Alaskan Cold Weather Firearms Lube Test.
Negative 10 to Negative 65 F.
Shooter Choice FP-10..........Works very well in ARs and bolt guns. Good to-50
Terta Gun Lube...........Thicker, works well on crew full auto weapons Tried at 62 below
Mil Issue Arctic Brake Fluid.......Worked well on M-2HB and M-240 at 56 below
G-96 Gun treatment............Comes as a spray, very light, bolts guns to -65
Penn Synthetic Reel Oil P/N 92340..... Very Fluid, Extremely slippery good to -65
Marvel Mystery Oil..... Very fluid, Very slippery good to -40
3 in 1 Oil.......Fairly fluid, somewhat slippery gums at -20
LPS-2.........Fairly Fluid, somewhat slippery gums at -20
Klean-Bore Formula 3....... Some separation, fairly fluid, somewhat slippery
Tri-Flow.......... Separated, does not adhere or film on metal
Break-Free Mil Issue....... Separated, somewhat tacky and semi syrup like
Mil-Tech........... Thick, somewhat tacky, syrup like
Outers Gun Oil.....Very thick syrup. Tacky
Mil spec MIL4-46000c Lube Oil.......Separated, some was in thick jell state.
Rem Oil..............Thick jell, tacky below minus 20
Boe Shield T-9.......... Thick Jell, tacky, leaves wax like film
Corrosion X HD......... Thick jell, tacky
Ballistol.............very thick jell. TOTAL Separation
Exxon Elite 20-50 Syn Av Oil.......Very Thick, glue like
AeroShell 15-50 Semi Syn Av Oil.......Very thick, glue like
The coldest temps that I have personally used a weapon was 76 below zero at Fort Yukon Alaska during Jan-Feb 1983. I had to clean all the oil out of my revolver with acetone and then lubed it with One Puff silver graphite lube. My 1911A1 and my buddy's Beretta (or his Mni-14) would not work most of the time since the metals would contract at different rates as soon as we pulled them out of our Parkas. I let the patrol car idle all the time but it was so cold that the exhaust pipe eventually filled p with carbon since it could not stay hot enough to exit the tail-pipe. So it just quit while it was idling..... Then I broke off the door handle trying to get the door open...
It is so dry at those temps that your pee (no indoor plumbing) looks like a yellow C02 fire extinguisher going off.