What not to do when running your rifle in cold weather.

tag

I've never had an issue with clp in the cold

I have had issues in the cold similar to the OP.

NEVER EVER lube you firing pin with a grease or wet lube in cold temps or you will get light primer strikes...

If you must lube the firing pin, use a dry lube...

I would have attributed the problem to the Wolf ammo.

Indoor firing range here I hate cold weather.

Slip 2000 EWL, proven in this picture down to 18 degrees, 5 with windchill. I had two rifles both using EWL, firing pin lightly lubricated, 600 rounds between the two with zero failures that day.

There are so many excellent options available to us now that it stuns me that people still use CLP.

Windchill doesn't effect lubricants I've never had a problem with CLP*, or Wolf, in cold weather. People tend to use it because it's sitting on the gunstore shelf, never seen Slip 2000 in a gunstore.

I had the firing pin freeze on a Ruger P97 Temp was 11' outside and I had been outside with the gun for less than an hour.
Took it in and and the pin was wet with remoil. Obviously i had wiped it down and left it too wet.
No probs berore or after that but very uneasy fealing when you are expecting a bang.

As odd as it may seem, my local gun store (the only one I care to frequent) ONLY sells slip 2000!

Might be willing to try Slip 2000 as I have some of that, but almost too scared to try anything that seems semi-thick - LOL!

BTW, that Rem Teflon oil sparys on and drys to almost nothing in terms of volume, most of the liquid is solvent which evaporates off.

The lube chart would seem to disagree with you http://quib.weaponevolution.com/Assorted/lube21.jpg - LOL!

5W-30 mobil 1 or common 3 in 1 oil.

I was out in nasty cold weather today.

Shot a combo of Wolf and then some hornady match ammo. No issue and I haven't cleaned this rifle yet.

No kidding, I hope no one is following THOSE directions - LOL!

This thread, started a couple of months ago, may be of interest:

AR-15 » Maintenance & Cleaning > Cold Weather Lube Test?

I shot yesterday with my spikes middy and bushmaster predator @ 13 F. And did nothing special, both ran great.

[div] <o:p> </o:p>The interesting thing is I did not have any FTF at the first stage, presumably because I started with no lube on my firing pin. At the second stage, I had a few probably because the stuff is now in there. No further problem in the next three stages probably because I was pre-racking my gun a number of times before my turn to shoot to loosen things up plus the gun may still be warm from the rounds being shot at the previous stage. Obviousely the time between stages matter as too long and the gun can chill down again.

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The only FTF issues Ive experience in extreme cold was due to either fouling accumulation,condensation and a weak hammer spring.Never had an issue with Break Free CLP(liquid),Weapon Shield CLP or Mil-comm MC2500/TW25B.
Only lube suspected issue I had was latter found to be condesation from going in and out of vehicles cold/hot/cold.
One elk hunting trip I had a Remington 700 bolt freeze in battery after being stored in a case within a tent....again condensation related.Have seen handguns develop frost from being carried under a parka due to body heat/moisture.
Standing next to a heat source/fire with your weapon,or even body heat with the weapon against your chest etc. is enough radiational heat to cause condesation in extreme cold.
Lots of variables can come into play to immediately start to suspect the CLP as the cause IMHO.

Slip 2000 and Cleanzoil damn good stuff

OP, you didn't happen to take any pictures of the firing pin/bolt face when you took it apart to clean, did you?

If not, what color was the coating you saw?

If it's not feeding right or failing to pick up a cartridge, it's you magazine.
I never has issues with CLP.

BREAK-FREE CLP TECHNICAL DATA
(Test Data on File)

*Meets or exceeds MIL-L-63460 specifications.

*Operating temperature range: -53.9 C (-65 F) to
+246 C (+475 F).

Break Free CLP is rated down to -50 something degrees F. The CLP didn't misbehave, but it shouldn't have been in the firing pin spaces.

I think one thing is missing from all those oil reports. they only test the oil. I no longer oil the firing pin, just a quick wipe down.. after shooting a wet firing pin with 500 rds of wolf I broke it down for cleaning. pulled the firing pin out and it was dripping wet with pitch black carbon filled oil. now freeze that same carbon filled oil and all those oil reports are useless.

I have shot my 92fs down to -17 with break-free CLP with out a problem........

I wonder if the heavy amount of CLP was acting like a hydraulic buffer and slowing the pin down?
Did you have problems as you got into the stages or did it happen right off the bat?

Are you saying those or wrong or are you being sarcastic? Oh, I forgot.... LOL!

