Posted: 8/13/2026 7:30:58 PM EDT
[Last Edit: NotIssued][Edited]
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I've read off and on over the years various methods of having a back-up gun, a cache, etc. I finally decided I want to just have a gun that's "not at home" and see what happens. Sooooo.... welcome to my "I ditched a gun and I'm coming back in a year" thread. I'm lucky enough to have some land and my one remaining AR that didn't sink in a boating accident. Today I took an AndroCorps rifle (why? Because it's cheap. And camo. And I haven't been able to kill it yet) with some no-name scope (why? because it's cheap. And I can't kill it either) and tossed it in the woods. Attached File That's it. No extra lube. No fancy PVC pipe. No plastic bag. It's lying on the ground under some branches. We'll see what happens next year when I find it again (hopefully!) Heat. Rain. Snow. Wind. Bugs. Whatever comes, comes. Oh yeah. I took it to the range this morning. The 100 yard target is below. Yes, it sucks. The rifle wasn't sighted in at that distance or that round, and I didn't want to waste ammo doing so. The ammo is Sadu (.... Serbian? Hungarian? Some sort of Eastern Euro SS109 clone from back in the post-Sandy Hook days that has been awesome), Pmag. I loaded up the mag, shot the group, and left the rest of the ammo in the magazine. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By jaqufrost: Why would you leave it out for a year with no protection? Great way to ruin a functioning rifle. You should put it in some type of protection. To see what happens! I've left it in the truck bed down to -20, tossed it in snow and muddy water, let it ride around in the truck bed sliding around. Shot it from -20 to +90. It still goes bang. Maybe it breaks, maybe it doesn't. People do no-lube torture tests or full auto torture tests. You ever seen one that's environmental? |
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Originally Posted By bionicmonkey: Yeah.. I tried 2 methods and posted here Pvc glued solid endcaps worked well.. screw threads failed completely. Re-cached with sealed endcaps for the long term That seems to be the most common method. This idea was inspired by This rifle . What happens to a modern one? |
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Originally Posted By Mannlicher: why would anyone reply. You just know the feds are reading the mail here. I would prefer not to advertise such information on a public forum. Keep it to yourself and trusted members of your inner circle. |
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Originally Posted By NotIssued: To see what happens! I've left it in the truck bed down to -20, tossed it in snow and muddy water, let it ride around in the truck bed sliding around. Shot it from -20 to +90. It still goes bang. Maybe it breaks, maybe it doesn't. People do no-lube torture tests or full auto torture tests. You ever seen one that's environmental? I can tell you what is going to happen, it’s going to corrode and rust. |
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Anyone reason why if your 100% going to try it this way (no protection at all) that your not placing it up a tree? Drive/screw a peg like a climbing peg or similar into a tree, doesn't need to be 40' up, but shouldn't be at eye level. Hang the rifle from that ideally muzzle down. One of the old skewl black plastic muzzle caps would be very handy- the ones everyone put on always forgot and shot off. Or some camo duct tape covering the muzzle. I would lube it as "wet as the 'specific ocean!" I've posted a lot of pics and experiences caching stuff over the decades, while most weapons would hold up short term like your saying, I would at least place it out of eye level. Hardly anyone looks up when they are in the woods. Best dog I ever had reinforced this to me decades ago. We were scouting some surrounding land and she stopped, sat down in this spot. I wanted to keep moving and she would normally not be a problem reading my cues. She looked at me, looked up and looked back at me. There was an unoccupied stand fairly well camoflaged she was showing me. Great dog. Pelican cases have come down in price and are an easy way to place a weapon short term in the woods. Even right below ground level with just leaves, etc. covering it for quick retrieval. Remove foam in case you do get moisture issues. Never had an issue doing this in multiple cases multiple locations. Have pulled a couple of them over the years, everything was always good to go still. I would avoid a majorly wet area with a Pelican case however- rain is different than being in standing water. |
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Originally Posted By Lowdown3: Anyone reason why if your 100% going to try it this way (no protection at all) that your not placing it up a tree? Drive/screw a peg like a climbing peg or similar into a tree, doesn't need to be 40' up, but shouldn't be at eye level. Hang the rifle from that ideally muzzle down. One of the old skewl black plastic muzzle caps would be very handy- the ones everyone put on always forgot and shot off. Or some camo duct tape covering the muzzle. I would lube it as "wet as the 'specific ocean!" I've posted a lot of pics and experiences caching stuff over the decades, while most weapons would hold up short term like your saying, I would at least place it out of eye level. Hardly anyone looks up when they are in the woods. Best dog I ever had reinforced this to me decades ago. We were scouting some surrounding land and she stopped, sat down in this spot. I wanted to keep moving and she would normally not be a problem reading my cues. She looked at me, looked up