Shooting in cold weather

[rucker]

I shot outdoors today and for the first time my gun had every kind of failure possible. All of the ammo was exactly the same as I have been shooting so I don't think that was the complete problem although I do have some issues with that too that I asked about here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1536

The first couple of magazines were fine so I assume it had to do with the temperature. The problems I had were: failure to eject, failure to feed, failure to go into battery if it did kind of feed. Alot of cases were getting caught sideways in the slide.

I also haven't cleaned my gun for about 300 rounds which I have never done before so that could also play into it. Anyways, does that sound like something related to the cold temperatures and, if so, what can I do about it?

[Pat Cannon]

You mean, besides switch to a revolver?

[princewally]

Shoot faster to keep the gun warm.

[rtk]

I would start with a good cleaning and lube. If it is gunked up it may cause it not to run correctly if it is cold and thick (remember your mag-well).

And if that doesn't work, get rid of it and buy a Glock (JK)

rtk

[jac714]

I would start with a good cleaning and lube. If it is gunked up it may cause it not to run correctly if it is cold and thick (remember your mag-well).

And if that doesn't work, get rid of it and buy a Glock (JK)

rtk

or even better a 1911.

I couldn't resist, I had to do it.

[Pat]

I would start with a good cleaning and lube. If it is gunked up it may cause it not to run correctly if it is cold and thick (remember your mag-well).

And if that doesn't work, get rid of it and buy a Glock (JK)

rtk

or even better a 1911.

I couldn't resist, I had to do it.

I know that Tupperware is supposed to take the heat, but am doubtful about the cold...

[ttousi]

Smartcarry?

Clean and lube for starters

[Rip Van Winkle]

If you are using light target loads as your other post infers, the cold weather probably is the culprit. I'm not familiar with Bullseye as I don't like Alliant powders but I'm betting it's temperature sensitive. A ight load will malfunction and possibly misfire in colder temperatures. Conversely, a hot load can become dangerous when the temperature gets to the other extreme.

[hammAR]

What did you use to clean? What to lube?

Many things suffer from shrinkage in cold weather,
thus I do not think that smartcarry would help you at all.....
or the gun for that matter...............

[Pat]

This is starting to sound like a Seinfeld episode.

Shrinkage...

[JoeH]

Smartcarry?

Now THAT'S funny

[BRIT_in_the_weeds]

That whole Smartcarry thing in this instance, my cartoon bubble had the tongue on the flagpole

Explain that one in the ER

[MNBud]

I'm going to go the other way completely and bet the whole problem is with the shooter. Is this the first time you have shot this particular gun in the cold? I just don't believe ammo can be blamed for this. The dirty gun maybe, but you don't know that it wouldn't have failed indoors.I don't believe cops change ammo from warm weather to cold weather and I have never read a powder manufacturer warn against cold weather shooting.

[goalie]

I just don't believe ammo can be blamed for this. The dirty gun maybe, but you don't know that it wouldn't have failed indoors.I don't believe cops change ammo from warm weather to cold weather and I have never read a powder manufacturer warn against cold weather shooting.

There are certain powders that are temperature sensitive. If you work up a perfectly safe, but max or near max load, with some powders at 50 degrees out, then shoot that load in the same rifle when it is 100 degrees out, and the ammo has been sitting in the sun, you can kaboom your ass rather easily.

It can also work the other way. A loading that is "hot enough" to cycle your firearm just fine when it is 75 degrees out, but is a minimal or near minimal loading, can easily result in failure when it is below freezing, especially if the ammo is left outside to cool off.

As for the police reference, they don't shoot hot or cold ammo, they shoot factory fodder.

[rucker]

Thanks for the advice everybody.

I guess I should be able to figure it out with some testing. I am not going to clean my gun until after I do some more testing. I am going to load some with 4.5gr instead of 4gr. I will let them all get nice and cold and shoot both and see what happens. Then I will clean my gun real good and shoot both again and see what happens. I will report back here with the results