Saiga Got Rained On

[JDeko 792]

Took one last crack at goosing before the cut-off and for the first time got rained on. Put it in the case wet and then spaced for about 3.5 hours until now. I quick looked up what to do and have seen everything from "just air it out" to "drive home with it uncased because it'll rust in less than an hour" to "blow dry it." So I'm looking at advice on what to and if I've already screwed myself.

 

Many folks were saying modern/military-grade firearms are meant to survive more than so light rain but I still want to do all I can to keep my Saiga in good condition.

[SGL 530]

I'll start out with the obligatory... your shotgun is fine.  I have had at least as many trips with rain as I have without.   It will not rust instantly on you but if it does get wet, it does need to be dried out as soon as it is reasonable to do so.  My preferred method is a hair dryer.  Your goal with it is not really the airflow, but heating up the parts to the point where they dry themselves.  This will get the water out from between the receiver in places like the side rail and trunnions.   Get the gun and parts hot, but you should keep them in a range where you can still handle them for a few seconds without burning yourself.  

 

Once everything is nice and hot...let it sit and then check the tight spaces on the gun for any remaining water.     While it is still warm, take advantage of this by applying your favorite oil or other corrosion inhibitor.   Froglube works great for this but there are a lot of great choices.  You can coat the whole thing paying special attention to the areas mentioned before.   The heat coming off of the metal parts will thin the oil and allow it to get into all of the little nooks and crannies, making it more rain proof for the next trip in bad weather.  Wipe off the excess and it's now stable, and you can clean it at your leisure, or store it and take it out again.

 

I'll even do this sometimes after shooting when it is really cold as bringing cold metal into a warm house often leads to condensation which can be just as bad as rain because it's easier to forget about.

 

Sometimes it's hard for people to embrace the fact that these are hardy Russian tools that were built to stand up to more than we'll ever put them through, but once you do you'll appreciate the gun more, and for all the right reasons.

 

Edit: Fixed Typo

Edited December 3, 2015 by SGL

[JDeko 792]

I'll get a hair drier on it right away then. 

 

The wood foregrips seem dry to the touch, anything special I should do to them? I mostly ask since the upper one is pretty snug on the gas tube and the thought of trying to get it off freaks me out since twisting it on had me feeling like it was going to crack any second.

[SGL 530]

I'm not sure as I've never had wood furniture that I wasn't able to easily remove, so I always just pulled it and dried from there.
The wood itself should be fine, but it may hold moisture up against the metal.   Maybe you should look into some polymer furniture just for hunting and keep the nice wood for playing dress up in the off season?  Then again, it will probably be fine either way.

[JDeko 792]

I still have the plastic set and I'm contemplating maybe getting a second gas tube to just switch them out. but now the lower handguard is stuck on pretty good and i'm thinking the gunsmith [who's abilities seem suspect as he turned the gas tube lever all the way up to put it back together instead of down] might have put some adhesive or something there. I heated up the barrel and tube to get any hidden moisture off.

 

I'm thinking I need to try to meet someone who is good at being gentle yet firm than can help me in situations where my firearms are malfunctioning and stuff seems to need to be removed via precise but forceful measures.

 

On the bright side at least I don't have any of the classic "AK rattle". ^___^;;

[Sim_Player 1,939]

Oil between the trunnions and receiver, etc. and air-dry stripped parts.

 

My 2c.

[mscottrogers 56]

Its a Saiga not a nice Browning. I would be concerned about areas you cant see. Getting rain on it wont force water anywhere penetrating oil can't get to. Strip it down and clean your parts. Use a silicone water displacing protective spray on all those parts. Spray a good penetrating oil into the barrel/trunnion mating area and where the rear trunion meets the receiver. It will be fine. Deep breathe.

[YOT 3,743]

My father taught me gun care as a small child, one of the few things he did teach me. I think because he was too lazy to do it himself. LOL That's an entirely different subject. 

 

During hunting season, wipe it down with a dry rag,  let it warm to room temp and dry next to a heat source, then wipe it down with a lightly oiled rag to prepare for next outing. After your done with hunting tear it down and do a thorough cleaning and oil for storage.

 

Bottom line is neglect will do more harm than rain.

Edited December 3, 2015 by YOT

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

Mine has been fully submerged multiple times and I just shook the water out and field stripped, pulled the blanket weed/pond debris out of it, and let it dry. These weapons are far more resilient than you might imagine.

[JDeko 792]

Is WD-40 good for the water displacement substance? If not, suggestions please.

Also, good stuff to treat the wood with either before or after. I'm the only gun owner in my family so I don't have a person to ask face to face about such things. 

[YOT 3,743]

Gun oil, just gun oil.

[mscottrogers 56]

Wd is mostly fish oils. I use rem-oil pretty liberally. Its a good preservative. Not so good lube

[patriot 7,197]

It's an AK. Don't worry about it. IF it starts to malfunction, then squirt some (any) oil in it. Other than that, don't baby it.

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

I'm not a fan of WD or Rem. They can cause issues when a weapon is stored in a hard case and exposed to variance in temperature. The tighter the fit between parts the worse it is. Not a worry with a Saiga 12 though. CLP is fairly safe on anything as long as it doesn't have a rattle can job done with cheap paint.

