How to Take Care of  Firearms

The sensible care of firearms begins with a consideration of the safety involved in their use. There are many safety rules and codes which, if fol­lowed, will prevent gun accidents; probably every conscientious shooter has developed his own precautions and methods which have become habitual in practice.

However, if but a single gun-safety rule were strictly and continuously followed by everyone, gun accidents would be eliminated. That rule is: Never allow a gun to be pointed at a human being.

Such a rule is simplicity itself but takes some understanding and attention to detail in field application. It means never to point a loaded or unloaded gun at a person. It means never allow a gun to be placed or to fall ac­cidentally so that its muzzle is pointed at any person. This means not to lay guns in car seats. It means not to stand guns muzzle up against tree boles, bushes, and similar skimpy supports where they may topple over. And it means not to point gun muzzles at oneself even while cleaning them.

If such a simple rule were put religiously into practice, with all its im­plications and possibilities understood, all such tragic gun accidents as, "he didn't know it was loaded," "he shot himself while cleaning his gun," and "kids were allowed to play with a loaded gun," would be eliminated. Except for ricochets, guns won't kill people if they don't point at them.

The single exception to this basic rule is, of course, looking through the bores of guns whose actions have just been opened, to make sure there are no barrel obstructions—a basic safety rule in itself.

The time to instill safety in gun handling is not when a youngster gets his first .22, shotgun, or big-game rifle. It is not in the hunting field with adults. The time to begin the conditioning for a lifetime of safe gun handling is when the toddler gets his first toy gun for Christmas or his birthday and points it at anybody. The child who is stopped in his tracks then, told why and instructed firmly and continuously thereafter that he must never do such a thing, is not the person who later becomes involved in a gun accident.

The actual care of all firearms may be roughly divided into three cate­gories—home storage, transportation, and field use. Different conditions exist in each situation which must be understood to prevent gun deteriora­tion and injury.

Broadly speaking, the enemies of guns are rust, corrosion, and mechani­cal damage. Dampness induces rust. The incidence of salt in the air speeds the rusting process. Corrosion is caused by chemical action. And gun dam­age comes from inadequate protection. Rusting, corrosion, and damage must be prevented.

HOME STORAGE

In home storage, perhaps ninety per cent of all rifles and shotguns are stored in upright position in cabinet, cupboard, closet, or room corner. When stored in this position, gravity is always at work, and any oil on a gun tends to work downward.

For this reason, thin gun oils are not ideal to use on stored guns. They drain downward into the action, eventually gumming it up, and also leave the muzzle of the gun unprotected from the oxidizing effect of the air and the changing humidity within the room. From the action, thin oils work down into the stock, often changing the coloration of a prized finish.

Because of this, the best rust preventatives for stored guns are high-quality gun greases which will spread thin and filmlike and will retain their viscosity. "Rig" is one of the best.

In preparing guns for storage, it should be basic procedure that the longer the gun is to be stored, the thicker the coating of this gun grease. As an example, for a gun shot today and expected to be used again during the same game season, the thinnest film possible is all that is required (espe­cially in dry climates away from the ocean) for both bore and outside metal. The same gun, if it is to be stored until the next season, should receive a liberal coating of the same gun grease.

Here is the basic procedure for home storage of a gun after use: First, before entering the home with it, remove all shells or cartridges and leave the action open. Next, make sure the gun is dry, or immediately dry it out. Thoroughly wet guns should first be wiped all over with some kind of dry cloth to remove most of the moisture. Then the gun should be placed near some kind of mild heat—never intense heat such as an open flame.

With the gun completely dry, one or more patches should be run through the inside of the bore to remove the powder particles. This applies to ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. In the exceptional instance where cor­rosive ammunition has been fired, or thought to have been fired (such as ancient military rifle ammunition), then the bore must be cleaned of the mercury remaining from the corrosive primer. This is best done by in­verting the muzzle into a bucket or pan of hot soapy water and running a cleaning rod with a brass brush up and down from the receiver end. This action suctions the hot water up the entire length of the bore and, combined with the scrubbing of the brush, effectively removes the corrosive material. The bore then is thoroughly dried by running dry cloth patches through it.

