Woods scrambling with a long gun lately has raised some questions: how to keep a long gun secure, barrel free of debris, and ready to use in a reasonable time?

I am currently using a sling that does well when I am moving pretty much upright, but has been challenged when I crawl, or move through thick brush. I worry about the erratic and sometimes extreme movements of rock hopping, wading a slippery stream, or taking a fall. Is there something better than a ballon over the barrel to keep debris out?

Is there a best-in-class, better-mousetrap type of technology?

Would attaching the gun to a pack be a better idea?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Keeping the barrel free of water and debris, per U.S. Army Drill Sergeants, 1971, Ft. Jackson, S.C.:

"Cover the barrel end with a condom, and shoot right through it."

Tape. No need to remove unless you're worried about making holes in the tape.

There are several slings that carry the rifle cross chest but still shootable. I think they are great for hunting in the woods, but too much in the way for other purposes. In Alaska I often carry mine in a saddle scabbard or cutdown case behind the right pocket of my ruck (the pocket is there for skis, but I have used it for lots of other long things over the years). The lever is to the back and the rifle muzzle down. I can draw the rifle (a 16.5 inch Marlin 1895) over my shoulder without moving the pack. This is almost as fast as a sling and much easier on the shoulders and the rifle. It is as good as anything except muzzle down behind the left shoulder in brush which is the other way I carry. It will catch, but not as bad as most carry positions. It might be a problem in crawling. It could slide forward or out if you got your shoulders below your rear.

Good luck,

Jerry

ps +1 on the condom, it works as well as anything I have found except light plastic pipe caps, but they are hard to find to fit your rifle. Use the unlubricated ones!

To cover the barrel, I use finger cots. Much cheaper then condoms but not as versatile and should not be used in place of...

cover the entire weapon with a lady's nylon stocking.a semi-auto action can be worked and the hot brass will burn thru it.you want to tie it off at the muzzle to keep the knot off your shoulder.
try it with whatever gun you have,i would assume that a bolt action would work and the brass hot enough if you ejected it right off but i never tried anything but the semi.the Swiss made a pack with holes top and bottom to carry the K31 but they were open country so i have no idea how it might work in the brush.

My Grandad showed me to use a piece of electricians tape over
the bore. Make the piece long enough that after you shoot through
it you retape using the remaining strip.

It makes no difference to point of impact. Does a great job of
keeping dirt, snow and rain out.

debris in the barrel is more a mythical, than real, issue.


Condoms were used in Vietnam primarily because the early M-16 chambers would rust. A rusty chamber might be so bad that the extractor could rip the rim off the shell leaving ther shell cemented in place or, if the shell came out, the next one might bind on the rust and not set enough for the bolt to lock. Either case your weapon becomes a very inefficient club.

The A-1 version got a chromed barrel and bore, and aforward assist, and the problem became a non-issue. Early flash hiders, the tree-prong variety, were said to allow mud to block the bore enough to allow the pressure to get too high but it is hard to find a documanted case where this caused problems. It also joined the list of non-issues when the flash hider was changed during the A-1 rework to the present cylindrical unit.

There is just little real tendency for significant amounts of dirt to enter a bore if you are not stuffing it in manually or using your rifle as a crutch. On ewel known western had a guys weapon explode after he used it this way. Hollywood fiction.

The only real-world risk is that you might get a large amount of water down the bore. If you fill the bore with water and fail to empty it before shooting you could potentially cause an overpressure situation. Some experts claim that it is impossible becuase the water just gets pushed out ahead of the slug.

Very small bores might fail to drain even if held muzzle down, a soda straw has the same issue if you hold your thumb over the end, so it is widely recommended that you back the shell out of teh chamber to break any vacuum and the water to drain.

A related real-world issue is that a smaller amount of water might get down the bore and freeze. Carrying muzzle down to keep water out is a common practice. Lots of people go out in wet conditions that freezes up, and most of them are not counscientious about carry and clearing, and still the numbers of rifles exploding is very low.

I really think you're straining at gnats. Keep the muzzle out of the dirt, favor a muzzle-down orientation to keep water out, if there is any chance significant amounts of water have collected shake it out and back the shell out of the chamber to be sure. Do all that and clean it regularly and you won't have any problems.

I will note that early American hunters and explorers commonly carried their rifle in sleeve where water and dirt would stay off their rifle. Especially in wet weather they kept it there until they were ready to shoot. Removal took a few seconds but this wasn't considered a problem. Modern weapons, finishes, and oils are better at avoiding rust.

I've seen stainless truck guns that rattle around behind the seats for months, they get cleaned every year, and never see the inside of a sock or case. Almost without exception they shoot well enough. Firearms, assuming they are well designed, are pretty rugged.

check out a Viking Tactics (VTac) sling...is that what you are looking for?

Grandad had to replace this barrel. The man who owned it had mud in it when fired. Looks like a banana peel. Grandad said the action and the man were okay.