PARKERS IN THE RAIN

[Russell E. Cleary]

I am seeking advice/opinions on hunting with vintage guns in wet weather, assuming it involves a piece one would ordinarily take to the field, woods or marsh.

For the stock wood and metal parts, are there adequate preventatives that one can apply before, and curatives after, i.e., compressed air?

I understand that the guns were intended to be used in the open, but they are all collector items, in varying degrees, now.

The last time I hunted during a November Southeaster -- a real soaker-- I carried a synthetic-stocked Remington 1100, a great gun; but life is getting a little too short for me to hunt with other than an interesting gun.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Russell C.

[chris dawe]

Russell if I didn't hunt in rain I wouldn't get to go... Newfoundland is like that,I do have parkers that dont get go unless its nice ,but I have others that while still are nice they get a coat of good wax before I go and get wiped down before I drive back home and a good cleaning afterwards...to be honest everything I use gets a coat of wax before it go's out .

I look at this way, the patina and character were so fond of comes from use (not to be confused with abuse )
Basically if its weather worth hunting in the gun gets used .

[Rick Losey]

i used to think i should have a rainy day gun- but i still ended up shooting what i shoot best and like to shoot

so - if i hunt in the rain - which would likely mean waterfowl - because I decided a long time ago that soaking wet grouse and woodcock covers in cold wet boots and canvas coats is not near as much fun as it sounds --

i dry the gun completely don't store it in a case and go back to it several times over the next few days

[Jerry Harlow]

I have a 3" PVC tube with a cap glued on one end and an expandable cap on the other end, cut to 40". I buy a gallon of WD40 (water displacing oil) and fill it up. All available at Lowes. If the barrels get soaked on a double, I take them and with a wire attached place them in the WD40. After a while I pull them out and let them drip as much back into the tube as possible. Then I hang them and later wipe the rest off. That way I am pretty sure that the oil had displaced any water, even inside the ribs. If you know there are voids in the ribs, as Foxes are famous for, I blow them with an air compressor and repeat.

[Bill Anderson]

I have several old SxSs, most built before 1910, that I use for all my hunts, except the rainy days. Sure they were intended for use in any weather, but now they are my heavily invested guns, so I think differently. One of my guns, I paid the price of a nice, but used pick-up truck. You can protect the exterior of the wood and metal with some kind of protectant, but what about the internal parts. Water can enter a few places on any double receiver such as the firing pin holes, gap between the wood and upper tang and through the barrel lug "well" of the receiver, not to mention any gaps on a not so tight soldered top rib. And unless you are ready to remove the stock and forearm iron for proper removal of water, moisture could become a real problem left unattended. I have in my arsenal what I call my "rain guns" for those days that I must go hunting, but just can't find myself in using one of my prized collection, especially if the hunt would turn out to be "skunked" with no bag for the day. I would just use my single barrel H & R 12 gauge or my $400 Auto 5 standard 16 gauge with Poly-choke for those wet ones.
Just my opinion.

Bill

[Dean Romig]

I don't intentionally go out to hunt in the rain - snow doesn't bother me so much - but if I get caught out in the rain it's no big deal. My Parkers and my deer rifle are always wiped down, even in every crack and cranny, with Ballistol prior to going afield and they all get a good cleaning and drying and another application of Ballistol when we get back into camp. As has been said, they were meant to be used outdoors and they'll hold up just fine with the right amount of care.
I fell into a saltwater creek up to my neck with my Titanic barreled DH 12 in January in a blizzard. We were both submerged for what seemed like a minute but was probably less than five seconds. Anyway, I got back to my truck and drove home pretty darn fast. Neither of us suffered any lasting effects. My DH had had a liberal wiping with Ballistol before we went and a good cleaning and drying when we got home and nothing bad at all happened to it. Come what may, I have taken all but a few of my Parkers out when the weather threatened precipitation.





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[Bill Murphy]

The highest value Parker in my collection can go out in any kind of weather. In a previous life, it hunted Virginia quail rain or shine for seventy years. I don't think I will damage it by hunting in the rain.

[Bill Anderson]

Well, since I have the luxury of hunting every day in every season, I'll just sit out the rainy days and maybe clean a gun or two or shop for another.

