Cold weather bolt lube

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dlr

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Had a 100-200 yd. cast bullet match Wed. Screwed a 1-12 Krieger chambered for 30 BR on my Viper and decided to brave the cold. Started out about 18 degrees with a 20 mph wind for a wind chill of 3. During warmup (?) I chambered a round, pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Barely could see where primer was struck. Another round, same result. Went in club house and held bolt over propane stove for a couple of min., returned to the line and fired a round with no problem. For rest of match when not shooting I kept the bolt wrapped in a paper towel between 2 hand warmers in my coat. The match was at Charlotte R&P, by the way.

What do you folks use for lube where it really gets cold? Shoot them dry or with graphite?

Thanks,
Don Ross
 
Thanks. I had not had reason to disassembled the bolt until this incident. Never had a pierced primer or anything. There was surprisingly little of anything on the firing pin assembly. It did appear that a small amount of grease had migrated from the cocking cam on to the rear of the spring. I may have been overdoing it a little in this area. I will follow your routine from now on.

Don Ross
 
FBecigneul said:
number one problem was you greased the firing pin assembly. This is one area that needs the least amount of lube. I rub a little Mil-Tec oil on the firing pin once a year and that's it. The bolt lube goes on the cocking cam and the bolt lugs and that's it. In Michigan, where it can't possibly get as cold as Charlotte, we put our bolt lube inside our coat and put it on the areas described after each relay.
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I use Tetra grease. As Francis indicated. It's a little warmer in SE MI. But, not by much.
A couple of weekends ago. 20 deg. Did have problems cocking the firing pin. Lee added a little more sear. 1/2 turn. To finish match.
Cleaned trigger. By Jewel inst. But, have not been out. Will be out tomorrow.
Tim
 
3 in 1 oil for the spring and pin. bolt lube like was mentioned before for the cocking...etc.

Hovis
 
Go to the auto parts store and buy high temperature wheel bearing grease made for cars and trucks with disk brakes. This is a moly grease. Look at the temperature rating. You will never be shooting at the low end of the range.

When you buy a tube of moly, you can share with all your shooting friends and still have several life times left over. All for about five bucks. :D
 
Synthetic

I use Mobil One synthetic grease - even when its really cold it is still comes out of the syringe.
 
Greasy, grimy, gopher guts

Dear Don, One thing you might consider doing is disassembling your entire bolt and washing it in a strong solvent such as lacquer thinner twice and blowing it out with compressed air. Take it down to the bare components if you have the tools. Take a chamber mop soaked in lacquer thinner and run it up inside the bolt body also. Look for burrs or binding any where while you are doing this. I reassemble the bolt with a light oil in the shroud but no oil on the firing pin spring. Lube the locking lugs, bolt threads if it has them, opening cam and bolt cocking cam with a small amount of grease. On some close fitting custom actions such as my two lug BAT I also have to lube the outside of the bolt body to produce smooth movement of the bolt back and forth. I use a small amount of light oil. Try to keep the area where the trigger engages the bolt free of oil. My experience with really cold weather is limited but a bolt that has a thick lube combined with grit or even a few grains of errant powder in the right place can cause a malfunction. Do not neglect your trigger. If is a Jewell soak it in lacquer thinner and blow it out with compressed air. Flush it with lighter fluid and allow it to air dry. A dirty Jewell trigger most often manifests itself by a failure to cock. Rarely you must remove the side plate of the trigger and manually clean it. Tim
 
I had problems with my Viper at matches in the cold - Dunhan's Bay in the winter. With the help and consultation of Mr. Stiller, we moved the trigger back to increase firing pin fall about 0.030" (still no push required to start the bolt downward) and added a stiffer spring. All's well now. Before the rework, no lube combination seemed to work, by the way.
 
FBecigneul said:
One caveat to your "flush the trigger out with lacquer thinner".
Remove the trigger from the action and/or stock before using lacquer thinner around some of those beautiful paint jobs.
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Yes Sir.
The trigger was removed from the firearm.
And Mr. Jewell indicates to use Lighter fluid. As the preferred cleaner.:)
 
Completely degrease the firing pin/ bolt assembly and trigger. Spray a VERY light coat of Hornady gun lube (Dry Lube with Teflon)on pin/bolt assembly.It will dry to a light powder coating (not flakey tho) and run the trigger dry. Bolt lugs could use a light synthetic oil with Teflon also.This is how I set up my guns for Sub-Zero weather shooting /hunting. I've never had a misfire since going to this system.
 
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