rifles in a house fire

burnt_servo

burnt_servo

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recently had a house fire and 2 of my rifles where outside of the safe and got a little warm ..... definitely smoke damaged , they where standing on end , and the heat was coming from the ceiling down .... the ends of the stocks have the finish starting to bubble , the plastic stock one was a little bit melty .

the scopes on both , once cleaned up , appear fine , and appear to function fine .

anyone have some real world experience with rifles in a house fire ...... how hot is too hot ??? is there a way to test besides observing heat inflicted damage ???

thx for your input
 
I was told by a gun smith i trust

if the wood burns on a stock .... the gun/ metal is junk

if the springs loose there temper the gun is junk

get a gun smith too look at them
 
just having some fun said:
I was told by a gun smith i trust

if the wood burns on a stock .... the gun/ metal is junk

if the springs loose there temper the gun is junk ....

get a gun smith too look at them
Click to expand...

on one rifle the wood didn't char , finish just bubbled , the one next to it , plastic stock savage axis , the stock bubbled a bit .... the action operated normally after cleaning ..... the scope may toast , unless i can pull them apart and clean them
 
AlexSherwood said:
Fire is very dynamic it could be 200 degrees on the floor and 1200 on the ceiling. I would call them a loss and lump them into the contents loss on your insurance claim.
Click to expand...

that is happening regardless ...... but some appear salvageable with some work .

i had some hand guns , a case of surplus ammo and 8 to ten pounds of smokeless in a steelbox / safe ...... the box is gone , like it was vaporized . no trace left
 
Been there myself and have been involved for many others. The bubbled finish needs a refinish, plastic stock needs replacement. Most important is getting them cleaned and oiled, .....smoke is caustic and hard on metal, but if you catch it quick and get it neutralized you're okay. How are the ones in the safe, .....they most likely need the clean and oil as well, especially if any fumes or moisture were in the area. Even with other high priorities they need attention now, not later, so if you pay someone, so be it, ......insurance should repay.
Really pray you have replacement insurance on the house and contents. Everyone else should check their policy unless they're willing to accept 25-40% of value.
 
Wow thise guns are dangerous...used to be they just shot people willy nilly now their burning down homes....wont someone do something if only to save one life.

Signed Some Dumb Liberal :)




O personally wouldn't claim anything on your home insurance or even call the company...doing so opens a case file and depending on your carrier may result in you being labelled a high risk client resulting in insurance cancellations or rising rates...home insurance has become a sketchy industry. I called once after a bath tub overflowed to inquire about a claim where water ran down to the ceilling on the lower level....result was my carrier omitted cashing my next months payment and cancelled me....i had to pay high risk insurance to some guy in a lump sum cash payment for 2 years before being eligible for real insurance again...that was an expensive call ill never call an insuramce company again for my house unless it burns down. Which in your case then welll i guess calling is required.
 
This is a real experience !! A S & W M-29 was in a house fire enough that all blue was burnt off , leaving all metal with a dull grey & pitted
surface . Latter the gun was cleaned & test fired in a mechanical support & controlled location ( no people near) using factory 240 gr. jacketed
ammo . All cylinders shot 2 X . That test firing resulted in NO further damage to the gun. Since then , yrs. of shooting with reloads lighter
than factory have been used without issue . Because of Liability most people ( especially gunsmiths) will be reluctant to certify a "Fire Gun"
is safe to shoot .
 
I had some Russian SKS rifles that had been burnt at one point.
I found this out after I was working on them,....Once I took them apart I found they were made of "parts" nothing matched.
They were painted with the ugly black BBQ paint. I figured I would sand , buff and Polish the steel to look like chrome.......OH ya,... the metal was blued and multi colored, and No way could I get the coloring out of the steel. These rifles at one point in their life were defiantly in a Fire. And Ill bet ya, pretty dam Hot. Would be interesting to know the whole story. This is from the last batch that came into canada. The trigger groups were also full of "sand".
You really dont know what they are sending over. LOL

watch out for the BBQ painted russians. I would never buy one after seeing this.
 
