water vs. firearm

[sterno]

I was wondering, what should I do if I get caught in a rainstorm while I'm carring concealed? How does water effect guns and ammo? I know that the finish might make a difference and I know that it really wouldn't render the gun inoperable but I was just wondering what you leo's/duck hunters out there did about a wet gun.

 

[Dwight55]

Sterno, . . . short side: don't worry about it. If you are properly "concealed" there is a good chance the concealment will also protect the firearm.

You will probably do worse damage to it by sweating on it, . . . than weather getting to it, . . . and sweat damage generally is confined to surface rust.

May God bless,
Dwight

 

[Beretta686]

If it gets rained on, just wipe it off with some gun oil & a rag (that's a good thing to do once a month anyways for any guns you may carry on a regular basis. Especially a concealed one that you are sweating all over, as Dwight pointed out).
The only time you need to be really worried is if you actually submerge it in water (especially salt-water), than you have to strip it down and clean it throughly. I have known folks who have drop guns in the salt-water while duck-hunting and continued the hunt, but as soon as they got home, they dumped the gun in the bathtub and cleaned everything on the gun. It's nothing especially bad, but just pain in the rear.

 

[gb_in_ga]

Sterno:

I guarantee you that just getting your gun wet won't damage it, as long as you keep a couple of things in mind:

First -- don't shoot it if the bore is wet. Water or any other obstruction in the bore can cause a KB.

Second -- when you can, you will need to clean and re-oil it.

I mean, really -- the military does this sort of thing all the time. Soldiers don't quit soldiering and wars don't get put on hold just because the weather is nasty. Even if you slip and fall in the river or something like that, you just shake the water out of the bore and go on about your business. Clean it later when you have the time.

 

[mete]

Do not leave it in a wet holster.Make sure the holster is com pletely dry before using it and do not dry the holster over heat above 100F. If thoroughly wet a gun that is easy to take apart is much easier to deal with such as a 1911.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I got a bunch of guns drenched in a bad rainstorm. I took them home and cleaned them well. I then submerged each one (without grips) in a gallon of Mobil 1 motor oil. I then let them drip dry for a day and put the grips back on. Good as new and no corrosion problems after several years.

 

[butch50]

If a gun gets wet it is no big deal. If there is little water in the barrel it is no big deal. If the barrel is full of water it is a big deal - don't shoot it until the water is out. A wet gun just needs to be dried off and lightly oiled again. Dry it any way you want to, but dry it, don't let it "drip dry". When I was in the infantry my M-16 was rarely ever dry. Very rarely ever dry. It was rained on and sweated, or stream crossing wet most of the time. When I used to hunt I preferred to hunt in a light rain. Basic cleaning and maintenance is all we are talking about here.

 

[sterno]

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Desertscout1]

A barrel being full of water is not necessarily dangerous to shoot. A barrel PARTIALLY full of water can be dangerous to shoot. Compressing the air between the bullet and water is not a good thing. I hjave fired my Glock 17 completely submerged quite a few times but I made certain that every trace of air was out of it first.

 

[sterno]

Why did you fire it completely submerged? Were you shooting at fish or just seeing if the glock could fire underwater?

 

[eka]

After hunting in a soaking rain, I go straight home, wipe the gun down and let it dry. I take it down and use WD40 on the hard to get to places. Keep the oil off the wood as much as possible. You just have to give attention to detail. The places you have to pay particular attention to is around screws and sights etc.

 

[Desertscout1]

I was just playing. I went with the intention of doing some accuracy and penetration tests but the water wasa too murky. I'm going to try again this year after the lake clears up.

 

[sterno]

That's pretty cool....I'd like to know how those turn out.

 

[impact]

Yah I watched a guy unload a 1911 under water. At point blank they can do some damage. At ten feet you are safe . Well thats about how far the bubbles were going.

I like to goose hunt. when my gun gets wet and after the hunt I hose it down with WD-40 to get the water off and then give a good shot of oil. Rem oil works good.