Question: Wet Pistols

[woof]

Seriously wet. Like recently submerged. In other words, what can you reasonably expect from a gun that has just been, say, on your person while you were unintendedly in the river? And what if after you got out of the river you needed the gun? I know according to the hype and legend Glocks and Sigs take anything and still shoot perfectly but what about a revolver, say a single-six? If you were in such a situation, what would you need to do to hopefully get max utility from your gun? And one more part to this question, if you found yourself in such a situation, what gun would you want to be carrying?

 

[Owen]

with a .22 you may have trouble with water in the barrel. With .30 and up, the water should just pour out of the barrel.

 

[Quoheleth]

I cannot find the link right now but I have read here on THR how some folks have done long-term submersion tests of ammo that had been soaked in oil or water or some such liquid. These rounds were subsequently fired successfully - albeit out of dry guns.

Most centerfire ammo is crimped sufficiently tight that momentary submersion shouldn't be a problem.

If it's a you-know-what situation, dump/sling the water out of the gun and fire.

If it was in the silt...well...good luck. There was also a link over at the m1911 forums where a fellow did a torture test of 3 different 1911s, including throwing them in muddy puddles (cocked & locked), buckets of sand (loaded, but hammer down), and something else. All managed at least a few rounds - some went all 8.

If it's a .22...I've had some stuff that seemed to have problems just from sitting in my humid garage. Again, a quick dunk might be OK. Long-term, I don't think a .22 would work well.

Q

 

[Hawk]

In other words, what can you reasonably expect from a gun that has just been, say, on your person while you were unintendedly in the river? And what if after you got out of the river you needed the gun?

It should run like a champ. The STI pictured urped some slime on my forearm after taking a bath in the bog but ran 3 magazines without incident. A Les Baer was similarly mistreated in the same thread.

icky

muddy

If you feel compelled to join in the fun, make sure you check for obstructions before firing.

 

[mavracer]

shake the water out and let it eat.only thing I'd worry about is 22s keepin powder dry.might change ammo if I didn't shoot right away.I once shot my P85 while submerged in a lake no problem dang thing even cycled

 

[bluetopper]

Sounds like a job for WD-40.

 

[gibbon]

I've read on a couple of forums that when Navy SEAL teams know they will be moving from water to land, they carry S&W 686 .357 revolvers, due to their ability to function after being submerged in salt water & silty water. Tilt it to let the water run out of the barrel, and it's ready to fire.

YMMV, of course.

 

[orionengnr]

I took my S&W j-frame swimming

about two years ago...strictly as a scientific experiment, of course.

I was out on the boat at the time. When I got back into the boat, I opened the cylinder, unloaded, shook out as much water as I could, dried the ammo as well as possible, reloaded, and carried on.

When I got home, I unloaded again, blasted the puppy with compressed air, then with WD40. I let it sit overnight, and the next day I cleaned/lubed it as normal. I changed out the ammo (it was my carry pistol at the time) and isolated the dunked ammo.

Next range trip, I ran through that ammo to see if it would fire. Worked just fine (Speer Gold Dot 135gr 38 Spl+p).

Not in a hurry to try it again, but it could happen...

 

[sm]

Lanyards are a real good idea when around water, trust me on this.
I don't care what make or model , electrical tape, braided cord, work great for [strike] field [/strike] wet expedient lanyards.

Bone Stock 1911s are what I prefer, no tools required and the gun is a tool unto itself if need.
I've just dropped mag, cleared chamber, shake , use my breath to blow out water.
If in a boat, use the gas, gas/oil mix to maintain, prevent rust, lube.
If using only a trolling motor, or skulling (paddlig in a johnboat), canoe, ...

My guns will shoot "dry" , still anything "wet" from KY , Vasoline Petroleum Jelly [poor man's cosmoline], Lip Balm [doubles as fly float for fly fishing] , fat from fish, squirrel, rabbit, Crisco, cooking oil, (I prefer Olive Oil) anything will work.

Ruger Standard Model I had, the simple plain one the slide would not lock back , and later the same Standard in MKII, I just electrical taped braided line, made a lanyard, and then used more braided line and used a simple slip knot, just like one uses for fly fishing and changing leaders.
I really really like the bottom catch on magazines for being more secure with these guns over the "1911" style release.
We are not out on the water expecting tac reloads and being timed for mag changes...while out fishing, hunting, canoeing , and the like...at least I have never been.

Big Swivels work, regular or snap.

Ballistol is handy when out and about. Get a gun all sandy from beaches, or in the muck portaging, or from all them seeds in the woods portaging, just use a spent 1911 ctg to remove grip screws from 1911, or Screwdriver from GI Demo knife, Case Camper, SAK...

Hot water on the campfire and after using soap and water from lake, stream, river, rinse with hot water, use Ballistol to lube.
No soap?
Use a ratio of Ballistol and water to clean, heck even soak, I/we added a bit of Ballistol to hot rinse water. Lube with Ballsitol and good to go.

Then again, my blue bone stock 1911 one gotten from the clear stream bottom, did not rust or anything.
Just field strip, wipe down, and used Chapstick to lube, smear all into and around, and lube.
Then I made a lanyard, as there were some other obstacles up ahead in the water.

Stealing some lube from the inside of a fishing reel works...

Oh, Kel-Tec P-11s work real well. Electrical tape , braided cord and good to go.
We tested these out for folks around water, something light, easy to carry, have in the boat from guiding folks, to farms with reservoirs and farm ponds.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I think most guns will take a water dunking in stride.
Mud might be a problem with some guns.

A little while back I took a new Makarov and did a thousand round torture test on it.
Part of the test was sinking the loaded pistol in water and mud.
Due to the mud between the hammer and firing pin it took two pulls of the trigger to fire the first round but other than that the pistol operated normally after being submerged in mud and water.

 

[Neophyte1]

wet Guns

Folks: those of us that have Played GI a number of years ago.
Drain the water and Shoot it.
Many Many a GI has crossed under, above , into creeks, rivers, rainstorms, and covered our on behind with a saturated gun.
When it doesn't go bang, re-cock till it does.
Shot a few or more and the heat of a fire-fight is guaranteed to dry it completely.

Craig