Rainy day/ beater

[Harold Lee Pickens]

alright, what do you carry when the weather gets ugly and nasty--you know, those rainy, sleety days when you think twice about carrying one of your nice guns, and debate whether you should be out yourself.
Mine used to be a Fox A grade 16 that had zero bluing, no cc, and the wood was as gray as an old fence post. It also had an old ill-fitting whiteline recoil pad. I loved that old gun and finally had the barrels reblued, the wood refinished, a new leather covered recoil pad, but did not recase it as it has a nice silver patina. Now its a lovely gun and is no longer my rain/beater. That title now belongs to an old Zoli Gray Eagle 20 ga OU w/ double triggers. Someone bent the top lever-don't know how or why. It has an old slip on rubber recoil pad, and I did do a quick refinish of the wood this winter. It wouldn't bother me to hunt that gun thru hell and back.
What do you carry?

[Mills Morrison]

This weekend it was the 12 gauge PH for turkey hunting in the rain. Gun has seen hard use (before I owned it) but still functions perfectly.

[Wayne Johnson]

Can I talk about a pump gun here? I'm getting to be too old to go out in the rain and snow, but back in my younger days, I used a Sears-Roebuck 12 ga pump I paid $99.00 for. The barrel is a 3" chamber, 28" modified

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/CajunBass/Sears2.jpg

I painted it with some stuff called "Bowdull", and put a sling on it using a hose clamp around the magazine tube, and toted it for miles around the Pamunkey and Mattiponi rivers. Rain, snow, swamp, dust it didn't matter. It got cleaned once in a while, rather it needed it or not. It rode in the back of pickups, or strapped to the roll bar of my Jeep. It's still in my safe.

[DaneRAtkinson]

Benelli super 90 w/ synthetic stock (don't know if that is considered an acceptable answer) but I did just acquired a Marlin model 90 O/U that will probably become my new one!

[Mike Franzen]

Bad weather days I take my Mossberg 500. It has a28" bbl with screw chokes, a 24'' fully rifled bbl, a 26'' muzzle loader bbl and an 18'' sawed off home defense bbl. It's rugged and dependable and I never worry if its getting scratched or dinged. I nicknamed it Killer because of the wide variety of animals it has taken.

[Mark Ouellette]

A coat of fine wax on Parkers and I'm ready for nasty weather.

[Rich Anderson]

I don't let the weather decide what gun I'm takeing. The first time I ever took my H&H 20 out Grouse hunting it started raining shortly after we started hunting. As I drove 90 min to get there I wasn't going to stop because I had a nice gun and it was raining.
At the end of the day a little time with a hair dryer and an oily rag and your good.

[Dean Romig]

Rain, snow, swamp, dust it didn't matter. It got cleaned once in a while, rather it needed it or not. It rode in the back of pickups, or strapped to the roll bar of my Jeep. It's still in my safe.


We've seen some Parkers that were treated that way. To some they were just a tool to get the job done... and some people just didn't take care of their tools. You can do that to a pump or utility grade Browning O/U without being tarred and feathered by the "doublegun community" but not to a Parker :rolleyes:

[allen newell]

1954 circa Ithaca mod 37 12 ga. real easy to clean up afterwards

[Mike Shepherd]

Parker VH12, 30", 8lbs, no original finishes, whiteline pad, cyl and mod, sling. Pretty sure the pad and sling are factory originals. Also my field trial gun. But it gets heavier every month.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l274/AmarilloMike/Montana%202012/MollyDrinkingEightHunsVH122.jpg

[Jeff Christie]

I am a believer in the theory/practice that every chance we get to hunt, whether daily, weekly, monthly or haphazardly, is a gift to be relished. The game itself is to be honored and respected. Shoot what you shoot best to kill the animal humanely. If that is a CH then use it- it can take anything dished out at it and you. Same goes for a Mossy 500. It is the event, not that outcome that measures the hunt. Protect them with a coat of wax and you'll be fine.

[charlie cleveland]

my wet weather gun is usally the ph parker 10 ga but sometimes i take the american arms 12 ga double that i turned into a 3 1/2 inch gun it dont care what the weather is like...for the life of me i dont undserstand how but this old gun still has allher case colors..this thing is really a stevens...