stampede said:
At about 600 f, steel starts to lose its strenght even though it may look OK..
Click to expand...

is that a set in stone number , or a guesstimate ...... not trying to bust you balls , but rather this is something i can work with ..... i'm thinking of cutting up and heating some old barrel sections up to a know temp until i have a similar damage to the the finish on the barrel .
 
cooey43 said:
This is a real experience !! A S & W M-29 was in a house fire enough that all blue was burnt off , leaving all metal with a dull grey & pitted
surface . Latter the gun was cleaned & test fired in a mechanical support & controlled location ( no people near) using factory 240 gr. jacketed
ammo . All cylinders shot 2 X . That test firing resulted in NO further damage to the gun. Since then , yrs. of shooting with reloads lighter
than factory have been used without issue . Because of Liability most people ( especially gunsmiths) will be reluctant to certify a "Fire Gun"
is safe to shoot .
Click to expand...

i have something similar to the bluing that last 6 to 8 inches of barrel on a few rifles , the actions are fine , as are the first 12 to 16 inches of barrel .
 
lone ranger said:
I had some Russian SKS rifles that had been burnt at one point.
I found this out after I was working on them,....Once I took them apart I found they were made of "parts" nothing matched.
They were painted with the ugly black BBQ paint. I figured I would sand , buff and Polish the steel to look like chrome.......OH ya,... the metal was blued and multi colored, and No way could I get the coloring out of the steel. These rifles at one point in their life were defiantly in a Fire. And Ill bet ya, pretty dam Hot. Would be interesting to know the whole story. This is from the last batch that came into canada. The trigger groups were also full of "sand".
You really dont know what they are sending over. LOL

watch out for the BBQ painted russians. I would never buy one after seeing this.
Click to expand...

when steel is heat treated and the colours show up , these colours can be polished out fairly easily , especially on the soft steels of a sks rifle .... i wonder if you where seeing something else ?
 
philhut said:
Wow thise guns are dangerous...used to be they just shot people willy nilly now their burning down homes....wont someone do something if only to save one life.

Signed Some Dumb Liberal :)







O personally wouldn't claim anything on your home insurance or even call the company...doing so opens a case file and depending on your carrier may result in you being labelled a high risk client resulting in insurance cancellations or rising rates...home insurance has become a sketchy industry. I called once after a bath tub overflowed to inquire about a claim where water ran down to the ceilling on the lower level....result was my carrier omitted cashing my next months payment and cancelled me....i had to pay high risk insurance to some guy in a lump sum cash payment for 2 years before being eligible for real insurance again...that was an expensive call ill never call an insuramce company again for my house unless it burns down. Which in your case then welll i guess calling is required.
Click to expand...

i have no choice to file a claim ..... i have no house otherwise ..... also i'm not taking a 20 ish grand hit loss on these possessions
 
burnt_servo said:
when steel is heat treated and the colours show up , these colours can be polished out fairly easily , especially on the soft steels of a sks rifle .... i wonder if you where seeing something else ?
Click to expand...

well from my experience with welding, cutting and fabricating, and using an oxyacetylene torch,...they sure looked like super heated metal to me.
The barrels from the crown to about 10 inches down were definalty a different color. Never seen it before.
I did case hardening before and thats what this looked like to me.
The 2 sks rifles just looked burnt to me, and disguised with tons of heavy paint.

Another hint was rust in the barrels. The oil would have been bunt off leaving exposed metal.
 
Last edited:
Arctic said:
Been there myself and have been involved for many others. The bubbled finish needs a refinish, plastic stock needs replacement. Most important is getting them cleaned and oiled, .....smoke is caustic and hard on metal, but if you catch it quick and get it neutralized you're okay. How are the ones in the safe, .....they most likely need the clean and oil as well, especially if any fumes or moisture were in the area. Even with other high priorities they need attention now, not later, so if you pay someone, so be it, ......insurance should repay.
Really pray you have replacement insurance on the house and contents. Everyone else should check their policy unless they're willing to accept 25-40% of value.
Click to expand...

Barry knows this better than most, sadly.
 
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