cold weather does strange things to guns
Years ago, 1990 or so, I was hunting at Tellico Junction for a wild Aoudad that had managed to outsmart several hunters over the past year or so. He was a big one, with horns around 30" or so, and I really had the hots for him.
The first day of our hunt (early January) it was 6 degrees when we left the trailer. I had one of my Auto Mags in a crossdraw holster and was ready for Mr. Aoudad. One of the guides (his name was Bugs), knew where this critter holed up when he heard any shooting. The area was on top of a ridge that was pretty much straight up, so we literally climbed straight up, holding onto small trees to keep our balance. When we got near the top of the ridge, Bugs told me to stay there on a small ledge and he would ease on up and see if he could spook him down a path about 25 yards from where I was.
About 10 minutes later I heard a crashing noise and saw the Aoudad flying down the path just like Bugs said he would. I cocked the Auto Mag and put the front sight even with the front of the Aoudad's chest and pulled the trigger. Nothing. I looked at the gun and the hammer was slowly moving down the frame. I thought maybe a Texas Heart Shot would work so I yanked the hammer back again and put the front sight on the ram's butt and pulled the trigger. Again nothing. About that time Buggs came into view wondering why I didn't shoot. While I was telling him why, I realized exactly why. 6 degrees and the oil I kept in the gun to keep it from galling had solidified. Slightly pissed off at myself I apologized to Buggs but being an old Tennessee country boy, it was no big deal to him.
We went back to the trailer and I turned the oven on and put the Auto Mag in there at about 150 degrees for a few minutes. After maybe 7 or 8 minutes I took it out, took it apart and wiped all the oil out of the gun. Just to be sure I test fired the gun during our lunch break and all was fine. I got back on the Aoudad early the next morning and this time the Auto Mag worked perfectly taking the ram cleanly with one shot.
Now the reason for this story is this. A young fellow brought in a Taurus 1911 this morning that he said wouldn't fire. He said the safety wouldn't go on either. He handed me the gun and I sorta knew the problem. The gun was ice cold. It was 9 degrees this morning so I asked him if he kept it outside. He said he kept it in his car as his wife wouldn't allow any guns in the house. (Time to get a new wife). I told the young man to go eat breakfast and give me an hour.
After he left I put 5 rounds of his 45 ACP in the gun (the ammo was cold as ice too) and aimed it at our big blue plastic drum filled with wet sand. Just like on the Auto Mag the hammer fell real slow. I took the gun apart and it was full of some really thick oil in the frame and heavy grease on the slide rails. I took the hammer and firing pin and small parts out and lightly waved a propane torch over them and over the whole gun, warming them up. The heat made even more gooey oil and grease combination flow out of every part. I wiped all the gunk off the parts, wiping the rails and internal areas dry with a rag and put it back together.
Again I loaded the gun and it put 5 shots out as quick as I could pull the trigger. When the young man came back I let him see how the gun worked and old him to keep the gun dry, especially in extreme weather. He told me one of his buddies that is an expert on all guns told him whenever he had a problem with any gun, pour oil on the offending part and if it continued to give him problems pour more oil on it. Now whether the young man listens to me or the expert I have no idea. But like I told him, there is nothing wrong with the gun.