Ruger Am Rifle Drowned

D

drmajor

New member
Hunting in swamp and managed to trip and drown Ruger American Rifle 30-06 with Zeiss scope.

Suggestions on how to care for it?

Deer season ends Jan 1.
 
Not sure about the scope, but take the rifle down as far as you can and certainly out of the stock, spray action liberally with WD40, which displaces water. Leave to soak for a few minutes, then spray down with non chlorinated brake cleaner, let dry, then oil as you normally would. I have dunked a few rifles and shotguns in my time, duck hunting almost guarantees you will have a wet shotgun at times.

I doubt your scope has been hurt, they are pretty well sealed, have to be to not get water vapor in them that would cause them to fog up.

the reason I do the three steps: WD 40 to get water out, the brake cleaner because there is almost always some gunk that could possibly trap water and I want it out also, and the oil to protect.

David
 
I would keep it as far away from WD40 as possible. I'm assuming it has a plastic stock. Flush it out with Ed's Red gun solvent then take a tea pot of hot water and pour it down the barrel until it's hot. Boiling water won't make it too hot but will get it hot enough to dry out. Then oil as usual...

Tony
 
I would start with hosing it down with a garden hose. It's already wet and muddy, right? Then wipe it off as much as practical; use an air hose if you have one. Then WD-40. I'm leery of brake cleaner; I would rather use starting fluid or perhaps de-natured alcohol. I really like acetone as a degreaser, but whatever you use, make sure it doesn't hurt your stock or other polymer parts. Finish off with whatever you would normally use when you clean your guns.
 
I had several rifles spend 3 days in saltwater muck following hurricane Katrina. We didn't have running water and I didn't have time to properly clean them, so I rinsed them in a freshwater lake and emptied a can of WD40 on them. I didn't get back to them for 3 months. A Ruger 10/22 magnum, Ruger PC-9 and a Stoeger 3000 all survived with minor damage. A Remington 1100, Ruger 10/22 (alloy receiver not steel like the magnum) and a Marlin 30-30 were pretty much toast when I got to them.

Your gun will be fine. I'd disassemble as far as you reasonably can, rinse it with clean hot water, soak it with WD (Water Displacing) 40, clean up the WD 40 then use a small amount of gun lube on the moving parts and metal finishes.
 
"Any special for the trigger group?"

Flush it liberally with BrakeKleen followed by a dose of whatever "all weather" lube you choose(something that doesn't get stiff when cold although if you're in "swamp" country, cold isn't really an issue).
Wash the stock with water and make sure no moisture is trapped under the buttpad.
 
Good call on removing the butt pad Mobuck. I could have planted a garden in the silt that was in the voids of my synthetic stocks.
 
You really just need to give it a bath and oil it. Spray the innards with WD too.
Like DavidAGO says, the scope is probably ok. For the money they want for a Zeiss it should be. Any moisture or leaks will show up quickly the next time you're out. Scope will fog up. Assuming SC has a Dew Point.
Brake cleaner isn't necessary. It's a degreasant not a rust preventative.
 
If steel scope rings I’d take them off and clean them .If aluminum I’d make sure I sprayed the screws really well with rust preventing oil.
 
I've buried 1100's & 870's in mud and saltwater before...Hosed them down with fresh, blown them out and hit them with WD/air blow prior to a final clean up/oil. As stated you really need to get every nook and cranny.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top