Sanitizing guns

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ChCx2744

ChCx2744

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This may be an odd question to most, but it had me pondering after reading a post about someone dropping thier gun into poop. Us gun owners handle and touch guns with our bare hands on a regular basis. Sometimes, we may even accidentally place or drop them into very dirty places. We all know that the human hand is one of the dirtiest, bacterial surfaces in existance. Over all the years of hand touching, have you ever thought about applying disinfectant sprays or wipes? Do you think this will damage the plastics, woods or metal alloys of the gun? Would you rather just leave it the way it is and wash your hands after each time you touch a gun? Am I just being a girly germaphobe? Jokes are welcome btw :D
 
"...a girly germaphobe..." Yep.
Disinfectant sprays or wipes won't bother the steel, but they might bother the finish on wood. Most of 'em are alcohol based. Alcohol isn't good for polyurethane.
 
I actually thought about it,

The only cooties on my gun are my cooties. I think that making some effort to toothbrush out the grime that builds up in places like the recesses between the grips and the frame is most of what you can do to keep it clean. Microbes don't stay long if there's nothing for them to grow in.
 
Bacteria needs (food, moisture, correct temperature and time) to reproduce...... But cleaning a weapon after being in the bowels of a latrine has to be at the bottom of my list of things to do!!!!!!

The Dove
 
I thought about this last fall after shooting a nice Tom. Carried him in one hand whilst the shottie was in the other. Due to his weight I changed hands every 100 yards or so on the way back to the truck. Once back at the truck, I noticed he had been scratchin' in fresh manure at some point before he was shot. This meant both my hands and my gun(besides his feet) were covered with cow poop. Since I always have anti-bacterial wipes in my hunting pack, I cleaned my hands before touching the steering wheel, but the gun I just wiped down and left outside in the below freezing temps to kill any bacteria. Funny, this spring after taking my first bird I noticed there was still a few dried remnants on the ribbed forearm. Talk about custom camo!
 
...but it had me pondering after reading a post about someone dropping thier gun into poop. ...
Click to expand...

If somehow your firearm were completely enveloped in c@-c@, I would strip it down as far as I competently can, then douse it with mineral spirits, followed by lightly lubricating per the manufacturer's directions.

Frankly I'd do the same if the weapon were dropped in a bucket of Chanel No. 5 :neener: .

To me guns are always dirty after use. Unless one was using the muzzle as an ice cream scooper, I'd be more concern about possible corrosion then any microbial or malodorous contamination. :p
 
Most STD's are not a threat after a short while because they desiccate (dry out) very quickly. That's partly why you don't get STD's from some nasty toilet seats.

Now, for something like E.coli, I would take off any wood/plastic and drop the metal into a bucket of alcohol. Leave it there for 45 minutes. Re-lube very well after.

Another option would be to disassemble, clean off all grease and crud, and expose to a UV light. This would stop any bacteria from replicating.

I stand ready to be corrected :)
 
So... washing my hands with Hoppe's #9 before eating won't kill all the germs on them???
 
...and some folks laugh when I suggest cleaning your pistols with 97% Isopropyl Alcohol ;)

The surface most likely to retain crud are checkered wood grips...wood is porous and much checkering isn't completely sealed (nor are the underside or screw holes of the panels). If you are concerned enough to wipe down a gun, you should minimally take off the grips before you do. If there was completely immersion, no matter for how short a period, it is detail strip and soaking in alcohol.

This reminds me of a class I took , for First Responders, in how to deal with biological contamination. The suggestion is that officers should use Glock pistols as their duty guns as it was less expensive to throw them away after :eek:
 
I don't worry about germs...that's for other's to be concerned with. I have bigger things on my mind.
 
MRSA can live up to 90 days on a surface, and people can be unwitting carriers. If there's an outbreak in your area, disinfecting might not be a bad idea - especially if, for whatever odd reason, someone else has been handling your weapon. Of course, if you're an unwitting carrier, you'd just re-infect it the next time you touched it, but that's a whole other problem you've got then.

I imagine a porta-john or something similar (gas station bathroom floor!) is just a breeding ground for it.
 
SPRAY IT WITH LYSOL THEN SOME BREAKFREE CLP, YA' BUNCHA BABIES.

If it was an issue weapon like the aforementioned port-a-potty model, that's a different story.
 
I work in a gun store. I also sell a lot of binoculars. It did not take very long looking at customers hands with open sores before I started carrying a small bottle of hand sanitizer. I have to wonder how many of the sores I was looking at contained something contagious.
 
I'll take my beating now for not initially taking this thread seriously.

/Rant
But, everyone should be washing their hands & face, etc after range sessions anyway. If not for germs, at least for lead, oils, lubricants, etc. This hobby of ours has many dangers. We wear hearing and eye protection for goodness' sake. Why? Because we think it's fun to hold a machine in our hands that is suppose to control and direct an explosion.

I don't know about you, but I know everyone who touches my firearms. We're talking about tools that cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand (not mine, I ain't that rich - just sayin). Anyone know a mechanic who lets his Snap On Torque wrench disappear into unknown hands?
/Rant Off

If I can't kill it, and Hoppe's can't kill it...
 
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I personally am going til wait until I drop my gun in poop before worrying about.

Before that I will mostly be in prevention mode and give poop a wide berth.
 
We had a guy in our unit go through the rotten plywood floor of one of the latrines out in one of the training area. Took a while to get him out, we were laughing so hard. Funny thing is, once he got out, the chief asks him "Where's your rifle", the guy looks back at the latrine and frowns. Chief had him go back in for the rifle.
 
Bleach good ole straight bleach kills most germs etc. Even diluted bleach works. I forget the proportions.

Now according to the first aid manuals in an emergency with nothing else available urine can be used to disinfect wounds. I sort of remember this from Boy Scouts and late learned again in other training.
 
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