So lets say your hunting rifle or shotgun gets wet....

mcmack

mcmack

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Here's the scenario:

So your out hunting on a typical dreary rainy fall day, enjoying mother nature and waiting for that prize buck to walk by. You are out in your open treestand for many hours and its been raining steady for most of it. Your rifle is wet inside and out, I mean dripping. You are at hunt camp for 4 or 5 days without all the comforts of home (a nice bench to strip everything, dry everything up, all your oils & cleaners, etc). How far do you go to clean it up/dry it out as you walk to camp for the night?

Same scenario also can be said for waterfowlers with a shotgun.

Lets assume the rifle is a bolt action and the waterfowl gun is a semi auto.

You are getting up to do the same thing tomorrow, and the day after, etc and the forecast looks like rain for most of your trip to camp.

Any suggestions or tried and true tips? How far do you really need to go in between hunting days/overnight?
 
I've spent close to two weeks in steady rain and snow with no means of cleaning my rifle...you try to dry the exterior off at night but truthfully, I've never really worried too much about it. Heck I've even had to leave mine outside in a snow storm a few times. You dig it out in the morning and go hunting.
 
There is always a can of WD 40 with me.
Hose it down and wipe it off.
I have always taken a gun cleaning kit for extended hunts.
Fits under the seat, in the camper or such.
This is one of the reasons I prefer the more experienced gals.
They seem to have a little more fat on them, so to speak.
 
My hunting rig is a tikka t3 stainless so i worry a lot less about leaving her wet. I usually just leave the bolt open and keep 'er in the cab of the truck to dry out. i think the biggest killer is the temp swings bringing them inside to outside, outside to inside and definitely don't lock them up in a case over night! My dad has an older savage 110 and does the same as me and has never had a problem with rust forming. of coarse when you get back home break 'er down and give a good wipe down and re-oil.
 
I coat mine with g96 before I go out. If it gets wet I hang it muzzle down. Next time it's dry I recoat it.

My trips are usually 2 weeks and I haven't had a problem with rust.
 
The condensation from temperature swings is definitely an issue. I ruined a scope (a low priced Tasco fortunately) as I left the rifle in its zippered case overnight after a major temperature drop. To this day it has a fog inside the scope, might try putting it in the oven (just the scope) on say 150F for a few hours... Condensation is definitely a killer of expensive electronics/firearms...
 
Get a new paint brush - maybe 1" or 1 1/2" and use it to scrub oil onto your gun all over - around the bases and into the muzzle a little and all. It doesn't make your gun greasy - just brush harder if there isn't much oil left on the brush.

Once the brush has been used a couple times, it will get frizzy, but will hold enough oil to brush your gun down every morning. When you come back in, if you bring your gun into the warmth, the condensation will still bead up and never cause rust.

Great for duck hunters too.

Hang the oily brush on a nail to be reused frequently - put it in a plastic bag to take to camp.

A little oil smell - I think - doesn't bother deer at all.

Edit to mention - If a gun is put into the case before being brought inside to warm up, it will get less condensation on it than if it is in the open - but it still needs to be taken out and brushed with oil right after it is warm or rust will be the new colour. A little WD or Rust Check sprayed lightly into the fabric of the case might help if you long-term store your gun in a case.
 
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mcmack said:
The condensation from temperature swings is definitely an issue. I ruined a scope (a low priced Tasco fortunately) as I left the rifle in its zippered case overnight after a major temperature drop. To this day it has a fog inside the scope, might try putting it in the oven (just the scope) on say 150F for a few hours... Condensation is definitely a killer of expensive electronics/firearms...
Click to expand...

Condensation should NEVER be a problem on the inside of a scope. If it fogged inside you didn't ruin it, it was junk before you started.
 
We routinely go out in the wet nasty weather here, and I hunt with blued and wood. Coming back to camp I bring the rifle into the wall tent, trailer or whatever and dry it off inside and out using an old towel as well as a spartan cleaning kit brought along for such occasion. I think the worst thing you can do is put it back into a case or something like that. At least when they're out in the air there's movement around them...
Knew a fella up in the Charlottes and he would WD-40 his rifles as mentioned above.
 
