Rainy day guns?
 

I have never found rain does any damage to a Parker as long as you dry it out and clean it well before putting it away for the day. I figure they all have been wet many times in the last 100 years except maybe a true closet queen. I use a runner's towel to keep as much water off the gun when out in the marsh on a wet day.
I don't have a rainy day gun they are all rainy day guns what about you?
Here in upstate NY near lake Ontario it showers or snows almost every day during November and December. Wet guns are the norm then you add in a wet dog shaking off it can get really soggy.

I have 2 to call on when the weather is bad. #1 is a 16 gauge Fox Sterlingworth with cut barrels, but with IC chokes remaining. The gun has been totally restored, and I use that term loosely, so it looks almost new. It gets used on snowy days. Gun #2 is a 12 gauge lifter Parker. When I found this gun it looked as though it had been ridden hard and put away wet. There was surface rust on all exterior metal surfaces, and the wood was caked in grime and mold. There is also a bulge one inch back from the muzzle. The barrels cleaned up well with only minor pitting and little loss of its Damascus pattern. The wall thickness in both barrels is over .30" and the action is only slightly loose. A .002" shim has brought it back on face. The wood also cleaned up well. I use this gun on rainy days, and Mondays, and its never let me down.

All of my guns that have been out shooting in good weather have also been out in the rain, end of story.

The gun that I grouse hunt with is a 28” VH 12g on a 1 frame. It is in rough shape. But fits me and is light to carry a lot. I bought it specifically because it was rough, but sound. It has no finish on it, the barrels are dented and pitted. The stock was actually too high for me, so I just sanded to down to where I needed it and lightly oiled it and called it good.

I am not super concerned about rain, but I am concerned about dragging a good gun through some of the crap that we hunt in. The last thing I need is to fall and break a good gun or use it to push brush out of the way.
This VH gives me a gun that I can do whatever I want with and not worry about it. I dont even bother cleaning it, it cant get much worse than it is.

I do not mean this in a sarcastic manner by any means but it literally cracks me up that you of all people, you who can fix anything has concerns about causing damage to a gun. Then you have me, I have no ability to repair guns at all. At the same time I have no problem hunting with a high-end gun and I have no concerns about causing damage to them at all. I have done it for years and so far I've come away unscathed. I know, I should have never said that, knock on wood. On the other hand I'm absolutely paranoid about hunting in the rain with a good gun. Maybe I need to adjust my thinking :)

hence the phrase “the cobbler’s children have no shoes”

he'll not make a cent fixing his own gun

Yeah I thought of that but I still find humor in it.

I have found many of my double guns will have a very stiff/hard to move safety the next day after hunting in the rain.

I have used an AyA 453 28 gauge as my rain gun, but after I retired, and since we have places to hunt around where we live, I generally choose not to bird hunt on raining days. Hunting birds with the dogs every day of the season is a bit much, so taking some days off when the weather is bad works out. I also deer hunt, squirrel hunt and duck hunt to give the dogs (and my wife, who hunts with the dogs and me when we bird hunt) some days off. Last season I calculated that we hunted on about 45% of the available days from Sept.1 through February 15. The only rainy hunts were when we took trips out of state to hunt. It's much more enjoyable when you can hunt whenever you desire rather than just on the days you don't have to work. Thank goodness for retirement!:bowdown:

I pretty much carry whatever strikes me . But I will admit I check the weather forecast if I plan on carrying my little VHE 20 . I have a “few” rifles I prefer not to take out if it’s going to be a down pour , but that’s a pretty moot point anymore as I tend not to hunt if it’s going to be persistent rain . Snow on the other hand I wanna be out in that after the brown cloven hooved rats !

Ice storm XE-16
 

My first wild bird hunt with my special order CSMC Fox....It was are annual Kansas bird hunt. It stormed the whole way from Ohio, freezing rain. Interstate 70 was a mess with wrecks every 5 to 10 miles, we almost crashed on a bridge in Kansas city, two other drivers had lost control on the ice in front of us, Steve never touched the brakes and we squeaked through untouched. We had my all wheel drive Toyota Sienna van that year. That night we watched the news to find out 7 people had lost their lives on 70 that day. The storm stalled out and moved at a snails pace for three days. Sunday we woke to some light snow and we were out for the morning hunt. It was a mild morning for Kansas and the hunt was good. About 9:30 the next band of weather came...freezing rain. I hunted till about 11:30 and headed for the van for coffee and meet up with hunting bud. At the van Steve asked what happened to your gun...I looked and the barrels had a sheet of ice 1/4" thick! I hunted with the receiver under my coat and the barrels sticking out...WOW...I broke her in right. No harm was done to her. (-: SXS Ohio

