The history of the double seems to be focused mainly on the warmer,humid or dusty African/Indian environments.
I would like to know how reliable their function is in sub zero iced conditions.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodjack:
The history of the double seems to be focused mainly on the warmer,humid or dusty African/Indian environments.
I would like to know how reliable their function is in sub zero iced conditions.

That depends on the quality of the rifle, and the preperation by the owner. Just like a good double shotgun used in in a sleet driven wind on a James bay goose hunt the properly cared for double will shine. I use my doubles in the winter mountains of the West, and in Canada, and Alaska. Simply de-grease them as you would any rifle to be use in sub-zero weather, and keep them covered as much as posible when not in actual use! The one thing one needs do is, shoot your rifle in cold weather to make sure your loads regulate well enough to hunt with! If not, then you need to work up a winter load that does!

I took my 450/400 on a black bear hunt in montana when I first bought it.
It was in the rain, a VERY HARD rain for several hours on 4 different days.

After the hunt I took the rifle to JJ Perodeau to have a leather recoil pad fitted and the stock tightened up some, as it was a little loose on the reciever. I also asked him to check on the if water had got into the action. He reported that inside the action was dry.

I may take my 9,3 or my 400 on an Alaskan Grizzly Bear hunt where it will be cold.
I will put the receivers in the freezer at the deer lease and see if the work.
I will report on my results.

However,
It will be some time late in July before I am back in TX.

I've shot mine plenty here in Colorado in the winter. It functions just fine but it definatley shoots to little diferent poiunt of aim in really cold weather.

I've also hunted in some pretty nasty weather in Texas in the winter. everything was a ok.

Good luck with yours.

I've used my .400/.360 in extreme cold, with snow and ice, for mule deer and elk, and in monsoons for elk and bear. I've never had a function issue of any kind.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I've had no problems using the afore mentioned common sense at up to -40. I know of several used for polar bear hunts with no trouble.For rainy weather I have a leather flap for the action, similar to that used for flintlocks. ~Arctic~

I've hunted deer here at -15 F no problem other than needing to have my head examined for chasing deer in that weather.

Also used it when +10-20 F and freezing drizzle falling. No problems at all.

Functioned as normal when I puled the trigger in both cases, no ill effects after the fact.

I always bring the rifle in and let it warm up before cleaning it after hunting in cold or wet as they tend to frost up indoors. After cleaning, I put it unassembled in my small safe that is equipped with a Golden rod dehumidifier and check it within a couple of days to ensure all is dry and properly oiled.

Works for me. no wonder I like Africa so much No sub-freezing hunting.

Good luck.

Mike

It seems that the degreasing necessary to operate in very cold temperatures would put excess wear on the hinge pin or hook, no? For this reason I would think continual use of double in sub-zero temps might not be the best idea. Of course, degreasing is going to put excess wear on a bolt gun too....but my guess is that the wear on a double would be more obvious and more expensive.

JMHO,

John

There are good low temp greases, both synthetic and semi synthetic available for those of us not smart enough to move south. I did switch grease when it got below 0. Didn't bother when above that.

Just use a dry lube such as E&L gun lube.
I think it was made for "outer space" where it is "real" cold, and "real" hot.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnTheGreek:
It seems that the degreasing necessary to operate in very cold temperatures would put excess wear on the hinge pin or hook, no? For this reason I would think continual use of double in sub-zero temps might not be the best idea. Of course, degreasing is going to put excess wear on a bolt gun too....but my guess is that the wear on a double would be more obvious and more expensive.

JMHO,

John

I thought people also degreased their SxS and bolt guns for dusty environments/conditions like Africa anyway, in order to stop it attracting excessive dust and turning into a more aggressive lapping compound and action function inhibiting, than the dust would be if just on its own.
Question.- If people are doing that to sensibly settle for the lesser of two evils,then why would a degreased gun for iced conditions be any more of a concern in regards to action wear requiring a person to limit prolonged use in such conditions,especially since you would also not have the typical dust-grit as in Africa?

To keep your oil from freezing in freezing temperatures you could do what the russians did in WW2. The russians would take and put gas(I think only a little amount) in their oil and it did not freeze. Some folks say this is one of the reasons they beat the germans in the russian winter.

Grease/oil inside the locks of the double can stiffen/solidify and cause stickiness/failure to cock on opening, etc., in the cold.

Bad idea. Keep the doubles in the temperate and tropical zones and use a reliable bolt action in the cold, one that you, yourself, can easily field strip, degrease, graphite lube, etc.

Or get a good mechanic to do frequent maintenance on the double, before and after the freezer work. It will need it.

Double rifles are for specialists, or sissies.

Woodjack,

the purpose of the EXPRESS double rifle is to battle heavy game, with heavy bullets, in the tropics/heat/AFRICA or India....

a lighter double, say a german hunting rifle, is designed for that climate...

but with the difference is that the express rifle, the big bore, is purposely built for the conditions it will see...

and the lighter ones for europe, mostly...

So, if you are asking about big bore heavies, with alot of humor, you might as well ask how they funciton under water...


or if you are talking about 7x64R, then sure, they'll work fine, in the conditions they are built for.

jeffe