Cold/Snow Rifle Test

Joined
Aug 21, 2018
Messages
381
After reading some tests over the years, most notably @Formidilosus, I decided I wanted to test a few of my own rifles in cold and snowy weather. I wanted to see for myself how my Rem 700 clone functioned compared to one of my Tikkas.

Rifles:
- Mack Bros Evo action chambered in 300 WM. Trigger Tech trigger (unsure on exact model). AG Composites stock.

-Tikka T3X chambered in 243. Completely stock trigger. Rokstok.

Weather today was 5°ish.

Round 1: The purpose of this test was to simulate leaving a warm vehicle/camp and venturing into the cold and snow with the rifle completely freezing before firing.

I set the dry but warm rifles action side down into the snow and kicked a little snow over them. Let them sit for 4ish hours.

Rem action: when I took it out of the snow the safety functioned and when i pulled the trigger, it had a solid "click". I attempted to chamber a round but the bolt wouldn't completely close. It would slide shut and turn down slightly. It wouldn't close on the round enough to eject it from the receiver. I pushed the round out with a rod and tried it again. Same results. I'm not sure what happened but I suspect some snow got lodged in the chamber. After thawing out for about 20 minutes, it chambered and fired fine. I wish I would have tried to run the bolt open and shut before chambering a round.

Tikka: when I took it out of the snow the safety functioned and when I pulled the trigger I had a solid "click". It chambered a round and fired without issue.

Round 2: repeat of round 1, but I used a brush to clean most of the snow and ice away from the action.

Rem action: functioned without issues.

Tikka: functioned without issues. It took far less time to clear the snow and ice away from the action due to the design.

Round 3: before the rifles had completely dried and were still full of condensation, I set them back outside but out of the snow. I tried to simulate coming into a warm vehicle/camp and leaving again before the rifle was completely dry and warm.

I did not use live ammo in Round 3 because I expected slam fires and hang fires.

Rem action: Safety was frozen. I was able to push it forward with some force. Trigger pressed but pin did not fall. I was able to lift the bolt and slide the action but with a lot of force. It slam fired everytime I closed the action for about 5-10 times. The click sounded "normal" after a few of them. It took a minute or 2 of running the action and safety for the gun to not slam fire.

Tikka: Safety functioned fine. When I pulled the trigger the first click sounded very soft and sluggish. I was able to lift the bolt and slide the action but with a lot of force. After the first firing, the bolt functioned normally and every dry fire sounded "normal".

Conclusion:
- If brought into the cold/snow from warm and dry I think the first round should fire fine with either if it's in the chamber.
- Try to keep the action clear of snow/ice when chambering rounds
- I definitely won't be altering my Tikka actions for the sake of a small weight savings; I think the metal over the top of the bolt keeps a lot of debris out.
- frozen condensation is bad news! Anytime I suspect my gun has frozen condensation internally, I'll definitely be dry firing multiple times before chambering a round.
- I will be very hesitant to use my Rem action in cold/snowy conditions in the future.

This is far from scientific. Small sample sizes and many variables. I performed it for my own knowledge and decided to share because I appreciate the previous folks sharing this info.1000014641.jpg1000014627.jpg
 
Last edited:

mxgsfmdpx

WKR
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Messages
6,082
Location
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Unfortunately this is known behavior with rem clone “custom” actions.

High wind/dust/dirt in both Arizona and California during practice days and comps over the years has seen similar results unfortunately.
 

Formidilosus

Super Moderator
Shoot2HuntU
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
10,274
After reading some tests over the years, most notably @Formidilosus, I decided I wanted to test a few of my own rifles in cold and snowy weather. I wanted to see for myself how my Rem 700 clone functioned compared to one of my Tikkas.

Rifles:
- Mack Bros Evo action chambered in 300 WM. Trigger Tech trigger (unsure on exact model). AG Composites stock.

-Tikka T3X chambered in 243. Completely stock trigger. Rokstok.

Weather today was 5°ish.

Round 1: The purpose of this test was to simulate leaving a warm vehicle/camp and venturing into the cold and snow with the rifle completely freezing before firing.

I set the dry but warm rifles action side down into the snow and kicked a little snow over them. Let them sit for 4ish hours.

Rem action: when I took it out of the snow the safety functioned and when i pulled the trigger, it had a solid "click". I attempted to chamber a round but the bolt wouldn't completely close. It would slide shut and turn down slightly. It wouldn't close on the round enough to eject it from the receiver. I pushed the round out with a rod and tried it again. Same results. I'm not sure what happened but I suspect some snow got lodged in the chamber. After thawing out for about 20 minutes, it chambered and fired fine. I wish I would have tried to run the bolt open and shut before chambering a round.

Tikka: when I took it out of the snow the safety functioned and when I pulled the trigger I had a solid "click". It chambered a round and fired without issue.

Round 2: repeat of round 1, but I used a brush to clean most of the snow and ice away from the action.

Rem action: functioned without issues.

Tikka: functioned without issues. It took far less time to clear the snow and ice away from the action due to the design.

Round 3: before the rifles had completely dried and were still full of condensation, I set them back outside but out of the snow. I tried to simulate coming into a warm vehicle/camp and leaving again before the rifle was completely dry and warm.

I did not use live ammo in Round 3 because I expected slam fires and hang fires.

Rem action: Safety was frozen. I was able to push it forward with some force. Trigger pressed but pin did not fall. I was able to lift the bolt and slide the action but with a lot of force. It slam fired everytime I closed the action for about 5-10 times. The click sounded "normal" after a few of them. It took a minute or 2 of running the action and safety for the gun to not slam fire.

Tikka: Safety functioned fine. When I pulled the trigger the first click sounded very soft and sluggish. I was able to lift the bolt and slide the action but with a lot of force. After the first firing, the bolt functioned normally and every dry fire sounded "normal".

Conclusion:
- If brought into the cold/snow from warm and dry I think the first round should fire fine with either if it's in the chamber.
- Try to keep the action clear of snow/ice when chambering rounds
- I definitely won't be altering my Tikka actions for the sake of a small weight savings; I think the metal over the top of the bolt keeps a lot of debris out.
- frozen condensation is bad news! Anytime I suspect my gun has frozen condensation internally, I'll definitely be dry firing multiple times before chambering a round.
- I will be very hesitant to use my Rem action in cold/snowy conditions in the future.

This is far from scientific. Small sample sizes and many variables. I performed it for my own knowledge and decided to share because I appreciate the previous folks sharing this info.View attachment 804994View attachment 804999


Thank you for the info. Consistent with what we see every year.
 
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