Rifles in the rain *important*

[elkaholic]

The older I get, the more selective I've become about the weather I'll hunt in.

Now I have an additional excuse for fair weather hunting.

I think I will just be a little smarter and hunt more

 

[catamountsierra]

I think I will just be a little smarter and hunt more

This is what I am hoping for. I have enough limits on my time going hunting that if I wasn't equipped to hunt in bad weather it might mean not hunting, and that is not a choice I want to make. It has been bad enough mostly missing my hunting seasons this past fall because of the car accident I was in.

 

[cowboy]

The older I get, the more selective I've become about the weather I'll hunt in.

Now I have an additional excuse for fair weather hunting.

Phorwath: We must be about the same age - or maybe same amount of experience. I'm currently up at Island Park in Idaho and with the weather we've had the last 3 days all this talk makes me want to leave the rifle under roof. Good thing is that a long shot up here now would be about 200 yds with the visibility we have had.

I think I'll sit by the fire today and order me some more waterproof rifle sleeves and make sure my barrels are plum free of carbon. All this reasoning and discussion is making me think I've not paid enough attention to carbon fouling - I generally don't go after carbon until the rifle tells me something ain't right.

Elkaholic: This is one of the best thought provoking threads started in a very long time - thank you.

 

[elkaholic]

�� Phorwath: We must be about the same age - or maybe same amount of experience. I'm currently up at Island Park in Idaho and with the weather we've had the last 3 days all this talk makes me want to leave the rifle under roof. Good thing is that a long shot up here now would be about 200 yds with the visibility we have had.

I think I'll sit by the fire today and order me some more waterproof rifle sleeves and make sure my barrels are plum free of carbon. All this reasoning and discussion is making me think I've not paid enough attention to carbon fouling - I generally don't go after carbon until the rifle tells me something ain't right.

Elkaholic: This is one of the best thought provoking threads started in a very long time - thank you.

Well, when you miss a 300+ bull at 513 yards with a solid rest and a rifle that shoots 1/2moa out to 1300 yards, you had better say SOMETHING! It isn't that I didn't know water was BAD, but now I know HOW bad! I hope this helps all of us in the future. I don't think we fully understand all the dynamics involved, but I can sure do some preventative things. I think for starters I will start out with only a few fouling shots before season and will definitely do all I can to keep moisture out of the rifle.....Rich

 

[Pdvdh]

�� Phorwath: We must be about the same age - or maybe same amount of experience.

Hah. I hunt for the enjoyment. When I don't enjoy it, I don't hunt as much.

A number of good things come out of this Thread...

There are more than just these two:
1) I have further reason to avoid foul weather.
2) If I miss in the rain, I have another proven excuse.

 

[horseshoer49]

I have used a piece of electrical tape over the muzzle of my rifle for decades and just shoot as if it was not there. POI has not changed on the dozens of rifles I have done this with and the velocity has not changed either according to 2 different chronographs. Just an FYI based on my experience.

 

[mtntrapper1]

Great Thread and contributions, Having lived in N Idaho and NW Montana, Ive taped the end also for years. Ive never had this problem, But its good to be aware of it. I have wrapped an old Backpack rain cover over my Gun in super wet weather, and it worked well.

 

[parshal]

I recently bought one of the Lyman bore scopes. I'm going to spend more time using it looking for carbon rings from now on.

Great thread!

 

[jdmecomber]

Swamp lord posted about latex gloves

I also use these for my gun, I have a larger ugly brake jp recoil eliminator so the latex glove with a stolen wife's hair tie. Works great. In Prince of Wales this year, our guns were soaked daily with rain, barrel pointed down in the pack. I shot some rocks at the very end of the trip at 700+ yards and had no issues what so ever. I did bore snake the gun every night.

 

[RH300UM]

Rich
My experience with rifles in wet conditions is limited.
4 trips to southeast Alaska. Rain,wet and cold. 1
Trip northern Alaska for sheep. 10 days of rain and sleet along with a partial capsizing of the raft that totally submerged my rifle.
Countless hunting in the lower 48 with rain and snow.
ALL of these hunts I had the barrel taped over.
On the raft incident I totally dismantled the rifle and cleaned it inside and out.
I have always used a overly cautious approach to
Keeping my rifles dry as possible.
The past 5-6 years I have used a Gunslicker to help me in keeping the weather out and it has worked great. Many short and longrange shots have been takin in bad weather with no adverse affects.
When you return from Florida call me and we can talk about it.

 

[dougw]

one thing I learned from living in a Utah is that moisture in the air causes less friction of the air molecules and you rounds will always hit high. until the moisture in the air is gone.

