Anyone Ever Drop Their AR-15 in the Snow While Hunting?

C

CowboyinIL

New member
Happened to me yesterday. I was setting my chair down and my AR-15 slipped off my shoulder and got snow in the tip of the barrel. Tried to blow out what I could of the snow and think I got it all out. Is it Okay to shoot the 5.56 AR after this while it is a little wet in the barrel and possibly a bit of snow? I thought it would be alright, but dang, I never want to take a chance with a weapon, so I thought I would ask for the boards advice / experience / knowledge on this matter.


Thanks

Cowboy
 
The moisture, you will be OK. But ANY snow, and I will not shoot it until I get a cleaning rod through it. It doesn't take much obstruction to raise pressures beyond max limits.
 
+1 on taking no chances with ANY barrel obstruction. Check out this video:

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do;jsessionid=B319A2F2FB78B8228B09841B3584C5DE?displayContent=192557&page=1
 
Last edited:
Someone needs to invent a shell to shoot with just enough powder and some sort of wad and sealent so IF this happens with snow or mud when shot it would blow it out of the barrel with no danger to rifle or shooter.

What say ya all?

DAB
 
Tuck a bore snake in your pocket. Tape the muzzle next time.

I think you might get problems if you had warmed the barrel with your body heat and then dipped it into snow to have some melt/freeze in the bore. Other than that, unless it is packed solid with snow, it should not be too big a deal.
 
Last edited:
I agree with Dogtired, Put a piece of electrical tape over the muzzle.

Remember, AR's were originally designed as battle rifles. I sure hope a little dirt and rain or snow doesn't hurt them. I've crawled through mud, creeks, and even swam with the M16A1 on my back. A little common sense clearing and cleaning goes a long way.
 
I grew up in Wyoming and started hunting over 40 years ago. Many times we would get snow in the barrels of our rifles or shotguns. We would hold the end of the barrel in our hands (pointing down) until the snow melted out then continue on.

Never - ever shoot an obstruction out of your barrel - including snow!
 
I use tape.If you don't,break the action and with barrel down run a boot lace or..???(anything handy-a weed is often enough)in far enough to loosen the obstruction while gently tapping the barrel.Never has failed me.
 
Last edited:
I try to always remember to put tape over the muzzle before I head out to hunt. Usually I'll keep a few inches of tape attached to the forearm for just that purpose.

I use either electrical tape, gaffers tape or duct tape. Keeps the crap out of the end of the barrel then you don't have to worry about it.
 
Yep, tape your barrel. Then wrap some around the bell of your scope. That way you have more to put on after all the shooting stops, and you start hiking to your next stand. Personally, I use electrical tape.

A boresnake is a good idea, ashoelace might work too, but DON'T start sticking foliage down the bore! My Dad did this on a boot pack-in hunt one time. Long story short, he ended up with bunch of pieces of twigs down his barrel, that were broken, overlapping, and stuck. It ruined an entire day for him, and he had to hike about 18 miles round trip from our camp, back to the rig, and back to camp. (He carries a cleaning rod in his pack every trip now!)
 
If the rifle has an A2 stock there are military cleaning kits available that fit in the butt stock. If it has a carbine telescoping stock you can get the Otis kit that fits in the pistol grip or carry a kit in your bag or pocket. It beats having to hike back to camp or car to clear the bore.
 
Hah. I did this too. Only my rifle barrel went down into the Gravel in a parking lot. I have an Ambush Firearms AR15 in 5.56 cal and it has a treaded barrel tip with a metal piece screwed over the threads to keep them protected. I have not had time to install the Advance Armament Corp Blackout Flash Hider thing as I still need to get a tool to mount is on the barrel property. ( I want to use a torque wrench to do this job).

Anyway I unscrewed the thread protector and made sure that there was nothing in the barrel. I did this at night and my eye glasses kept fogging up when I put my chin down to look at the rifle. I was wearing a Field and Steam Parka with the neck thing wrapped around my need up to my mouth. Added some Velcro to the flaps to help wrap them around my neck to keep the cold out. But they help funnel my breath towards my eyeglasses when it's really cold outside. I got some lens cloth that's suppose to prevent the eye glasses from fogging up and I'm going to try them or get another jacket to solve that problem

I have a Magpul Multi Mission Sling and the Magpul back plate Ambidextrous sling attachment along with the Sling attachment that connects to one on the front side Picatinny Rail Sections (3 of these 3" long Picatinny Rail Sections come with the rifle and can be added to the 12 Long free floating barrel shroud on the Ambush Firearms AR15's on about three different areas)

I was afraid that this would happen. I don't really like nor trust carrying my rifle with the barrel pointed down to the ground for this very reason. I prefer to carry the rifle over my back with a two point sling attachment system. With the MMS setup from Magpul you can do it either way. Either as a single sling setup or a double attachment setup.

You were smart to not shoot the gun until you made sure that the barrel was clear of any obstructions.

Originally Posted By: CowboyinILHappened to me yesterday. I was setting my chair down and my AR-15 slipped off my shoulder and got snow in the tip of the barrel. Tried to blow out what I could of the snow and think I got it all out. Is it Okay to shoot the 5.56 AR after this while it is a little wet in the barrel and possibly a bit of snow? I thought it would be alright, but dang, I never want to take a chance with a weapon, so I thought I would ask for the boards advice / experience / knowledge on this matter.


Thanks

Cowboy
 
Originally Posted By: Bushman269If the rifle has an A2 stock there are military cleaning kits available that fit in the butt stock. If it has a carbine telescoping stock you can get the Otis kit that fits in the pistol grip or carry a kit in your bag or pocket. It beats having to hike back to camp or car to clear the bore.

