Wood stocked and blued rifles in the rain

P

pacobillie

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 99.3%
144   1   0
Location
Quebec
Do you hunt with your nice wood stocked / blued rifles when it rains? If not, what do you do: refrain from hunting, or grab a stainless Tupperware stocked rifle?

The reason I am asking is that all my rifles are wood stocked / blued, and I am considering picking up a stainless/synthetic rifle, for exactly that reason, to be used a s a foul weather rifle.
 
Always looking for reason for "another" rifle!!! :) I noticed on some modern products that main components might be a stainless, but many auxiliary parts are not - or are nickel plated - and then read that not all stainless is always 100% "stainless" - as in, they still can rust. So will need some amount of maintenance anyways? From older books on hand, had read how bee's wax or similar was often used - to coat all the hidden parts and surfaces, and the interior wood, to shed water a bit better. Have found on several of my rifles that there was never any finish whatsoever applied to some interior sections of the wood stock - like the well for the magazine, the trigger mortice, under the butt plate - even sections of the barrel channel in the fore-stock - so all can benefit from something.

I had an experience many years ago, when I used to think it was fun to hunt in minus 25C and minus 30C temperatures - rifle would not fire - bolt was chock full of a grease - that apparently gelled or stiffened in that cold - so I now prefer to dismantle and completely flush that factory grease out completely - just a coating of a good oil to prevent rusting from condensation from temperature changes.

I have a German Mauser small ring sporter rifle with proof stamps from before WWI - obviously has been hunted, but is nearly immaculate inside and outside - so previous owner(s) knew how to dismantle and thoroughly clean. No clue where it was used or under what conditions, but is evidence to me that old-school care can pass along a 100-year-old rifle in a condition that is comparable to what you might buy in a store today (lack of corrosion or corruption of the metal and wood, I am referring to...)
 
Last edited:
Wood stocked, blued rifles were all anybody used for more than a hundred years and they seemed to work fine then.
Stainless and composite rifles didn't become mainstream until the late 80's or so, ( If I recall, browning was the first regular production stainless rifle, with their stainless a bolt and a painted wood stock but I might be wrong).
I too have gone to using stainless/composite bolt action rifles for convenience (and they are lighter and not shiny), but my Winchester carbines that are used for cougar hunting are blued with wood stocks, and they are constantly covered with snow that falls on them off tree branches. After each hunt I make sure they are dry and I apply a thin coat of oil on them. They have never rusted or let me down.
Buy yourself a nice stainless rifle and enjoy it, but don't be afraid to use the wood/blued ones either.
 
Last edited:
I made sure to varnish the inside of the barrel channel of my wood stocked rifles when I got a new-to-me one.

The ones I am likely to use get a re-coat of tung oil when they get taken out to be petted and stroked so that they don't feel neglected in the off-season.

I have two-plastic-stocked blued steel rifles though, I will admit, gifts from a hunting buddy.
 
Last edited:
Happily, I learned that conventionally blued barrels and actions and oil finished stocks worked just fine for hunting in the mountains, rain or shine, back in the 1960's. But that was before we discovered that you needed stainless steel and synthetic stocks to be actually prepared to hunt in the mountains. Good of the firearms industry to warn us of that while at the same time offering us new stainless/synthetic rifles to buy to deal with that fatal flaw in blued steel and oil finished walnut stocks.

Which is maybe why I have two safes full of rifles, shotguns, and handguns - and exactly one is stainless steel. Haven't lost one to rust and water damage yet.

I would agree that anybody who can't figure out (or more likely can't be bothered) how to protect blued metal surfaces and walnut stocks from the weather with off the shelf products will probably be better served with stainless steel, Cerokote, synthetic stocks, etc. And of course, there is no rule violated by anyone who prefers stainless steel and synthetic stocks; it's all personal choice.
 
I hunt with a wood/blued rifle. If it gets wet or snowy, I take it apart, dry it well, and oil it -- pretty much what everyone is saying here. I would add two things. First, best to dry and oil the rifle as soon as possible, since rust can set in fairly quickly. Second (and this may be obvious but I'll throw it in anyway), don't leave the wet gun in the case any longer than you have to, and dry out the case afterward.
 