Agreed, it is a Tasco 3-9x50, paid $49.99 for it at WalMart. It is junk and is on my hunting air rifle, I was just accentuating the fact that condensation kills. My Redfield scope (while not a Zeiss or a Leupold or Swarovsky) is rock solid over the years... proof
sheephunter said:
Condensation should NEVER be a problem on the inside of a scope. If it fogged inside you didn't ruin it, it was junk before you started.
Click to expand...
 
Honestly, if the weather is generally crappy, my rifle stays in a case and only gets pulled out for the shot. I've never missed an animal due to needing three seconds to get my gun out...

If weather is generally nice, but I get stuck in a an unforseen shower, it gets field stripped and dried and oiled at the first opportunity.
 
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I usually hunt with blue and walnut rifles and shotguns. For the most part G96 has kept me out of trouble. On extended trips I usually carry a bit of oil and there's always toilet paper around. On my Mozamibique trip we were caught in couple monsoons and were close to the ocean. That one involved daily wipe-downs with synthetic motor oil which was all I had. Worked though. Gun oil and an occasional wipe-off kept my Kimber looking good in SE Alaska.

Sometimes there really isn't much you can do. On a 2 week B.C. hunt it rained everyday and it was about as wet inside the tents as outside. My rifle was a stainless Montana Rifleman and it hung in a tree the whole time. Binos too.

 
I have never, ever, stripped a gun, rifle or shotgun, to clean and dry it, after it has had a tough trip.
I have basically the same view on this as Sheephunter.
My extended trips have usually been on foot, days at a time, or sometimes with horses. There has been times when my poor rifle has ben soaking wet for the entire time. I used to take a light pull through, a small container of Hoppe's #9 and a tiny vial of oil, wrapped up in a small cloth. If a rifle had been soaked, I may have tried to dry it a bit by the fire at night, maybe wipe it down and use the pull through in the barrel.
People who are familiar with my guns know there will not be a speck of rust on any of them, though I have owned one rifle since 1949 and used it extensively in some of the worst weather the mountains of BC can dish out while hunting.
 
Wd 40 at night in camp has been the routine for us when it is shixxy out. I have even taken a 30-30 swimming down a river, and it got the wd40 treatment after the day was done and the vehicle was recovered. Condensation in the cold is dealt with by bringing the rifle into a warm environment after and leaving it in the open, like in the corner leaned up or on the bed( this is my favourite as it gets the smell of gun oil in the sheets) and when it is good and dry it gets the wipe down with wd40 or G96. I have used motor oil, atf and any other oil that is handy in a pinch to keep the rust mites away.
 
I go duck hunting all the time when raining, seems to be the best days when it is crappy out, i just get home and wipe it all down with a bit of g96, while im out i dont worry about it at all.
 
IMO, water is not a problem for any gun unless it is mishandled. As said above, the most common cause of serious rusting is bringing a gun into a heated camp from the outside cold and leaving it in a guncase where condensation can build up on the exterior and interior parts. It should be removed from the case and allowed to warm to room temperature and then thoroughly wiped dry. Then spray it down with a good "gun oil" (with all due respect NOT WD-40!)... Rem Oil works as good as any... Spray the bore, breach action, bolt and trigger group... Swab the bore, cycle the action a few times and then wipe away the excess oil... It only takes five minutes and you need not fear rust OR malfunction.
 
Bring it in from the cold, let it dry out as best you can, and then fully dry it off with a dry cotton towel (towels stored in a seal plastic bag, then tossed after use). Finish with a spray down with G96 or Rem-Oil. A boresnake is also a good idea. I also really like the Rem-Oil wipes that come in individual packets. Same routine as above, but instead of spraying the metal down, I simply wipe the metal down. I do this for both my blued/walnut and stainless guns. No rust to speak of, yet. takes a good 15 to 20 minutes, but I like to be thorough.
 
Clean, dry and oil with whatever you have handy when it is convenient to do so.

These are tools, so hopefully they started out with a good coat of penetrating oil before you went out anyways.
 
Towel it off. All my hunting guns have been wiped in G96 before season. I keep a small bottle on hand if things get really damp and give them another wipe. I'm usually more in snow rather than rain anyway, it's easy to brush off with a mitten.
 
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