Ivan is the name of a police K-9 search dog in Massachusetts.
One day, a police officer in Lawrence, MA was on patrol when he responded to a call of gunshots being fired.
The officer arrived at the scene of the gunshots and witnessed a vehicle speed away.
He followed the speeding vehicle until one of the passengers jumped out of the back seat of the car.
The passenger ran to a nearby snowbank and appeared to bury something in the snow.
The man then ran back to the car and got in the back seat.
At this point, the officer initiated a traffic stop.
The officer waited for backup to arrive before having the three people exit the car.
After the men exited the car an Essex County K-9 officer conducted a K-9 search of the car to look for a gun.
This was done after the officers found a shell casing in the backseat.
The K-9 “Ivan” is trained to “paw” if he locates something.
According to one of the officers, “I surmise that the snow was there for a week, and it was probably like ice.”
The officer added that the suspect didn’t have a lot of time to bury whatever he was trying to hide.
During a search of the snow, K-9 Ivan pawed at what he had found.
Not only did the K-9 find the gun, he fired it as well.
K-9 Ivan pawed at the gun like he was trained to do and his paw pulled the trigger causing the gun to discharge.
“Everyone on the scene was startled, including Ivan,” said one of the police officers.
Thankfully, no one was injured by the accidental discharge.
The three men in the vehicle were charged with possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and stolen property.
That’s because the Ruger handgun Ivan found had been reported stolen.
Even though the gun had been buried in cold, wet, snow, it still fired flawlessly as K-9 Ivan demonstrated.
The reality is that extreme cold temperatures like the lows that much of the U.S. has been experiencing can impact your firearm.
Considering this, here are a few ways cold weather changes your firearm and what you can do to protect it.
Frozen parts:
One of the most common issues with semi-automatics and cold is the gun “freezing up.”
This usually happens when the lubrication oil starts to gum up or freeze from the low temperatures.
When it gets below freezing the oil can cause jamming and even make the firing pin stick.
The best way to avoid this is to clean the gun before going out in cold temperatures and don’t add any oil or other lubricant.
I know you are thinking that goes against everything you’ve typically heard.
However, removing or avoiding any lubrication for a short period won’t cause any long-term wear issues to your firearm.
So, during the winter months, it’s a good idea to use less oil, even “dry oil,” on your firearms.
Ammunition:
Cold weather doesn’t just affect firearms. It also changes the way ammunition operates.
The cold affects how the powder in the ammo burns.
It will burn slower, which means less pressure builds up in the chamber.
This can cause the bullet to fire with lower velocity and will change how the bullet impacts the target.
Because of this, when the temperature gets cold it’s best to store your ammo on your body.
Keep spare ammo in your pocket or as close to your body as possible to help keep the ammo somewhat warm.
Fogging up:
When it’s bitterly cold it will change the humidity and other environmental factors that can impact your firearm optics.
In cold situations scopes and red dots can fog up easily if they are near a heat source, such as the heat coming from your face as you look through the scope.
The best thing to do is to keep a cloth close by so that you can quickly wipe away condensation that fogs up your optics.
In addition, it’s worth using iron sights in extreme cold and avoiding using optics altogether.
So, while cold weather can alter your firearm and how it operates, these ideas can help keep your gun functioning in record-setting cold like we’ve seen recently.
But you also want to keep your physical skills sharp, especially when it’s cold and things could be moving slower, and the old injuries flare up.