In the occasional instances where the bore is heavily fouled or mildly rusted, it is best to begin the cleaning by running a patch saturated with a good rust solvent through the bore, then allowing a few minutes time for the solvent to work before proceeding with the cleaning and oiling. Rust pits can never be removed from a rifle barrel, but the rust itself can.

Quantities of suitable patches may be homemade, if desired, from flannel yardage bought at the corner dry-goods store. Patches for .30-caliber rifles, as one example, may be made by cutting the cloth into squares measuring exactly 2½ inches each dimension. For larger or smaller calibers, the size may be varied accordingly.

Such material will also provide the larger patches needed for shotgun cleaning, as well as the necessary wiping cloths.

With the bore cleaned of all fouling and dry, a patch should be lightly oiled with suitable gun grease and pushed through the bore several times, so that all the inside surface and especially the rifling is completely filmed over.

If at all possible with rifles, cleaning and oiling should be done from the receiver end of the barrel. The friction of cleaning rods banging away on the crown, while cleaning it from the muzzle end, has taken the gilt-edge accuracy out of many a fine rifle long before it could be shot out.

Always clean a bolt-action rifle from the receiver end, otherwise the continued friction of the rod may damage the muzzle. Lever, pump and semiautomatic rifles must be cleaned from the muzzle end.

Cleaning rods for rifles should be of polished metal so their surfaces won't pick up grit and dirt particles. Hardwood rods are fine for shotguns and pistols, if the wood is similarly smooth.

A patch of cloth coated with the same type of grease is then used to wipe all outside metal surfaces of the gun. The inside of opened actions, clip magazines, bolts, and metal sights are likewise wiped to coat them with a thin film of grease. Care should be used to see that the optics of scope sights are never touched with these oiled cloths, though the scope tube is sim­ilarly wiped. The soft lens tissue used for camera lenses is best to wipe the scope lenses. Ordinary facial tissue will do. Each lens is blown free of dust with a puff of the breath; the glass is next breathed upon at close range and the surface carefully wiped clean. Too heavy a wiping motion will scratch or remove the fluorescent coating with which all good scope lenses are coated today.

To protect the wood of the gunstock during storage, all that is necessary is to wipe it all over, after drying completely, with the same lightly coated patch which has finished the bore. In addition, every six months or so it is a good notion to put about four drops of boiled linseed oil in the palm of the hand, spread it out, and then rub the entire stock's surface with hard strokes. Linseed oil penetrates the wood during storage, and tends to bring out the original finish of the wood.

In going over the stock with linseed oil, care should be used that no metal is touched, as linseed oil on metal tends to gum.

With the gun completely cleaned and filmed all over with the oil, the action should be re-assembled (in the case of bolt actions) and closed. The firing pin should be released. No gun should be stored with the action cocked—as a safety precaution, and to prevent strain on the cocking spring.

The gun is then stored by placing it in position without letting any un-greased fingers touch the gun's metal. Handle it with greased fingers and by the stock.

A gun cared for in this way will remain rust and corrosion free (assuming a good quality of gun grease was used) until needed again. In cases where the gun is taken down to display or show to friends, it is not too much to ask that they handle it only by the stock. The salt in the perspiration of some people is pronounced, and coming from their hands onto the gun's metal, it will cause rusting. Many gun owners have an oiled or silicone-treated cloth of ample proportions always handy in the gun cabinet for just this purpose. Once the gun has been handled, they immediately wipe it be­fore replacing it in storage.

Recently there has been considerable experimentation with silicones as rust-preventatives for guns. Several name brands of silicone products are now on the market, and guns cleaned and stored according to the directions on the package will similarly be safe in storage. There also has been a lot of development in rifle-scope covers. These are useful, too, during gun storage for keeping the lenses free of accumulating dust.

The final precaution is, of course, to make sure that any stored guns are beyond the accessibility of small children, and curious adults as well. It's a good notion, too, to leave one notch in the gun cabinet for a handy club— to use over the head of anyone who simply cannot resist opening the gun cabinet, running his sweaty hands over your scope lenses, and turning the "cute little knobs" on your sight adjustments.

