Rifles and cold weather
- Thread starter timandkimandshea
- Start date
Was out for a few days in bear country with some friends, we were carrying two guns, i left mine in the shed well locked up overnight and the other guy brought his inside every evenings. on our way back, out of the "danger zone", we wanted to let our "guests" shoot some rocks from afar. mine shot as usual, but the 2nd rifle was pretty much useless, frozen up.
If you're not taking it appart to oil it up, leave it out in the cold.
If you're not taking it appart to oil it up, leave it out in the cold.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Bring it in and stand it next to the wood stove. Condensation won't be there long...especially at 20% humidity like my house is right now.
How is this helpful? As if I'm just going to leave a rifle hanging on a nail outside. FFS if I left a gun in the woodshed, and it was stolen and used for nefarious purposes I would get hung out to dry, both in the court system AND on this site
T
You are referring to my post, so I will just point out that a great many of you people seem to live in a constant world of fear, fear of any thing and every thing, and you know absolutely nothing about the Canada we once lived in.
In the meat hunting days of the great depression, many homesteaders also left their rifles outside over winter. There was usually a porch over the door and that is where the rifle hung, usually loaded, 24/7, except when the owner was hunting with it.
Yes, thank goodness you are right!
Though I was born in Manitoba, all the young life I remember was in the backwoods, boondocks of northerly Saskatchewan, and after that, having to live in a big city would be just like getting a prison sentence.
Bruce
I wasn't referring to you or your post, simply replied to H4831.
If I lived in a suburban or metropolitan area I wouldn't hang it out on a nail either. But not ALL of us live where that would matter, be dangerous, illegal or care. Unless the Bears, wolves, Eagles, deer, moose, fisher, fox, rabbits, mink, squirrels, chipmunks, beaver, ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, Lynx, bobcat, marten, otters, muskrat, weasels, Ravens, crows, coyotes, etc.... learn how to operate firearms I don't have much to worry about. And that's just what has been in the yard in the last year not including the gazillion song birds and such.
Plus I thought this was about rifles in the cold, and how to prevent them from rusting and freezing. Apply common sense to your own geographic situation.
I agree.!! I was in a remote camp years ago moose hunting. The cabin had a front over hang and we just hung our rifles on a nail over night. The guns were fine for many days. I took very sick with an intestinal bug and was in bed for the last 3 days. One of the fellas well intentioned, during that time took my rifle, put it in it's case and brought it in the cabin. It took a couple days on top of that to get home. When I unzipped the case it was stuck to the gun. The blueing was ruined with surface rust, the stock finish was peeling and turned white in areas. I had to pull the interior gun case material off the gun, and when I did the blueing came with it. The gun had sweated when exposed to the heat and with no air circulation in the case she just rusted. It was a M-70 and it was in very sad shape. I sent all the metal away and had it polished and reblued and I recut the checkering a refinished the stock. Surprisingly the interior of the barrel seemed come through unscathed. The M-70 looked like a million bucks when all done over and was very accurate to shoot. When in a camp I will leave my gun under shelter but out in the cold, providing it hasn't been rained on all day.
So I don't agree with leaving guns in gun cases for any reason. A gun's immediate atmosphere has to breath. I had my 243 Featherweight out last week on the Argo for the day, it was -30 F. When I came into the shop I pulled the bolt and layed it on the bench it almost immediately turned white with frost. My shop has a wood heat with a big ceiling fan. I just left it for about an hour. When I came back it was nice and warm and perfectly dry inside and out. I ran the bore snake through it twice and ran a lightly oily rag over everything else. No issues and not a spec of metal or wood issues.
So you can fellas can do what you like. This is what I do and why.
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You asked for advice, and your getting some very good advice from well experienced men who have spent decades in the bush. But like all advice it has to be applied to "your" particular situation and above all applied with a generous amount of common sense. "Common Sense" is human trait that appears to be rapidly disappearing world wide not just here on CGN.
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bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
In the morning, I take a rifle out of the safe and put it in the back seat of the truck. In the evening when I get home, I put it back in the safe. Every now and then, there's nothing to read on CGN except for Savage Axis threads and overpriced EE rifles, so I clean my guns.
I do have a coyote rifle that stays out in the cold from Dec. through March. It's a semi-auto, and for the record, Froglube sucks.
I do have a coyote rifle that stays out in the cold from Dec. through March. It's a semi-auto, and for the record, Froglube sucks.
