Several years ago, my brother-in-law started to hunt with me. His budget was tight so I gave him a near-mint commercial 98 Mauser 30-06 with an old but sound steel-tube Weaver K-4 in Weaver rings and bases. He hunted with it several times but never killed anything with it. We went to the range together several times, and every time I saw the rifle, it was in perfect condition.

This afternoon, he was crossing Bellingham Bay in a boat that was towing a dinghy. Their rifle cases were in the dinghy when his case bounced out and sank in about 300 feet of very cold saltwater.

I like to think that if I had been with them, they would have kept the rifles in the main boat or at least tied the cases to the dinghy. I'm supposed to join them tomorrow, and I almost gave them my rifle to take across...

I'm buying a floating case this afternoon.

Okie John

Okie John, buy a "Gun Boat", it is like a dry bag for Kayaking. I got mine in Fairbanks in 98 and I beleive they are made there. Inflate them with air before you seal the top and they will float.

I think that they would be very poplar in Canada where I understand a lot of rifles were lost that way just before registration.

Mr. Worthing--where can I find more information on the Gun Boat?

Thanks, Okie John.

John,
You are in luck. First because I was able to find mine and secondly because it has a little tag inside that has the address of the company. these are made of heavy material, much like that of good rubber rafts. It is big and you can put a zippered gun case inside it. This case offers no protection other than moisture.

the tag says

Recreational Specialties Inc.
1400 Golden View Drive
Anchorage AK 99516

Good luck

John,
I did a search on the net for that company and can not find it. I thought that Cabelas used to sell them but I can not find them there either. I did ,however, on page 528 of the Fall catalog, find a waterproof floating gun case by Kplpin, it is $44.95. Same principle from what I can see.

Looked a bit further, there are several on the next page. One with Cabelas name on it ($29.99) and one from MadDog (29.99)

[ 10-18-2002, 21:48: Message edited by: Customstox ]

I hate to state the obvious, but if you tie any case to the dinghy or boat it will still be there. Almost all boats have flotation preventing them from sinking completely.

Point is, unless you are going to be doing this often, a 10 cent piece of rope will provide the same amount of protection against loss.

Okie,

I believe the Gun Boat company is out of business, or no longer making these cases. Can't imagine why though, as I love mine.

There is a simular product in our local gunstore, I'll stop by and see who makes them. They cost about $37.00.

I always use a softcase inside my Gun Boat, because there is no other protection provided for bumps and bangs.

Other cases, which are not completely waterproof, will eventually get some saltwater inside them. Storing a blued rifle in one of those for more than a few hours is a great way to get a jump start on a new 'rust blueing' finish.

Gatorado,
Good point but a lot of mishaps at least at my clumbsy hands occur as I am loading things on or out of my boat. The new ones in cabelas are an improvement over mine as they have a foam lining and are basically a regular case but they do have the advantage of floating. I used mine on a 950 mile boat trip on the Tannana, Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers in 98. And no, I never dropped it but if I had getting out of the boat in 20 feet of water, it would likely still be there.

Thanks for your replies. BW, I'll look for that information. Thanks, Okie John.