TRANSPORTATION

Perhaps more guns are injured during transportation than during any other phase of their ownership. You won't believe this, but the worst gun injury this author ever had occurred within sixty miles of his home after a fine rifle had been shipped three thousand miles. At a nearby railway station, some attendant with the manual dexterity of a Brahma bull al­lowed the boxed gun to fall off an express wagon onto the tracks. A loco­motive ran over it! The stock was gnawed in two and the rifle barrel was bent till it would have shot around a square corner. Of course, the company was very nice about it and wrote that "if any damage has occurred to the rifle—" to fill out the following forms. . .

Briefly, guns shipped to and from gunsmiths, and back to the company for possible repairs and alterations, are generally safe if shipped in the nested double-carton boxes which the factory used in the original shipment. They should always be shipped by express and insured for full value. If such cartons aren't available, it is less expensive in the long run to make light wooden boxes of plywood with inch-thick ends. Before shipping, the gun should be cleaned, lightly oiled, and packed all around inside with some springy material such as excelsior, foam rubber, or even wadded newspaper.

For car transportation of guns, cases of solid plastic, wood, or heavy leather are best. There is a tendency in loading cars or station wagons to heave in articles hastily—and something always seems to ride on top of someone's gun. A heavy case not only protects the gun from dust during a long trip, but prevents mechanical damage.

Often when combined modes of transportation are used, a dual-purpose case fills the bill. As an example, I once had a rifle scabbard made after not being able to find one manufactured which would serve the purpose. This scabbard was made of heavy steer leather. It covers the entire rifle and scope, buckles over the butt, and has straps for hanging it on a stock saddle. This case-scabbard has traveled thousands of miles on planes, boats, saddle horses, buses, trains, and over seven hundred miles by dog sled. No rifle inside it has ever been damaged during transit.

Because of the rugged nature of rifle transportation during big-game hunting, the light leather, cloth, plastic, and sheepskin gun cases are inade­quate. The collective damages to guns inside them will run to many times

Made  of  heavy steer  leather,  the  author's  scabbard  completely encloses the rifle and has straps for attaching it to a stock saddle.

the purchase price of the cases themselves. The once popular sheepskin gun cases—those having the soft-hide outside and the fleece inside—are par­ticularly ruinous to guns, if subjected to any kind of wet weather. The fleece inside soaks up the moisture coming through the soft hide like a sponge, and holds it against the gun itself.

Many big-game hunters today are taking to plane travel to reach distant hunting grounds. The gun case for plane travel should be as light as pos­sible, but entirely rugged. Some airlines will permit the owner to carry the rifle in the seat with him to protect it from falls. Other major airlines won't allow this, and rifles are carried with the other luggage where they are often subjected to rough treatment.

Scopes are especially subject to damage in transit. A good strong case will protect the scope from injury.

A light vinyl or neoprene gun case placed over the gun and then placed inside a regular gun case is a useful addition and becomes handy at camp for protection against rain or snow, or condensation at night.

In all transportation of rifles, shotguns, and handguns, the basic thing to remember is that some form of protection must be given them to insure against injury from drops, moisture, crushing, and all forms of intense pressure.

FIELD CARE

The care of firearms at camp and while hunting is a continuation of this, and the same factors must be considered. Perhaps the biggest hazards are rain, snow, fog, and moisture from condensation accruing from rapid and extreme changes in temperature.

Much of the best big-game hunting involves stormy weather and wet climate when the hunter must expose his weapon. While horseback hunting, the best possible protection for a rifle is the heavy-leather scabbard men­tioned before. If treated beforehand with several applications of Neatsfoot oil, the scabbard will shed water for the duration of each day's hunt. In extremely wet weather, such as some places in Alaska and the Canadian bush, inserting a plastic liner around the rifle and inside the scabbard is better. The one fault of this arrangement is that the rifle is slower to get into operation. However, this drawback is offset by the fact that game spooks less easily and generally moves slower in extremely wet weather.