The only rifle that rusted on me, except for a blued Tikka T3 that came to me rusty in its packaging, was a stainless Ruger 10-22. Keep a thin coat of oil on metal parts and oiled stocks waxed, and you will have no problems.
 
Oh definitely, guns are tools and I sure don't treat my tools gingerly, but I do care for them.

I have two wood stocked rifles in the safe that just got their annual prep. I pull the rifles apart and mix 50:50 Minwax tung oil and paint thinner, buff it into the finish with some light gauge steel wool. If there's dings and dents, I might go down to 0, but 00 is fine as well. Idea is to buff the wood finish inside and out for a good 5 or 10 minutes while saturating the stock with a liberal application, and then let the cut tung oil get pulled into the wood fibers. I'll leave it for 24-48 hours until it's fully dried, then buff in another coat of tung oil, uncut this time, and again, leave it a good 24-48 hours. Then finally I will go over the finish with 0000 steel wool to buff out any and all tackiness, and rub a teeny tiny dab of tung oil on using a microfiber cloth. I'll leave it a good few days at least and the finish will polymerize, hard and weather-resistant.

For the metalwork, I've switched to Hornady One-Shot inside bolts and triggers - the thin film it leaves after it flashes off does a great job protecting the small parts and reducing friction. Exposed metal gets wiped down with an oily rag, usually Hoppe's since that is what I use on the inside of the barrel after cleaning. If it's actually hosing rain out, I'll spray with a mist of Ballistol and wipe it down before heading afield.

Wouldn't matter if it was a $300 Stevens 325A or $3000 Sako Bavarian - they are made to work and prepping them for the job will keep them looking and shooting fine for decades.
 
From the used blued hunting rifles I have seen through my shop, it's a rare one that does not have pitting in the barrel...

Can't be said of the stainless barrels I have seen... It's one of the reasons I have been installing stainless rifle barrels for a long time now ...
 
Hunting in the rain for the day with wood/blued wouldn't worry about it just be sure to clean/lubricate it properly afterwards if extended duration synthetic/stainless gets the nod.
 
I Hunt in all weather conditions except heavy rain.I use a .308 Blr wood/blued model 81, never had rust issues but I always dry and oil before putting it back in the gunsafe.
 
pacobillie said:
Do you hunt with your nice wood stocked / blued rifles when it rains? If not, what do you do: refrain from hunting, or grab a stainless Tupperware stocked rifle?

The reason I am asking is that all my rifles are wood stocked / blued, and I am considering picking up a stainless/synthetic rifle, for exactly that reason, to be used a s a foul weather rifle.
Click to expand...

I just use it as intended, $8000 stock on a Sauer rifle that doesn't get used is just silly.

With that being said, I don't understand what people do to their rifles. I have ones I have hunted with for 20 years that are in better shape than I see rifles used for one season by someone else.
 
I have never had a blued steel and walnut rifle rust. Never.

That includes hunting in Hoonah, Alaska, raincoast habitat years ago when we went there each American Thanksgiving for Sitka blacktail deer. Not hard at all to wipe the stock and the metal clean and dry, and then with an oiled rag each night. Takes all of ten minutes including disassembly and reassembly.

The same boats we headed out fishing in after the hunt, almost all had a rusted Ruger 10/22 "stainless" that was used for killing big halibut before bringing them aboard.

Ted
 
Tupperware gives me gas. I tried to fit a model 70 into a bell and Carlson. I had to put the wood stock back on. I just couldn’t do it. It looked hideous. I just deal with the rain. Plenty of ballistol when needed and seal the barrel channel beforehand. I’d rather have extra work cleaning than carry an ugly gun.
 
Why not? said:
Yes Sir, and plain vanilla floor wax is inexpensive and really takes good care of stocks, especially used copiously in the barrel channel.

Ted
Click to expand...

Good point. I found a jar of old school floor wax in a free box after a yard sale and use it regularly on my shotgun which sees more wind, rain and salt water than any other firearm I own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom