Temperature and Humidity

[Beretta Dave]

Temperature and Humidity
We live in the land of extreme weather. My employer does not allow guns so I must keep it locked in the car while at work. In the winter my carry gun can see -20F while in the car and then 70F when carried into a building. My concern is what these twice per day temperature and humidity swings do to my gun and ammo, and what I can do to minimize the effects. Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

[usnret]

I think that you are concerned about a non problem. Just look at all of the temperature changes LEO's firearms go through in a day.

[Greg]

Make sure it's a stainless steel (or, horrors, mostly plastic) gun, and swap out your ammo fairly often!

[dsm2nr]

I wouldn't worry about the gun itself. I'm not sure about the ammo heat cycling, but I can only imagine cold and dry is good for it.

[Squib Joe]

Cold metal can develop a layer of frost, and when the frost thaws you'll have moisture on your gun. It isn't a big issue if you keep a light coat of oil on your firearm.

[usnret]

Make sure it's a stainless steel (or, horrors, mostly plastic) gun, and swap out your ammo fairly often!

And this is based on what?

[photogpat]

Most modern, quality ammunition (not imported steel cased or bargain brands) is moisture sealed at the primer and case mouth. They're essentially immune to moisture (essentially, not completely...). Temperatures on the low end won't hurt anything powder or primer-wise, but on the high temp end can degrade powder over time. Those with a "truck-gun" may want to swap out the loads periodically for fresh, especially after the summer months.

[Greg]

Make sure it's a stainless steel (or, horrors, mostly plastic) gun, and swap out your ammo fairly often!

And this is based on what?

Caution and common sense! It can't hurt and it costs little.

[Beretta Dave]

Thanks for the input.

I guess I just keep doing what I’m doing. I always shoot up what I have loaded in my carry gun whenever I go to the club, and reload with fresh. And I always finish my cleaning with a wipe of a very lightly oiled rag.

I guess I just get a little paranoid when I see how badly my glasses fog up when I come in from the cold, and I think about my carry gun kind of doing the same thing.

Thanks again.