PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-636
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 636
NOVEMBER 2005
PS 636
NOV 05
29
Small Arms…
First of all, remove carbon deposits using rifle
bore cleaner, NSN 6850-00-224-6663.
Then use LAW, NSN 9150-00-292-9689, to lube
your weapon if the temperature dips below 10°F.
LAW works better in the cold than other lubes like
CLP or LSA. An exception is the M249 machine gun,
which
always
takes CLP.
Prevent moisture from freezing and jam-
ming your weapon by keeping the ammo
dry. If you need to, wipe the ammo and the
insides of the magazines before firing.
If you are not using the weapon, store it in an
wind-protected and covered area. When an area like
this is not available, cover the weapon with a blan-
ket or poncho to keep snow and ice from getting to
the barrel, sights and working parts.
Every 30 minutes, hand function your
weapon so that the parts do not freeze.
Don’t force sticking parts—they can
break. Move the parts slowly and easily
until they move smoothly.
When your weapon reaches room tem-
perature, it can be cleaned. That’s when it
has stopped sweating. If you clean it before
it stops sweating, the moisture can freeze
when you take it back outside.
Cover your weapons when moving from
a cold to a warm environment. This prevents
condensation from forming inside the
weapon by letting it warm up slowly.
Never lay hot weapons or barrels on
snow. The sudden cold can cause warp-
ing. Instead put the weapon on an MRE
box or something similar.
ready…
aim…
why
aren’t
you
firing!?
b-because
I’m f-fuh-
freezing!
Use LAW for
cold-weather lubing—
except
on M249
it’s important that
you take care of your
rifle or machine gun in
cold weather to keep
it from freezing up.
A
frozen
weapon
in
a hostile
environment is
a
dangerous
situation.
636.28-29(C).qxd
9/30/05
9:50 AM
Page 1
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