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Old January 21, 2013, 11:30 PM   #1
droptrd
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Will low temp affect reliabilty?

My newest pistol, glock 23 gen 3, has been running flawlessly since I bought it this past summer. Near 2K rounds, many were my plinking reloads (They have not changed in years- 6.3gr of power pistol under 180gr JHP from Berrys or Rainier.) Zero issues.

Yesterday I was out shooting and I had 4 fte's in about an hour. Im confindent there was no limp wristing. It was 21 degrees out. My Mossy 500 had 2 ftf's also. Never seen that before in 20 some years. My guns are always cleaned and oiled after each shooting session. I shoot nearly every weekend so there is little chance of lube drying out. And I shoot in cold temps alot.

Will that low temp mess with the reliability of a glock (and also a 500)? Ive never experienced sudden failures like this before with any of my firearms.
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Old January 22, 2013, 12:29 AM   #2
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When the temps fall below freezing, it can start to effect the reliability of guns for sure. Here is a good article on it.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/firearms_cold_weather.htm
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Old January 22, 2013, 08:29 AM   #3
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At 21 degrees, your glock should not be failing. Numerous torture tests have been done to glocks similar in nature and usually passes flawlessly.
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Old January 22, 2013, 08:39 AM   #4
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I'd be surprised if 20 was cold enough to have an effect. In that Chuck Hawks article he's talking about "below zero", "extreme cold", "arctic conditions" and mentions -50F. 20dg is not all that cold.

What kind and how much oil do you use and is it different oil than you've used previously under similar conditions?
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Old January 22, 2013, 09:01 AM   #5
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I could believe in cold temperatures causing issues. But it would definently depend on several factors. Mostly oil and or grease used, second compostion for the firearm. With oil and grease, each have a viscosity level that is affected by cold, this would be a limiting factor in its ability to provided lubrication. As far as firearm compostion, no so much real change there, but possible in real cold weather.
Your Glock being mostly of polymer constuction should only be limited by lubrication type. Mind you, these are just IMHO, but my stainless steel 1911 does not like cold temp with slide glide on it.
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Old January 22, 2013, 09:25 AM   #6
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I would also suspect that if cold is a factor, it is due to the lubrication used, and not the gun itself.
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Old January 22, 2013, 09:52 AM   #7
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21 F is not cold ! But different things happen at different temperatures. Condensation can be a problem below 0 F. Cheap petroleum based lubes may have waxes [parafin ] that precipitate and gum things up.Stainless steels eventually may cause a problem but Crucible's 416 R is good to at least -40 F.
Many in arctic conditions don't use lubes to avoid problems and never bring guns in and out of warm cabins to avoid condensation. Keep things clean and LIGHTLY lube !!
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Old January 22, 2013, 10:08 AM   #8
481
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Quote:
Originally Posted by droptrd:
Yesterday I was out shooting and I had 4 fte's in about an hour. Im confindent there was no limp wristing. It was 21 degrees out. My Mossy 500 had 2 ftf's also. Never seen that before in 20 some years. My guns are always cleaned and oiled after each shooting session. I shoot nearly every weekend so there is little chance of lube drying out. And I shoot in cold temps alot.
What you are describing sounds suspiciously lubricant related (too much, type unsuitable for colder climatic conditions, perhaps an accumulation of firing residue, etc). Perhaps try something that has a lower viscosity/lower operating temperature.
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Old January 22, 2013, 10:26 AM   #9
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I imagine that it's either an issue with the lubrication used, or with limp-wristing (anticipation of too much "sting" from the cold weather?)

I'm not sure about Glocks, but I've seen videos of frozen Walther P99s firing with the action full of ice, so I would anticipate that a Glock could do the same.
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Old January 22, 2013, 10:40 AM   #10
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I have had some issues with a G21 when it got cold here in Arizona ( yeah I know ). I had too much grease and it slowed things down. I run my Glocks pretty dry.
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Old January 22, 2013, 11:05 AM   #11
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I'm having a hard time imagining how a Mossberg 500 could FTF due to anything short of the shell being loaded backwards or something else very out of the ordinary. I'm thinkin' you could pack the action of a Mossberg with axle grease and still pump rounds through the thing. Surely the Mil-Spec tests put that Mossy into more torture than a simple 21 degrees.

I don't know a thing about Glocks. But when any gun FTE's, I'm lookin' at the ejector(s) for crud/grease/bug poop etc.