[HB of CJ 1,263]

I also have dropped my nice side by side 12 gage in a creek.  We just took it down, shook it out the best we could and kept hunting.  Later we took it down and placed it beside the camp fire until all the warm steam stopped coming off it.  Just slightly too hot to hold tight.  Finger tips still OK. 

 

When we oiled up whatever we could get to and when we got back home had a gunsmith detail strip, clean and lube.  No damage.  The smith said he loves running creeks and streams.  Your Saiga?  It probably LOVED getting wet.  Now it wishes it could get HOT, DIRTY  and WET. 

[gunfun 3,931]

Is WD-40 good for the water displacement substance? If not, suggestions please.

Also, good stuff to treat the wood with either before or after. I'm the only gun owner in my family so I don't have a person to ask face to face about such things. 

 

Normal WD40 is mediocre but this version is actually pretty good according to a few fairly intensive tests I have read. It was on par with much more expensive products like frog lube.

 

WD-40 300038 Specialist Long Term Corrosion Inhibitor -- google it.

[G O B 3,516]

0W30 synthetic motor oil is just the best for wet guns. Wipe it everywhere and dry it off. Unless you bury your Saiga in a salt marsh for more that a few months, nothing else is necessary.

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

0W30 synthetic motor oil is just the best for wet guns. Wipe it everywhere and dry it off. Unless you bury your Saiga in a salt marsh for more that a few months, nothing else is necessary.

I had a vision of someone surfing with a slung Saiga 12 when I read that

[JDeko 792]

Or whatever is the Russian version of a Navy SEAL holding one as they rise silently out of the water

[SGL 530]

 

I had a vision of someone surfing with a slung Saiga 12 when I read that

 

[YOT 3,743]

 

 

I had a vision of someone surfing with a slung Saiga 12 when I read that

 

 

Pauly?!

 

I LOL'd big.

 

  

[HB of CJ 1,263]

Be careful with industrial strength heat guns.  They can get very very hot.  I think hair dryers would work fine.  Just plug it in the tree next to that aforementioned campfire.  I had a girl friend who actually was seriously looking for a plug to plug in her brought along electric hair dryer on our primitive camping back pack trip.  To this day I am not sure if she was jerking our chain or not.

[JDeko 792]

I used a hair drier to get the metal [and to a lesser degree wood] just hot enough to not be pleasant to hold, little cooler than a cardboard cup of coffee. That was after stripping and towel drying it. After a couple more hours I oiled and reassembled it. 

[G O B 3,516]

The reason I recomend 0W30 synthetic motor oil, is that it is made with addditives that will draw water out of the tiniest pores and recesses, like UNDER gas blocks and between trunions and recievers. Thicker oils will not penetrate there but thin ones can (capalliary action). The anti-scuff ingredients will slow any wear , but being an AK design that is no problem anyhow.

[SGL 530]

We're probably sailing off on a tangent here, but my main reason for paying the premium for Froglube is the non-toxic nature of it.
I think this crowd tends to handle their guns a lot and whatever you use for corrosion resistance will end up on your skin and then into your bloodstream.

 

This little choice probably won't make a big difference overall, but modern society is full of toxic chemicals and it's probably smart to take the opportunity to remove a few of these sources when it's reasonable to do so.  I know that there are mechanics that spend their lives with black motor oil soaked hands, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that cancer rates are higher for those guys.  Little things like this all add up, especially with all of the other questionable compounds we're exposed to on a daily basis.

[gunfun 3,931]

Frog lube is one of the few that actually has lived up to claims when tested. I don't use it, but I would. 0-50 synth seems reasonable too. In my very dusty area, a wet type lube becomes essentially valve grinding compound, so I oil it down with whatever the best is on hand, and wipe it dry. For the pistol slides I like Super Lube synth grease with teflon. It gets nasty with powder smoke, but it always wipes out easily and everything just glides. Same stuff for pocket knives too, but I prefer the runny oil version for that.

[SGL 530]

Frog lube is one of the few that actually has lived up to claims when tested.

 

It's worked great for me.  I'm over here on the wet side of the state and I frequently shoot in the rain.   I've never had any rust on any firearms that have been treated with Froglube, but I don't neglect them either.    The only issue I've had with it was when applying too much of it in the beginning.  If you do that and leave it to sit for multiple months, it tends to get a little sticky.   It's not tacky enough to slow down an AK or a Glock, but could potentially cause issues in more finicky firearms.   This can easily be remedied by heating the surface again which causes the lube to go right back to its original consistency.   Of course, if you wipe off all the excess like you're supposed to, this is a non-issue.

[G O B 3,516]

I stick with the basics. 0W30 works. A quart costs under $5 on sale and lasts forever.

If you MUST go upscale , then Gibbs oil or 50/50 0W30 and Marvel Mystery Oil is the 'good stuff'.

Gibbs oil is probably the best for dusty locations, but any thin oil wiped off well beats most products sold as "gun lube".

[Mullet Man 2,114]

I just use old skill "3 in 1". Hasn't failed me yet.

[sobrenegade 795]

 

I had a vision of someone surfing with a slung Saiga 12 when I read that

 

 

Paulie?