My 16 ga Belgian hammer gun. It carries light and swings nicely. I wipe it down after and never worry. If there is a small spot of surface rust, a little Hoppes takes care if it. She’s not the prettiest gun in the field, but reliably brings the birds down. And, it’s one of those guns that just speaks to me.

Rain, snow or sleet I can manage, the rock dents from rolling down the hill while Mearns Quail hunting different story. Bachelder has a set of my L. C. Smith barrels to remove a big dent and rust blue because of my misstep. Ouch!!!!

As somebody once said "One man's rain gun is another man's Purdy." (It was me, actually.) Some of my "good" guns would probably be rain guns to some folks :). Me, if it's raining very much, I'll likely be next to the woodstove with a nice libation in hand. But I always say my Stevens 5100 is my rain gun and it's normally along on out of area trips just in case.

I have a couple of rain/bad brush guns, one is a Parker 28 ga V that I had to find forend iron and wood for (ejector) and then have fitted to the gun, the other is a Fox Sterlingworh 20 ga that I don't mind if it takes on some water or scratches!

Last year I was caught out in a downpour and the gun I was carrying had a lot of places the stock finish was worn through to the wood. I believe it took in a bit of water, enough to notice anyway. I always thought the gun was original to a point that I did not want add finish to the stock but I definitely rethought that when I went home that afternoon.

HE Fox 32" 3" mag unless it starts to pour, then I go to a Jap A-5 Browning auto 3" if I have to shoot steel shot, then to a standard 2 3/4' Browning A-5 for Bismuth or KTM.

My brother and I once turned over a rail skiff and immersed 2 (TWO!) Parker 28 gauges. When we got back to the truck I hosed both of them off with WD 40, let them drain then wiped off the excess and laid them on their cases in the back of the truck.

When I got home I pulled the stocks and forend irons off both of them and dunked both receivers and forend irons in a small bucket of denatured alcohol for about 20 mins. Pulled them out, blew them dry with compressed air, and misted the metal with a very light spritz of RemOil spray. Wiped them dry, worked all the mechanics, and put them back together.

The alcohol trick I learned over the years fooling with outboard motors - if one goes overboard, even if its running, provided there is just water and no sand or silt taken in, for a small enough motor (50HP or below), we would pull the power head and leave it in a bucket of denatured alcohol overnight, then pull, rinse, blow out with compressed air, and mist inside and out with 50:1 oil/gas mixture. If done correctly it works every time an you don't have to completely disassemble the power head.

After the fall I took with my RBL-16 out in the Channeled Scablands the year the gun was new, I guess it could be my foul weather gun. I landed in a bunch of heavy grass, but the RBL not so lucky. Couple of bad gouges in the stock and scratches in the bluing of the barrels. I suspect that if I'd have been carrying one of my vintage doubles it would have suffered a bad dent or two, but Tony's cryogenically treated modern barrels were only scratched.

For some reason in recent years I also am very stiff and find it harder to move after a day of hunting in the rain. I have early season guns,late season guns ,fair weather guns ,bad weather guns and guns for different species of birds. That was the reason I told my wife I needed them.

Best response yet! The reasons why we have so many guns!!! Amen.:bowdown:

PS Oh, yeah, I'm feeling that stiffness, too!:crying:

I am reduced to using my other 00-frame VHE 28 gauge fair weather grouse and woodcock gun for the rest of the season. The one I would have preferred to use this season very quickly became my "beautiful sunny morning hidden-underground-yellow-jacket-nest-swarming/stinging-bastards" gun and it is now off for expert repairs for a few months. :(:mad::crying::banghead:






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[QUOTE=Dean Romig;283076]I am reduced to using my other 00-frame VHE 28 gauge fair weather grouse and woodcock gun for the rest of the season. The one I would have preferred to use this season very quickly became my "beautiful sunny morning hidden-underground-yellow-jacket-nest-swarming/stinging-bastards" gun and it is now off for expert repairs for a few months. :(:mad::crying::banghead:

Unfortunately I fear there is more to this story?

