Flood damaged guns

[bowness]

I got flooded (username bowness....) and the gun safe was in the basement. Did not do what the boys in High River did and put guns on main floor. Anyway without going into that #@$%# I need some advice;

4 shotguns and 2 rifles were submerged in water for 3 days. The scopes are done and all the firearms got rusty but were immediately cleaned and oiled (including barrels).

Will this affect the accuracy and cycling of the firearms? I had a rifle that did not shoot straight and it took me a while to diagnose. I do not want to spend days trying to sight in a rifle that will not shoot straight.

I appreciate the help.

[Benelli1]

Only one way to find out.......take them out and try them.

I had a Browning Auto 5 that fell out of a canoe into a slough, was in the water and mud for over a hour before I got it out. By the time I got it home, it was already rusting. I washed all the muck out of the action and dryed it completely with a hair dryer and gave it a good clean and oiling, took it out the next day and it never missed a beat. Good luck with yours.

[shorty]

I took mine apart and have them soaking in varsol.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

If you stripped and cleaned them, I wouldn't be too worried about the metal. Any wood stocks? A swollen or warped stock can mess things up for you pretty quickly.

ARG

[a little redneck]

You can probably get them re-blued for less than buying new if the rust is bad or you want them to be pretty. I'd shoot them to check if they are still accurate before putting more money into them. If they are accurate you can fix the cosmetic stuff. Talk about frustrating, they need to make gun safes waterproof.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Lots of browned guns out there... keep em oiled and go see.
Chances are... they'll still shoot OK even though the esthetics have changed considerably.

Sorry for your misfortune.

[Lefty-Canuck]

I would be concerned about internal parts of the shorties and rifle actions....surface rust is one thing but rust in trigger and bolt mechanisms is another.

LC

[bowness]

One of the rifles is a browning bar .270. Great rifle so I am hoping to keep using it

[Outdoorsman-1995]

Best shot would be to clean them thoroughly and take them to the range and do a quick grouping on them.

[bowness]

Thanks guys, will see what kind of groups I can get. bass pro has gun vices on sale next week, get some good use out of it right away.

[macattack]

the shooting edge in Calgary was offering a free service for the cleaning of flood damaged firearms. Might want to scope that out.

Mac

[bowness]

Thanks, good to know

[Got Juice?]

Diesel fuel soak works quite well. Just remove all the plastic and wood bits first.

[sikwhiskey]

Soak them in a water displacing Oil, Give them a good scrub, spay with G96, wipe clean, good to go.

Wood stocks could be pooched though

Oh, somewhat cheap water displacing oil is WD-40. After hot blueing piles of parts, just after the last hot rinse, parts get swim in WD-40 while still hot.. Works wonders.

[cody c]

how did your cleaning go, I'm actually in Bowness as well but faired better (brought them upstairs before the water got in).

[10brassintheair]

Lee Valey sells EvapoRust...I have used this on old pocket knives corroded beyond belief, it would be best if you could remove the stocks and disassemble the actions as much as possible though it is only in the advantage that you would ensure good coverage..it doesn't hurt the wood but a little tlc can fix the wood. The stuff works awesome...must submerge the object in the solution which pulls the rust off into solution leaving the metal underneath rust free...if there is pitting you will still see the pits only they will be clean...but no scrubbing or scratching. It doesn't hurt brass or anything. Really...give it a shot...you wouldn't believe how many times ive scored a great old tool or pocket knife for a few bucks just cause it was all rusted. Anyway I Love the stuff. Good luck.