and looked back at me. There was an unoccupied stand fairly well camoflaged she was showing me. Great dog. Pelican cases have come down in price and are an easy way to place a weapon short term in the woods. Even right below ground level with just leaves, etc. covering it for quick retrieval. Remove foam in case you do get moisture issues. Never had an issue doing this in multiple cases multiple locations. Have pulled a couple of them over the years, everything was always good to go still. I would avoid a majorly wet area with a Pelican case however- rain is different than being in standing water. A simple pelican or apache case with some desiccant would last several years outside. Large ammuntion cans or sealed PVC tubes are also decent options. The more humidity your area has, the faster you will have issues. Water from the air will condense on the steel increasing corrosion problems. I highly recommend oiling and sealing with a dessicant for anything you want to last/be useable in an unconditioned space. A cache should also include magazines and ammunition. |
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I once recovered a stolen gun high up in a tree. Apparently the person in possession didn’t want to be caught with it so they tossed it into the woods. The sling caught a branch and it hung there. Best we could tell, it was probably there for about 6mo or more. It was an AR15 but I don’t remember the brand. As I recall, it was one of the better brands. Surprisingly, it was still in decent shape. Some surface rust but not terrible. Personally I wouldn’t do what the OP is doing but I’m happy to follow along and see his results. |
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This type of cache has basically one usage scenario. Think of the movie Apocolypto. The guy escaped and is heading back to his village being pursued the entire time. If he had placed a bow and arrows in a hollowed out tree here and there, he could have quickly retrieved and kept going/button hooked and took a few here and there. The Pelican case option is the quickest yet safe for a few years option doing this. Find it, brush some dirt/leaves off and -for a small case- you can grab it by the handle and continue running with it if need be. Rifle case would mean a quick opening of the case. A cheap bandolier of mags and the rifle grab them and continue to move if need be. BGs finding the case would obviously give away your new capabilities but that might be unavoidable at that point. |
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Originally Posted By NotIssued: That seems to be the most common method. This idea was inspired by This rifle . What happens to a modern one? Originally Posted By NotIssued: Originally Posted By bionicmonkey: Yeah.. I tried 2 methods and posted here Pvc glued solid endcaps worked well.. screw threads failed completely. Re-cached with sealed endcaps for the long term That seems to be the most common method. This idea was inspired by This rifle . What happens to a modern one? an outdoor gun will get wrecked. the constant cycles of cold and heat will bring out moisture and then condense it over and over - anything not 100% sealed and dessicated will be ruined. would not recommend. |
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Originally Posted By HeavyMetal: I can tell you what is going to happen, it’s going to corrode and rust. Originally Posted By HeavyMetal: I can tell you what is going to happen, it’s going to corrode and rust. Maybe. Probably. We'll see how good melonite is, I guess. Originally Posted By Lowdown3: Anyone reason why if your 100% going to try it this way (no protection at all) that your not placing it up a tree? Easier to see. It's private property. Doesn't mean people don't amble through. Originally Posted By ColtRifle: I once recovered a stolen gun high up in a tree. Apparently the person in possession didn’t want to be caught with it so they tossed it into the woods. The sling caught a branch and it hung there. Best we could tell, it was probably there for about 6mo or more. It was an AR15 but I don’t remember the brand. As I recall, it was one of the better brands. Surprisingly, it was still in decent shape. Some surface rust but not terrible. Personally I wouldn’t do what the OP is doing but I’m happy to follow along and see his results. See? And thanks, someone gets the point of the post! Originally Posted By bionicmonkey: an outdoor gun will get wrecked. the constant cycles of cold and heat will bring out moisture and then condense it over and over - anything not 100% sealed and dessicated will be ruined. would not recommend. Yep, so everyone says. Let's find out how true that is! As for dessicated .... no. Cosmoline, anyone? I think you mean "safe from water." Sir, in 3 months everything will be ice cubes for the next 6. Unless we have a warm winter  If I ruin it, I ruin it. It's a $400 rifle. Not like I'm losing a G or KAC. |
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I don't hate this experiment. I appreciate OP willing to sacrifice one of his guns in order to demonstrate for the class what one year exposed to the elements does to a rifle. I froze a Sig red dot in ice and it still worked after thawing several years ago. Sometimes you just want to see for yourself. I would have lubed it well beforehand though. |
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OPs gun. If he wants to knowingly put it at VERY high risk of damage/destruction for our entertainment, so be it. We may either learn something new or get verifiation of something we already knew. That, or he just gave the wildlife the first tools they need to start their revenge on Humanity.
