Dropped my gun in the river yesterday, but the water was only about two inches deep so I was just able to pick it back up. Have to clean it and sight it just in case. You guys ever dropped a gun in the river? As far as I can tell the top two way guns get lost is "theft" and "dropped in a river."

Also heard one story when a gun that was lost during an annual river rafting trip was recovered the next year. Weird luck on that.

I dropped a .22 rifle in... not a river but a crick once... just fished it out and used it to shoot the coon my dog had treed about 15 minutes later.

Flipped my kayak busting through ice checking beaver traps in a pit lake with very sharp drop off. lost a .22 rifle. 2 weeks later when the magnamt fishing magnet I ordered came and I had time I went back and recovered it in about 8 attempts with the magnet. The wood has swelled about 1/8" past the butt plate. I dried it off oiled it up Stainless model. And in a few weeks when I checked on it the stock had went back to normal.

Guns are mostly waterproof if you don't let them rust. In this particular case I absolutely filled the bolt with a bunch of grit and I don't want it getting all chewed up. Scope probably is fine but the range is close so it's easy to go check and it's another excuse to get to the range.

lol……..

Had a kid that worked for me and he and his buddy was sitting on the tailgate of his Toyota drinking beer and fishing on the side of a dam. He left it in low gear but the compression wasn't as good as he hoped and he felt it jump once and he jumped off and tried to get the door open and get it stopped but was too late. It went in the lake and since the door was open it completely sunk. He drained the motor and transmission but forgot about his dads Iver Johnson 22 stuck in the springs behind the seat for a few weeks. It was just one big glob of rust.

He sold the truck to a guy and the first hard freeze it wouldn't move. He had forgot to drain the rear end.

Lost mine in a boating accident once.

When I was a kid one of the spots we deer hunted required crossing below a dam on the concrete spillway. There was usually four to six inches of water flowing on the spillway.

After crossing, you had to climb up a rock wall on the other side. Well doing so my Ruger M 77 slipped off my shoulder and fell into the water of the spillway.

I had to take it back to Camp and dry it out and re-sight it before resuming the deer hunt.

WD40 stands for water displacement number 40. Works great for that. Dries up pretty quick, not the best for long term storage. When I clean black powder guns I use water then WD40, then rubbing alcohol then gun oil. Have not had one rust yet. If I dropped one in water I would first clean everything with WD40. Including a disassembled bolt/action. I doubt you would have any issues.

Lost a $1,000 shotgun in the river about 7 years ago while duck hunting.

When moose hunting out of a canoe, I always tied my rifle to the canoe with a dog leash .
I knew a guy that tipped his canoe and lost his rifle . He had to wait the whole week without his gun , until the float plane came to get him.
I also use a floating gun case , never had to try it out .

Was on a deer drive and dropped my shotgun in shallow water, later seen two deer standing next to each other so raised gun and pulled the trigger. Nothing happed, as I pondered what to do I wasn’t concentrating on my aim and the gun went off and the opposite deer went down.

I dropped a .22mag revolver in the river from a canoe. We were floating the river coon hunting all night. We had a pile in the canoe and ran into a few snags so both my brother and I were going to be late for work if we didn't hurry. Luckily it was near the bridge and I knew the gun was just out in front of a bank den. A few days later my brother went out to look for it with a borrowed metal detector and a rake. He put the rake under water to see if the detector was working. When he pulled the rake up he said the detector was still beeping. He put the rake back down and it "ticket" the gun. He raked it up and actually, stupidly, pulled the trigger and it fired! Whole thing took 10 minutes to find gun, less drive time.

It was a Saturday and he came to my work acting like he needed to know where I dropped it again, of course he already had it. I was mad as mad can get hollering that he knew where I dropped it ect. and he needed to get out there before the rain. He reached behind and pulled it from his belt. You coulda knocked me over with a feather!

Dang....nice shot

I've had my shotgun completely under water couple time while duck hunting. Poured water out of the barrel kept on hunting. Dropped my trapline revoler in the water shook the waĺter out put back in holster. I did Clean them up good when got home made sure they were dried
Oiled up good.
Im probably the odd guy out here because I have search for guns lost in boating accidents.
Not lost my guns in a boating accident.
I actually don't recall if I ever recovered the one lost in boating accidents?? I have recovered several hand guns that were stolen and tossed in river. Those weren't mine to worry about so not sure what was done with them.

Mac

Knew a guy that was duck hunting and dropped his shotgun in the water, he sloshed it around to clear the mud out and kept on shooting,, knowing him the clean was lackluster, but it kept working through the season....He used the same gun as a paddle once too....

Slipped on some slimy rocks once submerged my favorite .22 pistol I took it home pulled the grips off and soaked it with REM oil a few times no issues after that.

they clean up easier then sinking an outboard...lol

Long story short. My son and I were floating the Kalamazoo River waterfowl hunting when we tipped the canoe over. Lost my Remington 870 that I bought back in the '70's. I was devastated.
My son went to Harbor Freight and bought one of those super strong magnets. Next day he recovered the gun in no time. Had to do a complete tear-down to get all the crud out of it. Sure was glad to get that old
girl back! I think all we lost was his binoculars.

Wow a lot of stories. Guess it's the nature of being on the water that you lose heavy things easily. Cool that most people recovered their guns. Lost my wallet thanks to a flipped kayak last year but was able to swim out and find it with the help of a dive mask.