Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Push feed in cold/icy weather

I'm thinking of having JES rebore a R700 up to 9.3x62. The application would be Alaska, mebbe Newfoundland, Moose, bear etc.

I'm a bit hung up on the push feed though, which in ordinary circumstances I'd not worry much about.

However, cold icy conditions are virtually certain in these locations.

Question for the fire: Is a push feed more prone to failure that a CRF in icing conditions?

Thanks in advance!

No and if the superiority of a CRF wasn't a myth, you would see cemeteries all over Africa full of dead hunters with push feed failures...

I wouldn’t worry about the pushfeed, but I would worry about the enclosed trigger. After suffering numerous freeze ups (mostly on Kodiak or Montaque) I sold all my 700’s and went to mainly Savages and Winchester 70’s.
In the cold they were OK
In the wet they were OK
When it was cold, wet, and temps running 20-32 degrees they were not.

As long as you don't operate it upside you should be fine.

This, exactly. M70s would be best. Can't say about Savage and their Accutrigger. The new Rugers would be good, too, with their open trigger design. Enclosed triggers in the wet and cold, not what I would want to bet my hunt on.

I had one experience where my M700 trigger felt very weird in cold icy conditions. It still worked, but there was clearly some freezing going on inside the trigger assembly which affected the trigger pull. I would agree that a traditional open trigger design like an original M70, current Ruger etc. would be preferable in those conditions. I think push feed is a non-issue.

I gets cold in Minnesota. It gets icy in Minnesota. Cold by our standards means it is cold enough that worrying about icing is non-existent. I hunt in freezing rain, snow, rain turning to real cold with a few 700s and have yet to see the first issue with any of mine nor with any of those with whom I hunt. No trigger issues, zero. No feed issues, Zero. Find something real to worry about.

PF no problem, carry a spare bolt handle.

Get a Ruger MKII or Hawkeye. Eliminates most of the guesswork right out of the gate.

Make sure the ejector spring is strong and that the ejector track is smooth. Nothing else to do but use and abuse it.

[quote=DakotaDeer]Get a Ruger MKII or Hawkeye. Eliminates most of the guesswork right out of the gate.

Except accuracy, it’s a Ruger.

Haven’t had a chance to try a triggertech yet in these conditions but I am curious how they will do. I sure to like them in every other respect.

We have a winner!

Mk II Rugers first appeared in 1989/1990, thereabouts. Basically they’ve had the same open trigger design since their introduction. The Hawkeye trigger had a few minor changes but was still of open design. I have probably owned 15 to 20 of these rifles and have never had one that wouldn’t shoot or at least be made to shoot satisfactorily. It would be at the top of my list if I was gonna buy a rifle to take to Alaska. Just me.

Village folk have done just fine with their push-feed Remingtons in sub-zero conditions..

Seems it would be the opposite.

I've been to some gun shops in Alaska.

Plenty of R700s around. The locals must buy them.

Well put!

We have had two guns freeze up on the same day.
One was a kimber 84l the other a 700.
It was rainy\wet snowing the day before then turned bitter cold over night.
84l guy frantically tried to warm his bolt after crawling in amongst a herd of elk.
I think maintenance was more of the issue than design.
I carry a little tube of de icer in my pack now.

M 70 push feed is the answer..........open trigger and the bolt is very easily disassembled

I wonder if Sakos have ever been tested in cold weather....