice inside the bolt is freezing rain or mist/rain weather that turns below freezing, which happens between afternoon and dark sometimes. I hunted a light rain till dark one day, left the rifle outside our tent covered by a plastic bag, and at first light when I tried to shoot an elk it would not fire. I heard a “chiink” sound of breaking ice and knew instantly what was wrong. I guessed from the sound that the firing pin had moved and broken some ice though it had not hit hard enough to ignite the primer. I cranked the bolt, aimed again and killed the bull when the next round fired.

We have had Rem 700's, Rem 788, Tikka T3 Lite, a Savage 111 and probably some other models all freeze up with ice inside. Garands had the problem in Korea. I thawed a barely frozen 700 under my armpit. The Tikka was the most stubborn about thawing, for whatever reason, and had to be held over a campfire for several minutes with the bolt open, turning to let heat rise through the action, etc. When hunting in freezing rain, all too common in our wet side of the world, we check rifles frequently to see if the trigger/firing pin is working. My Mauser has never frozen on me but that may be chance. I am confident that ice in the right place will stop any rifle from firing.

Same routine as the others but I like to wipe on then off Eesox and then wax everything (Johnson's, Briwax or Rennasance which might be the best). This helps with corrosion and also water runs off easier and snow doesn't stick as much. Don't know how much more really cold weather I will be hunting in but you can have issues even in the teens.

I am going to swap out a Jewell trigger with a Trigger Tech for bad conditions. The trigger Tech if not completely locked up will still function, the roller bearing can handle a fair amount of crud in the housing.. The Jewell I would douse with lighter fluid and it was fine. As others wrote nothing beats a Mauser for functioning.

I use dry lube or motor mica inside the bolt as graphite attracts moisture. I am also a believer in magnum primers for cold weather even for moderate sized cases and stick powders. One of the Teflon type finishes like NP3 over stainless and no lubricant at all might be the best.

DBC pretty much rust proof's a bore? I never heard that. Makes sense though. This years elk hunt entailed taking my bull in the pouring,driving rain. Frog strangler. It was only after a couple of days I was able to wipe it down and clean her up good. As she was Cerkoted I knew I didn't have much to concern myself with on the outside, but I was prepared for the worst in the bore. It was clean as a whistle. This Sako was my own personal copper mine until I took JB's recommendation and did the DBC treatment on it. It took two applications and cleanup is a breeze now with Wipe Out. Had no idea it would help with potential rust problems.

DBC puts a much thinner silica layer than Cerakote inside the bore, hence the protection. Have tested this in both Montana snow and African rain.

Dyna-Tek also sells a coating for blued firearms, called Gun Coat as I recall, but might be wrong. To apply you degrease and warm up the steel, then wipe on couple coats. It doesn't change the appearance at all, and also provides a slicker surface without having to use lubes. (It makes semiauto handguns run easier, for instance.) It doesn't last as long as DBC, but still will go a year or two between applications. It's a PITA to get inside enclosed triggers, but can also help there, because it's hydrophobic, and is easy to apply to "open" triggers like the original Model 70's and Mauser military triggers. In fact many winter fisherman use it on rod guides, where it prevents ice buildup.

I have been using Slip 2000 for years without any problems. Website claims -130*F to 1200*F. Doesn't get tacky with age.

Agree Slip 2000

I like EezOx in the bore, allowed to dry, then use electricians tape on the muzzle. I have been using Outers Tri-Lube on the rest for years. I've also used TC Bore Butter on muzzleloaders, knives, etc. In the Army, boiling hot water , and just a dab of lube kept our M16s working at -40...Germany. We had to take them in and out of warm truck cabs, tents, wherever you went, it went. If you can keep one of those "Swell its Mattel's" running right, you were on to something, ha.

John,

You’re thinking of Gun Shield. IME it works well on SS and blued rifles, knife blades, etc.

Which Slip 2000 product are you referencing? Looked at website and there are numerous products. Thanks

Jordan,

Yep, Gun Shield, thanks.

They also make a version, that may or may not be different, to apply to cooking utensils.

Whats the "best way/ways" to prepare a Timney Trigger against wet/and or freezing temps? Especially one set at 2 1/2 pounds or so? Would you do the same with a 70's model 77 factory trigger? Interested to know as I've always just sprayed them out with that Outers Tri-Lube. Am I missing something?

Are you talking about Birchwood Casey Barricade, (that was formerly named Sheath)? I don't hunt in the extreme cold, but sheath/barricade does a good job keeping guns rust free and very lightly lubed. I don't think I would gum and thicken or attract dirt like oil. It comes in pre wrapped towelettes (similar to glasses wipes) that you can put in your pack of you want. Take up no space or weight and double as a fire starter. I wouldn't use it to lube an AR for a course at Thunder Ranch, but it is near ideal for hunting guns the way I use them.

I never had much trouble with lubricants unless the temps have been less than -15 F. However, below that, clean bolt or not, the linkage parts can sometimes get sluggish unless they are perfectly clean.

Guns that have been perfectly flawless to -30 F or so - even when M700s and M70s aren’t willing, have been the M94 3-position hammer Winchester and the Ruger Number One.

Yeah, I saw that but haven’t used it. Doug mentioned it being the same basic formula as DGS, but is NSF rated, or something to that effect. I’ve just used the regular DGS on my hunting knives.

The Finns during WW2, had weapons that functioned in the freezing cold during the Russo Finnish war of 1939-40, when the Russians Noisan's would freeze... it had to do with lubricant gunking up...

the Finns, cut their gun oil with 75% gasoline.... the Russians didn't...

They learned tho.. afterwards when fighting the German invasion...

The Finns would also dilute their oil in aircraft engines with gasoline...

it lowered the viscosity, but then the fuel in the oil evaporated off as the engines warmed up...

that's what worked before the days of dry lube, and synthetics...

in my MN years, that is the formula I used on my rifles....

we hunted in pretty cold weather, about 60 to 70 miles south of International Falls

it was always below zero it seemed....sometimes a lot below zero...

biggest deer I ever shot was pushed out of a swamp on a deer drive.... it was a little past 30 below that morning... 350 lb buck... 1984...