Randy you missed the pics? Heart wrenching!

I reckon so Reggie. On top of that I still do not see them. Are they in this thread and I am blind ? Maybe I shouldn't see them, does not sound good.

In a frenzied attempt to remove myself from the proximity of the highly audible drone of the angry swarming yellow-jackets I took a nasty tumble and an instant before I would have fallen on my little VHE Skeet I quickly tossed it onto what appeared to be a cushioning section of fallen leaves and ferns...

The gentleman who will be repairing the break has assured me it will be an invisible repair and it will be stronger than before the mishap.

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Oh geez that sucks bad. My apologies for rekindling that topic. Best of luck with the repairs.

Dean
Will you stop posting the nasty pics.
My rainy day gun is a 12 ga trojan with a 26 in. Barrels choked .008 and.023 and another set of barrels 28 in. choked F and F.
Scott

Dean....I'm sure you took revenge and killed them all. That's what I do....(-:

I got a dozen or so stings on my forearms and Gracie (the culprit who stuck her foot down their hole to start the whole melee) got more I'm sure... a half hour after the event when the area had cooled down, even before I even knew my gun was broken, I let the mouth of their hole have both barrels from about 15 feet.... That'll teach 'em!





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There's a pretty good gunsmith that hangs out here and posts a bit that could probably fix that gun up.
; )

Thanks Todd! He's better than just "pretty good" We've all seen some fine examples of Brian's work.





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But the shoemaker's shoes always need work, . . .

Dean,sorry to hear about your new 28ga, a few years ago my hunting buddy also stepped into a yellow jacket nest ,guess he was lucky to get away with only a few stings. Brain is very good I am sure he will make the break disappear.

My foul weather gun is a 12 gauge Gaspar Arizaga sidelock ejector with heavy frame and side clips. Beautiful wood and engraving 2 barrel set. Price was just too good to pass on and it has given me great service for years. Probably made in the 1970's before the Diarm disaster. I use the 2'nd set of barrels made after the gun was built not made by the maker. These are unmarked after market just slightly tighter chocks. At last years Great Northern, Friday was a all day real soaker and 3/4 way through the course the left lock stopped working. Finished up with a friends WC Scott. Dried it off real good and wiped it down. When I got to the hotel I pulled the locks and let it dry overnight. When I go home I pulled the locks again and the trigger plate and let it dry out for several days. Worked perfectly and applied some sealer to the lock inlets to prevent this from happening again. Wood had swollen and prevented the left lock hammer from moving freely. Side locks are really great for wet weather guns.

That is a hell of a break Dean. Looks like it goes clear up into the comb. I agree that it looks like it would repair nicely. I hope it turns out well for such a nice little gun.

It’s a very clean split.





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So as Dean's experience has shown there is a risk taking Parker's afield. It is a downer when a gun gets damaged but sooner or later it will happen. A friend fell out of the golf cart at the recent Vintagers (hit a bump in the road) and his very high condition AAHE hit the gravel roadway and scratched it noticeably. I real bad situation that my friend took as well as could be expected.
So my rule is if you want to preserve a high condition Parker in its original condition don't expose it t the field or marsh. I have a few "caretaker guns" that reside safely in my man cave. What say you??

Nope. If I ain't gonna shoot it I don't own it.

Hence the reason thirty to forty civil war and earlier guns will be liquidated from my accumulation soon .

I have made no formal resolutions on what guns to use in wet weather, or to take into the mishap-prone “grouse woods”. Circumstances do change.

But as for now, I do not feel comfortable using very far from the shooting range two of the higher-condition Parker guns of the four I inherited. The two in “shooter”- grade and condition, being #2-framed and long-barreled, are so not ideal for the hunting I have been doing.

Thus, I bought two restored guns for where I regularly go afield. They have already been professionally dealt with; and if need-be, I can have it done again.

This keeps the hallowed legacy guns of higher grade or condition out of harm’s way. I just feel better about it, given the tiny sphere I occupy in the Parker universe, even though I can imagine my father saying, “go ahead; hunt with them” (he certainly did).

Here is a photo of one of the two I bought: a GH 12; with 28-inch barrels honed and re-blacked and the stock refinished; on a 1 ½-frame. Respectable and shootable.