Military Rifles Vs. Winter Weather, Ice and Snow

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bryan.14

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Now that Winter is in full swing, I was wondering how the cold weather might affect one Army's Millitary rifle from another?

In WW2 were German firearms worse in winter than Russian?

Compared to each other which are best in the cold?

-Lee Enfield
-Mauser 98 and similar
-Mosin Nagant and variants

-M1 Garand
-SVT 40
-SKS 45
-Gewher 41 or 43


Also...Do Semi-Auto rifles have a dis-advantage in the snow and ice compared to Bolt-Action rifles?

Should you urinate on your rifle if it freeze's?
 
the Mauser 98 if not over lub is good so is the SMLE and the Mosin but i give the edge to the SMLE IMO is less prone to freeze but again not over lub for the semi i think the SKS is better than the SVT and i dont own a garand or a G 41-43 but i think the G41-43 would be the worst, to d-freeze i use a syringe full of 100% iso alcohol
 
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bryan.14 said:
Now that Winter is in full swing, I was wondering how the cold weather might affect one Army's Millitary rifle from another?

In WW2 were German firearms worse in winter than Russian?

Compared to each other which are best in the cold?

-Lee Enfield
-Mauser 98 and similar
-Mosin Nagant and variants

-M1 Garand
-SVT 40
-SKS 45
-Gewher 41 or 43


Also...Do Semi-Auto rifles have a dis-advantage in the snow and ice compared to Bolt-Action rifles?

Should you urinate on your rifle if it freeze's?
Click to expand...
Any bolt action are pretty much impervious to cold weather, might be stiff a bit to operate if lubed,anyway they should be kept dry, no lube.
As for semi auto, i only fired sks and svt 40, no oil or grease, 100% reliable,they digest snow very well:) I never fired my garand in winter but i guess if kept dry, should function perfectly. For the G 41/G43, i cant comment since i never owned 1 of those. The G41 was know to be too complex and unreliable doesn't matter the season. Ofc a bolt wont fail in snow, if frozen, kick the bolt open, work it and should be fine.

Jocelyn
 
If I had to pick, I would say the soviet firearms would function more reliably in cold weather. The more complex the firearm, the more I would expect it to jam in cold weather.

the ice was a bit of an issue this weekend for me as it was snowing continuously and the snow was melting and freezing on the barrel of my rifles.
 
One lesson which wintertime hunters often learn the hard way is to thoroughly degrease and clean the inside of the bolt and the firing pin spring.

Most military rifles are given pretty harsh environmental testing, incl dirt, sand and snow exposure prior to adoption. Proper care in freezing snowy weather involves all of the following:
-keep snow out of the muzzle
-don't bring a cold rifle into a heated environment where moisture/frost will condense on it and then re-freeze when taken out into the cold
-minimize oil based lubricants and grease
-try to avoid snow accumulating on the weapon in the first place
-don't urinate on the weapon as it will only freeze and make the problem worse (yellow ice this time;))

The Garand was favourably reported on in winter conditions in Korea provided that the foregoing precautions were taken. Simpler is best, so I'd probably put my $$$ on a Lee-Enfield. After all, the Cdn Rangers are using them successfully to the present day.
 
Lee Enfield for me. I find the Mosin action a little stiff at the best of times. I only have four, but all my Nagants are a bit stiff, and all four of my Enfields are smooth as silk. Adding a -30 day couldn't make things better.
 
I would use a Lee-Enfield, even though I am a Ross devotee: less complexity.

At a Battle of the Bulge shoot at Shilo a number of years ago, what friend PURPLE is saying about hot/cold was exhibited in rather alarming.... and humorous,.... fashion. Fellow brought his M1 Garand inside between shoots, outside again to shoot. Temp was about 30 below F: not nice for rifles o for shooting. Second time his team went up, his Garand started ejecting the clip and 7 rounds on the first shot; he had to shoot the rifle as a single-shot. Condensation had set in behind his clip latch and frozen solid. NO fun. Fellow it happened to was a former Olympic shooter, so you could say it gave other guys a chance. Still, he shot better with the Garand as a single-shot than I do generally with it as a semi-auto! Sure made a GREAT video!
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My bet would be on the Enfield. Its a bolt and its simple also like its been said, the Rangers have been using the gun up north for years in adverse and COLD conditions with success
 
As for semi autos, I would say the AG-42 should be up there in reliability in winter. The design of the action is designed around winter combat.
 
I would go with the svt-40. The adjustable gas port is a good idea and the action is easily cleaned if snow/ice gets in. If it jams the long bolt handle makes it easy to use your boot to open.
 
The russians did a mixture od oil and gas together as a lub, and the 91'30's worked fine, there is a vid in You Tube about it on ther battle of stanlangrade. Figure one could do the same.
 
I knew a guy who was at Stalingrad with the SS.

He told me that the German weapons froze up solid, that you could pull the trigger on an MG-34 and watch the bolt go forward slowly, pick up a round, chamber it........ and that was all. The gun then was completely frozen into a single lump. The treatment recommended was to dip a rag into a truck gas-tank, bring out some of the jellied gasoline and start a broken-up ammo crate on fire. You then tossed the loaded MG-34 into the fire and waited until you thought the oil in it was starting to soften, bring the gun out, slap the action cover, strip out the LOADED belt, stand the gun on its butt and kick the action open to remove the LIVE round which was in the chamber (and actually would be firing, were it not for the cold). The gun then went back into the fire until it warmed up, at which point it was completely stripped and wiped clean of ALL lubricants.. After this, the gun was fired dry.

Finally, they got their knives and went and visited Ivan and picked up some guns that would WORK in the cold. I was given to understand that the PPSh was thought rather highly of in this regard.

I don't know how the 98 stood up in the cold, but I really do think that heavy lubing would have been rather silly.

FWIW.
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smellie said:
I knew a guy who was at Stalingrad with the SS.

He told me that the German weapons froze up solid, that you could pull the trigger on an MG-34 and watch the bolt go forward slowly, pick up a round, chamber it........ and that was all. The gun then was completely frozen into a single lump. The treatment recommended was to dip a rag into a truck gas-tank, bring out some of the jellied gasoline and start a broken-up ammo crate on fire. You then tossed the loaded MG-34 into the fire and waited until you thought the oil in it was starting to soften, bring the gun out, slap the action cover, strip out the LOADED belt, stand the gun on its butt and kick the action open to remove the LIVE round which was in the chamber (and actually would be firing, were it not for the cold). The gun then went back into the fire until it warmed up, at which point it was completely stripped and wiped clean of ALL lubricants.. After this, the gun was fired dry.

Finally, they got their knives and went and visited Ivan and picked up some guns that would WORK in the cold. I was given to understand that the PPSh was thought rather highly of in this regard.

I don't know how the 98 stood up in the cold, but I really do think that heavy lubing would have been rather silly.

FWIW.
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Click to expand...

All the German guns apparently suffered from close tolerances, making them unsuitable for cold climates when lubricated in the "approved" way. German Engineering shot itself in the foot, so to speak. :D

Grizz
 
An advantage of the Mauser and MN over the LE is that their bolts can be easily stripped without tools. A LE bolt cannot be detail stripped without a screwdriver and special firing pin tool. This makes it much easier to prep. the bolt for cold weather use.
 
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