Rifle Recovered from Fire. Safe to Shoot?

[haza12d]

I recently bought a house with a shed in the backyard that has fire damage. Upon cleaning out the half burned shed I recovered a rifle that looks partially burned. It doesn't look too bad but I was wondering if it would be safe to shoot.

Update:
The owner, the daughter of the person who the house belonged to, agreed to transfer the rifle to my name. We just have to figure out the process since the firearm was left to her in the will.

[Fjold]

The wood is charred so it got above 450 but it shouldn't have affected the metal as that would take 1100 degrees or so.

[michael0594]

We call that heat treated. That barrel should be sub-MOA now.

[Full Clip]

Just a little toasted. It's fine.

[haza12d]

The wood is charred so it got above 450 but it shouldn't have affected the metal as that would take 1100 degrees or so.

That's what I was thinking... I'm itching to take it out for a spin but I just don't want it to blow up on my face.

[Condorguns]

Looks OK to me. I would take it apart to check the springs and to clean the rust and soot out.

I have found most guns that still have their wood and plastic turn out to be fine except the finish damage. Now if you find one with the wood burnt off or mostly off....don't shoot that one.

[Peter.Steele]

I've had wood that looked worse than that just after ~400 rounds of full auto 7.62.

[haza12d]

Cool. Thanks for the responses. We'll see how things go Wednesday night... [emoji16]

[rob1105]

Take it to the range, clamp it in a vise, and pull trigger with a string.

[bsg]

looking forward to update.

[JohnnyMtn]

OP - that's quite a story and an awesome find. Any idea who had the house before you? I'm just curious.

If my house had a fire and I had to leave / move on, I for one would not be leaving any of my guns behind in the rubble. Any insight into what this person might have done?

[haza12d]

OP - that's quite a story and an awesome find. Any idea who had the house before you? I'm just curious.

If my house had a fire and I had to leave / move on, I for one would not be leaving any of my guns behind in the rubble. Any insight into what this person might have done?

The only thing I know is that the owner had passed away a few years ago. The family finally ended up selling the house last year.

[Jeff L]

What brand is it?

[haza12d]

What brand is it?

Finnbear L61R, 30-06

[as_rocketman]

You are right to be wary. Metal does not have to melt in order to become unsafe. It only has to reach its annealing temperature, which is in the low hundreds of degrees C.

Heat treatment tends to make steels harder, but also more brittle. Steels used in pressure chambers of any kinds, and barrels especially, need a specific mix of properties that differ from other applications.

Having said that, your example doesn't look too bad. You should clean under the stock carefully since pyrolyzed wood can be corrosive.