My client sent me several guns which had been submerged for over a week in the overflow from the levee hence the long soak to remove salt/chemical intrusion into the wood. That stuff even dissolved some aluminum parts! Most chrome moly steel was pitted. Interestingly the rust blue on a custom I had built the year before fared pretty well except where a cloth cover touched the steel. After replacing the barrel (due to slight pitting in the bore), the rest of the rifle was salvaged and will be back hunting this fall.