I was just trying to add other variables in order to try and help to eliminate any future issue.
We all know Wolf ammo is about as nasty burning as coal,but that is a flag to most readers nontheless.
One other possibility is that the CLP migrated from the bore/chamber/barrel extension to the bolt face and into the firing pin when stored vertical, overnight etc. and accumulated in that area rather than your preshoot lube practices.
Also,by chance do you use any liquid bore or aerosol gun cleaning solvents(Powder Blast,brake cleaner etc.) that may have been missed in cleaning and then to migrate and mix with the CLP causing incompatibility viscosity increase?
For instance,Ive never seen it before,but Dano in the troubleshooting forum says the Hoppe's No.9 will cause CLP to become sticky when mixed.That said,I always wipe/flush parts/bores with 91+% isopropyl alcohol after using solvents,and before applying lubricants.
I agree and also see no reason to apply visible sheen(enough to move with a finger) of lubricant to the chrome plated firing pin.I do put a bit in the bolt to clean,and then remove excess leaving a thin film for protection before assembly.But I have seen lubricant pool in the and around the firing pin from vertical storage over a period of time.I have also seen RE's with a good pool of lubricant accumulated in them from the same.
HTH

Well, if not what I thought then it could be this. I believe the cartridge is not fully chambering causing the misfire condition.

Using Wolf ammo, your chamber could be dirty and the bolt is not fully locking up. If it's not going home the firing pin won't touch the primer.

Even if the hammer / trigger work, if it's not locked up (bolt fully seated in the lugs) the firing pin can't reach the cartridge.

Clean your chamber and try it again. Oil on the pin won't cause misfires. IMHO

Yet another reason to avoid using BF CLP ...

Yeap...but I ain't arging with Dano...he's right more often than not.

I think some people are assuming your FTF was a failure to feed and not a failure to fire.

Thats for the info OP, thanks for posting.

Please elaborate on this claim, as I don't understand why liquid water would cause a problem.

I beleive he means don't take it inside to warm up with you. Leave your rifle outside, so that condensation doesn't form, and freeze when you go back outside.

I understand that, but that isn't what he said.

It's obviously what he meant.

OP––the CLP is not your problem. Carbon buildup mixing with CLP likely is. Shoot quality ammunition, and you probably won't ever have this problem again.

ETA: My definition of "quality" is not "super-duper expensive." PMC is "quality" in my eyes, and I shoot a lot of it. Wolf is not quality––no matter what people will say to justify using it.

I have fired my weapons in -30F (without windchill), with no problems. Make sure to lube where you should, and don't where you shouldn't. LSA works well in cold temps.

I swear Aimless, you really need to take a trip down south. Palmetto State Armory has it sitting on their shelf. lol
That said, I bought some there, and really wasn't impressed with the stuff. I still haven't found anything as good as the Blue Wonder Dissotec XFR. I can't speak as to the temps cold as the OP, but as far as heat, high round count, and just staying put and staying slick even months after application, it's unbeatable.

Since I can't find that stuff at a store, here, ( maybe you Yankees have some up there ), I bought some Mobile 1 synthetic oil to try.

Oh, I agree. I've just never been a fan of BF CLP to begin with, especially given some of the other choices that have been available for quite some time.

And, while I'm sure *you* already know this, others may not ... so, a good rule of thumb to follow is to never mix two (or more) different products that contain solvents - ever. And both BF CLP and Hoppes # 9 contain solvents.

The reason why of course, is that most people don't know enough about what their doing to be certain that they won't end up with something that could actually be harmful or cause problems with their firearms. And Dano's observation with that particular combo is a good example of that.

Last winter I was running some minimally gassed ARs with Break Free at -10F with Wolf ammo without issue.

And the firing pin is supposed to be lubed.

I would suggest that your firing pin might not have the correct protrusion to ignite the Wolf ammo (known issue). You also appear to have some lubricant mixing issue or other problem if your supposed "CLP" is that thick.

I shot this match. Hosed my bcg down with fp10 just before the line went hot. Was shooting fed american eagle ammo. Gun ran like a swiss watch.

So.....you attributed the failure to the CLP how??? Did you clean off the firing pin and go out into the same temps with the same ammo and re-test, or are you just speculating?

Topic Moved

tag

Did not retest since I have not been out to the range. I do attribute the failure to CLP because the stuff on the firing pin was so thick and viscus that one could easily see how it would slow it down. It was that bad and that obvious.

The point people are trying to make is that CLP does not become "thick and viscous" absent something mixed with it. Not at those temps anyway.

Try the same thing without the Hoppes and with higher quality ammo. PMC is not that much more expensive than Wolf. See if you can replicate the problem with CLP.

Why lube the firing pin?

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