Henry cold weather magazine test

[Greyhawk]

In my post titled '.45 colt cold weather torture test' I talked about how in extreme cold the magazine tube would not operate allowing me to load the rifle and that I had to load each round individually through the action.
This week I banished my .45 colt and 45-70 to the woodshed to see how the brass magazine followers operate under different temperatures, here are the results (All temperatures are in Fahrenheit)
At +10 degrees the brass magazines of both rifles worked like it was summer, no problems.
The next day at -1 the magazines were stiff but worked fine.
Later in the week at -13 I noticed that the magazines were difficult to un-click, but otherwise, (although stiff) they worked fine.
This made me wonder if the problem that I experienced at the range was not an issue with the brass and steel, or with moisture, but with the rubber O ring at the end of the follower, so I left my 45-70 follower clicked in, but I released the follower of my .45 colt. The next morning was supposed to be -21 so I was interested to see what the results would be.
The next morning was -22, The 45-70 mag. follower would not budge, without forcing it I could not unlock it in order to load the magazine. But, the .45 colt mag. follower (which I had unlocked the previous day) moved stiffly but freely up and down the mag.
SO- the issue is not with moisture freezing, or with metal expanding, but with that rubber o ring becoming hardened in the extreme cold.
For most of us this isn't an issue. But, often times when hunting in extreme cold I will leave my rifle outside at night instead of exposing it to the heat and moisture inside the cabin. I think that when I do this with a Henry it would be wise to keep the magazine loaded for the next morning's hunt. (Or maybe just drink coffee until noon and then go hunting!)
I hope this has been helpful or at least interesting!

[CT_Shooter]

I hope this has been helpful or at least interesting!

Greyhawk, thanks for your report and for carefully staging your tests to control the variables at play. It is very interesting and I'm sure for some of us, helpful, too.

[Yornoc3]

For sure this is interesting. I wonder if there's an equivalent O-ring made of some "space age" polymer that would remain flexible? In any event, at this point in my hunting career (55 years), I'm drinking coffee 'til it warms up to zero .

[GunnyGene]

Very interesting. Not a issue down here, but it might be something that the company would be interested in. Never know when the next ice age will arrive.

[Mags]

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Thanks for busting my metal theory Grayhawk. Nicely prepped and executed.

...

[North Country Gal]

Great report. Very informative. Thank-you.

[JEBar]

outstanding info .... thanks for conducting the experiment and posting your results .... thankfully, we seldom experience such low temps but its good to know .... I'd suggest that you email this info to Anthony at Henry .... my bet is he would appreciate it

[Mgr2]

Thanks for the report. If the o-rings are the problem then these can be changed for better suited ones. In my experience the fluor types are better for low temperature applications. These types can be bought on eBay.

Most common o-rings are nitrile rubber. For temperature range see the guide below.

O-ring temperature guide:
https://www.websealinc.com/oring_temperatures.html

[Mags]

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Excellent find for sharing!!! Golden for this one!

Thanks for the report. If the o-rings are the problem then these can be changed for better suited ones. In my experience the fluor types are better for low temperature applications. These types can be bought on eBay.

Most common o-rings are nitrile rubber. For temperature range see the guide below.

O-ring temperature guide:
https://www.websealinc.com/oring_temperatures.html

[Greyhawk]

Thanks for the report. If the o-rings are the problem then these can be changed for better suited ones. In my experience the fluor types are better for low temperature applications. These types can be bought on eBay.

Most common o-rings are nitrile rubber. For temperature range see the guide below.

O-ring temperature guide:
https://www.websealinc.com/oring_temperatures.html

Great info! I'll have to check it out.