Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Rifle freezing up

Had my first instance of my rifle freezing on me. Firing pin would move, hard to reject rounds, etc.

When it's not always possible to keep your rifle dry and/or warm, what do you all do to help keep everything working in the cold?

Thanks in advance,

907brass

Same thing on my blr it would spank the primer but not hard enough to make it go had to break out the old Blackhawk 44 and knock the boo over... Never did anything to try to relieve it I just think it was colder than hell that day although my kid was over there knocking over boo with my hand loads shooting feds at the time

What kind of rifle? Some are much better about this sort of thing than others.

Kimber 84m. Might be a little more dainty than other actions but my question still stands, what do you do to help prevent this in your rifles in your experience?


Curious if there are lubricants that work better in AK cold? Do they still work okay in mild temps?

before goin out in subzero temps, spray blast out the entire action, bolt innards and all ... with the red can of brake cleaner and let drip dry

completely degreasing all moving parts and keeping it dry ... will function better than applying any kind of lubricant

done this out to -40 F where most if not all lubes get gummy and thick

the only way a Jewel trigger in a Rem 700 would function in -40 F

Happened to me years ago with a new Win. M 70. at about -18º F. Back at camp disassembled the bolt, removed the the preservative / lube. Assembled dry and GTG. When I returned home I again disassembled the bolt and gave all the parts a light wipe with Remoil.

I always degreased and then wiped with Eezox and never had any issues.

I can affirm that an Eezox lubricated rifle or shotgun works perfectly well at -40 C or F

No surprise: After application Eezox feels dry, nor oily or greasy.

/John

That cost me a big buck once. Hiked up the mountain in the rain and it was freezing up top.

I didn’t learn my lesson and still don’t do much to mitigate it from happening other than I am older and don’t hike up mountains when it’s freezing up top.

I degrease everything mechanical, either with brake cleaner or acetone to include the trigger assembly and especially the bolt/firing pin/spring. If you’re just shooting a few rounds you shouldn’t need any kind of lube. If you really do want something on those parts, use dry graphite lube. I also try to cover my action somehow to keep ice out. It is crazy where ice can get, even with an action closed. Then when you put it in a warm car, the ice melts and moisture seeps into all parts, then refreezes when you get back out.

I have tried plenty of ‘low temp’ oils, many rated to -40F or colder and none have worked on bolt rifles, pump shotguns nor revolvers at -40F or even -20F a few times. Haven’t tried Eezok, however.

Degrease the rifle and all parts and relube with a dry teflon or ptfe based dry lube and you will be GTG

even though i degrease before cold weather there was one time-----

it had rained the day before and the temp was below freezing when we got up the next day.
i had some water i took to bed to make coffee and it turned to slush as soon as poured it in the coffee pot. as the ice turned to water and then coffee i checked my rifle as the guys laughed at me. it was froze solid. so i held the trigger over the fire until water dripped out then held the bolt over the fire too. i filled my tag that afternoon, too.

Was the rifle wet and then froze like Calvin mentioned, or just cold temps but dry?

It was snowing one day and clear and cold the next. I have no doubt water got in there.
But as sort of a separate point, I was wondering what you all do in the more extreme cold. And I am thankful for the replies so far.

Swamp already fkn schooled yah. How much more hand-holdin do u need?

I will probably never need to worry about keeping one of my guns working in freezing/sub-zero temps again, which is a good thing but a little sad. Anyway...

Another vote for Eezox. Strip the gun down as far as you can, make sure the inside of the bolt body, firing pin, trigger parts are clean and degreased with, as mentioned, brake cleaner, carb cleaner, acetone...whatever. Apply Eezox, let dry and wipe down. Reassemble. Someone years ago, I want to say it was Layne Simpson, recommended using automotive paste wax which was probably okay then, but Eezox would be a lot easier to apply and work with these days.

As some have mentioned, you don't really need to lube a typical hunting rifle for short term use.

The big thing is to keep it dry. When I hunted in extremely cold weather a lot, once I got my gun good and clean I didn't take it back into a warm house or camp; leave it in the vehicle, outbuilding, wherever. No matter what you do for cleaning/lube you won't stop condensation from occurring and that will freeze. If you must bring it in for reasons of situational security or whatever, as soon as it warms up, take it apart, dry it out so it's ready for the next day.

If I felt I absolutely had to lube a gun for cold weather I'd probably try Kroil. It lubricates enough and I don't think it gums up at any temperature I'm liable to be out in anymore.

That will work in a dry cold. If its closer to freezing and you've got snowfall, our your going through thick snow laden bush it won't necessarily solve anything.

Keeping my rifles very lightly lubed I've never had them freeze up in extreme cold, but I've had them freeze up in the conditions I just described and I dont know that there is any way around it. Only thing I've found is that actions built to tighter tolerances seem to be more prone. I cant recall freezing up my Mauser or Ruger to the point it would greatly interfere with making a follow up shot. My Tikka however is significantly more problematic. You can run it as dry as you want and its still going to give you trouble in the wrong conditions.

Other thing you can do is go with irons and keep your hand wrapped around the receiver, carry the rifle upside down, or both. I dont recall ever having issues with any of the rifles I've used without a scope.

Wtf!? Mother fker who are you and where do you live!? Do know who yer preaching to?

Ive hunted various herds of caribou by dog team from above the circle, to the alphabet mountains in some hard core below zero. With meowsers and rugeronis and a few lever guns.




My biggest problem was not a frozen rifle(if happens and is EASY to fix), but getting bit breaking up a dog fight, loosing all grip strength, and having to shoot caribou/cycle a CZ 550 with only one good hand.


Other REAL issues has been frostbite, and hypothermia where my hands aren't steady enough to make a fire. A fkn frozen rifle, soft mother fkers......

I'm not going to engage in whatever this is. *ignore*

But you DID engage in whatever you "think" this is.