Whether weather is a dilemma?

P

Pond James Pond

New member
My first post here asked about second hand pistols and, to a lesser extent, revolvers.

One thing I know little about is how susceptible one type or the other might be to the elements. Where I live it can get very cold in winter (-30 celsius is not unheard of).
My Ural sidecar can hack it, but can these firearms?
Does extreme cold fool about with their tolerances?

What about rain, the uninvited guest?
My guess is that pistols, with all their internal nooks and crannies would suffer more than revolvers. Am I wrong?

And ammo?
Are there extremes of temperature or moisture to be avoided?

Just curious, really!
 
I think the general consensus is that modern firearms function very well in most extreme weather situations. While revolvers initially seem the best in bad weather semi-autos may actual be your better bet. The reasoning being that if a revolver gets wet or dirty it is more difficult to disassembly for cleaning while a semi can be easily field striped often without tools. Ammo kind of falls into the same boat as do firearms modern good quality ammo generally is not an issue.
 
In cold weather like that lubrication is the big issue.

Years ago I was going shooting with a friend of mine. I took my guns to work and left them in the trunk on a day when it didn't get much above 15 degrees. By the time I got out of work and headed to the range, the temperature was dropping fast.

I had lubricate my gun with a light bodied engineered grease (DSX) that I thought would be OK for cold weather.

When I got to the range, though, the action was VERY sluggish and the hammer fell in slow motion on my S&W Model 28.

It didn't take long for it to warm up and function normally, but from then on for winter I've been either VERY sparing with the lube or have used a dry lube.
 
In cold weather like that lubrication is the big issue.
Click to expand...

That and the various states of H2O. Snow can have a way of working itself into firearms when outdoors for longer periods of time. Then if it warms up/melts and then refreezes... can result in an inoperable very cold chunk of metal.

Hard to hunt caribou when "boom stick" no go boom! This I learned standing next to a friend with a literally "freezed up" rifle and thousands of caribou continuing on their way. This occurred at -15F or -26C.

Can't imagine H2O in a plasma state would be beneficial inside a firearm either!
 
don't drop yer speedloaders in the snow, ever

Sub-zero temperatures are a regular occurrence here, and for them I find Breakfree CLP works.
I find myself feeling more secure with semi-automatic choices.

Glocks work in the cold, so do CZ 75s and clones, and proper 1911s, and S&W M&Ps and HKs and XDs and others.



I have one custom 9x19 CZ-clone folks who know me refer to as "my snow gun"......
 
For cold weather, use....

graphite powder for lubricant.

Lived in the Copper Country of UP from 1974 -1977, went snowshoe hare hunting, with .22rifle and 97 shotgun. All lubed with a dusting of graphite powder, never had a function problem other than ice build-up that prevented the carrier from dropping down completely to feed a shell. Feed it as a single shot for that day.

Have down Biathlon in Washington's Cascades, my Marlin 2000 was dusted the same and no problem.

Some recommend "Plasti-lube" an aircraft instrument grease, but very light coating required.
 
About the coldest sustained weather I've hunted in was about a 4 day miserable event of about -10 degree's. Was using an 1100 Rem shotgun during deer season.

We were staying in a camper(that wasn't much warmer inside:eek:) but left shotgun in cab of truck. I noticed while unloading that evening that the action was operating so stiff that it probably wouldn't cycle properly when shot.

A fellow hunting partner had some Rem. Dry Lube, so I stripped shotgun, wiped it down and used his lube. Quite an improvement.
 
You don't need to use graphite or run them dry.
I've shot outdoors every winter for the past 15-20 years here in MN and WI. The only trouble I've had is with grease on auto's (rifle and pistol). Light oil works fine. I've used FP-10 for the past ten years or so and never had an issue.
Even my Mark II and 10/22 work well in sub-zero weather lightly oiled and fed quality ammo (min-mags).

The biggest risk is bringing a cold gun in the warm house, condensation gets everywhere, and when you take it back outside, it freezes solid.

I haven't had any issues with autos, I shoot Glock, Sig and HK mostly.

Let you gun warm up slowly in a case, field strip, clean and oil. Stay away from grease no matter the claims made.
 
Do things rust in Arctic conditions?

I recently watched a PBS show and they were pulling plants out of the ground in Antarctica. The organic material had been freeze dried for millions of years due to the lack of moisture!

From what I have read, Korea War veterans degreased small arms because the oils/greases turned gummy and caused jams.

I think this experience was passed on verbally to the Vietnam generation as I have shot with and met a bunch of Vietnam veterans who were told not to lubricate their firearms, to run them dry.

Autopistols require on a certain energy level out of the cartridge to function. I have observed dramatic velocity drops in cartridges fired in 90 F weather to 40 F weather. My Chrony does not function in the 30’s. I do not know how you would know ahead of time whether the cartridges you have would reliably function an automatic mechanism in extreme cold.

I would consider a revolver to be a more reliable mechanism in cold weather.
 
+1 Hammerhead....The biggest risk is bringing a cold gun in the warm house, condensation gets everywhere, and when you take it back outside, it freezes solid.

Not much lube is necessary in a hunting gun, ie. one that will be shot just a few times, if left completely dry where the parts rub together. The military used gasoline to strip its weapons in times past to prevent freeze up. Nowadays, we've got far better all weather lube options, but I still do the old military method on the innards of my cold weather hunting guns, when the season rolls around.

Rod
 
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