Good to know, what’s the coldest temp you’ve fired it and tried to cycle really fast? The temps that I’ve heard of them having issues start around -20 where I’ve noticed slower ejection, and continue to get worse down from there. I do imagine if you employ the brake clean trick of that guide you could get plungers to work at colder temps than if you oil them.
Top of my list Mitch for reliability, strength and good design and build quality is the Heym 89b. It has a Greener cross bolt third lockup so absolutely positive closing and immensely strong. I have put about 600 rounds through mine so far and it has performed flawlessly.
Right! And train yourself to always slam the bolt back quickly and with force. I am convinced that the reason some people think that bolt actions, and particularly Mauser 98 type can fail.is that they have conditioned themselves to open the bolt slowly to retrieve the brass. Doing that in.a crunch often leads short stroking and double feeding. The ejection system is designed to be used with force and never fail if used properly. After all a person uses equipment the way he trains.
I've never seen a thermometer at -56 or -65, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to!
Have you priced ammo and components for big bore rifles? I'd need a second mortgage to shoot hundreds of rounds through my 404 Jeffery at the range. And then maybe an appointment with Canadian National Institute for the Blind. My retinas couldn't take it.
In those temps, what is your most trusted scope? I want to do some hunting in Alaska in the coldest temps of hunting season at some point, I rather enjoy the challenge of extreme cold weather living/hunting, I’ve done some tent camping at -26 with -55 wind chills, really tests your survival skills and gear. Lot of things fail at that temp, particularly cheap tent plastic and tarps, where they might as well be made out of ultra thin cardboard. Would love to hunt somewhere that pushes it even further someday.
I have tried to eject empty cases from both my 98 Mauser and 03A3 Springfield slowly enough that next cartridge can't be picked up by the bolt. I haven't been able to do it yet. It is possible to short stroke both guns, fail to eject the empty case, and jam while trying to force the cockeyed empty case back into the chamber. It's never happened to me in the field but I have purposely performed the malfunction at home. But the "jam" is easily remedied with CRF by simply cycling the bolt back again and fully ejecting the empty so the next cartridge can be picked up. The claw never lets go of the empty case. It is my understanding this isn't an issue with push feed as the empty case is ejected as soon as the end clears the locking ring ... if the ejector and extractor are in sync.
I have hunted down to ~ -30° C. And alone. At those temps a mere sprained ankle could be fatal. A blown out knee definitely would be unless you have an ATV very close at hand (and I've never used them except three times someone retrieved my deer). Move carefully but continuously ... and carry food! Forget about building a fire. You'll waste more energy keeping it going than it will provide. Keep your internal engine running. I have dressed a moose in -22° and it was brutal. A pair of kitchen rubber gloves would have made a huge difference. I really do not think you want to hunt in any temp below -26°! It is miserable ... and can be scary ... even if the wind doesn't blow. A slight breeze can be fatal.
Thats why you get a sub caliber analogue.
I can appreciate that you favor the Weatherby Mark V but was kind of surprised that it may be favored by guides in Alaska or anyone else as a DGR? I hunted with old time sourdough and Alaskan guide George Faerber from Trapper Creek Alaska for grizzly back in 2004 and his preferred rifle was a stainless Ruger M77 338 Win Mag with the Zytel skeleton or paddle stock.
Hardly any scope they fog up tear up and break up .I had no problems at -30 with scopes but below that scopes are the first thing to go.I usually just small game hunted in the winter with a double barrel that only messed up at -45 .Its funny now but i went in rotten snow fell through 20 feet of snow on side of the road took forever to find my shotgun .I tied it to my belt after that .I didnt like winter caribou didnt taste good loved them in velvet to eat .
Anything with a 4 starting it as the great Lon Deney told me will take anything