Well said Mr Goat!! I can take some pictures if required of what happens when a cold rifle is brought inside and left the case. It now needs a complete polishing, derusting, and recoating. Everything but the bore and some of the bolt internals. Sadly it's also a custom Voere. For the record, the rifle was also Teflon coated by Ralf Martini, and was fairly recent before it was "redneck rust blued".
Having spent almost every winter in the cold with firearms, hunting, trapping, and carried for work, from the age of 8, I can tell you how and when they will rust. Don't fall for the stainless hype either, a QUALITY polishing and bluing job works better for resisting rust. The less porous the surface, the more rust resistant.
In cold I like to run with Iron sights A simple single shot rifle it is soo much easier to maintain all I do is set it by the wood stove to dry
If I'm packing a bolt action I sum times give it a quick blast of brake cleaner to suck out the water in the trigger and magazine clean and oil the barrel and oil all the Metal parts
If you have a expensive rifle leave it at home and use a beat up old rifle that shoots well
If I'm packing a bolt action I sum times give it a quick blast of brake cleaner to suck out the water in the trigger and magazine clean and oil the barrel and oil all the Metal parts
If you have a expensive rifle leave it at home and use a beat up old rifle that shoots well
Cleftwynd, I apologize if my response was over the top. I live on a farm, and rarely take the same rifle or shotgun out twice in a row. I am sufficiently close to civilization that leaving it outside is a poor option for me. I envy the fact that you are remote enough for this to be a viable option
The consensus is to let it warm up slowly, then give a wipe, which is what I do. I was just wondering if there were any ingenious hacks out there.
T
The consensus is to let it warm up slowly, then give a wipe, which is what I do. I was just wondering if there were any ingenious hacks out there.
T
Im with the old guys, they are best left outside if the conditions are viable. If they got wet during the day, they come, but never in the case zipped up, always exposed so air can move about, at at some point before sleep, wiped down with an oiled rag.
Going the other way though, i always try and precool them for a few minutes, so ill lean them up against a tree while i suit up to give them time to amalgamate to the cold. This ensures the scope if fog free, nothing is frozen, and off we go.
Going the other way though, i always try and precool them for a few minutes, so ill lean them up against a tree while i suit up to give them time to amalgamate to the cold. This ensures the scope if fog free, nothing is frozen, and off we go.
You "can" (if you have to/wish to) bring a rifle from the cold into a warm house in a case! I have done this many times with no issue! BUT here is what you must do: (this applies to COLD not WET situations)
1) I use padded cases
2) I ensure the case is dry and the same temp as my rifle ... this is easy for me as I leave my cases in my truck ... I do not take them out on an ATV where they can get wet or moist .. I do not take my cases out in the rain ... my padded cases are dry -- if you store your rifle in a wet padded case (or ANY case that is wet) - you deserve to get rust!!
3) I enclose the rifle (dry but cold) in the padded case before I go into the warm area
4) I wrap the padded case in a blanket (I have also used a sleeping bag)
5) I leave it there for several hours (usually 4-5 hrs) until it is up to room temperature.
6) Then when you remove the rifle from the case after it reach's room temp ... EUREKA!!! no rust!! no white streaked wood etc etc and your #### wont fall off!
If you do this, the warmer air which "may" contain more moisture that can condense on the cold metal, is prevented from doing so as the metal slowly rises to room temp. You could achieve the same thing by sliding your rifle into an airtight bag (if you could find one big enough!) outside while everything is cold .. seal the bag and bring the rifle in.
1) I use padded cases
2) I ensure the case is dry and the same temp as my rifle ... this is easy for me as I leave my cases in my truck ... I do not take them out on an ATV where they can get wet or moist .. I do not take my cases out in the rain ... my padded cases are dry -- if you store your rifle in a wet padded case (or ANY case that is wet) - you deserve to get rust!!
3) I enclose the rifle (dry but cold) in the padded case before I go into the warm area
4) I wrap the padded case in a blanket (I have also used a sleeping bag)
5) I leave it there for several hours (usually 4-5 hrs) until it is up to room temperature.
6) Then when you remove the rifle from the case after it reach's room temp ... EUREKA!!! no rust!! no white streaked wood etc etc and your #### wont fall off!
If you do this, the warmer air which "may" contain more moisture that can condense on the cold metal, is prevented from doing so as the metal slowly rises to room temp. You could achieve the same thing by sliding your rifle into an airtight bag (if you could find one big enough!) outside while everything is cold .. seal the bag and bring the rifle in.
