The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Skipping the revolver in the winter? stay with semis?

**44 AMP** · October 6, 2012, 10:20 AM

There is a good reason the military uses a different lube for artic conditions than for temperate climates. Also, recommended is running dry in freezing/sub zero conditions. No lube is way better than the wrong lube.

The Germans had trouble with ALL their machinery the first Russian winter they met. They simply were not prepared for it. What worked ok in a German winter froze in Russia. They also learned that German horses would die at -4 C while Russian horses lived at -20 C!

One thing not mentioned, and potentially working against the auto pistol is the effect of extreme cold on ammunition! Ammo has less energy in extreme cold. It is possible for cold to reduce the power of the ammo to the point of unreliable function in an auto pistol. even a dry one. Not common, but possible. A revolver doesn't care about that.

October 6, 2012, 10:20 AM	#35
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,839	There is a good reason the military uses a different lube for artic conditions than for temperate climates. Also, recommended is running dry in freezing/sub zero conditions. No lube is way better than the wrong lube. The Germans had trouble with ALL their machinery the first Russian winter they met. They simply were not prepared for it. What worked ok in a German winter froze in Russia. They also learned that German horses would die at -4 C while Russian horses lived at -20 C! One thing not mentioned, and potentially working against the auto pistol is the effect of extreme cold on ammunition! Ammo has less energy in extreme cold. It is possible for cold to reduce the power of the ammo to the point of unreliable function in an auto pistol. even a dry one. Not common, but possible. A revolver doesn't care about that. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.