Cold/Snow Rifle Test

[Mountain_Life]

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.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

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]

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.

 

[Marbles]

Thanks for sharing.