Pistols in hot vehicles

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intrepid953

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Old in age but young in experience with pistols. Does it hurt a semiautomatic pistol to be kept in a hot vehicle during these hot summer days? Sometimes I take along one of my pistols and leave it in the console during the day and my vehicle is out in the hot sun. Is this harmful to the pistol? I'm not concealed carry yet, so I don't carry it when I get out and when I'm at work I couldn't carry anyway, so it usually sits in the car all day. It's not in direct sunlight but still it does get hot. Thanks for all your input.
 
i wouldnt think that the temp's that it reaches in your car could do any actual damage to your pistol. it might be uncomfortable to handle, but that is pbly it. we have dozens of machine guns and rifles and probably a hundred thousand rounds of ammo in metal conex boxes here in country (in 120ish degree temp OUTSIDE and very, very warm inside) and it seems none the worse for wear (ammo or weapon). granted, you dont have an m2 in your trunk, but i think that it is probably the same principle.
 
For many years in the Texas sun, I've kept a couple pistols, a rifle and usually a box of ammo in my cars and truck 24/7 for as much as a year or two at a stretch.

Never had the least problem.
 
I have had one gun or another in my glove box for almost 25 years, never had a problem other than surface rust on some of the older ones with thinned bluing
 
Here in Indiana, it is illegal to keep a loaded handgun in your vehicle unless you have a handgun license. So if you get caught with it, it won't be the only thing that's hot.
 
I have kept a handgun and extra ammo in my truck for several years and only taken it out for cleaning and practice. I use another weapon for carry, there has never been any problems with either. My wife brings her handgun in from her car each day and leaves locked in her car while she is at work, at first this caused a problem with slight condensation on the pistol, going from a hot car to a air conditioned house each day (slight surface rust) so we switched her to a stainless handgun and have had no more problems. Just have to keep an eye on her ammo and keep it fresh.
 
My only problem even on an over 100degree day is leaving it in the vehicle unattended. You would be surprised at how fast someone can break ijnto your car and have a free gun to commit crimes with. Other than that it is fine in your car unless you live on the planet Mercury or Venus since it is hotter on Venus than Mercury. Here on earth is fine heat wise.
 
All the weaponry in Iraq & the Middle East are OK, daytime temperatures there can reach 140 degrees F, and no guns or ammo have been cooking-off. Also, if the steel and plastic of your car hasn't melted, your gun won't either. Lastly, the gasoline in your car will cook-off before the primer or propellant in the cartridges of your pistol will.

Theft and humidity are bigger problems for you.
 
A gun isn't made out of anything a car isn't made out of. The gun itself is fine in a hot vehicle. High temperatures can change the the chemical composition of the powder in your bullets though so rotate the ammo out fairly regularly.
 
I just saw mythbusters where they looked at the myth that people hid guns in their ovens, forgot about them and turned the ovens on. Ammo by itself didn't do much as when it cooked off the lighter shells flew farther than the bullet. In a gun, however, the projectile penetrated the oven. It seems like the average temp for cooking off ammo was around 500 degrees if I recall.
 
I once left a Springfield GI 1911 in my truck at work during the course of a triple-digit day here in North Texas, then went to the range after work. The gun was too hot to handle comfortably for awhile until it had a chance to cool off, but no other issues. The Pachmayr rubber grips were unaffected as well.
 
Thanks for the input. The security issue is something that I worry about also. Thought about putting it in the trunk but then you've got the trunk release so no safer really. Course I guess where ever I had it someone could break in and take it.
 
The only thing that I've ever "read" and yes, it was on the Internet is that polymer framed guns may be affected by UV rays (i.e. prolonged direct sunlight) over a period of several years. Again, this is Internet information so take it for what it's worth. As for cooking off rounds, while in the service we shot M-60's at the cyclic rate of fire and never observed a cook off so I highly doubt the temperature of a vehicle getting hot enough to cook off a round.
 
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