Cleaning a soaking wet gun...?

[crispy]

I'm not talking about a pistol that some idiot shot underwater in a pool.

But let's say I shoot a competition in the rain.

How completely do you break yours down to clean it? What do you do special?

 

[6birds]

Really saturated, hunting in the rain for a day?

Strip the wood off and let it air dry (you may want to add a nice coat of wood wax on the untreated surfaces before you take it out in a storm).

Dry the wet metal parts, assemble dry, add a dry lube before storage.

My Winchester shotguns have been doing it since 1955.

 

[crispy]

What about on a pistol? How deep into the internals do you disassemble?

 

[6birds]

All the way apart. You have to get them apart to get the water out. Then re-assemble with no lube or very light Dri-lube.

 

[Sigasaurus]

Field strip and I use a contact cleaner call mega blast. Whenever I purchase a new firearm I break the down and coat them in a naval grade penetrant for 24hour wipe parts cleanand reassemble. I have never had any problems with corrosion or clean up

 

[indykid]

Funny, I always disassemble and then hose a water wet firearm down with WD-40 which for some reason is a Water Dispersant which is what you want to do when you get a firearm wet, disperse the water from the weapon. I then wipe it down and use Breakfree CLP for final rust protection.

In over 35 years of firearm ownership and usage I have never had a rust issue.

 

[fastwally]

I field strip and soak it with WD40, blow it all out with compressed air and then clean as normal. That's what WD was made for, Water Dispersal formula #40.

 

[superstorm]

Clean it and then treat it with strikehold it's the best stuff on the market it cleans and water proofs your weapons and it last a long time.

 

[redpitbull44]

Field strip. Remove the grips if it has grips, stock if it has that. It really depends on what the gun is, but pretty much take it down to just before you've got springs and such flyin' out all over the place. Blast it with compressed air. Hose it down with WD 40, let that sit for a few, then spray it down with brake clean (automotive non-chlorinated). Then normal cleaning, lubrication, reassembly.

Compressed air will get rid of 80% or more of the water, especially if you have a good air dryer inline of your hose reel. WD40 could probably get the job done by itself, but is pretty much necessary to get rid of water in hard to get to places. Automotive brake clean will dry ANYTHING up. Oil, water, dog slobber, grease, you name it. Then a GOOD lubricant. I have been using Rem Oil because its easily available, but I am seriously considering doing some gun oil shopping. I have used several oils. I bet a lot of the MFGs out there will send you a small sample. I know a lot of guys that run engine oil and chassis grease on their guns. Makes good sense to me.

Another thing is, your gun should be prepared to get wet. What I mean is, on many guns, there are springs and things in the trigger assembly that would be ok to coat with a thin layer of grease. I am willing to bet that 75-90% of the internals of a gun could be coated with a thin layer of grease, run great that way, get completely submerged in water, and still run great afterwards. To me, it is smart to have a lubricant inside your gun that can resist being washed away due to water submersion.

 

[71silverbullet]

Another thing is, your gun should be prepared to get wet. What I mean is, on many guns, there are springs and things in the trigger assembly that would be ok to coat with a thin layer of grease. I am willing to bet that 75-90% of the internals of a gun could be coated with a thin layer of grease, run great that way, get completely submerged in water, and still run great afterwards. To me, it is smart have a lubricant inside your gun that can resist being washed away due to water submersion.

Grease is good in some cases and bad in others. On my edc I used grease on the slide but it attracts a lot of dirt, lint etc. so I strip it once a month to clean it even if I dont shoot it. I wouldn't use grease on a competition gun because of all the powder and fouling that would collect on the grease from firing so many times could cause malfunction. A light coat of grease would probably be ideal on a hunting shotgun or rifle. it probably wouldn't be fired too many times and it would offer good protection from moisture. If carried in dusty areas be sure to clean well to remove the grit that the grease attracts.

 

[adventures47129]

Funny, I always disassemble and then hose a water wet firearm down with WD-40 which for some reason is a Water Dispersant which is what you want to do when you get a firearm wet, disperse the water from the weapon. I then wipe it down and use Breakfree CLP for final rust protection.

In over 35 years of firearm ownership and usage I have never had a rust issue.

I have to agree... I am a firm believer in WD-40 on a wet weapon. LOL... now this is a good question considering the weather.