reared it's ugly head and bit me in the keester three years ago, on an 8 degree morning during the Wisconsin Whitetail season. I had blown out all the grease and gun oil out with Gunscrubber and had put a bit of graphite powder on the moving parts. I had a buck come into range and found that my safety had frozen on my Savage 99 and wasn't gonna budge.
I'm guessing that condensation is the proplem, with the guns going from heated trucks and hotel rooms out into the cold outdoors. But can you leave a rifle outdoors or in the truck all night when you stay at a hotel? Here in California, they would be long gone by 3:00 AM.

I'm going to Wisconsin for Whitetails again this year.

Well, what's the answer ?????

Elmo

Let's hear all your frozen gun tales of woe!

I wonder about carrying along a small spray bottle with rubbing alcohol or a mixture of rubbing alcohol and your powdered graphite. Maybe being able to lightly spray the metal when you get out of the truck? I'm not sure how good an idea this is but it may work. Sean

maybe WD-40, as it was originally produced to displace moisture, or something like ether- carburetor spray starter, I think.

-tincan

Don't use wd-40 as it collests dust in warm weather and will freeze in cold weather.

Has anyone used that lock de-icer spray stuff that unlocks frozen car doors? That's gonna be the next thing I try.

Elmo

While WD-40 has a place in cleaning and storage of a gun, combining it and water and cold will be a bad move. Clean the weapon well, removing any and all lube. Sparingly add dry lube to needed places, and enjoy a cold day of hunting. If you can secure the weapon, leave it in the cold as long as you didn't get it wet, if wet, clean it and start again. This has worked well for me in the past, as long as you don't mind the extra cleaning that you may incur. It took me 5 hammer drops to clear the goo incurred by using WD-40 in cold weather. I got the whitetail buck, but he was in fourth headed for overdrive when I clipped his spine on the sixth hammer drop, the only one that went off. One and only time for me, about -25 one winter.

I have used a lubricant, US made , called Militec.
I am expecting a delivery of M Pro 7 to test it in hot weather with IPSC rate of fire, one of my friend a hunter living in eastern province will test it next winter as he did with Militec.
it displaced water and gave good results.

[ 07-12-2003, 13:37: Message edited by: Edmond ]

NO...NO... never us WD-40 it gums up like anything else.

Get a can of Gun Scubber, and squirt out the action of all oils and dirt. Then I will not freeze up.

This is one reason that I hate guns with tang safeties as they seem to freeze up my easier.

In sub-zero weather, remove all oil from the bolt.

For the one or two shots you need hunting, the removal of all oil seems to work the best. If it is a stainless gun then a cotton cloth dampened with ATF is all you need. When I'm hunting in cold weather I always carry a source of fire, usually just a disposable lighter. Of course all the winter survivalists say don't use a butane lighter because the gas liquifies and they won't work when they get cold, but the simple fix there is that if you need it just put it in an armpit, under your clothes, or in your underwear (not joking) and it will warm up enough to work. So if you ever have a frozen gun again you can at least thaw it out now.

I only use bolt actions with non-tang safeties and I always degrease the internals of the bolt and the trigger assembly.I have hunted to -30 and have never had a problem with freezing.

The answer for car locks is lots of graphite.My son's Marlin MR-7 floorplate latch froze,we were tenting and the weather went from wet to cold.The Browning style clip was outside the gun.It was a slow start that morning.

The reason your nsafety froze was the moisture was trapped under the saefty slide. I too bring my weapons in at night at times for safety but dry them thoroughly before taking them back into the cold. The warmed rifles will not freeze if they have been carefully dried.. Try using a product called LockEze. It is just graphite in an alchohol carrier. The carrier will combine with and help remove the moisture in tight places and the graphite will lubricate without freezing!!

Elmo,

What I do in very cold weather is manipulate the trigger and safety as often as I safely can when the rifle has chilled to the outdoor temperature.

It seems that once you get it moving in the cold, it won't stick again (or at least it hasn't for me).

Obviously playing with the safety and trigger with a round in the chamber is problematic, so that isn't what I am suggesting....

Garrett

I have had this problem twice, once years ago here in WI with my Remington 600, and last year in Quebec with a Ruger M77. The 600 was before I learned to degrease the bolt, never a problem after that. The 77 was from bringing the rifle inside at night, won't do that again, it will stay outside on the porch this fall. -Fred

If you bring it inside, just put it in a plastic garbage bag until it warms up.

MarkWhite

Your idea has got me thinking that a sealed hard guncase that was insulated like a good ice chest my be the answer. The rifle might not even get warm enough to condense moisture, even if moisture managed to enter the case.

Hmmmm.... I can build something like that.

Hmmmm.... That just might work.

Hmmmm....

Elmo

Elmo,

The problem is that moisture is attracted to cold things, to put it crudely. If your case is insulated or uninsulated matters not, preventing moist air from coming into contact with it is the issue. I missed a follow up shot once because I had not inspected my gun, the day before I had dropped it and a tiny twig had gotten lodged into the clip release, which prevented it from latching properly. The clip stayed in place until the recoil from the shot let it drop maybe 1/4" but that was enough for the bolt not to strip the round off from the top, and when I had everything lined up the gun only went click. This was caused by my not inspecting my gun properly, getting back in the dark and leaving it outside, then leaving again in the dark the next morning. Now I always check my gun in a lit area before going out. Well maybe not for casual hunting but for stuff requiring permits I do it every time. Once the gun has warmed up to room temperature there is no problem with condensation, and you can do whatever you want with it. Likewise when going from warm to cold, no problem. By putting it in a garbage bag, or just wrapping it in a towel or sheet, you prevent the moisture from condensing while it is warming up so you can inspect it when it does reah room temperature.

I'm in California and when we hunt up here we go ahead and lock the long guns in the vehicles at night, so they are same temp as outside already when we get up. To make sure I don't have problems with cold I degrease my weapon thoroughly when cleaning, then only put slight film of oil in bore, everything else gets lubricated with a special spray that dries totally dry, made for the inside of sterilizer machines in hospitals. it leaves a dull look because of it's being dry on there, so not pretty, but the best lubricant I have ever used. I think it is made by a company called amsco. A friend gets it for me so I will have to check on exact name.

To avoid the condensation you could also take some of those little packets that come in new jackets and such, the ones that absorb moisture, and throw them into your guncase. I put a couple little ones in my small pack with my .38 to make sure it doesn't attract any moisture.

Red