Backcountry Weathrproofing of rifle

[mnbearbaiter]

Hey all, been away for awhile, but not out! Drew a slew of tags for this fall, and the first will be CO muzzy season with a deer tag. Opens Sept 12. Will be a high elevation backpack hunt where we will park truck at 10,300' and will camp at roughly 11,600' amongst several basins we've done well in the past. Will be first year taking the TVM Leman 54 backpack hunting. Currently shooting as good as it/i ever have at 100yds with 105gr ffg T7/op felt wad/.530 Hornady ball wrapped in a .015 TOTW Mink Oil lubed cotton patch. Normally shot it with 100gr, but accidentally loaded it with 105gr using another thimble we had and for some reason it liked it? 36" DeHaas brrl. Don't know depth of rifling, but it shoots stout loadings better...always has. Main topics question. Is...i always rub some melted TOTW Mink Oil on entire rifle before storing and when it dries it produces a tacky what appears waterproof coating? I plan on doing this a week prior to hunt after last shooting session, but I wonder if anybody has any other tips for backcountry gun care of trad rifles. Also using that October Country O ring nipple/cover for piece of mind on this hunt Things great. Sorry to ramble, but I'm excited. Any help appreciated.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I suppose greasing down the rifle or gun with Mink Oil is fine. After all you've done it and not had any issues, right? So IF it works for you, perhaps you should not go 'speramentin' as long as you've had success?

I've had success with rust prevention when there was heavy dew expected and we "slept on our arms", by rubbing down the musket with olive oil and beeswax lube. But that wasn't hunting. I don't know how close the game may get to you, or what the smell of mink oil will do (if anything)

One think I do for my rifle is that I put a dollop of bullet lube along where the wood and barrel meet, just in front of the lock pan. I found that in a mist, or a light drizzle, the water beaded up on the barrel, and when I elevated the muzzle, the droplets that had formed on the barrel and stock would run down where the stock met the barrel like a rain gutter. Right into my pan.

The little dollop of "grease" prevents this, and causes any water to divert before it reaches the pan.

After hunting in bad weather I pull the barrel to ensure I haven't trapped water between the stock and barrel.

LD

 

[tenngun]

I like to grease a patch with mink oil and run it along my barrel

 

[TraderVic]

Hey all, been away for awhile, but not out! Drew a slew of tags for this fall, and the first will be CO muzzy season with a deer tag. Opens Sept 12. Will be a high elevation backpack hunt where we will park truck at 10,300' and will camp at roughly 11,600' amongst several basins we've done well in the past. Will be first year taking the TVM Leman 54 backpack hunting. Currently shooting as good as it/i ever have at 100yds with 105gr ffg T7/op felt wad/.530 Hornady ball wrapped in a .015 TOTW Mink Oil lubed cotton patch. Normally shot it with 100gr, but accidentally loaded it with 105gr using another thimble we had and for some reason it liked it? 36" DeHaas brrl. Don't know depth of rifling, but it shoots stout loadings better...always has. Main topics question. Is...i always rub some melted TOTW Mink Oil on entire rifle before storing and when it dries it produces a tacky what appears waterproof coating? I plan on doing this a week prior to hunt after last shooting session, but I wonder if anybody has any other tips for backcountry gun care of trad rifles. Also using that October Country O ring nipple/cover for piece of mind on this hunt Things great. Sorry to ramble, but I'm excited. Any help appreciated.

Well, good luck and good shooting ! Hope you have a safe hunt. My son will be out there in CO bowhunting for elk as well during the same time frame.

 

[Ben Meyer]

Percussion or flintlock?

I made and use a leather Cows Knee treated with SnoSeal for the lock i use the black latex muzzle cover too. Prior to hunting, ive liberally coated the barrel and metal parts with Barricade and let it dry. Thatll fend off rust. Ive never done anything to the wood, so I'm curious what best practice is. I figure, ive been hunting with wood stocked guns forever without any major issues, so the MLS shouldn't be any different, right?

 

[bradly_tx]

I use lard for patch lube and weather proofing. That’s all I’ve ever used for around 40 yrs. I also use Walmart wet wipes for cleaning the inside and outside of the bore, been doin that for over 20 yrs. no ill effects! YMMV.

 

[appalichian hunter]

2nd on a well greased cows knee, also I carry a rag that has been saturated with a light oil like 3in1 oil and hung up to dry if rain or damp conditions a occasional quick wipe down works for me, also if heavy weather conditions I will place the lock area under my outer garment as much as possible never had a problem doing this, I see you mentioned a cap lock but with a flinter periodic changes of prime also . Might also be a good ideal to occasionally change the cap.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Forgot, you may want to pull the barrel out of the stock then put some type of water protection in the barrel channel in the stock then replace the barrel.

 

[SDSmlf]

As the saying goes, main thing is to keep your powder dry. While not HC/PC, a couple pieces of electrical tape over the muzzle will seal up the business end. Cows knee and a little beeswax on the nipple threads and seal the breech end. When in hunting camp I don’t really worry about the exterior of the gun. Can wipe it down with a lot of different ‘protectants’, your choice. I don’t care for anything sticky and prefer something that drys (Barricade or Eezox for example), but find that any oil will work if applied often enough. If you get some rust, it’s called patina. If worried about load at the end of a wet day, I’ll pull it and clean bore with hot water. This is not the time to worry about a bit of flash rust. You want a 100% dry bore before loading.

 

[Art Caputo]

Never had much of a problem in the wet. A good lube on metal parts, and well sealed wood , inside and out, is key, mostly to prevent swelling/saturation. Use a tightly fitted greased ball, and keep your barrel pointed down with the lock covered(under the arm or use a cows knee). Don’t charge the pan until a shot is imminent, or grease the cap/nipple. I have used mink oil on the seam areas without issue...........Game will generally smell “you” first at muzzleloader distances. Keep the wind in your face!

 

[Bob McBride]

As said already, I’d pull my barrel and RIG grease the bottom flats and keep a good supply of bear grease, mink oil or other good oil at hand. Cows knees are indispensable. All great advise.