FirstFreedom
Moderator
I've heard stories of hunters in really cold weather leaving their gun inside the tent/cabin/camper overnight, and then when the rifle hits the cold air in the morning outside the camper, condensation immediately forms then freezes the firing pin in place. You see the big buck, then *nothing* when you pull the trigger, and he runs off. The answer of course, is to leave your gun outside overnight where it does not experience the temperature change in the morning that leads to condensation. But to be safe, on a big important hunt, it might be wise to have a single shot (T/C, NEF, etc.) or a levergun, rather than a turnbolt or semi-auto, because the hammer cannot be frozen. If condensation freezes around the transfer bar or firing pin that the hammer hits, the inertia from the hammer will likely unfreeze it and make it fire, and if condensation freezes around the base of the hammer itself or the sear, the force imparted when you pull the trigger of the hammer design (due to the fulcrum/leverage of the hammer) seems like it would be enough to break up a little ice at the base of the hammer (if any) and overcome it and fire. Anyone think this is a valid distinction? Just seems like it would be much easier to freeze in place a straight firing pin that is locked into the cocked position, when ice forms all around it, all along its length, as opposed to the small amount of ice which can form around the transfer bar/pin of a hammer gun, or the hammer's base.
Also, the shorter the firing pin in a hammer gun, the better, because there is less *length* around which ice can form, leading to a cumulative point where it's enough force to hold the pin in place when the the trigger/sear is released. It's far less likely when the inertia of a swinging hammer hits it, but still conceivable with a long pin. Thus, a short-pin hammer gun design like a single shot seems that it would be preferable to a levergun, which still has a long pin that the hammer must move through the bolt to reach the breechface/primer.
Also, the shorter the firing pin in a hammer gun, the better, because there is less *length* around which ice can form, leading to a cumulative point where it's enough force to hold the pin in place when the the trigger/sear is released. It's far less likely when the inertia of a swinging hammer hits it, but still conceivable with a long pin. Thus, a short-pin hammer gun design like a single shot seems that it would be preferable to a levergun, which still has a long pin that the hammer must move through the bolt to reach the breechface/primer.