It’s Cold Out There

dh1633pm

Contributing Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
5,633
Location
Central New York
Left my HK45 in the truck when I was taking a Rifle to be shipped to @LoonWulf. After some hours in the truck both warms and cold (15 outside with and and not a C) It got a little wet. Like every thing including my glasses, condensation can cause rust and other issues. Something to consider when transporting in the cold. Anyone else have this issue? Warm climbs, don’t brag. You never know.

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Yes it is and snowy. Where were you putting it? If a heat vent is blowing on it then cooling down I think that would add to the temp swing and condensation. I've kept long guns in a black nylon padded case under the rear seats in our SUVs and never had that. Not sure where you are but Syracuse got 16" (not bad) Camden only 30ish miles NE got 65".
 
Camden always gets more. Tug Hill more yet. Rome got it good as well. I live closer to Syracuse. It’s that warming and cooling, especially when your floor mats are wet that makes things get wet.
 
Every time i return from shooting in the cold to the house, immediately take rifle/pistol from case, open action and let sit. Any cartridges in a container get the container left open. My carry pistol rarely gets left in vehicle, but everyone has differing circumstances.
 
Correct. Other things don’t always fare so well. Richtig. Anderen Dingen geht es nicht immer so gut!
 
It gets cold enough here to make us semi desert rats shiver and shake and condensation can be a problem even with our normal low humidity. After shooting in our colder weather I always cleaned my guns immediately upon returning home to prevent any rust. Now I just stay at home when it's that cold. I won't rust but my old bones sure do ache after getting cold.

During our extremely long mask wearing covid period everyone's glasses fogged up even when it wasn't really cold. I was still wearing progressive bifocals then and was not a good citizen as I would pull my mask down around my neck.
 
Lived in Albuquerque from 1990 to 1993. I remember it getting cold. Not as cold as NY, but cold nevertheless. Condensation is always a problem when working out in the cold and then going to warm. Masks were a pain and NY did its best to cling to the worthless. Saturday my glasses were all fogged up when I was plowing outside. I took them off.
 
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If my gun is not on me in the truck or car it’s in a padded gun rug. If I bring it in from the cold I leave it in the rug for a few hours so the gun temp slowly comes to room temperature. This seems to work for me.
 
We had a couple of snowflakes Monday, were melted before or as they hit the ground. Cold for here though. Dry cold yesterday with no wind, it was nice.

I always lay my handguns out when I get them back inside to acclimate to the inside temp, then wipe them down with a rag with RIG grease on them before I put them away.

Bringing them into air conditioning when it's 96 degrees outside does the same thing, instant condensation, and of course if they are still cool by the time I get them out at the 96 degree range, oof, instant wet. Heh. :)
 
Lived in Alabama 1978 to 1986. I remember winters having some pretty cold weather. Just less of it. Of course here everything keeps running after it snows. I remember being unable to go too many places for a week one winter. AC and Heat can have the same effect. Something we have to deal with. Snowing again today. Started last week.
 
Muzzleloader (empty) and rifle rode home in the back of an 11 degree pickup Sunday. They got set where they could acclimate and got a wipe down.
 
I spent most of my enlistment in cold weather Army units. We had specific cold weather lube that was rated for -40F and we tested that limit on several occasions. When a firearm cannot be cleaned in a timely manner it is to be kept cold on purpose. When time for cleaning the procedure was to gently warm it in a tent (or sleeping bag at least) clean it, then gradually cool it back down if possible. I now do a similar process going from hot outside to cool inside while residing in the death, soupy south.
 
Keeping it cased helps protect against temp changes. When I bring my guns in from the cold I leave them in the case overnight to keep them dry. But i don't leave them there, I make sure they dry up near heat if needed.
 
Wipe it dry and sleep well. The HK "Hostile Environment" finish is one of the toughest out there. A little moisture won't make a dent. And neither will a glass of rain water.

I tried this little, unscientific experiment on my Glock 43X. As it's known, Glock went with a new finish on their Gen 5 pistols, called nDLC (Nitride Diamondlike Coating). There are countless online comments, videos, posts, etc., bashing it, as it seems to wear out where the slide touches the holster. Mine was no exception, and after a while you could see some "bare metal" spots, as shown below.



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So, I decided to "stress test" those spots in one of the most hostile environments there are...at driving distance, that is: Salt Water fom the Atlantic Ocean, collected in a plastic bottle.



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And, on with the experiment ...


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Gotta make sure she got wet ...

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Really wet ...


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And to a drawer she went, for 48 hours. I ended the "torture", wiped it dry and it looked like this... (There was a tiny brown spot where the slide touches the frame, but I lost that picture). Anyhow, you get the idea.


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Your HK45 slide stop will turn "redish" at some point. Don't lose sleep over it; that red color finish is the real deal. Keep shooting it... :cool:



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I pretty much keep my Blackhawk on my person, and it never gets cold IWB. If I do have to leave it in the car, it warms back up in no time when I reholster. It has a bit of wear and some minor rust from sweating through the summers.
 
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@InTheSwamp, thanks for the information. The HK was what I had in the truck last Sunday. Its the same things when I carry the P227. I carry one or the other. Lots of practice with them over the last year. I let them dry on the counter in the kitchen when I get home and put them away after they are dry. The kitchen is warmer because the next room has a pellet stove running. If I am out and about on my property, then I also have the GSR, its perfect for 4-wheel carry or just strap it on. I had it last weekend, to carry. I was going to put up a another security camera where I saw foot prints the week before that weren't mine. Snow helps with that. I couldn't get my truck in because the road is seasonal, and the plows made a pile I couldn't go over or around. I'll try again this week.

As for Cold Weather, my Rossi 92 will not shoot when its below zero. Tested it more than once. No is no excess oil around the hammer and such. In fact it is very lightly oiled if at all. Seems the cold doesn't allow the spring to have enough power to hit the primer good. Something to keep in mind Rossi owners.
 
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That's a constant battle here with the condensation. One of my hunting rifles is one of the cheaper 700's in 243 wal mart used to sell. They have the same low quality matte finish as the 870 express shotguns, so they are a magnet for condensation and rust. Because of this, during hunting season I keep a can of ballistol in my truck to spray my guns down before I case them up just to prevent rust.
 
I live on the southwestern tip end of the south plains. A GPS shows 3964' to be the elevation at my home. 7-8 % humidity is quite common here but in the '60's I went to applying paste wax to the finish on my guns because of light rust forming between uses. Blued finishes were all that was to be had then and an oil wipe didn't quite get the job done. Rust preventative finishes have come a long since then although I haven't seen one yet that matches a high polished blue in looks. Still it's nice to have a gun that need little to nothing to protect it's exterior. I have no idea of what care it takes in high humidity areas and have no interest in finding out. High humidity is a killer for we semi-desert rat types.

We do get some humidity though. It is currently below freezing with a film of ice on everything.
 
I agree. And your rifle may have different results than mine. Can't let a little minus temperature keep you from shooting.
Wouldn't have checked it before reading your post. Never had a temperature related issue with my firearms, but I haven't tried using them all when it is really cold. A couple of revolvers, and a bolt action rifle or two made me think it wouldn't be an issue for any of them.

Left the 92 in the cold for a while, and had a good reason to shoot when it was 16. I got to try out a revolver too.
 
If my gun is not on me in the truck or car it’s in a padded gun rug. If I bring it in from the cold I leave it in the rug for a few hours so the gun temp slowly comes to room temperature. This seems to work for me.
I do the same, seems better to let the firearm warm up slowly.
 
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