I carried my semi-auto pistol (Ruger LC-380) on a canoe camping trip today, and got 100% soaked by 2" rain in an hour, plus I had to jump out of the canoe into belly-deep water to pull it out at our take-out. Gun got 100% immersed.
So, apart from a normal cleaning, Is there some special maintenance I should do to properly care for my firearm? I’m fairly new at carrying and gun use. I’ve learned how to do a regular cleaning, but still a relative newbie.
Thanks!
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@Roger172 Welcome to our community, we are glad to have you with us. 
Use a blow dryer after stripping down and a coat of oil on all parts. Water is our enemy. 
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When I have anything that can prove water sensitive I always carry a small container and alcohol (no, not Jack Daniel’s). I keep it in the car for such emergency. I’ve forgotten and gone in for a swim with my hearing aids. Immediately flush with alcohol, it displaces the water and almost immediately evaporates. Remove batteries and the electronics are flushed. Same held true for cameras etc. that may be subject to rust if the water is not dealt with, and we all know some items have nooks and crannies that you can’t get in too dry. The alcohol has served me well over the years and saved me a lot of aggravation and money. The best part when you’re done you don’t have a nasty mess.
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Man the more stuff I own the more I’m learning that water is basically the enemy of everything lol
Also, welcome @Roger172 ! I actually had a similar question about the rain. Hasn’t happened yet but every time I’ve been out walking and it starts to look overcast I start to wonder lol
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Rain is not a big deal. As soon as possible field strip the gun, blow out or better yet use a hair drier to make sure it’s totally dry and re-lube as normal. If you are worried at all this is one of the VERY FEW time where WD-40 can be actually useful, not as a lubricant, it SUCKS for that, but for flushing out the internals of the gun. After all Water Displacement is actually in the name.
After flushing let the slide and frame, shake of all excess and them sit on a stack of paper towels for a day or so and make sure you clean up all excess WD-40. the re-lube using your oil or grease of choice.
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^ Compressed air and then WD 40 to get the water out. After that I would give it a good regular cleaning and lube.
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@Roger172 , welcome to the Community. 
All the methods mentioned will work. Try and make something a habit for you in case you need to remove the water from your gun again.
Patience and time are your friends.
Additionally to filed strip, I’d suggest extracting firing pin then clean and dry the channel.
Using 90% isopropyl, WD40 and compressed air makes everything super dry and clean.
Good luck.
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@Roger172 Welcome to the community! Hopefully you’ve learned from a lot of great input already given, just don’t lose you gun in a boating accident! 
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This has Got To Be one of THE BEST first posts I’ve seen on this here board.
Bravo Brother @Roger172, you hit this one out of the park, Oh, And Welcome to our Community.
I do the WD-40 thing but that’s only because that’s what I was taught as a kid. Coming back from duck hunting with wet, muddy shotguns. As soon as we got home it was WD and the furnace room where it was always warm, than, the next day total clean and shine…
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Hello and welcome to the forum. IMO, all of the above is good advice.
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I have worked outside for years. I build gardens and yes I get wet by rain , faulty underground sprinklers and sweat from hard work. As I carry tools for my position I created a garment/tool apron with waterproof pockets. Mostly for my shears as I tend to wear a corset holster that I added a waterproof backing.
No matter what I did my pistol still got wet.
In my vehicle I carry WD-40 which I use immediately. Upon arriving home I blow dry and clean my pistol every work day. I do carry an extra pistol in my vehicle ( in a safe) for my drive home from work.
Welcome to the community.
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I know you asked about the pistol, but I would either designate any ammo that was dunked underwater as range ammo only, or better yet, discard it. That means ammo that was in the pistol, as well as any spare magazines that went under as well.
The reality is the ammo “probably” wasn’t damaged, but, no pun intended, I wouldn’t risk my life on it. If it fires at the range - great, you got some practice with it. If it doesn’t, then it could of cost you your life. Also, in the doesn’t category, be very mindful of weak shots, i.e. , squibs. They can cause severe injury to you if you were to fire again with a blocked barrel.
What Is A Squib Load AKA Squib or Squib Round? | Tactical Hyve.
