Protecting your firearm in the field

[HandgunHunter]

Rifle hunter problems….

I just put it in the chest holster….

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Do you keep it on the gun at all times, or do you take it off only when hunting?

Depends a bit on the type of hunting, but stalking or still hunting aside it stays on the entire time.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Strip that urethane and do it in a good oil finish. Don't bother building it up to a glossy finish. It just gets scratched up. Use enough coats to fill the grain but take each one back down to wood with fine steel wool. Leave it in that smooth flat appearance. It's always easy to touch up with oil at the end of the day or season.

 

[375H&H]

Rifle hunter problems….

I just put it in the chest holster….

How do you keep your handguns nice? The instant I touch mine dings/scratches show up. I know how to remove them but literally a revolver will stay pristine for about 2 seconds after you buy it. Holster wear, cleaning, opening the cylinder and many other things affect them unlike a rifle so I am all ears! Perhaps they just get more scrutiny due to being smaller than a rifle.

Also does your chest holster fully protect the handgun? I have a kenai chest holster but would like a little more covering for my hunting handguns (super Blackhawk and super redhawk). Thoughts?

 

[HandgunHunter]

How do you keep your handguns nice? The instant I touch mine dings/scratches show up. I know how to remove them but literally a revolver will stay pristine for about 2 seconds after you buy it. Holster wear, cleaning, opening the cylinder and many other things affect them unlike a rifle so I am all ears! Perhaps they just get more scrutiny due to being smaller than a rifle.

Also does your chest holster fully protect the handgun? I have a kenai chest holster but would like a little more covering for my hunting handguns (super Blackhawk and super redhawk). Thoughts?

Properly molded leather will show minimal finish wear.

I don’t think any of my hunting handguns have any dings/dents and I pack them in constantly.

You will always get some form of cyl rotation marks somewhere. Even on the most perfectly tuned guns…..that’s normal.

If you are marking up a gun cleaning it you are doing it wrong.

 

[fmnjr]

How do you keep your handguns nice? The instant I touch mine dings/scratches show up. I know how to remove them but literally a revolver will stay pristine for about 2 seconds after you buy it. Holster wear, cleaning, opening the cylinder and many other things affect them unlike a rifle so I am all ears! Perhaps they just get more scrutiny due to being smaller than a rifle.

Also does your chest holster fully protect the handgun? I have a kenai chest holster but would like a little more covering for my hunting handguns (super Blackhawk and super redhawk). Thoughts?

Prints and stuff on guns never bothered me. Not so with others. Friend brought a weapon to work for show and tell (everyone in the office was gun nuts so NBD). Hands me the gun and I promptly grab it shooting style and begin work the action and so on. Another person looking on says "now look what you've done, gone and got prints and marks all over it!" I didn't know what to say I was so flabbergasted. What the hell are you supposed to do with a gun, sit there and look at it?! Carry on.

 

[fmnjr]

Strip that urethane and do it in a good oil finish. Don't bother building it up to a glossy finish. It just gets scratched up. Use enough coats to fill the grain but take each one back down to wood with fine steel wool. Leave it in that smooth flat appearance. It's always easy to touch up with oil at the end of the day or season.

If I do that, then what will protect it from the burning diaper fumes eating up the stock? LOL.

 

[fmnjr]

Depends a bit on the type of hunting, but stalking or still hunting aside it stays on the entire time.

I like it, that might take care of my OCD about keeping guns looking nice.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Prints and stuff on guns never bothered me. Not so with others. Friend brought a weapon to work for show and tell (everyone in the office was gun nuts so NBD). Hands me the gun and I promptly grab it shooting style and begin work the action and so on. Another person looking on says "now look what you've done, gone and got prints and marks all over it!" I didn't know what to say I was so flabbergasted. What the hell are you supposed to do with a gun, sit there and look at it?! Carry on.

Guys with fancy guns at the trap club always wear "shooting gloves" to protect the finish of wood and metal. Some of the guys with cheap Turkish O/Us wear gloves too. Looking fancy is just as important I guess.

 

[375H&H]

Properly molded leather will show minimal finish wear.

I don’t think any of my hunting handguns have any dings/dents and I pack them in constantly.

You will always get some form of cyl rotation marks somewhere. Even on the most perfectly tuned guns…..that’s normal.

If you are marking up a gun cleaning it you are doing it wrong.

Leather is a bummer when it comes to moisture though. It retains it and doesn’t let the gun breathe aside from the finish/muzzle wear. I went away from it for those reasons.

Mostly surface scratches but some dings. Again not sure where they come from but there are more sharp edges on a revolver vs a rifle and those are much harder to keep pristine.

I baby my guns and every time I look closely at one of my revolvers I find another mark on it. Must be the extra scrutiny due to size.

 

[HandgunHunter]

Leather is a bummer when it comes to moisture though. It retains it and doesn’t let the gun breathe aside from the finish/muzzle wear. I went away from it for those reasons.

Mostly surface scratches but some dings. Again not sure where they come from but there are more sharp edges on a revolver vs a rifle and those are much harder to keep pristine.

I baby my guns and every time I look closely at one of my revolvers I find another mark on it. Must be the extra scrutiny due to size.

You just have to maintain the leather and seal it… haven’t had a problem over the years hunting is snow and rain.

 

[MT_Chad]

Depends a bit on the type of hunting, but stalking or still hunting aside it stays on the entire time.

I use a gun slicker cover similar to the solo hunter cover and keep mine covered if the weather is even remotely bad similar to @wllm.

 

[Yaremkiv]

I do wrap the scope with hockey tape. Also I pull one of those waterproof bungeed rifle covers over the gun in a downpour. A good practice, as strange as it may seem, is keeping your rifle out of the hot tent during cold weather hunts. Bringing it inside will cause it to condense moisture which will freeze fast once back outside, for semi-automatic guns this might even be dangerous.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I do wrap the scope with hockey tape. Also I pull one of those waterproof bungeed rifle covers over the gun in a downpour. A good practice, as strange as it may seem, is keeping your rifle out of the hot tent during cold weather hunts. Bringing it inside will cause it to condense moisture which will freeze fast once back outside, for semi-automatic guns this might even be dangerous.

An insulated soft case is useful in very cold situations. It helps slow down the warmup and reduces condensation. Still have to clean and oil at the end of the day but less slobber to deal with. Or turn the vehicle heater on the bare gun full blast if a long drive is ahead at the end of a wet/frozen hunt. The cold gun may sweat a bit but the heater should get the gun hot enough fast enough to evaporate all the moisture before it can start rusting. Don't put a wet gun in a case ... unless required by law (like up here after dark).

 

[Nicoli7153]

I use a solo hunter rifle cover 10/10 would recommend.

Yes I like them too. Had a big went snow come down while hunting in Colorado, was afraid the action would get wet and freeze, realized that a good lightweight cover was going to be a good thing to keep in the pack

 

[ImBillT]

Stainless, synthetic, scope caps and tape over the muzzle.

Cleaning kit back at the truck for disasters.

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

Common Sense and Renaissance Gun Wax.