interesting cleaning thought

[mjbgalt]

so when i shoot....and am going to store my gun away a while....

i wipe it down after cleaning the bore...but i havent looked at the underside of the barrel or the action- the pieces covered by the stock.

these pieces might have gotten water or rust on em...but how do i do this? is once a year enough? because if i take the action off the stock i have to sight in again since the torque on the bolts can throw off the point of impact.

or is this a total non issue?

-Matt

[beemanbeme]

I think its kind of a non-issue but it really depends on what has happened to the rifle while you had it out.  If I've been hunting in the rain, the rifle is totally stripped and everything cleaned and wiped down.  If its been dry while I had it out, I clean the bore and wipe down all visible parts with an oil rag.  I store it in a gunny sack in a locker with a bowl of rice in the bottem.  
If I know I'm going to be hunting in rain or high humidity, I'll take the action out of the stock and coat all of the unseen portions with johnson's paste wax.  
As far as the rifle changing zero when the action is taken out of the stock and put back, I've never had one to change beyond "hunting accuracy".  But then, I would never take a rifle out of the locker and go hunting without firing some sighters.......just to be sure everything is okay.

[savageT]

so when i shoot....and am going to store my gun away a while....

i wipe it down after cleaning the bore...but i havent looked at the underside of the barrel or the action- the pieces covered by the stock.

these pieces might have gotten water or rust on em...but how do i do this? is once a year enough? because if i take the action off the stock i have to sight in again since the torque on the bolts can throw off the point of impact.

or is this a total non issue?

-Matt

If a rifle is properly bedded, it shouldn't matter about the action screw torque.  Get that paste wax slathered into every nook and cranny of that stock before hunting day, then sight it in.  After the hunt, it's your call whether or not you want to strip it down again, but I sure would!

Jim

[jvs]

I only use one gun in wet/snowy weather, a 35 rem lever action.   I own it about 35 years and have used it many times in wet weather.  The past 10 years or so the buttstock finish looked a little faded and flaked, so I decided to refinish all of the wood.  I often wondered how the magazine tube and barrel was going to look under the forearm since I never took the forearm off in all those years.  Surprisingly, theres wasnt a bad case of rust under the forearm.  In fact, that metal was probably in better shape than the exposed metal parts.  When I got back from hunting in wet weather I always dried and lightly oiled the rifle, then put it next to a heat source, to completely dry it out.  I had never removed the barrel band and forearm.  The tight fit, metal and wood finish and barrel band must have alot to do with what I found.  

I have always taken the forearm off my bolt actions when wet weather surprised me while out hunting, just to make sure I didn't end up with a bad case of rust.  I always had at least one back-up rifle ready to go out.  Sighting in the rifle after taking it apart is probably necessary, even if it's only one shot.  IMO.

[TennesseeNuc]

mjbgalt,
Whenever I get a new rifle, I take it out of the stock on it's initial cleaning.  Before I put it back together I wipe it down with a coat of RIG.  After that I don't feel the need to take it out unless I have been caught in a heavy downpour.  Even after a good wetting and drying out I have never found any rust.
Best,
TnNuc