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Good point on swapping out the ammo. Also should probably disassemble and clean the mags as well.
I wouldn’t use that ammo in the self defense rotation any more but I would definitely take it to the range to see if it worked OK after the soaking.
I wouldn’t bet my life on ammo that had been soaked if I didn’t have to but I also wouldn’t want to bet my life on ammo that was prone to not working properly after getting wet.
This sounds like a great opportunity to test the ammo. Makes me think I should dunk a few rounds of my SD ammo to make sure they will still work ok after getting wet.
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Ya, just strip the gun & hit it with a blow dryer then let it sit out all night. You’ll be good to go
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I guess a me too dropped my edc ruger in the lake about 10 ft of water all good advice about the WD40 and air dry, ammo may be ok as manufacturing has come a long way from the old days,but just be safe and switch ammo
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Just shot up 400 rounds of minimags that got severely dunked. About 3’ under water. Had about 8 duds and a few underpowered. A good bit of 9mm also got dunked. Set it aside for the range but so far no duds. G17 and Keltec Sub2k I took down and cleaned with mineral spirits then sprayed with Hornady One Shot. Took all the mags apart too. Optic on the Sub2k survived. Cheap pair of binoculars did not. 1st aid kit got soaked. Car was totaled.
I backed the boat into the water and launched it. I was taking the boat to a dock when I look over and my wife has the car in the water. She does not know what happened. I think she shut off the engine while it was in gear and it rolled back. I have a major rule when launching. Drivers window down. An off duty fireman jumped in and got her out through the window. She was frozen at the wheel. Total panic. He had to talk her out. Tow truck driver had to go diving. Called a friend who came out with a truck and hooked onto the trailer. I loaded the boat and he drove us home. Very short boat ride. Next time I launch I am taking the key with me.
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Oh Dude?!? I hope your lady is OK.
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Thankfully your wife survived! Oh, and the ammo too! I am sorry for the loss of your tow vehicle.
I used to waterski a lot. We had a Ski Nautique I pulled with a manual transmission 2-wheel drive F150. My wife decided she wanted to chip in and help reduce my running back and forth between boat and truck at the ramp. We started out with her parking the truck with empty trailer after launching. Unlike your wife’s experience, ours was good. Instead of learning how to back the trailer, she wanted to try pulling the boat out of the water next - same skill set as pulling the empty trailer out.
Thankfully, it could have gone worse, but resulted in me being called a lot of off color names at high volume. It was at a very slippery ramp that ate multiple victims every year if the rear wheels of the tow vehicle got down to the slime line. I am in the truck “coaching” her. Left hand on the emergency brake release, left foot on the clutch, right foot on the accelerator. Feel the clutch start to catch, release e-brake and drive it up the ramp. All went well except the drive it up the ramp bit. She kept pushing the clutch back in as the e-brake released. The whole rig moved further and further down the ramp on each of the 4 attempts she made. The rear wheels were dangerously close to the slime line now, so I calmly told her to shut it down and let me take it from there. And that’s when the cursing began …
Edit: A long time later she decided she could drive the boat onto the trailer If I backed the trailer down. That didn’t go too well either. Maneuvering an inboard around docks is a whole lot different than holding a constant speed and a straight line thru the slalom course
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Manual shift is an art form. Done the heel toe too. Drove some non synchro 6x6 trucks you had to double clutch in the military. Probably all auto trans now. When my wife tried taking the boat off the trailer she destroyed a prop. My daughter is an ace and pretty much does it all. Son drove semis part time.
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This is a good subject to discuss. Alcohol is one way as other have discussed but then there is the sonic cleaner. Dismantle the gun and place it in the sonic cleaner. The solution you use would be whatever you use to clean the gun on a regular basis. I use a portion of simple green and water to clean it. Then I wipe it down and clean it and place it in my dehydrator that I use for drying my brass out when I am reloading. I know not everybody has a sonic cleaner but that is what works for me. Just remember that in the service of the United States Marine Corps weather or not your weapons get wet and dirty and maintenance is key to your success.
Thats my two cents anyway!
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