Bill

[Eric Grims]

Ballistol and G96 seem to be real nice on the wood as well as the metal. I feel like I'm giving my guns a treat when I use them. Yet after almost 50 years I still by habit tend to go to the RIG for my shooters on the rainy snowy days.

[George Stanton]

I'm not a big fan of hunting in a hard rain anymore. If it is raining and I'm carrying a nice gun, I just give it a coat of Johnson ' Paste Wax. I work it into the areas between the wood and metal and it seems to protect the gun quite well. I of course the gun gets attention when I get home and checked again for the next few days.

[Frank Srebro]

...... If you know there are voids in the ribs, as Foxes are famous for, I blow them with an air compressor and repeat.

So I have to ask, Jerry, about your data base and furthermore if you've seen that claim in print as famous/well known faults usually are, and if so, where? I've been into Fox guns since I was a kid and have a good technical base on all things Fox. Plus I've been around many knowledgeable Fox men for many years, and have never heard anything like that - nor would I subscribe to it.

[Phil Yearout]

I'm one of those rainy day gun guys; on the rare occasion that I'm hunting in the rain I'll be carrying my old Stevens 5100. Funny, 'cause my "good" guns are probably some guys' rainy day guns :)!

[Dean Romig]

Funny, 'cause my "good" guns are probably some guys' rainy day guns :)!


Right Phil - Mine too! :rotf:







.

[Jerry Harlow]

So I have to ask, Jerry, about your data base and furthermore if you've seen that claim in print as famous/well known faults usually are, and if so, where? I've been into Fox guns since I was a kid and have a good technical base on all things Fox. Plus I've been around many knowledgeable Fox men for many years, and have never heard anything like that - nor would I subscribe to it.

Frank,

From rebluing Savage-era Foxes (SWs I rescue from the grave); put one in the boiling tank and rust blue it a half dozen times and then blow air through the weep hole. You just ruined a good bluing job with oil streaks coming from the rib. Not all, and probably not early Foxes or high grade ones, but it does happen. Just thin solder in spots. Take a late Fox (because they have the weephole), put it in water displacing oil until it stops bubbling through the hole, wipe it clean, and put a little air (not 120 lbs.) to the weephole. Watch where it comes out. Parker not so much but I have had them also. But with no weephole in most Parkers I can't say what percentage but very low.

Probably the best gunsmith I have used told me never to drill a weephole to blue barrels. But he changed his mind when on a top quality gun he was relaying the ribs and found there was so much rust and pitting where water had been seeping in for years or from a previous bluing job..

My post was an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'll keep my help to myself in the future.

[Dean Romig]

My grandson and I waited all morning for the rain to stop so we could go hunting. It finally stopped raining and we went on a short two-hour hunt. After an hour of hunting the wet covers the sky opened up and it took us an hour to get back to camp.
We were soaked through but we took care of our Parkers and fed and watered Grace before we tended to our own comfort.
The Parkers are dry and wiped down with Ballistol and snug in the gun rack.
Now to get these wet clothes off.

Had seven grouse flushes - I missed my only shot - and one woodcock that Grace bumped accidentally.





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[Richard Flanders]

Wax the metal with IBIZ, a wax consisting of pure carnuba and containing no abrasives. It works incredibly well. I wax all my damascus bbls and any gun I use for ducks. Google it for a source in Florida if I remember correctly.

[King Brown]

Guns were made to shoot in any weather, not to look at, preserve in comfy places. Like Chris, I live in a neighbouring province where weather is not a determinant of which gun, where, when or how I hunt. Chris is on an island surrounded by salt water and I on a geographic raft jutting out into the same wild and wooly North Atlantic. Surf, fog and rain are constant companions. The only reason for rust is negligence.

[Phil Yearout]

True King. That's why I'd choose my old Stevens if the weather's inclement. It's easy to break down for a thorough deep cleaning if required; my Foxes or my Parker not so much, plus I don't believe in disassembling them any more than necessary. It's not about "preserve in comfy places"; all my guns get equal respect or I wouldn't own them. The Stevens has been a good gun and I shoot it as well as I shoot any of 'em.