For hunting on foot in rain or snow, the rifle's best protection is the light, overall coating of a good gun grease, applied as for gun storage by wiping it with a greased cloth. This will generally keep all moisture off the metal, even in rain, for as long as the hunter wishes to stay out in such weather. When rain or snow is immediately in the offing, a patch liberally greased and quickly run over the rifle just before leaving camp will help.

The bore, however, should not be coated. Instead, either the evening before, or before beginning the day's hunt, the bore should be wiped clean of practically all oil or grease, as a surplus of grease or oil in the bore will cause pressures to jump dangerously when the rifle is shot. An ideal way is to run a single dry patch through the bore, lightly, before any day's hunt and after the bore has been lightly filmed with grease for storage. This re­moves all excess, but allows enough to remain to prevent rusting.

Upon reaching camp after any wet day's hunt, the gun should be wiped free of moisture, dried thoroughly, then lightly filmed all over with grease. Care must be taken to get this light coating into all crevices, such as the junction of stock and metal, and around small working parts. Rain will go into places where fingers won't.

Rifle scopes represent a special problem in wet-weather hunting. Scope covers help prevent the lenses from fogging or getting wet, but are a handi­cap in fast shooting. Also, scope covers are no good in a scabbard. A substitute is to carry the scoped rifle muzzle downward with the scope's ocular lens carried high in the armpit. This prevents rain from striking it, and the objective lens below is protected by the scope tube and gravity.

In violent storms, or for general wet-weather hunting, the muzzle can be kept free of rain or snow simply by placing a tiny piece of cellulose tape over it. An inch-long piece of Scotch tape will cover the bore, with  enough extending so that is can be quickly jerked off for a shot. Even if the tape remains over the muzzle during a quick shot, there is no danger of in­creased pressure, as tests have shown. Hunters have often tied a piece of waxed paper from sandwiches over the gun's muzzle during a storm when there is small likelihood of a shot to prevent moisture from getting into the barrel.

IN CAMP

Camp storage of firearms is always a problem. In many hunting camps there never seems to be a handy and adequate place to put the guns As a consequence, guns are ordinarily stacked in a tent comer, tossed upon a bed, or laid over some article of duffel. Extremes of temperature cause trouble. When metal is brought suddenly into a warm temperature from a cold temperature, condensation forms on the metal, and the rusting process begins. The salt in perspiration also causes rapid rusting.

There are several ways to prevent firearms from rusting in camp. First, in large hunting camps where there is at least one unheated tent (such as a storage tepee), a good way of preventing condensation on guns is to place all firearms inside the unheated tent each night, and take them out each morning for the day's hunt. Such a tent tends to maintain the temperature of the outside regardless of the heat or cold, and firearms placed inside will not be subjected to any abrupt change.

Where trees are adjacent to a tent, a fine storage rack for guns can be quickly made. A simple crossbar is nailed between two trees at a height of approximately 30 inches and a row of 8D nails hammered partly in along its length. Each gun is stood between two of the nails so it won't fall over; a canvas manta or tarp is thrown over the muzzles to protect them. The firearms gradually change temperature with the outside air and condensa­tion does not form.

In hunting camps with a wall tent which is heated during the night, firearms can be safely stored in the tent overnight without danger of conden­sation. The rifle is brought immediately inside the tent when the hunter gets in and is ready to start a fire in the stove. The gun warms up gradually with the tent and is similarly cooled off before leaving the tent the next morning. In extremely cold weather, where the tent will still be quite warm when the hunters leave each morning, the rifles should be removed before the morning fire is kindled.

In instances where it is next to impossible not to bring cold firearms into hot rooms or tents, it may be done without condensation forming if the firearm is first wrapped inside a heavy coat, parka, or even a manta. The covering causes the temperature change on the rifle to be gradual instead of abrupt.

When firearms stay overnight inside the tent where hunters sleep, hang them well off the ground by the slings from heavy nails half-driven into the rear tent pole. Any contact with the earth will draw moisture.

Letting a firearm lie on top of a bed or sleeping bag is a mistake, as the metal will similarly draw moisture on the rifle's underside from the heat below. Standing a rifle butt down with its muzzle propped against the canvas of a tent's corner is not wise. The rifle may topple over and be in­jured. Also, any storm during the night will soak through the tent where the gun muzzle draws it taut, and moisture will run down the bore.

