How do you keep your leather dry? Scabbards, guns freezing

[348win]

How the hell do cowboys, mountain men, keep their rifles dry from freezing up???

I have hunted Maine in winter and had my Model 71 freeze up, put by the fire, and mag tube complications the following day in a refreeze.

I got to wonder these guys on horseback have their leather scabbards waxed/oiled enough that water doesn't penetrate through or did they start a fire/head for shelter every rain (doubt it greatly)

I think a waterproof packable scabbard is in order for bad rainstorms.

I'd enjoy hearing thoughts and solutions.

I don't care if you carry a bolt action or a lever action, any gun, water flows into and freezes thats the way of nature!!!

[JimT]

I used a zip up rifle case that looked something like this:

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It was pretty waterproof. I cut the carry handles off, riveted leather straps that buckled so I could fasten it to the D rings on my saddle. In mountains of Southern Arizona I never had any issues carrying my Model 71 in rain or snow.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Most days it is not an issue. When it snows, it is generally cold enough that all a person deals with is snow, which just brushes off. Iron sights are good, scopes without covers can be a pain. When it rains, it's normally warm enough that the water won't freeze at least until around sundown.
Most of the moisture is only around the butt stock and generally doesn't run down into a scabbard, especially if you pack the scabbard at more of a level angle.

I've rarely had an issue, when it's cold here it's snow, when it's warm it's rain, rarely do we get those days in Wyoming when it goes from rain to freezing and things freeze up, but even those days I've never really had an issue other than scopes fogging or having frozen ice on the lenses.

Plus, legs and saddle bags and slickers and whatever else I tend to tie on my saddle cover at least part of the scabbard opening.

My scabbards are not heavily oiled but my rifles are well taken care of. I've never had a rifle freeze up from moisture. But I have had trouble with old oil and grease making them stiff.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

I can't say I'm a cowboy, but I've done some cowboying, I grew up around sheep ranching mostly, but I've worked a few cows. I've been out in the weather a lot riding horses and packing rifles, but my experience is limited to Wyoming and some in Montana, but 60 plus years of it.

[jkbrea]

Growing up in SoCal and shooting alot in LE, I kept my guns well oiled. I found out after moving to Wyoming not to put to much oil on my hunting rifle . Three misfires in a row because the oil froze up on the firing pin on my 30-06. It finally went off but I had to settle for the calf elk in the back of the herd.
As far as the original post, I'm not sure. Humidity is the real culprit when it refeezes. It's mostly low humidity here so I haven't had to deal with it. That enclosed waterproof scabbard seems like a good idea.

[Paladin]

There is a military manual on how to keep weapons from malfunctioning in ARTIC conditions. We strip all the oil off them, use powdered lube (normally Graphite), and never bring the weapon back into a warm environment once it has been in the sustained cold. The farm in Alaska I normally hunt on gets down to -52 during the winter it is just north of Ft Greely where we jumped in for a winter training exercise in Jan 1982 for three weeks of them hunting us on skis pulling a sled. We had to do this for our M-21s and M-16s. The M-21s had optics the M-16s did not. Everything worked with blanks for the M-16 with one live fire and the M-21s were live fire only (wolves and bears that may have woke up or come south).
For cloth and leather make sure it is treated before wet weather.