Cold-Weather Problems with American Gunner?

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Olon

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Last weekend I went shooting and took my carry gun (a Gen3 G23). I believe it was 7F outside but calm and sunny so it didn't feel to bad. I decided to burn some carry ammo just to rotate it out.

It was Hornady American Gunner 180gr. JHP. Well, the first shot rang out and so did the steel I was shooting at. Nice. Still, something felt off. Sure enough, when I went for a second shot, I discovered that the trigger had not reset. Looking at the gun, I found that it was out of battery. The first case had ejected, but the second was sort of hung up on the feedramp. Chambered it and the same thing happened every 2-3 shots for the rest of the mag. Went on to shoot my range ammo (FMJ) and didn't have that happen once.

I've shot a lot of this ammo in warm summer months and never had an issue, which leads me to believe the powder they used is temperature sensitive enough to cause malfunctions when it's that cold and not a bullet geometry or gun issue. I could be wrong, though. I tried to recreate the issue by hand-cycling it just enough to eject and then letting it ride forward and I haven't been able to get it to happen again.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Wish I had a picture but sadly I didn't think about that in the moment.
 
This may not be so much of an ammo problem, as a lubrication issue. Try a good quality synthetic oil, and “slide glide”, and it should help a lot. Note: this works well in my cz75, and some other guns. I shoot in Idaho.
 
This may not be so much of an ammo problem, as a lubrication issue. Try a good quality synthetic oil, and “slide glide”, and it should help a lot. Note: this works well in my cz75, and some other guns. I shoot in Idaho.

I was using slip2000, which I haven't had cold-weather problems with before but I suppose I can try some other lubricants.
 
Based on your description, I think cold lube is at least equally likely. Was the gun warm or chilly?
 
It was about the same as the outside temperature so close to 7F
So, time to experiment! It should be easy to arrange: 1) a warm gun and cold ammo; and 2) a cold gun and warm ammo.

I've done a similar experiment with an insulated lunch bag and icepacks. Sounds like you've got the cold part already provided by nature.
 
If the range ammo worked fine and the carry ammo failed it sounds like an ammo problem rather than gun lube problem to me. But it could be a combination of the 2 factors.

Most of my research is with rifle ammo in cold weather. It is all somewhat slower, some powders much more slower than others. But I've not run across any issues with reliability. I do know that a lot of cold weather hunters run their guns dry with no lube. They found they needed to do the same with military weapons in the desert for best results too. It won't hurt a Glock to be shot with no lube. In weather that cold I'd use no lube on a Glock.
 
I thought it might be lube due to the fact that the first firings had issues but once the gun warmed up things were okay, but I am assuming the OP started shooting the “reliable” ammo right after he had problems with the first magazine.
 
I think you may be onto something saying that it warmed up and that's why it worked after the first mag. The lube wasn't particularly viscous but I may try stripping the lube and trying again this weekend with similar temps.

Come to think of it, the recoil was not noticeably different between the two ammo types and if it was too weak to cycle the gun you'd think that would be pretty noticable. Felt just as it normally does.
 
I've never had any issues with American Gunner handgun ammo. In fact I think it's pretty good stuff and as far as I can tell it's the same as their Custom line where they crossover one another, just in a different box.
 
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