 

[jackhawaiian]

So rifles being saturated in rain? I lived in Minnesota when I was a child growing up experienced many soggy down pour days. We used to use electrical tape or small balloons over the end of the barrel. There was not much info back in those days so it was knowledge that was hunting secrets. Single shot brake opens are easier to seal the chamber than bolt action. We made a habit of carrying the gun covering that are with your glove. More water will run in the bolt area than the end of the barrel. If you are spot and stalk and 400 plus is common you have time. If you are jump shooting and leave the balloon on. I will not recommend it but that is what we did. Of all the people I hunted with growing up we all knew about rain getting in the barrel and messing up your shot. Some carried dry cleaning patches with them on those days. We even knew about which wood gun stocks would swell (interior) and tried to soak them in gun oil. I think the climate dictates the wisdom not genetics.

 

[hunterbob]

I am submitting this in hopes that I might spare someone the frustration that I had this fall during the late rifle season for A Tag in north Idaho.
I have a 6.5 SS that was literally shooting .0's on a good day with the 143 ELDX. I had practiced out to 1300 yards where I was able to shoot 1/2 moa in good conditions. Needless to say, I was extremely confident and ready to bust a bull in a great spot that my cousin and I had discovered this fall.
During our 5 day hunt, we saw animals every single day even though the conditions were terrible. We had the wettest Oct. on record and it rained at least a part of every day that we were there. Everything, including the rifles, was saturated the entire time.
Now to the meat of the situation, or as it ended up, "the lack of meat"!
The 4th day of the hunt, we spotted a NICE 300+ bull across the canyon. He disappeared temporarily which gave me time to get set up with my bipod and rear rest. It was dead solid! The bull soon reappeared at 513 yards standing broadside in a small opening. I placed the crosshairs on the back edge of the shoulder at mid height and squeezed the trigger. The bull moved downhill 10 yards. and stopped again broadside. He did not appear to be hit, but this is not that unusual over the 30 some bulls that I have killed at distance. Before I could get off another shot, he stepped forward out of site and did not reappear. I was still sure that I would go over there and find him, even though he acted totally unaffected by the shot.
We carefully marked the spot, and worked our way around the canyon to the spot where the bull stood. I was able to find the tracks in the soft ground, and there was NO evidence of being hit! It appeared that he simply walked off into the timber. I was completely puzzled, and VERY frustrated over what had happened!
The next day when we were packing up to leave, my cousin wanted me to mount a scope on a rifle and sight it for another hunt he was doing. I had brought the tools that I needed so we proceeded to do so. After we got his rifle sighted, I decided to take a shot with my SS to see if the p o i had changed. I was surprised to see it hit high right, so I took another shot, and then yet another. My group at 100 yards measured over 3". UNREAL! When I got home, I gave all the rifles a thorough cleaning, and especially the 6.5 SS. I did find a small carbon ring and a lot of surface corrosion from the water and burned powder mixture. After soaking over night in Kroil, I finished cleaning until I could find no fouling anywhere. I treated the bore again with HBN and off to the range. I fired 3 shots with HBN coated bullets to settle things back in, and then fired a 3 shot group The poi was back exactly where it should be and the group measured in the .2's! I had decided that the water in the barrel; possibly in conjunction with the fouling, had caused the problem. Now to the confirmation:
My buddy called me this morning and told me about an article he had just read in the Nov. 2015 edition of outdoor life. It was written by a ballistics tech for Sierra who had a similar experience on an antelope hunt in Mt. (I believe)? I have not personally read the article yet, but he described sneaking on an antelope and missing completely at, I believe, 100 and some yards? The conditions were very wet at the time. He concluded that something was out of whack so he shot his rifle for group and was over 6 inches at 100 yards!! When cleaned and dried, the rifle went back to near moa. He could not believe the results but long story short, he went home and soaked the barrel in water and the group opened back up!
I have NO DOUBT that my barrel was full of moisture when I missed the elk because you could not keep it dry. Also what is interesting to me is that the 3 shot group was all over, so it must have some affect for more than just one shot! Maybe the interaction with burned powder or the carbon ring affect? The rifle was shooting bugholes before the hunt, and again after the cleaning.
I would be interested to hear from some of you who may have had a similar experience or some info on this..........thanks!.........Rich

I had a good mentor when I hunted the mountains, he was an Infantryman in WW II, he had every rifleman medal the army had for an M-1, and he showed me all the tricks I needed with weather, rain and snow, fording high water and all. Our rifles were set up with open sights, and scopes .. We took them off in adverse weather; stuck them in our jackets. (didn't have back packs) He just told me to keep your shots no further than 300 yds... If you're a hunter you have to adapt to weather. We would plan a hunt and it rained the whole time there , but we went and hunted anyways...we never got any water down our barrels .

 

[Quietwalker68]

I usually do it similar. I use a piece of a baggy taped over the barrel. Have tried shooting this way and it has negligible effect on point of contact. Wrap the action in a similar manner if really wet.