doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "Rain gun"

My rain gun is a Darne. When the day is over, remove the breech block, clean and dry. Clean barrels and as there is no bottom rib dry between barrels and leave with the breech in a warm dry place overnight. Clean and dry the stock, leave in dry place, not as warm as the breech block and barrels. Next day check and oil.

I'm guessing most of us wouldn't use a nice gun to lift barbed wire, even on a sunny day.

Just use common sense. I wouldn't intentionally take my best double out in a heavy rain, but I wouldn't quit hunting if a surprise storm came up just because I was carrying a nice gun. I do own some Rainy-Day-Loan-It-To-Your-Brother-in-Law guns. Some of my best hunting days have been during days of steady rain. I've spent many days in the rain deer hunting with a flintlock. It's cool when I have instaneous ignition on a rainy day. But there have been times when I found black mud in the pan at the end of the day and wondered how many hours I had been carrying a dead rifle. I do what I can to keep myself and the guns' innards dry, and take care of business when I get home. Normal cleaning with the flintlock is to disassemble and clean barrels, lock, etc. with hot water, dry thoroughly and oil. Water never hurt these parts and water won't hurt shotgun parts. But neglect will.

I would not fire an unfired high grade collectible double just to do it. Nor would I lift barbed wire with the barrels of most any gun. I have endured cuts and scratches on my hands and face while busting through briars and multiflora rose in order to protect my gun's stock because I figure those little scratches on my hands will heal in short order while they would scar my gun forever.

But in the end, you could have your high grade gun out on the brightest blue-bird type day and slip or trip and bust your stock through the grip or ding your barrels. I think those things probably ruin more guns than hunting in the rain.

My wife just informed me that any shotgun I have that is too nice to take out in the rain to hunt with should be my "For Sale" gun. That argues for taking even the nicest gun into the rain... Or may argue for something else, but I won't go there.

I also wanted to add that crumpled-up studies of junk science supporting lead shot bans make an excellent absorbant of rain water.

Just a note to those of you who thought my comment about lifting barb wire in the rain was literary hyperbole, let me assure you not. The actual event was part and parcel of a longer story that involved my having nicely refinished the wood on that gun a year or two earlier. A few years after the described event he asked about a full metal resotration. I thought, "What the...?" I get prickly about nonsense like that. Sigh.

I'd add that the water needs to be VERY hot, and that the gun has to be dried VERY thoroughly. We used hot water for the final cleaning of our M-1's at the conclusion of Basic Training. They were going from us to South Vietnam for our ARVN allies. With 200 guys all cleaning at once, the water temperature eventually dropped to not much more than warm. Some of the guys who were on the tail end of the cleaning process had to do a whole lot more later on.

I've noticed guns over the years that bore the scars of barbed wire in various locations. Seems to be a geographic thing. In my neck of the woods, many hunters push down the top strand of barbed wire with the buttplate resulting in excessive wear on that part. I've heard that the forearm or area in front of the trigger guard is used to do the same in areas of the midwest. I've seen quite a few guns with scratched trigger plates or action bottoms and forearm wood that looks like the dog chewed it where the rest of the gun is in otherwise good shape. I admit to having used the buttplate or recoil pad to hold down electric fence wire while crossing. Fortunately, I've never had one slip while straddling same. I use my hand to hold barbed wire. I just don't grab onto the pointy parts!

L. Brown is correct about having the water VERY hot when cleaning guns and drying VERY thoroughly. After cleaning and drying, I set the barrel and lock next to the ductwork on top of my furnace overnight to drive off any trace of moisture before oiling.

Aren't "hair dryers" actually for drying guns???? I sure never point them things at myself!

Bob-ware, and maybe the nail hanger in the barn





Lots of 1100s & A5s at the Kansas gun shows with top strand divots in the forearms too