The winter warrior thread!

[walking arsenal]

Almost everything that seems to have come out on the market recently is designed for operation in high temperature climates. Holsters, hydration systems, vests, weapons, you name it.

But here in northern Minnesota we only see temps above 40 degrees for about 4 months out of the year. The rest of the time we're frozen solid and under three feet of snow. This makes for tough shooting.

So, the object here is this. Share your cold weather tips. Tell us how your home defense or CCW rig is set up for winter. Do you use different oil? Do you choose different ammo for winter? Perhaps you go with a different weapon choice all together once the white stuff flies? Whatever it is. Lets have it out. Share your winter gunning tips here!



I'll start.


My home defense rifle is a Century AKM in 7.62x39 as I find it difficult to operate the controls of an AR-15 in temps below freezing. AK controls are big and glove friendly.

I have a vest for range work and it is sized to go over a heavy coat. It's like wearing a range bench and it keeps me from having to lay anything down in the snow. It has a dump pouch attached for spent mags because dumping a warm mag from a hot AK or pistol in the snow causes the snow to stick to it and freeze.

My daily CCW is a ruger LCP that I carry in an outside pocket of my Columbia for easy access. I keep it loaded with FMJs. I carry my springfield XD under my coat if I travel out of town but the LCP stays in the pocket.

So there are a few of my habits. I'll add more as the thread progresses. Now lets see what the rest of you frozen fiends have to offer!

 

[Ronsch]

My favourite is:

Arctic Canteens. I have several I bought at surplus after (as you noted) the hydration bladder craze really got going. I use them at the range, and hunting to carry warm drinks (tea and warm soup) in. The covers and canteens attach well to the pistol belts of both my vest (London Bridge Trading Company) and my older ALICE gear.

 

[Sunray]

"...winter gunning tips here!..." Semi-autos run bone dry or lubed with powdered graphite. Although there are cold weather greases available now. Pricey stuff though. No oil in any rifle.
Had my troopies, shooting C1A1's, on a range, in sleet, long ago. Not one rifle failed.

 

[Zundfolge]

Well it seems like the biggest thing in ARs right now is anything from Magpul.

Their winter trigger guards are awesome ... I can shoot my AR with heavy gloves on now.

 

[BENBRU]

Cold weather tips:
Bought a Woolrich Elite Series Tactical Fleece jacket. Super heavy weight for a fleece.... yet I wore it today and it was about 50 while the wind was blowing. So I've worn it down to 0degrees and up to 50.... was a little chilly in 0 but I was just running to the store. Nicest parts about it are the sewn in elastic loops in the pockets. Holds an extra mag in place, flashlight, knife whatever....

I tend to continue using Gunzilla as my lube. Haven't run into a problem with it in the winter.... am I missing something?

Also... I'll use this as an opportunity to throw a compliment to Under Armour... they have a great line of sunglasses that I would be blind, or at least squinting permanently without. Good polarized sunglasses, for sun glare off of the snow helps you hit the target and keeps the wind from drying out the ol' eyeballs while on the range... Oh and also way less than some of the other "sport" sunglasses out there...

 

[cleardiddion]

Mosin and a bottle of Bourbon tucked away for those cold winter nights.
What more do you need?

 

[walking arsenal]

Isn't it vodka that you are supposed to drink with a Mosin?

Another trick that I learned is for if you carry a gun outside and then come back in.

If it's a handgun you toss it in a ziplock bag as soon as you come in. If it's a rifle, a lawn bag will work. Condensation will form on the bag and not on your gun. Then you won't have to clean it as much nor will you have to worry about it freezing up when you go back out.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I second the Vodka and Mosin.

My area of Michigan gets cold and snow, but not nearly as much as you guys in MN. My HD gun is a 12ga pump and the back up is a 9mm carbine. Both are stocked in synthetic, so I don't have to worry about wood swelling and warping, although my Mosins haven't had that problem so I dunno. It doesn't get so cold here where I've ever really worried about my guns freezing up ala Chosin Reservoir.

 

[RX-178]

I'm sure to add to this thread in some way shape or form in the near future.

Recently (as in, the very week of this post), I have moved from El Paso, TX, to Anchorage, AK.

I'm going from the desert warrior to the winter warrior already, so I'll share any insights and stuff I glean from this experience.

....After my shoulder heals. I've already managed to slip on the ice, and hurt my rotator cuff. Oh, yeah. Desert boots don't work well in on frozen ground.

 

[Claude Clay]

have a tailor slice & over stich an opening in your outer coat pocket such that you can access your XD by just putting your hand in your pocket. for the left coat pocket make a pouch ( cardboard & duct tape) for the revolver so you can safely seperate it from car keys in the same pocket.

 

[bigalexe]

My cold weather gear for the 2 or 3 times I go out when it's below 30F.
-Appropriate wrenches/screwdrivers for critical bolts.
-Lubricant & extra cleaning pads
-Shovel
-Triple check for Lens Cloth

First why the wrenches? I have stated this a few times about my shotgun which is a Mossberg 500 with the Knoxx Stock. The receiver and stock shrink at different rates and after about 20 or 30 minutes outside in low temperatures I need to put a few extra turns into the stock bolt to close up the gap that develops.

