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Reader Chris McClure of Michigan – where it does get cold and snowy – sent me this e-mail. Rather than rewrite it and claim it as my own, I’ll post his note here:

“Recently Phil Bourjaily wrote about emergency gun repair in the field. All good stuff, but I thought it might be of interest to somebody that you can avoid having to flush out a plugged barrel by simply putting a piece of rubberized electrical tape, duct tape or something similar over the end of the barrel before leaving the truck. _

I have done it for years and can attest to the fact that it doesn’t bother a slug exiting my Remington 870 en route to its target and it has stopped a plug from forming on a couple of occasions while I was either falling flat on my face on a hillside or groveling around in the mud looking for a trail. Also, wrap some spare tape around the barrel and take replacement pieces from that stash as needed. Maybe not a new idea, in fact I might have gotten it out of your magazine some years ago, but it works very well.”_

That is good advice, and I like the idea of wrapping spare tape around the barrel, too, although I think you would want to remove it between hunts so you didn’t trap moisture underneath and create a rust spot.

Thank you, Chris, and we’ll be sending you a copy of the Total Gun Manual. And, we’ll do the same from time to time if anyone sends in a good tip to fsgunnuts@gmail.com