Guns and magnets.

Status
Not open for further replies.

SomeKid

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Messages
1,544
Location
FL
Yes it sounds odd, but this little bit of curiosity came to me a few days ago.

If a gun was left around magnets for a period of time, could it harm it? (Somehow pull some small piece away, or magnatize inner parts, thus interfering with normal functioning?)
 
I can't think of anything that a magnetic field could do that wouldn't be similar to excessive fouling. It's hard to get metal to take on a magnetic field unless it's red hot anyway.
 
There's a story making the rounds about an officer, armed with a Glock, who found that his pistol would not work after being in a room with an MRI running. Supposedly, the striker and spring froze as a result of being magnetized.

I don't know if the story is true. I did see a training blurb that warned about it and suggested that LEO's check their guns,

John
 
If the magnetic field was strong enough to magnetize the striker, it the attraction would have been strong enough to remove the gun from the holster, or at least pull the officer over to the magnet pretty fast.

Besides, didn't you know that Glocks are incapable of attraction? ;)


-James
 
I believe that there is some potential to magnitize the firing pin, reducing the speed at which it hits the primer.
 
If the firing pins and other mechanisms were magnetized, it would be an ever so slight flux density. It's not nearly enough to interfere with the mechanics. The spring(s) inside have a much greater force.

After a period of continuous firing, the repeated shock and heat will eventually wear away the magnetism on the parts in question.
 
There's a story making the rounds about an officer, armed with a Glock, who found that his pistol would not work after being in a room with an MRI running. Supposedly, the striker and spring froze as a result of being magnetized.
I call BS. If he was in the room with an MRI, then his gun would have probally killed someone as it was pulled into the MRI.

However it would have still fired and functioned fine when the MRI was turned off.
 
artherd said:
I call BS. If he was in the room with an MRI, then his gun would have probally killed someone as it was pulled into the MRI.

However it would have still fired and functioned fine when the MRI was turned off.

If someone was between the officer and the bore of the magnet then the gun could hit them. I don't know if it has enough mass to actually kill someone. There was a young boy killed by an O2 bottle that was taken into a MRI room by a transporter who should have known better.
Also you don't just turn off a MRI system. The magnet stays on all the time.
It is a very expensive and time consuming job to ramp the magnet down and back up.
I saw a bucket that was sucked into a MRI and it had to be removed with a rope and pulley system.
AC
 
Thanks for the replies, but I am seeing conflicting opinions about the firing pin, anybody know of any actual stories? When I first posted this I had the unpleasent thought that it was so far out it would be pure speculation.

Then again, it is possible to make metals that cannot be magnatized, right?

If anyone is curious, the idea of magnets has to do with a super gun safe idea I had. I am curious to see if it would be worth following. (In 20 years, when I have the money to actually try it out and go for $$$.)
 
If a gun were magnetized, it would constantly pick up little bits of mettle that could jam up the inner workings. Just keep a magnet in your pocket for a week and see what I mean.
 
Then again, it is possible to make metals that cannot be magnatized, right?
You could use a titanium firing pin, it seems like a silly thing to worry about though. As someone else pointed out the repeated impacts from firing the gun would demagnetize the pin pretty quickly.
 
I don't know if anyone else has this problem with theirs, but my 1911's frame is magnetized. Every time I detail strip, I have to get out a pair of pliers and a blowtorch:uhoh:. No, I don't, I just have problems getting my disconnector and sear to line up properly for the pin.

Edit to add: I have almost 900 rounds through her and not a problem one, but I also detail about every 200 rounds.
 
Luckily, I don't have my CCW yet. Rita put a hold on that, but I'm thinking about staying here in FL where I landed and getting my CCW once I have some time in the state. But by then I hope to have a lightweight snubby or maybe even "/strikes up scary music, duh-duh-dahh" a Glock:uhoh:.
 
I would call BS as well. The compressed gas cylinders I provide to the areas of the hospital have to be completely non-ferrous, to prevent then from launching acrross the room and (usually) striking the patient in the MRI. A few years ago locally a patient was being MRI'd while a steel 02 tank was in the room. The tank crossed the room striking and killing the patient. It never fails to amaze me the stuff that goes around the country as "advisories" like this. I think Snoopes need to get involved.
 
Sort of off on a tangent, but there is/was a "Magna-Trigger" conversion for several firearms available at one time, whereby the operator had to wear a magnetic trigger, that trigger then pulling a transfer-bar out of the way to allow use when it was held. Haven't seen anything on it in a long time, though.
 
"It's hard to get metal to take on a magnetic field unless it's red hot anyway."

Not really. I have a really nive mag/degauss tool I use for screwdrivers. A strong enough field can create residual, as can stroking iron over a magnet repeatedly. For bulk production it is cheaper to heat, impose a field, and then allow to cool in the field, but it is not required.
Heating of a magnet hot enough will demagnetize it in short order. The temperature is very specific, and a loss of magnetic attraction is one simple method of determining the metals temperature.
 
I could see where a REALLY strong magnetic field might rip some ferrous component out of a glock, but it wouldn't just "not work," rather, it would "be in pieces." Compare the energy delivered to the various parts of the gun between the MRI magnet and beating the gun on the table for a couple of minutes. If percussive maintenance doesn't tear up the innards, the MRI isn't likely to do so, either.
 
I imagine a strong magnetic field could disrupt a new "smart" gun, one that is supposed to recognize when it's being held by its owner. Wipe out some of the memory and you get a message on the gun's "heads-up display" -
Severe Error! Memory failure!
Bad guy still approaching.
<Retry>, <Ignore>, <Abort>

:evil:
 
JCM298 said:
There's a story making the rounds about an officer, armed with a Glock, who found that his pistol would not work after being in a room with an MRI running. Supposedly, the striker and spring froze as a result of being magnetized.

I don't know if the story is true. I did see a training blurb that warned about it and suggested that LEO's check their guns,

John

If it is true, could it be possible that it has that new electronic ignition system that they're trying to push down our throats?

Berek
 
"The tank, about the size of a fire extinguisher, became magnetized, then flew through the air at 20 to 30 feet per second and fractured the boy's skull."

No, the tank probably did not become "magnetized". It was simply attracted by the magnetic field of the MRI machine.
So much for the ability of a newspaper to understand the most simple of things.
 
I would think it is more likely that the magnetic field pulled one of the gun's internal parts out of alignment such that it would not easily right itself. At least that seems more plausible to me than magnetizing the gun.
 
One of these days, I am going to conduct a science experiment.

I will take various guns, Glocks, Kimbers etc, and place them around various magnets (of strength) for various amounts of time and see if it affects anything.

I figured by this day and age, someone would have already tried such an odd experiement on their gun.

Looks like I can go down in history...as the first guy who poked his guns with magnets.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top