I take extra oil and cleaning pads (I use 4x4 medical gauze pads for cleaning) because in the state of Michigan if it is below 30 then there is a good chance of some form of precipitation coming down. I find myself continually having to wipe snow away.

Shovel, well you can never bet on someone having plowed/shoveled the range even at my club.

Lens cloth, it's cold and your breath fogs. Rangefinders (my range isn't posted yardages) Spotting Scopes, and rifle scopes love to fog as we all know, along with my glasses.

That's what I take.

 

[yjon35mtrs]

check out Arctic Patriot's blog he has a cold weather series that he's writing called Staying Warm

http://arcticpatriot.blogspot.com/search?q=staying+warm

 

[speaksoftly]

Our beverage of choice on the more relaxed shoot/camping trips gets switched from beer to whiskey. That's about it. Haha

 

[Dr.Rob]

The 'winter trigger guard on my Mauser is butt-ugly but very functional with big heavy arctic gloves. Honestly that old Mauser is still a serviceable hunting rifle.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=47642&d=1163191963

Shoots just fine.

 

[Silverado6x6]

I have taken a small piece of scotch tape to the end of my barrel to keep snow out.

I use a mix of Superlube spray synthetic oil mixed with a moly additive that you can buy from Napa, I keep it in a small bottle and a small paintbrush to use in key places on my pistols and semi-auto rifles. Superlube also sells a dry film spray. My bolt guns love it.

I use H4895 instead of IMI4895, its more consistent in colder temps.

On a couple of my rifles I bought some spray stone spatter paint and I spray the area where I want the most grippage while wearing gloves, it also looks real good of a dark gray stone in the checkered area of the wrinkle black painted fiberglass stock of my M1A.

I replaced a almost useless thin composite stock on my Ruger M77 MkII .338WM with a rubber coated fiberglass Hogue stock, also synthetic stocks handle temperature changes much better.

Up here in Alaska I also recommend getting a chamber specific laser cartridge, get a small stick on target, use it to check your scope after you travel as the scope can be knocked out of alignment. I would probably use a stretch scope cover instead of flip up lenses, they can freeze up.

Also going back to stocks, check your length of pull wearing all your winter clothes, many stocks in Alaska I have seen have about 2" cut so you can use them wearing arctic clothing. A fancy pretty shiny stock will be a very slippery thing to control while wearing gloves. A tack rag in a baggie can help to make it a little sticky temporarily. Might sound like a fussy small detail to some but what the heck, its just an idea.

I keep a film of synthetic oil on all my cartridges that will be exposed to temperature extremes, especially ones in a magazine.

Sometimes the anti fog stuff you use on your windshield may work on a scope lens, but I would make sure it won't ruin a rain free coating like Nikon uses first. For very wet conditions I have used Rainoff or such with success.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I'm a big fan of anti fog lens wax. CLP leaves a dry film lube that I've been happy with in Colorado, it beats carrying a rifle 'dry'.

Those 'finger bandages' (rubber condom looking thing) work great on regular barrels, they are awful if you have a muzzle brake. Trust me on this.

Skateboard tape is an inexpensive way to make your plastic stocked rifle 'grippier'.

 

[thorn726]

i motorcycle in "cold" weather (nothing like you all are describing) but handwarmers, expose to air type- very cheap and stay warm for hours, good to have around for a number of reasons and could probably keep anything you dont want frozen a little warmer.

 

[Packman]

The rest of THR probably thinks I'm a wimp, but hey, I'm a Florida boy, born and bred! I have no cold tolerance, OK? Don't judge me.

I second Thorn: Those handwarmers are lifesavers. Contrary to popular belief, it does get cold in FL: It's been in the 20 multiple times this year. When it's cold, its a great time to shoot, as you get the range to yourself, mostly. But, I still get chilly, so a couple handwarmers in the pocket make life much more pleasant.

 

[B1gGr33n]

I've come to favor my Daly Maxi-Mag for everything from HD to hunting. It chambers every time, all the time, no matter what the weather is like. It's very low maintenance with the synthetic stock and camo wrap, little worry of condensation rust. I used to have a Winchester 1300, but it became evident that it's wood furniture and bluing weren't suited to the type of use it got. I threw on a set of fiber optic sights for turkey and slug hunting, and found they also lend themselves very well to visibility against snow glare. I have a hard time picking up a bead on a sunny winter day.

One thing I'm surprised I haven't seen yet (or maybe just missed): LAYERS!! In MN it's not uncommon to have a 30 degree swing in a day or too, and even 10 degrees in a matter of hours. I set out on foot for work at 7:30 am, walk home for lunch at 1, and home after work at 5. I'll wear a t-shirt, sweater/hoodie, and a Carrhart, and the Carrhart usually gets carried home at lunch. Having layers available, even if they're not used, can be lifesaver. I mean that literally! It always astounds me how many people around here get nonchalant about the weather, having lived here their whole lives and knowing well the dangers it can produce.