Winter is beginning to setup and one thread some time back has me wondering about the use of stainless steel. My MKII in .06 is generally a carry rifle throughout the year.

Have a quite a long trap line and wonder if this gets shot in extreme cold 30 below and colder will this metal hold up? Have carried a 300 winnie SS and it held up. But it was a thread that someone has posted that has stirred up some lingering doubts.

There's enough slop in that Mark II to where I would doubt you would have any problems with the bolt and fire control system. I would clean the gun of all general lube and replace it with some stuff rated for extremely low temperatures like Dow Corning 33.

grizz, i have heard the same and had some gunsmiths question the slimness of my 375 bbl but no one seems to know anything for sure. We both know there are an awful lot of stainless Ruger Mini-14's out on trap lines, plus numerous stainless single-six revolvers, Ruger M-77's, Rem. 700 and Win M-70's and I have never heard of a problem. If it is true maybe we just don't cold enough- thank goodness.

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If it is true maybe we just don't cold enough- thank goodness

wasn't too long ago that I was over in Round mtn. where Paul Williams traps breaking and cutting a trail to connect with him and we had 70below and perhaps colder-boy that was a miserable time! thank goodness is right.

Crucible steel says their stainless barrels are good for -40 ! If you're out at lower temps there's something wrong with you .

there wan a rticle in Precision Shooting a few years ago talking about this. 416 is not the best steel to use in cold weather, but I do not know of any failures due to cold. Most people are not out long enough for the steel to actually get down to the air temperature. Some are, but they are very much in the minority. Perosnally, I have spent up to 13 hours sitting on a bucket in temps down to -45. That is cold. I have fired a rifle that I know was down to at least -30F. It was a CM barrel.

I hate to admit this in public, but I am a (recovering) engineer. I have done lot of work with stregnth of materials, failure modes, etc. THe problem with material failure is that there is so much scatter to the data all that you have is a range. People do not want a range, they want a specific number. Unfortunately, it is not possible to say with total confidence at what specific number something will fail. Given everything that is on a barrel-grooves, tapped hols for sights, threads, whatever- and the ductile to brittle transition temperature of 416SS, personally I would not use a SS rifle if I knew it was actually -40. But again, very few rifle barrels, if accurately measured, ever get down to -40. And if they do, it does not automatically mean that it will fail if shot. What it does mean is the odds of catastrophic failure goes up dramatically.

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What it does mean is the odds of catastrophic failure goes up dramatically.

never really looked at catasprophic possibilities of firing off a rifle in extreme cold in all my yrs. I suppose the benefits of exreme cold is that blood doesn't flow that fast--those thoughts of blow up is scary.

Well CM has my vote. It was 6 above zero at 6 this morning I hope that is not an indicator for what is to come.

That model 94 I carried many yrs sure was a tough gun in all respects.