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Originally Posted By darkpaladin1: OPs gun. If he wants to knowingly put it at VERY high risk of damage/destruction for our entertainment, so be it. We may either learn something new or get verifiation of something we already knew. That, or he just gave the wildlife the first tools they need to start their revenge on Humanity. An AR15 is not as fragile as you might think. In the military, we used to take M16s and M4s in the ocean (salt water) and mud and sand. They are cleaned well after each dunking but still get abused. And, they keep running. Some ARs have cheap blueing. I don’t expect that finish to last long. But if it’s a mil spec parkerized rifle, it’ll handle it pretty well. Maybe the OP just wants to be the Whistlindiesel of the gun world!! 
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"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
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| I had a buddy with land. He placed an M1 carving with magazines and ammo, a handgun with ammo, and a PVC pipe. When he drilled out his fence post hole, he dug it deeper and buried the PVC pipe. Leaving the fence, post a little higher in depth than the others. Seemed like a good idea. |
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Originally Posted By NotIssued: That seems to be the most common method. This idea was inspired by This rifle . What happens to a modern one? Originally Posted By NotIssued: Originally Posted By bionicmonkey: Yeah.. I tried 2 methods and posted here Pvc glued solid endcaps worked well.. screw threads failed completely. Re-cached with sealed endcaps for the long term That seems to be the most common method. This idea was inspired by This rifle . What happens to a modern one? That rifle was left in the desert. Your pictures don't look like desert. Why ruin a functioning rifle? |
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Originally Posted By jaqufrost: Why would you leave it out for a year with no protection? Great way to ruin a functioning rifle. You should put it in some type of protection. |
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Why is everyone so offended by what the OP is doing? It’s his gun. It’s his money. He can use it/spend it as he sees fit. I’m curious to see what happens. Not curious enough to do it with my gun/my money but I’m happy to watch the OP do it with his. Kinda like extreme off roading. Some people like to test their vehicles to the limit and usually break stuff in the process. I don’t like to break my vehicles….but I enjoy watching other people break their vehicles! Personally, I suspect it’ll be in better shape than some believe it will be….but I might be wrong. I’m in to see the results. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted By 505stevec: I had a buddy with land. He placed an M1 carving with magazines and ammo, a handgun with ammo, and a PVC pipe. When he drilled out his fence post hole, he dug it deeper and buried the PVC pipe. Leaving the fence, post a little higher in depth than the others. Seemed like a good idea. Till he has to retrieve it. Vertical cache tubes are a good bit harder to pull than horizontal. The fence post raised thing is a good indicator though. Taking that out of the equation the difference between a vertical placement and horizontal placement is hitting an EXACT spot that is only maybe 6 inches or 8 (placed vertically) or having more leeway- 6 or 8" wide by say 4 feet to hit. Finding and retrieving a cache years or decades later isn't always easy. "Ahhh gps, ahh triangulate aaahh" Yeah... so landmarks can change- land gets cleared, etc. things like this do happen. |
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Why is everyone so offended by what the OP is doing? It’s his gun. It’s his money. He can use it/spend it as he sees fit. I’m curious to see what happens. Not curious enough to do it with my gun/my money but I’m happy to watch the OP do it with his. Agreed. At least he hasn't had to put up with any quasi liberal dumbass posting stupid shit like "don't leave it where a kid will get it!" like I've had to when posting pics of retrieved caches here in years gone by- "michigan frog" or some stupid moniker?? "Don't leave it where a kid will get it" - yeah man I was going to load it and leave it in the ball pit of the local McDonald's playground.... While people may think he's ruining his rifle, it's his as he mentioned so only one that should care is him. |
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Originally Posted By Lowdown3: SNIP While people may think he's ruining his rifle, it's his as he mentioned so only one that should care is him. Originally Posted By Lowdown3: Why is everyone so offended by what the OP is doing? It’s his gun. It’s his money. He can use it/spend it as he sees fit. I’m curious to see what happens. Not curious enough to do it with my gun/my money but I’m happy to watch the OP do it with his. SNIP While people may think he's ruining his rifle, it's his as he mentioned so only one that should care is him. This is where I am with it. Would I do it? No. But, its not my rifle and it's not costing me anything to see how his experiment goes. More power to him. |