In horseback hunting, rifles should be removed from the saddle scab­bards every night. The normal sweating of the animal softens the leather, allowing the salt of the perspiration to come through against the rifle's metal.

While mentioning salt, any unheated tent where rifles and other gear are placed overnight should be completely closed and made animal-tight. Por­cupines, rats, and other rodents like salt and will gravitate with darkness to where they may acquire it by chewing on anything which has been per­spiration-soaked. Porcupines like to gnaw gun slings, pack-saddle rigging, and ax handles.

CHECK THE BORE

One of the best safety rules is to look through the bore of any gun before starting to hunt—with the action open. Obstructions in barrels will cause guns to rupture and often cause injury to the shooter. In normal hunting, the possibility of getting snow, mud, or twigs into a gun muzzle is always present.

Many of the wisest and most experienced hunters have a ritual for mak­ing certain the bore of their gun is clear. At the moment of leaving camp, they open the chamber, look through the bore towards the light, then load the cartridges or shells into the magazine. The practiced movements, in that order, become as habitual as tying their boots.

In extremely cold horseback hunting, it is a good policy also to check the bore any time conditions seem to warrant it. Snow will fall into some types of scabbards, melt, and run down to the muzzle of a rifle where it can freeze into ice. The animal's body heat causes the melting along the body of the rifle, but the muzzle end is far colder. This author once saved blowing his head off on an Alberta ram hunt by catching such a condition in time. Melted snow in the scabbard had run down and frozen so] idly in the bore for over an inch!

Similarly in extreme cold, such as the Arctic or the Far North in winter, the grease remaining inside rifle bolts will cause them to freeze up and refuse to function. It is a simple matter to clean a rifle bolt prior to such a hunt. The bolt is removed from the rifle and swished about in a pan filled with white gasoline, removing all grease. It should be remembered that a clean bolt will rust easily and should be re-oiled after the hunt is over. Powdered graphite sprinkled into the bolt or action of a rifle, after the grease has been removed, will add to its slickness of operation.

CLEANING KIT

A suitable gun-cleaning kit is a necessity on a hunting trip. Cleaning kits may be as involved as one likes. Experience has indicated, however, that the larger and more bulky the kit, the bigger its chances are of being left at home or not used in the field.

For an average hunt, the only necessary kit is either a pull-through or a strong leather thong slotted at one end, and a half-dozen patches of suitable size. With the pull-through (metal dropper attached to a strong cord), a dry or a lightly oiled patch can be run through the rifle bore. The same lightly greased patch can be used afterward for wiping a thin film onto the rifle's outside. Greased patches may be saturated at home and carried in a small plastic box, or typewriter-ribbon box. Two small tools, an Allen wrench and a small screwdriver, are important additions to the kit. These are seldom used afield, but when the need does arise, they are worth their weight in dollars.

Remember, any rifle that has been fired or wet during the day, should always be cleaned, dried, and oiled before you go to bed that night. A little care and time will pay big dividends at home and in the field in preventing gun accidents and assuring the sure functioning of shooting equipment.

SHOTGUNS AND HANDGUNS

While most of the above information relates to the care of rifles, the field and home care of shotguns and handguns is similar and the same procedures may be followed.

Cleaning rods for shotguns will be generally longer than those for rifles and much larger patches are necessary. Home-cut flannel patches measuring 6 by 6 inches are the right size for 12-gauge shotguns and proportionately smaller ones should be used for the smaller gauges. A good one-piece cleaning rod may be made from a suitable length of hardwood dowel. One end is glued into a shaped wooden handle and a small eye-screw (for holding the patch) is screwed into the opposite end. In cleaning a shotgun, use one dry patch to wipe the burned powder particles from the bore before using an oiled patch to protect the metal.
Cleaning rods and patches for handguns are proportionately sized, but the same oils, grease, and solvent used for the protection of rifles will be suitable for handguns and smoothbores.

After a season's use, it is a good procedure to disassemble a shotgun that breaks down; clean it, and lightly oil every part before putting it in storage.