Shooting in the Rain?

Hey I cannot seem to find the answer to this anywhere, but I know people do this all the time. I seem to always get caught in the rain with my rifle (Stag AR15) and I fear corrosion of internal parts bacause of the rain. I try to keep my weapon as dry as possble and so far I have done a good job.

I know I can shoot in the rain, but how or what do you guys do to clean your weapons after it has been soaked in a down pore?

if the gun is really wet, i'll wipe down all teh steel with a paper towel/etc when i get home.
if it's sliightly wet, i shoot it to dry it out.

When I get mine really wet, I spray the shit out of the inside of the lower and upper with WD40. Then I clean and lube the entire thing like normal.

Alright thanks guys, looks like its not that big of a deal
thanks for the replies!

It's a military grade rifle. Lube and clean it after getting it wet and you have nothing to worry about. Rain will not hurt an AR15.

Duracoat the rifle on the outside, and clean and lube it after use.

Blow it out with an air compressor, spray it with a quick shot of CLP.

I live in a place where we get something like 9 feet of rain a year. If I only shot on nice days, I'd almost never shoot! After going hunting, or just blasting at the range in snow or rain, I head straight home and go upstairs. My extra bedroom is my drying room. I can get it to 90F in there and have a de-humidifier I put in there too. I take my wet clothes off, break down the guns, mags, lay out the ammo and leave it for a few hours to get from being cold to warm, and I usually take a warm shower and have some soup to get myself warmed up again. It also dries the metal so fast it doesn't get much corrosion. Then the guns are cleaned and lubed and put away with no worries, and the clothes are dry in the morning!




No big hassle, and it's easier than wiping off with rags

This.

Just clean it up like you would after every shoot.

Be extremely cautious doing this, and especially do not do this indoors. You're blowing out millions of very bad particles that you end up breathing in. The rest accumulate on everything around you. If you've got kids or pets, that means it's going into their mouths at some point too.

Just wipe down the gun and put some protectant on it after you're done cleaning it.

Compressed air makes the cleaning process so much quicker and easier. And, I really don't worry at all about breathing in some dust and carbon. That's what the world is made of!!

Beer at the range?

It's not just dust and carbon; You've got metal particles, lead, copper, powder remnants, lubricant, solvent, you name it. Bottom line is that it's bad stuff.

Well it's just Coors Light...

Many would be surprised to find this isn't uncommon outside the US, even known of foreign military units that will drink during lunch on range day.

I shoot corrosive ammo exclusively in my AK-74, even in pouring rain, AND I don't always clean it thoroughly after either. Never seen a rust spot. you shoot non corrosive ammo in ARs, unless it's a 5.45 AR, just clean it like normal, and if you see a little spot, just hit it with some oil and a rag.

I want to a appleseed where it started pouring rain. The instructors let everyone cover up their rifles (all 10//22's) when they saw me and my freind not cover our guns up (ar's) they where like WTF. I was like its rain?? They were like but its rain!

Rain will not hurt a AR, especially one that is nice and lubricated. When you get home just clean and lubricate it as normal.

wd-40 IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING YOU CAN PUT ON ( AND ESPECIALLY 'IN') A RIFLE.


and even though I understand your concerns about atomizing particulate matter by blowing it with compressed air - what do you think happens each time you pull the trigger with your face and mouth 4 inches from all those open spots being violently moved by ignition of the cratrudge and disturbing the very same particulate matter?

Substantial difference between indoors and outdoors. Why do you think indoor ranges have so much invested in ventilation? If you do that indoors (such as in your home or workshop) that particulate matter stays there and continually harms you and those around you. Do that over 20-30 years and it ain't good.

Shooting is inherently something that can be dangerous, but it's the shooter's job to limit their level of risk. Wear ear protection, eye protection, don't eat or drink at the range, wash your hands with cold water, throw your clothes into the wash, and take off your shoes before walking around the house when you get home from the range, especially if you've got children or pets... these are all risk limiters.

on accident i droped my acr in a ditch . shot it till it heated up and dried no problem

I would have at least disassembled and made sure there was no mud in it... then shot the shit out of it till it was dry

Haha

I dropped mine in a lake, well more of a swamp of sort, sadly no pictures for proof,but those things is heavy and such so it happens.

yep dumped 5 more mags, threw it in the case, and well uh thats as far as I got.

I'd do a good cleaning but Im pressed for time.

Here in Oregon, it rains alot...at least that is what we let everybody think. After many years of practical rifle matches in the rain and mudpuddles, I don't worry about the weapons getting wet. Just clean and oil them like you normally do after you get home, and make sure that anything that was wet either dries and gets oiled, or gets a coating of water displacing oil. I keep an old hair dryer in my gun room to heat up parts I can't easily get to..

The bigger problem I have is when the soft gun cases get completely soaked, I have to prop them open so that the insides dry out before I put a clean weapon into them. I don't want to put a clean weapon into a case that is wet on the inside as it won't take long for the condensation from the wet case's inside to transfer onto the rifle. Drying the inside of the cases is a bigger problem than drying out the weapon.

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