[Gary Laudermilch]

I have never been accused of being too smart but I would like to think I'm a bit brighter than 30 years ago. Back then, I went grouse hunting even in a downpour. Never moved may birds in that kind of weather and those that did get rousted were often out of a tree with no dog work. So, I don't go in the rain but a bit of mist or soaked foilage does not stop me. For this type of work I choose my 20 Browning gran lightning. I shoot it as well as the Parker and it is easy to clean and tough as nails. Oh yea, I almost forgot, I wipe it down with a light coat of WD-40 before I go, stock and all.

[Rich Anderson]

Gunner's Gun, the rain never bothered him:)

[ed good]

uncle red's vh... he put a coat of polyurethane on it just before they took him away to the old folks home, where he passed shortly thereafter...

[Jeff Christie]

How many coats of polyurethane did Uncle Red put on that V? He must have got that idea from the duck and goose hunting chat rooms. Those guys are always painting their guns. Never saw a Parker painted, though. This is a first!! It should work.

[Gerald McPherson]

I once sat in a dove field two days in damp weather. It was cloudy with a light mist now and then. I was shooting a very nice Browning. About mid afternoon on the second day the stock finish began to fell sticky and by the end of the day it was so soft it began to roll up and come off. There is a difference in oil on the wood and oil in the wood. Gerald.

[Russ Jackson]

I have had a number of old Doubles over the years to carry on bad days ,but since I got into the Parker Guns ,I generally think twice about the weather conditions ! I have owned this Browning 20 Ga. BSS Sporter since 1980 and carried it regularly since then until I bought my first Parker ,then only Parker Guns but on bad days ,I go back to the Browning ,bring it in clean it good and put Her away for another rainy day ! Recently I bought a DH 20 Ga. " well used " ,I am having some finish put back on the stock and the Damascus barrels redone and plan on making that my New Rainy Day Gun !

[will evans]

You guys staying home on rainy days should reconsider. I have found Grouse tend to move really well in a light rain, especially when it starts early morning. Best day I had this year was in the rain.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Russ, is that gun over at my friend Jerry's shop?
Will, I too have done very well on rainy days, despite being told that grouse dont move well in the rain. That said if it is a really cold steady rain, I may spend the day driving around looking for new covers and hoping that the rain lets up for at least the evening hunt.

[Gary Laudermilch]

Yes, I have to admit that I have had some very productive days in light rain. But if it is really putting it down, I'll pass. For example, a few years ago my son and I were hunting in NH for several days. We moved in excess of 25 birds every day we hunted in decent weather with one hitting the 35 mark. The last day we had to hunt it was raining pretty hard but we did not want to pass on a day while on the road so we decided to hunt the covers that were the most productive during the previous days. Well, we got thoroughly soaked, cold, and generally miserable. We moved only 5 birds, all from the spruce/fir tops and 3 moose and 1 snowshoe hare.

[Jeff Christie]

You guys staying home on rainy days should reconsider. I have found Grouse tend to move really well in a light rain, especially when it starts early morning. Best day I had this year was in the rain.

I agree. Rain works- especially light rain. The dogs get scent better when it is damp. Many (most) of my best grouse and rooster hunts have been in drizzle or light rain. The gun will survive any weather out there w/o injury. Use what you shot best.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Gary,
what size shot did you use on the moose?--and did your dog retrieve it

[Russ Jackson]

Russ, is that gun over at my friend Jerry's shop?

Harold ,Yes it is ,Have you taken a look at her ? What do you think ?:eek:

[wayne goerres]

Must be a hell of a dog. Some extra kibbles and bits are in order.

[Gary Laudermilch]

I was running a 2yr old setter at the time that I was confident had been broken of running deer. Moose, I thought might be another story but he paid no attention to them at all. The rabbit was another matter but he was pretty bored after not finding birds for several hours in the pouring rain. Since that time we have encountered numerous snowshoes and he always watches them with interest but never runs them. Cottontails we encounter at home don't even get a glance.