Gun Care

Padc

What's the best way to ensure your gun is dry after a wet day like today?

Tikka391

Padc wrote: »

What's the best way to ensure your gun is dry after a wet day like today?

I take mine apart and leave it under the radiator for a few hours and then clean and oil well.

mallards

I usually dry mine off thoroughly with kitchen roll straight after I've sorted the dogs. Making sure to get every bead of water from it. Then I leave it out away from the radiator for an hour or so. I leave it away from the radiator as I don't want the wood to dry out too quickly and deform. Then clean and oil as normal. Making sure you also dry out the gun sleeve also.

Padc

I've heard that the little packets of beads that you'd see in shoe boxes are supposed to be good for keeping dampness out of the cabinet. Does anybody use silicon spray on the barells?

Luckysasha

Padc wrote: »

I've heard that the little packets of beads that you'd see in shoe boxes are supposed to be good for keeping dampness out of the cabinet. Does anybody use silicon spray on the barells?

That's silica gel your referring to. It is hygroscopic which means it absorbs moisture from the air. To be honest I'm toying with the idea of putting a small heater in my gun safe. It is located in a shed outside the main house so it gets pretty cold in the winter.

deeksofdoom

Luckysasha wrote: »

That's silica gel your referring to. It is hygroscopic which means it absorbs moisture from the air. To be honest I'm toying with the idea of putting a small heater in my gun safe. It is located in a shed outside the main house so it gets pretty cold in the winter.

If your going to put a heater in you'll need a dehumidifier, going from hot to cold all the time is going to cause condensation and more rust.....

J.R.

Luckysasha wrote: »

That's silica gel your referring to. It is hygroscopic which means it absorbs moisture from the air. To be honest I'm toying with the idea of putting a small heater in my gun safe. It is located in a shed outside the main house so it gets pretty cold in the winter.

I would prefer to have the gun safe inside the main house.

If you are away & house is locked up would "would be robbers" have access to that shed where the gun safe is without entering the main house?........if so I would be inclined to move it it to house for security reasons.

J.R.

I dry off the whole gun with kitchen roll and lean it against a kitchen wall to dry for a while, not near the radiator or fireplace.

I place the guncase in front of the radiator to dry out completely.

When gun is thoroughly dry I clean it & put it in the safe.

I have a few bags of silicia in the safe to absorb moisture, just in case.

Padc

Luckysasha wrote:

That's silica gel your referring to. It is hygroscopic which means it absorbs moisture from the air. To be honest I'm toying with the idea of putting a small heater in my gun safe. It is located in a shed outside the main house so it gets pretty cold in the winter.

You might be better insulating the area around the cabinet instead of the heater.

Luckysasha

Padc wrote: »

You might be better insulating the area around the cabinet instead of the heater.

Not an option I'm afraid. The shed where I have the safe is only accessible through the house no access from the outside. It is an annex off the house that used to be open to the outside but I blocked up the fourth side and roofed it. Unfortunately nowhere for the safe inside the main house. Has anyone any experience of fitting some kind of heating to gun safes ?

Baker.22

Not in Gun safes, but in electrical cabinets. You can get a small electrical element with its own built in thermostat which is designed for giving a little heat to enclosed areas, very small takes up little space.

Luckysasha

Baker.22 wrote: »

Not in Gun safes, but in electrical cabinets. You can get a small electrical element with its own built in thermostat which is designed for giving a little heat to enclosed areas, very small takes up little space.

Lol I'm very familiar with those. That was the road I was going to go down just interesting to hear what others do.

Cass

I'm kinda surprised at the amount of lads that dry their guns out using heat, radiators, etc. Can i ask why, as most stocks, be it a rifle or shotgun, have a laminate or varnish on the stock. Even those with only a thin layer would provide some degree of water resistance and protection. The heat from a rad, fire or other source would dry the water too quickly and leave water marks or as said above over time cause warping of the timber.