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The cache concept is always a good concept practice, and I’ll leave it at that. I’ve actually considered buying some of the cheaper IP67 waterproof gun cases for a cache. You could put inside a rifle, small bandolier/chest rig, half-dozen magazines & ammo, small cleaning kit with lube, maybe even a small knife, room dependent. Add a few long-term desiccant packets and bury it just a couple inches under the soil, preferably on a sight rise or away from water collection points based on the terrain. Having a mutual agreement with a very close/trusted/like-minded friend and/or family member is often a better, safer, and more secure way to cache a few “spares” away from home. This is still a good experiment and will likely result in findings that reinforce some protective cover/lube coating and wrapped up or in a waterproof container for longer term viability. I suspect a little cleaning and lube will have it back to operation in no time after year with such exposure. ROCK6 |
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Originally Posted By tc556guy: I don't understand how leaving it exposed to the elements and theft is a good idea. Well good news, if it's stolen everyone has been saying it won't work anyway. Mostly to see how sturdy the gun is. We've all seen videos of people running over their gun, or dredging it through a pool of muddy water. We've seen people shoot them so fast that they melt the gas tube. We've seen that guy in Vegas run through rifles in days-weeks from high use. Tell me this is any different. Years ago I read an autobiography of a guy in Vietnam. Supposedly they found an abandoned AK and it still functioned. Their battalion commander (paraphrasing) said an M-16 couldn't do that. Went to check on it earlier this week. Still in the same spot. Still looks OK. I pushed it back a little farther to get it a bit more hidden. Honestly, I expect that sitting on wet ground will be the biggest issue. As you can see in the pics, it's under a pile of branches. I doubt much snow will land on it. Water dripping down, absolutely. And it's been a cool summer, I don't think we've hit 90 since I dropped it off. Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Lowdown3: Agreed. At least he hasn't had to put up with any quasi liberal dumbass posting stupid shit like "don't leave it where a kid will get it!" like I've had to when posting pics of retrieved caches here in years gone by- "michigan frog" or some stupid moniker?? "Don't leave it where a kid will get it" - yeah man I was going to load it and leave it in the ball pit of the local McDonald's playground.... While people may think he's ruining his rifle, it's his as he mentioned so only one that should care is him. Originally Posted By Lowdown3: Why is everyone so offended by what the OP is doing? It’s his gun. It’s his money. He can use it/spend it as he sees fit. I’m curious to see what happens. Not curious enough to do it with my gun/my money but I’m happy to watch the OP do it with his. Agreed. At least he hasn't had to put up with any quasi liberal dumbass posting stupid shit like "don't leave it where a kid will get it!" like I've had to when posting pics of retrieved caches here in years gone by- "michigan frog" or some stupid moniker?? "Don't leave it where a kid will get it" - yeah man I was going to load it and leave it in the ball pit of the local McDonald's playground.... While people may think he's ruining his rifle, it's his as he mentioned so only one that should care is him. Hey those McD’s ball pits can get rough. |
| Gun will probably fire after cleaning up, but a lot of the parts are going to be rusted up and need a lot of work to get the rust off and make it somewhat functional. I think this would be a much more interesting experiment if it were using some method of cheap and expedient caching methodology. For example, double bagging the gun in some large plastic garbage bags or putting it in a cheap gun case with duct tape at the joints/edges for a slightly better seal. |
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This is the way to cache items, including guns: Waterproof Underground PVC Cache You get the concept. For firearms, get 8" schedule 40 PVC pipe. Cut to length and install one cap permanently as directed. Buy an 8" test plug. Skip the desiccant. Substitute with wrapping your items in Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI) paper. Mount test cap tightly. Push PVC end cap on over the plug. Bury it in any orientation you want, but to play the odds, do it in such a way that it sheds water (unsecured cap facing up). The design is meant to be water tight in any orientation. |
