Cold weather AR function check this weekend

[Mgderf]

I threw my glock 21 out the door last night into a snow drift, going to dig it out this afternoon and run a couple mags through it, a little artic torture test if you will.

 

[armedindy]

i wish i didnt have to drive so far to get to a range ...let us know how it goes

 

[M67]

I let my AR sit outside for 4 hours and shot it not long ago. Only 15 rounds cause it's fudging freezing

Been 1200 rounds since I've cleaned it, so it went outside with crud and old lube in it. Pulled the charging handle a few times, you definitely could tell it's not as slick as it was

Went to chamber the first round, and the bolt wouldn't lock all the way hahaha. Pulled the round and went to chamber another, same thing. For the first time ever, I had to actually use the forward assist on my rifle. Still on safe, I popped the mag out, dug through the snow to find the first round, loaded it, popped the mag back in.

Fired just fine, after the first round chambered none of the other rounds had issues.

And of course, with the cold, the brass didn't eject like normal so I only had 1 casing of the 14 hit the tarp. Managed to dig out 13 of them, and like usual, sacrificed 1 to the brass gods.

Still have it outside, thinking about leaving it overnight and shooting it tomorrow morning. Times like this I wish I had steel cased 5.56

I'm still laughing that I had to use the forward assist


Buckmark still acted normal in the freezing weather, but I run that thing completely dry

 

[dmarsh8]

I threw my glock 21 out the door last night into a snow drift, going to dig it out this afternoon and run a couple mags through it, a little artic torture test if you will.

Results??

 

[philbert001]

Results??

Still digging!

 

[white-eye]

It functioned flawlessly, 14 rounds without a hitch, i will post a vid when i figure out how to im not very computer savy

 

[kb66]

Here's a video of a Daniel Defense rifle torture test, in this video they pack a rifle in dry ice and cool it to -40 degrees and then try to shoot it.

Daniel Defense Torture Test 2 - YouTube

 

[cwillour]

After putting my AR (and the second upper I put together) in the car Sunday AM, I have been hoping for a chance to see how it ran in the cold. The wife nixed Monday, but this afternoon I found myself within a few blocks of the range. Knowing the car had heated up and re-froze a couple times over the past 2 days, I figured I would take the 30min break and see how everything performed.

Pulled up to the range and noticed a distinct lack of tracks inside the gate, which meant I would have the range to myself. Since it was cold, I set up a couple of pieces of trash from the kid's lunch at the 25yd mark and shot away.

First up was the BCM SOCOM upper. The charging handle was a little stiff, but it was well lubed and feed the first round without issue. From the first shot on, it didn't seem to notice the temperature change or the multiple thaws and freezes it had been through. 20rds of Wolf 55gr (from 2 mags @ 10rds a mag) and a minute or so later, my hands were cold but everthing looked good from the consistent case ejection to the last shot hold open. Not really good shooting, though, but I did mention it was somewhat cold (car said -2F) and I was dressed for office work. Didn't I?

Next up was the upper I put together. As the BCG was pretty dry, but it was NiBo so I was curious how it would perform. Things weren't quite as smooth as the BCM from the start since the scope cover on the Vortex scope seemed to have frozen to the objective and I was worried I would damage the scope trying to twist and pry it off (at least I would have the warranty to fall back on, though.) Next, the charging handle was substantially harder to bring back than on the BCM and I suspect it may have iced up some while I shot the BCM. The bolt dropped home without issue and from there on it fed and fired fine but the bolt did not hold open on the last shot from either mag. With the scope, it was definitely easier to hold more of a group, although I discovered the "fog" in my shooting glasses was actually slush.

The ejection pattern looked good, but the charging handle was still pretty stiff so I put a few drops of lube on the BCG and ran another 15 rds through the same two mags. This time the bolt locked back at the end of each mag and the charging handle was far easier to pull back after I was done.

Overall, I think both uppers did well in the near-zero conditions and far better than their owner. I had been concerned about the possibility of a gas issue in the cold on the second upper since, well, I put it together. While my cheeks ended up numb and my glasses iced over, this experience has given me far more confidence in my build.

 

[Winamac]

Tell me about it. Looking for an excuse to sneak out and run a few boxes. If not today, at least tomorrow should still be cold. As long as I don't get stuck in drifts at the range I should be GTG.

What range are you going to?

 

[cwillour]

What range are you going to?

Went to SJCRC in Elkhart.

 

[M67]

I went ahead and decided to leave my AR out overnight, so it spent pretty much 24 hours outside in subzero temperatures. I run mine pretty dirty, it was sluggish and all the crud had solidified inside the BCG. Made chambering some rounds damn near impossible, had to use the forward assist a lot. I put some new lube in there though, ran like a champ.

I buried my M&P in the snow, slide locked back, over night. Didn't fare too well. The sear froze in the down position, and had a hard time chambering rounds. I was shooting old nasty shatty Interarms ammo with a 51 headstamp, so the ammo wasn't reliable and I did have a dud in there. I was laughing my ars off when I popped the slide off outside to see all the snow and ice inside