Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Question for Alaskan`s on brand of rifle

i live in Minnesota so times are cold here too, i was out call`n coyotes had a 22-250 Remington 700 my rifle froze up on me so that coyote lived. second time my 338 Remington 700 froze up on a elk hunt we were 10 miles from camp with two friends we all had 338 Remington 700`s S.S. ,we were up high on mules lots of snow , cold 10-20 degrees started snowing and raining half way up rifles were all in open scabbards on the mules. lots of grizzly bears and bear sign in that area we were in NW corner of Yellowstone park big sow grizzly and 2 cubs came out around 50-60 feet from me my mule was nuts and screaming i pulled my rifle the friends pulled their rifles too, momma grizzly ran away with cubs that`s when we found out all 3 rifles were froze up . we were dang lucky . i had my Alaskan Winchester pre-64 338 Win.mag with that i had brought out in Wyoming from another friend , so i carried that rifle the rest of the hunt up in the mountains and never carried or used a Remington 700 again in cold weather or big game hunting ever again. i do have a Remington 30 express i do carry sometimes this 30 Express won`t freeze up . glad some have had better luck than i have had with a Remington 700 .

I live in Wyoming and have for over 50 years, and never had an issue with Remingtons in cold weather or warm weather, never hunted a lot in wet weather.
I really have never had an issue with any of them. I have had an old model 70 and a Sako both lock up due to broken springs.

Any idea on what cartridges are being used by the guides in the Tikka's? Thanks.

With so many never having an issue even in what I call not fun weather, I have to simply say the ones with issues are going operator error.

There are lubes and such that I won't use on triggers or BOLTs in wet/subfreezing weather. But thats been common knowledge since I was old enough to read books. IE don't run em wet if you think you will get wet or sub freezing.

As to having a gun in the open in the rain, I'm not sure who thinks that was smart. Yet I see hunters show up all the time in AK that have no way to keep their guns dry in bad weather. There are various cheap light sleeves you put them in. I carry spares now because a 10,000 dollar gun soaking wet and freezing weather won't work either very often.

I'd offer to say most folks with issues need to learn to blow the triggers out and learn about graphite and clean the bolts well and springs etc... and same same.

As to safety freezing, well one way to avoid is never use the safety. Or keep it also clean and dry.

i hunt by the Canadian border in Minnesota we have much longer colder weather with lots of snow and rain , your weather is much dryer and not as much harsh cold weather you are much farther south . i am just telling what has happened to myself in my area in northern Minnesota , > Alaska has even longer cold weather than we do up at the border in Minnesota.

rost495 , your full of B.S. and brag way to much. as far as Ruger rifles you need to open your eyes it seems the real Alaskans are using plenty Ruger rifles. you won`t see me with a frozen rifle ever again i learned take a better brand rifle with 3 position safety like a Ruger or Winchester.

Ironic, people ask for opinions then when they are offered they are argued about. I am well aware how to disassemble, lube, and adjust a 700 trigger. A few drops of water gets inside with temps dropping and a tiny amount of ice will lock the entire mechanism up. I would carry a container of HEET into camp and douse the trigger in the morning to remove moisture.
I never had issues with 700 triggers until I started hunting on Kodiak and Montaque during the winter months.

Never in my life have I heard of a hunter carrying their rifle in a protective sleeve while actually hunting other than for carrying it while snowmobiling or dog sledding. I wouldn’t hunt with a rifle that couldn’t stand up to the elements. Guess I would have to ask a deer to stand still or a bear to stop it’s charge while I unsleeved my rifle.

"Operator error" is spot on and is usually the cause of firearm "malfunctions" in the fileld

Some guys set themselves up to fail before even leaving their house, most times it's weeks or even months in advance

Saw an ad several years ago in Alaska List, fella was selling an 80's Rem 700 BDL in 338 Win Mag for $400, I met up with him at a Sportsmans Warehouse parking lot and he was an honest fella and explained that no one in the family wanted to use the rifle because it had the bad "Walker" hair trigger, sometimes it would go off by closing the bolt and in cold temps it didn't work at all, some gun buff convinced them about the terrible Walker triggers on the Remington 700's ...

Nice enough, honest & safety concious gent but pure gundummy as can be, I bought the rifle from the guy and assured him I will be replacing the trigger asap with a Trigger Tech Special .... When I got home I pulled the stock off & found the trigger gummed up with oils/grease, dust & pine needles etc , after soaking it in acetone & blasting it out with shotgun cleaner I put it back in & it works just fine, still haven't replaced it .... & it wasn't a Walker either

Very accurate post.

Many years ago I placed several different barreled actions at a time out in below zero weather and tested them with water. They all failed frequently. The 700/Seven triggers were actually better than most. A thorough cleaning and graphite lube eliminated freezing triggers almost completely. Later I started using BoeShield and it is what I use today.

Awww dang, my lock on my house door iced up! Looks like I'll never lock my door ever again.

Could never imagine using a pocket-sized deicer to blast away crud from small, confined mechanisms.

It sounds really difficult:

https://www.autozone.com/deicer-and...o-lock-de-icer-aerosol-1-25oz/128353_0_0

Been enjoying this thread!

Always interesting to me to learn about what works in rough conditions.

May not live in similar conditions but am trying to hunt the high rockies each fall and will eventually make it "upstairs" to chase something.

The pocket sized de-icer is a brilliant idea!

Isn't remington 30 express an M1917? That's Sirius patrol tool.

Its funny, guys are now mentioning dousing an ice or snow caked rifle with heet.

Never heard anyone talk about it, till I mentioned this tactic to kk alaska on this forum coupla years ago.

A friend of mine carried a container on my first Montague deer hunt in 1977. That trick has been around for a LONGGGG time. What is ironic is during the same trip I introduced the friend to carrying some black vinyl tape for wrapping around the muzzle.

I don't doubt it that somebody would have enough sense to use a commonly available bottle of heet for de-icing a rifle.

Just never heard it mentioned a single time, in any thread involving iced up rifles. Until recently.......

I have spent an awful lot of time around Kodiak with 700s and have never had a trigger icing issue.

I like Sako's. I carry either a Sako 85 in 375 Holland or a Sako Custom in 338 RUM during bear hunts.

Isn't remington 30 express an M1917? That's Sirius patrol tool.[/quote]

well kinda Remington did make some 30 Express rifles for the hunting public too and that is what i have.