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| A friend found a Remington model 12 leaning against a tree in the woods in coastal California. It had been there so long where the wood stock had touched the ground it had started to rot away. Gun had a fine rusted patina but still worked fine. He just oiled it, wiped it down with a cloth and still had it fifty years later when I saw it. So in a Mediterranean climate, it would do ok. |
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Originally Posted By NotIssued: Well good news, if it's stolen everyone has been saying it won't work anyway. Mostly to see how sturdy the gun is. We've all seen videos of people running over their gun, or dredging it through a pool of muddy water. We've seen people shoot them so fast that they melt the gas tube. We've seen that guy in Vegas run through rifles in days-weeks from high use. Tell me this is any different. Years ago I read an autobiography of a guy in Vietnam. Supposedly they found an abandoned AK and it still functioned. Their battalion commander (paraphrasing) said an M-16 couldn't do that. Went to check on it earlier this week. Still in the same spot. Still looks OK. I pushed it back a little farther to get it a bit more hidden. Honestly, I expect that sitting on wet ground will be the biggest issue. As you can see in the pics, it's under a pile of branches. I doubt much snow will land on it. Water dripping down, absolutely. And it's been a cool summer, I don't think we've hit 90 since I dropped it off. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/269389/1000048335_jpg-3819081.JPG Originally Posted By NotIssued: Originally Posted By tc556guy: I don't understand how leaving it exposed to the elements and theft is a good idea. Well good news, if it's stolen everyone has been saying it won't work anyway. Mostly to see how sturdy the gun is. We've all seen videos of people running over their gun, or dredging it through a pool of muddy water. We've seen people shoot them so fast that they melt the gas tube. We've seen that guy in Vegas run through rifles in days-weeks from high use. Tell me this is any different. Years ago I read an autobiography of a guy in Vietnam. Supposedly they found an abandoned AK and it still functioned. Their battalion commander (paraphrasing) said an M-16 couldn't do that. Went to check on it earlier this week. Still in the same spot. Still looks OK. I pushed it back a little farther to get it a bit more hidden. Honestly, I expect that sitting on wet ground will be the biggest issue. As you can see in the pics, it's under a pile of branches. I doubt much snow will land on it. Water dripping down, absolutely. And it's been a cool summer, I don't think we've hit 90 since I dropped it off. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/269389/1000048335_jpg-3819081.JPG The thread topic is about a firearms cache Leaving a firearm on the surface , exposed to the elements and unsecured is not a cache |
*post contains personal opinion only and should not be considered information released in an official capacity*
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Originally Posted By shaggy: Gun will probably fire after cleaning up, but a lot of the parts are going to be rusted up and need a lot of work to get the rust off and make it somewhat functional. I think this would be a much more interesting experiment if it were using some method of cheap and expedient caching methodology. For example, double bagging the gun in some large plastic garbage bags or putting it in a cheap gun case with duct tape at the joints/edges for a slightly better seal. Yes. This is the other other reason for having a large 55 gallon "contractor" trash bag or two in your rucks- short term weapons cache in field. Also big enough to put most rucks inside for temporary ditching/hiding. |
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Originally Posted By Lexington: This is the way to cache items, including guns: Waterproof Underground PVC Cache You get the concept. For firearms, get 8" schedule 40 PVC pipe. Cut to length and install one cap permanently as directed. Buy an 8" test plug. Skip the desiccant. Substitute with wrapping your items in Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI) paper. Mount test cap tightly. Push PVC end cap on over the plug. Bury it in any orientation you want, but to play the odds, do it in such a way that it sheds water (unsecured cap facing up). The design is meant to be water tight in any orientation. Link info isn't bad however as I mentioned a time or twelve here from actually RETRIEVING caches over 4 decades- having a HORIZONTAL placement makes it a helluva lot easier for you to find decades later when landmarks have changed slightly. "Use gps and that isn't a problem"- says the internet academic who has not spent hours searching. You need a combination of landmarks, gps, old skewl triangulation and added landmarks. Then even sometimes.... Yeah I'll save that story for now, here's a spoiler- 
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