I have a small cleaning kit that I can put in a hunting vest but it's just more weight to carry on a stand. Right now I'm not able to carry everything I want because of a bad right elbow. I injured it a couple of weeks ago when I banged my elbow on the top of a stupid bird feeder that was sitting on the counter top below a overhead cabinet that I was reaching up and into to get something When I came down with the item out of the cabinet my right elbow hit the top of this wooden bird feeder that had an eye bolt screwed into the top. I hang it on a feeder pole and had brought in into the house to dry out and repack with some more round suet plugs. My elbow was sore for two weeks after doing that. I'm wrapping the elbow now to limit it's motion and applying hot and cold to it. I have a doctor's appointment to see what they can do to heal this injury faster.

I read that electromagnetic radiation energy can heat the underlying tissue and tendons and bone and promote healing faster. But they want %150 for a elbow wrap that uses Electromagnetic radiation around the elbow join.

I've got a bad case of tendonitis and it's painful as [beeep]. It hurts just to reach out and use or move my right arm. And we only have a month or more of coyote hunting season left. I was just getting geared up for this hunting stuff. And now this happens.

I'll figure this out and get my gear all setup to my liking. I know that the turkey hunting vest that I'm using is too small and I need a XXL size at least to wear over my heavy cloths for night hunting in the winter months.

I'm trying to pack about 25 lbs of equipment which includes at 10 lb AR15 with scope on it and another 13 lbs Magnum Caldwell DeadShot FieldPod and it's not working for me. ha ha. It's way to heavey and bulky and I can't see [beeep] at night when my eye glasses fog up in the cold dark. I can't walk ten feet until I get my eye glasses cleaned. I stuck some cleaning cloths in the vest for this purpose. One type has an antifogging solution on it and then I have some more antifogging tissues to use as a back up. But I need a bigger vest now. LOL

I'm new at this and am tying to figure out what I need to take an what I can leave in the truck when I walk to the stands.

I also found out that I'm getting too old to stand up on my feet for 6 hours and then go hunting in the cold at night with all this weight and my hard soled boots. My feet were stinging before I even went out hunting. I had been on my feet all day and then went to the shooting range to sight in my new Magpul Back up MBUS II sights. My Rockey Boots don't have a lot of padding in the bottom and they are hard on the bottom of my feet. I'm turning into a old man panzy I guess. When the air temps dropped down below 20 deg F and the winds picked up and it started to rain I packed it in around Midnight the other day. I went home and put on my Flex Pap mask and went to bed. Yea the doctor diagnosed me with Sever Sleep Apnea. So I have to wear this full face mask at night so that I don't stop breathing and have another heart attack. I'm not sure it's helping but it's not too bad. I just wish it had a humidifier on it. I wake up in the morning with a mouth so dry that I think I've been out in a desert all night long.

I've been diagnosed with cancer so I'm trying to get some fun in before the cancer gets too bad. Right now it's slow growing and no problem but you never know what will happen in the future. I've got heart disease and need to lose some weight which is why I took up hunting again. I needed an excuse to get out and get more exercise. And I like to hunt so I figured this would be a good excuse to get out and do some long walks. Right now I walk indoors at the big box shops to get back in shape. I still need to lose some weight and it's not easy to do when you feet hurt and your heart is damaged and not pumping good. But it's walk or get fatter and die so I'm out walking.

I've been on a diet for a while and lost weight but gained it back this winter since it got cold. So I need some better foot inserts for the boots. I had bad planter fasciitis tendons that were very painful a few months ago and could not walk much until I got that fixed up. I got some over the counter foot pads from Dr. Scholl's and they helped to heal my foot tendons, so now I can walk again without foot pain.

One year after my 4th heart attack and Open heart surgery (4X bypass and mitral value repair and MAZE Procedure)I was walking 3 miles a day, but had to stop due to my foot problem. So I'm glad that I got that fixed. Now ,I need to take care of my elbow and get the doctors to fix that problem for me. I'm wearing an elbow brace that takes pressure off the tendon where it attaches to the elbow bone. And that helps a little bit but it's going to take a while to heal the tears in my right tention where it attaches to the bone. It takes a long time to heal from this injury. I had this injury before back in 1997 and it took a few months of treatments from the Orthopecic doctor to get that healed up. It's come back again though. So this year maybe a bust as far as hunting coyotes. I can't even lift up my coffee cup without pain in my right elbow.

I figure I can hunt after the season is over if I get written permission from some land owners with coyote problems and my elbow heals up. Maybe some cattle ranchers will let me hunt the coyotes this spring when their cows are dropping their calves. I'm not giving up that's for sure.

I'm still going to try to get out and hunt even with the pain in my elbow. I'm tired of all this pain and crap. At least I can walk without pain again. I'd rather have elbow pain than foot pain in both feet like I had a few months ago. That was more of a problem to me than the heart disease or the cancer right now.
 
I know this is a 4 year old thread, but I've learned since then. A piece of weed whacker string, heat the end and knock it against something hard. It forms a ball. Pocke some holes in patches and send em through.
 


An office supply store sells these rubber sleeves that fit your finger.
They are like small rubbers/condoms. They go over the end of your barrel.
I first used them on my M14. My Dad used the on his M1 grand in WWII.
Tape is good too. When, I uses an AR I carry a full field kit/Otis.
Also a spam sandwich and hot coffee.
 
Why do you think the military always gave out condoms to front line troops in the battle zone??

This thread shows the real reason why and not what most people thought they were for.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top