Post by: sirmissalot on December 05, 2014, 12:34:23 PM
Well this year it happened to my sister while I was hunting with her. Twice. First time may have been enough to get her heart rate up and mind racing just enough to cause her to miss the next shot (which actually fired). Second time cost her a shot on a buck which I believe would have been a fatal one.
Both times the firing pin hit the primer but only barely, they are hand loads and she's shooting a mark V weatherby chambered in 30-06. It was around 7 degree's on one, low teens on another.
What do you guys do to "winterize" an action?
Her rifle is on the chopping block anyhow, shes lost enough confidence in it that I know shes done with it. She got to pack one of my dads Coopers and of course has to have one now :chuckle:
Post by: JimmyHoffa on December 05, 2014, 12:39:38 PM
Post by: sirmissalot on December 07, 2014, 04:32:12 PM
Post by: sirmissalot on August 11, 2015, 09:11:59 AM
Post by: Bofire on August 11, 2015, 06:07:51 PM
Carl
Post by: eastcoastguy on August 11, 2015, 06:13:39 PM
Post by: Westside88 on August 11, 2015, 06:58:20 PM
use graphite for the extreme cold. clear out all the oil first.I've heard of making a lubricant out of graphite and rubbing alcohol in little bottle like for eye drops. The alcohols will evaporate away. I'd be surprised if this isn't something that's available commercially. We used to use a dry graphite spray at work when we needed to avoid attracting dust
Post by: T Pearce on August 11, 2015, 07:42:38 PM
As a poster mentioned earlier about mixing with isopropyl alcohol and using an eye dropper, this should work well and might dry even faster.
Post by: Stein on August 11, 2015, 07:58:04 PM
If I was worried, I would just run it dry.
Post by: 300rum on August 11, 2015, 08:18:45 PM
What do you use to get all the oil out?
Blow it out with an air compressor. An air compressor makes gun cleaning so much easier......
Post by: 300rum on August 11, 2015, 08:32:18 PM
For a light oil I like Rem Oil. Rem Oil is an almost worthless oil as far as heat dissipation goes or for preventing wear but the one good thing about it is that it is a very, very light oil, perfect for this application. Spray it on and wipe any access off, I am looking for a very thin coat.
Post by: JJB11B on August 11, 2015, 09:00:16 PM
Post by: Okanagan on August 11, 2015, 09:38:55 PM
There are two different problems being mentioned in this thread. One is action not working properly because cold thickens lubricants and gums up the works. The other totally different event is having water inside the action freeze and stop it from functioning correctly. Ice inside the action is what the first post describes.
The solution to sluggishly cold lubrication is to remove all oil before the cold season and perhaps use a bit of dry lube, as several have mentioned with variants. Some use a trace of very light oil on key friction points such as locking lugs.
Ice inside the action is a different problem. That has to be monitored hour by hour when air temp and moisture set up conditions to get water in the action and then freeze it. Temps hovering above and below freezing are usually much more of a problem for such icing than deep cold. I've had it happen to me in freezing rain conditions. In such conditions I work the action, dry fire if in doubt. You can tell by the sound if the firing pin is breaking ice or falling free. I've not found a surefire way to keep rain etc. out of the rifle action if moving, still hunting. On a stand I'd keep it covered.
Bringing a cold rifle inside a warm room or vehicle causes condensation on all metal surfaces, inside and out. If you take it out in the cold again before all of that evaporates, it will freeze. Therefore we leave rifles outside in the cold when camping overnight, under a porch eave or with a garbage bag over them to keep rain etc. off.
Once frozen, dry firing may break it loose. Warming under an armpit may thaw it. We had to hold one rifle above a campfire for several minutes. In my experience ice has stopped the action on Rem 700's, Tikka T3, Savage 111. Check it every dawn before hunting and every once in awhile during a day of freezing rain etc.
If it happens, don't panic. Especially west of the Crest Trail, don't be surprised. Have a plan to deal with it. Often the first misfire will break enough ice for the firing pin to hit hard enough on the second shot. That happened to me on a 6x6 bull elk one dawn. With a rest over a log the sound was a slow cchhiinnk of breaking ice and tick on the primer rather than rifle firing. I eased open the bolt as silently as possible and ejected the round in the chamber. It had a small dimple in the primer. I guessed that enough ice broke for it to work on a second shot so cycled in the next round in the magazine. It fired and from the same rest I killed the bull a few seconds later. On that one I had hunted in a drizzle till dark the preceding evening, bivvied out as it got colder, and the rain water inside the action/firing pin channel had frozen. I didn't check the action that morning.
One key is to check it often and not let a huge amount of ice to build up that will require a more major thawing. Carrying the action under an armpit may help, though that ups chances of scope fogging.
Been distracted while composing and several have mentioned some of the same solutions before I got this posted.
Post by: sirmissalot on August 11, 2015, 10:16:28 PM
Post by: Fl0und3rz on August 11, 2015, 10:18:05 PM
use graphite for the extreme cold. clear out all the oil first.I've heard of making a lubricant out of graphite and rubbing alcohol in little bottle like for eye drops. The alcohols will evaporate away. I'd be surprised if this isn't something that's available commercially. We used to use a dry graphite spray at work when we needed to avoid attracting dust
Used this in the sub engineroom.
http://www.newmantools.com/chemicals/neo2pds.htm
Post by: j_h_nimrod on August 11, 2015, 10:58:48 PM
It is still wise to disassemble and degrease all of the moving parts in the action before relubing.
Post by: 2labs on August 11, 2015, 11:04:34 PM
Any of you guys have experience with it. Good or bad?
Post by: huntnnw on August 11, 2015, 11:06:15 PM
Post by: j_h_nimrod on August 11, 2015, 11:14:24 PM
As hunting alluded to with the Tikka recommendations, With the few moving parts in the action less lube is better.
Post by: WoodlandShooter on August 12, 2015, 08:28:55 AM