Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Stocks shatter from Alaska cold?

Researching the perfect Alaska hunting rifle I have learned that my OEM synthetic stock might just shatter in the Alaska cold, and that I should consider an upgrade. Is this just more innernet BS? My particular stock in question is either a Hogue or a paddle stock on a MK II Ruger.

Thanks in advance!

You’ll be just fine with your Ruger boat paddle or your Hogue. 👍

I have shot every rifle I own at -40 thats below zero and never had a stock crack,break,or shatter. Even the ruger boat paddle (zytel). Never a problem. But what does happen at colder Temps the recoil pad becomes a recoil transfer pad. (Hard as a rock)

Mmm hmm, you shot a rifle at -40*.?

I call bullpucky on that one.

Steel don't like mass pressure at -40* there buckwheat.

Really?

You have a source for this?.

I used to shoot at minus 25-30, with no problem.

Long ways from -25 to -40*.

las;
Good afternoon to you sir, I trust this finds you well and your Thanksgiving was a good one.

Thankfully for me, the tales I'll relate are all in the dim past, but since I grew up in Saskatchewan, I am quite conversant in chilly weather.

My late father decided that I would miss a week of high school when I was 15 and we went the 35 miles on the seismic cut line to stay in his trapper buddy's line shack. According to the thermometer on the side of the cabin it actually hit a high of -35° one day. I do recall that "nature stops" were absolutely brief in those conditions!

My then brand new wife said she'd try whitetail hunting with me and so I set up a bunch of straw for a ground blind at the end of a hay field we had. That day it got up to -38°, not including the ever present Saskatchewan wind. When a buck finally appeared near dark, she shot it, stood up and said, "I'll go get the pickup now and meet you at the buck thanks"...

While I didn't have a chronograph then, I stacked up some herbicide cans and put them out in a field to test how much more the bullets dropped on cold days. I want to say the coldest day I shot was more or less -42° though I can't recall whether I'd converted to Celsius by then or not.....

We had no plastic stocked center fire rifles back then, but I do recall that my Remington Mowhawk .22 did do odd things coming in and out from room temps to sub, sub zero sometimes. That's likely because the scope mount on them is that little piece of tin that fits over the nylon stock/receiver, but that's a guess on my part as well.

Lastly, the Canadian Rangers up in the Territories shoot quite a bit at however cold it gets up there and that's one reason they didn't get gas operated guns as I recall, though I've never personally run an auto at anything colder than -10° or there abouts.

All the best to you as we head into colder temperatures and shorter days once again sir. I hope your wood pile is full and you all stay well.

Dwayne

A few years back, two of us went on a winter cow moose hunt.70 miles in by sno-go we set the wall tent and wood stove.
After camp was set, we put dinner on the stove and tried to pour a nice sundowner but the Crown Royal wouldn't pour.....froze.
How cold was that?......damned cold. The next morning we harvested our cows and headed home with no thought to rifle
metallurgy.

Been here a long time but seldom ever post but this time I couldn't resist. 6MM obviously hasn't been in North Dakota in the winter either. If you couldn't shoot a rifle at 40 below you'd have to pack them away until spring. This is only partly being a wise ass (smile). I will admit to having fired a rifle at those temps and it didn't explode and the bullet exited the barrel. But then I've only lived here 73 years and don't know what others experiences might have been.

Gotta love Alaska. For every out-of-state hunter humping a $10,000 rifle, there are a thousand Alaskans filling their tags with hand-me-down, wood stocked rifles, milsurp rescues, and $300 Walmart guns, and guns I can’t name. And wearing Carhartts.

Shouldn't be a concern, I've fired lots of synthetic at minus 50 or colder, only one I'm aware of having problems was the early Ram Lines but they were injection molded. When glass stocks first started, a few manufacturers sent me samples to try out and never saw a problem. Bigger problem was trying to avoid double-based powders, ..... they liked pressure excursions at cold temps!!
When you live here and want meat, you quickly learn to deal with Real Cold!!

Shouldn't be a concern, I've fired lots of synthetic at minus 50 or colder, only one I'm aware of having problems was the early Ram Lines but they were injection molded. When glass stocks first started, a few manufacturers sent me samples to try out and never saw a problem. Bigger problem was trying to avoid double-based powders, ..... they liked pressure excursions at cold temps!!
When you live here and want meat, you quickly learn to deal with Real Cold!!

I always find it humorous when a man is to arrogant or to stupid to realize when they are wrong. But I'm guessing there will be no apology from Remington6mm.
You have my pitty must have been the way you were raised.
ErichTheRed

VernAK;
Good evening to you sir, thanks for your input into the thread and I trust all is well as can be in your world tonight.

Your hunting tale reminded me of a buddy in Whitehorse who was either on a First Nations high school experience hunt or a special draw for bison, I forget now which it was, but it was either late January or February.

He said that when they shot a cow, with two of them working as fast as they could to part up the bison it kept on freezing solid on them as soon as they skinned out a portion of it. He said too that it was " a royal bugger" getting the hide folded up onto to the toboggan they pulled behind their snow machines.

While I'm sure he told me just how cold it was, I forget that part now, but I'd given him a quilted Arctic Cat brand face mask for snowmobiling when he moved north and it was another time he phoned to thank me for it!

Honestly I'm not sure I could deal with extreme cold anymore, I've seen -48° without wind chill a couple times and stuff just didn't like to work anymore at those temperatures - sort of like your Crown Royal!

Thanks again for the cow hunt story and all the best to you folks as we head into shorter days and colder weather.

Dwayne

Talus,
You tell the truth. When I first hunted here in Alaska I used a stevens 200 in a 243 win. Killed my first caribou just fine. And used key brand bibs I couldn't afford carhartt back then.

Doubt the stocks ,synthetic,or wood will crack. What may happen in extreme cold though is your firing pin will freeze up if you use excessive oil or lubricant. I had this happen twice as a kid in a Remington 788. Temp was around -10* or so.If it is really cold, I wipe all lubricant off my bolt, and trigger. I haven't had one freeze up since I have done this, and I hunt coyotes all winter, and it gets pretty cold.

Remington6mm,
Energize some sort of grey matter before stating your ignorance.

It’s a bit comical to get called out on shooting in extreme arctic conditions by someone who lives where they’ve rarely ever seen a frost.

Don't worry about it, I doubt he'll be back.

That is an old wife's tale ! I don't know how many stainless steel Ruger mini-14's there are riding on snow machines and dog sled that are regularly used well below -40 !