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Old January 22, 2013, 11:27 AM   #12
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^^^

I know. This is the first time Ive ever had an issue with any of my 500s. I was actually shocked.
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Old January 22, 2013, 11:31 AM   #13
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@ Brian Pfleuger

My normal lube procedure Is clean and coat with some kind of CLP - this time was Rem Oil. After about 10 min or so I wipe off excess and apply a few drops of hoppes gun oil to the rails. Done Same with the 500 - CLP and a drop of oil here and there.
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Old January 22, 2013, 02:37 PM   #14
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NO.

I have been living and working in North Dakota since 1996. I have worked in all manner of cold weather, freezing rain, snow -40 temperatures, -65 wind chills. Stored guns in vehicle safes and never had a cold induced failure.
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Old January 22, 2013, 07:46 PM   #15
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I don't believe that 20 degrees is any where near cold enough to cause your malfunctions. I agree that your lube might be the culprit however.
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Old January 23, 2013, 01:27 PM   #16
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There are those who argue that extreme cold cost Nazi Germany BIG during Operation Barbarosa. Nothing worked as it should.
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Old January 23, 2013, 04:08 PM   #17
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Quote:
There are those who argue that extreme cold cost Nazi Germany BIG during Operation Barbarosa. Nothing worked as it should.
Proper care of equipment negates many of these issues, which is difficult during war. Tremendous strides have been made in lubes since then.

I dissemble wipe and relube my carry guns weekly, modern synthetic lubes do not absorb moisture as readily as organic lubes which also helps.
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Old January 23, 2013, 05:02 PM   #18
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No sir

Vermont gets mighty cold. Yesterday it was hovering around 5 below prior to wind chill. It wasn't a glock but I did shoot my ruger SR22. I was out for a while and only had one Failure to fire due to a bad round. Snapped on it 3 seperate times waited and nothing.

Seeing as that pistol has never failed in hundreds of rounds I am chalking that up to the ammo not the gun.

I shoot all the time in extreemly cold weather and my only caution is to dissassemble the gun as far as possible as soon as it is in doors. This way condensation does not form.

Sometimes if I think of it I will field strip a gun and put it in the case so the truck doesn't cause condinsation.

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Old January 24, 2013, 11:45 AM   #19
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Quote:
My normal lube procedure Is clean and coat with some kind of CLP - this time was Rem Oil. After about 10 min or so I wipe off excess and apply a few drops of hoppes gun oil to the rails. Done Same with the 500 - CLP and a drop of oil here and there.
Neither of those guns should have a problem at 20 degrees F. No experience with Glock but I've fired my Mossy 500 at -10 and SR40c at -7 this AM.

I have had problems with Rem Oil though in below freezing temps even with very light coatings. It is also very easy to use too much Hoppes in cold weather. Switching to ATF has eliminated cold weather issues on all my guns, even a finicky .22. FTF is probably due to too much lube on striker / firing pin and having it gum up from cold, it don't take much. I would wipe off all CLP before lubing rails and slides with ATF. Firing pins can run dry but a very light coat of ATF, either wiped on or blown off will be OK. I never put a drop of any lube on firing pins any more, it's way too much.

HTH
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Old January 24, 2013, 12:13 PM   #20
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Extreme cold has an adverse affect on lubricants. The colder it gets the stiffer the lubricants get and that can play hell with anything mechanical including guns.
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Old January 24, 2013, 01:30 PM   #21
Carne Frio
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Most all the cops here, state and local, carry Glocks.
Using minimal lube is what Glock recommends.
Our average temps can be pretty low and the LEO
crowd does spend a lot of time out in the cold. We
need a Dunkin Donuts here.
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Old January 24, 2013, 09:42 PM   #22
Nanuk
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I have been using Mobile 1 synthetic motor oil for years on my guns. It works great at least to -40 any colder than that and I am not going out in it. We had -32 wind chills last night, andwe don't have Dunkin Donuts here either.
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Old January 25, 2013, 01:55 PM   #23
CurlyQ.Howard
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"Tremendous strides have been made in lubes since then." In addition to lube, metal fatigue enters into the equation at cold enough temperatures.
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Old January 25, 2013, 04:06 PM   #24
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I've shot Glocks, HK's, Sigs and revolvers in colder weather than that here in MN with no issues.
I have used FP-10 for years with no cold weather issues, but will be switching to a light grade of Mobile 1. (I'm boycotting Gander Mountain, the only local source of FP-10)

The only lube issue I've ever had in cold weather was with a Sig P226 9mm and heavy lithium grease from the hardware store. It was too thick and the recoil too weak to cycle reliably. With FP-10 or TW-25B, no problems.

My P220 .45 and my P226 ST .40 had no trouble pushing through the heavy grease in cold weather.
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