If my guns every got wet i usually stripped the gun down. A shotgun is easy enough, but i know some lads don't like to remove the barreled action from the stock. Well two things can help here. Use either a torque wrench and you'll get the gun back together perfectly each time or If you don't have a torque wrench then another, somewhat less advanced technique, is to mark the action screws and the stock.

So turn the rifle muzzle upwards so that the action screws are facing you. Place a mark from the action screw (using a pencil, tape, tip-ex, etc. that can be wiped off) onto the stock. It doesn't have to be a huge mark, just a small, almost imperceptible mark, but not something that can wiped off too easily so you don't know where the mark is. As you unscrew the screw count the amount of rotations the screw makes until it finally comes out. You do this by counting the amount of times the mark on the action screw passes the mark on the stock. When you've finished cleaning put the action screw back into the stock. Turn it, slowly, anti clockwise until you feel the screw "click". This means it's at the point where it will start to tighten, immediately, when you turn it clockwise. Turn it clockwise, again clouting the amount of rotations. As you near the number of turns you counted when removing it and the screw begins to tighten you'll know whether you must go another turn to turn or whether this turn it he one that has the action screw back in it's original setting. Line up both marks, with the required number of turns. When you have this done for all action screws your rifle should be exactly back on where you left it.

For the metal i never tried to dry it instead i sprayed it very liberally with an oil to repel the water, wiped down the metal work, then gave it two or three goings over with a well oiled rag to make sure there was no water anywhere. For shotgun pay particular attention to the rib. It's a fecker for allowing small drops of water to rest in them so spray very well.

The scope, for rifles only obviously, would get an wipe down too, with special attention on the screws of the rings, rails, etc as these are areas that are prone to water pooling.

My stocks, rifle or shotgun, nearly always had some degree of protection on it. Whether that was a varnish or stain. If it was unvarnished i used to treat my stocks with boiled linseed oil. It would protect the stock for a short time by preventing the water seeping into the timber. Also i always carry a rag, lightly oiled, with my when out shooting for just such a reason. Plus i keep a small cleaning kit in my car. Nothing major, just some oil, cloth, and a spare rod for both the rifle and shotgun.

Also i never place a wet gun into my rifle/shotgun case if it got wet. I place it on a towel as most cases are not designed to aid in removing water/dampness from the gun without soaking the case itself.

Lastly, at home, i allow all parts to sit for an hour in my gun room at room temp. then go in a wipe down again with a lightly oiled rag. I pay particular attention to rings, rails, screws, etc. on either type of gun, and then store them away. I have a radiator in the room but away from the safes so it does not get too hot, and dehumidifiers. I also check the gun a day later to make sure i have not missed anything.

It seems like a lot or overkill, but in all fairness, it's your guns lads. They cost a lot to buy and "i think that'll do" is not nearly good enough. Be sure. If in doubt clean, oil again. Nothing worse than missing something or not doing enough and coming back to find water marks or worse again rust starting on your gun.

Hunter456

let it dry off in the house in a warm room and add wd40 for displacing water in tight areas, sometimes i use 3-1 oil on my shotgun and rifle if i'm storing away for a period of time as its great for preventing rust and lubricating.

Padc

Hunter456 wrote:

let it dry off in the house in a warm room and add wd40 for displacing water in tight areas, sometimes i use 3-1 oil on my shotgun and rifle if i'm storing away for a period of time as its great for preventing rust and lubricating.

Have ever used silicon spray on barells? I was told never to use wd40

Hunter456

Padc wrote: »

Have ever used silicon spray on barells? I was told never to use wd40

some say don't use it some disagree i do anyway WD40 displaces water, my shotgun is 100 percent working. not telling you to use it but that's just my method of getting water off it, my shotgun is out in every weather imagined. the rifle is different as i have a synthetic stock so its so bad abit of 3-1 oil on the metal parts to keep the water moving off the rifle.