Unusual new gun requirement

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Newton

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I live in Phoenix, and that means it's hot, very hot. This weekend will hit 109 degrees and the temperature is a long way from levelling out, we expect 115 soon.

Up until now, I have been keeping my trusty and 100% reliable Makarov in a nice convenient location in the car. It's backup to my carry gun, or a primary when I don't (or can't) carry.

Long story short, I went to check it the other day and burned my hand so bad it nearly blistered. It seriously felt as hot as a stove top, and would be impossible to shoot in an emergency.

Long story short, I need a cheap, reliable, polymer framed semi-auto that would live in the car, and won't burn my hand. I was thinking Kel-Tec P11, but the trigger sounds horrendous, or maybe a new Taurus Millenium, but now we're getting into the upper reaches of my available budget.

I know this is a weird one, but right now I only have the means of personal protection when the sun is down.
 
Ahhhh, Phoenix. How well I remember. We kept an oven mitt in the car so I wouldn't blister my hands on the steering wheel. Every time I hear someone complain about the weather in this part of the country, I think fondly of Phoenix and thank God that we escaped ...

Re a car gun in that climate, I wouldn't. Even though a polymer frame (probably) won't get hot enough to blister your hand, remember everything inside the gun is metal. Hot enough to cook off a round? I don't know, and wouldn't like to find out.

More to the point, a gun on your hip is accessible wherever you are, and not prone to getting stolen. The one in your car is not nearly as accessible, and not nearly as secure. Mama always taught me not to leave valuables in the car in the city if I could help it.

All that said, add a Kahr CW9 to your list of possibles.

pax
 
How about wrapping soemthing like the fabric tape used for tennis rackets, or some cord like that wrapped around the handle of knives, around the grip. Having a hot trigger shouldn't be a problem.
 
Problem solved.

Pure genius.
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Newton, I feel your pain(in Tucson) - I still have the remnants of a burn scar on my finger from touching my hot car gun 2 years ago.

Rudolf, a hot metal trigger is DEFINITELY a problem when it's 140+ degrees inside the car. Yes, cars get THAT hot here in AZ in summer...sometimes even HOTTER, depending on time of day and (lack of)shade. Maybe you won't feel it(like recoil) if you have to shoot in self defense...or maybe you'll just gut your way through it if you absolutely have to...or maybe the pain from the trigger blistering your finger will be enough to make you throw your shots wide. It is possible to become accustomed to recoil enough that you can muster the mental discipline to shoot straight despite it; you just can't practice enough to inure yourself to first-degree(or worse) burns(and if you could, you'd wind up causing permanent damage). Maybe a food preparer or server who routinely handles hot cooking implements and plates could operate a burning-hot gun, but I certainly couldn't. Both the frame and the trigger should be polymer to avoid burns.

Kel-Tec triggers may not be great, but they're not impossible either. I actually felt the Taurus Millenium trigger was worse on a .380 model I shot once. I went with my Glock 27 for car-gun duty after scorching my finger - if your budget will allow for a used Glock or Sigma, that would be the way to go. Also see if you can find a good deal on the Steyr M- or S- pistols, used to be you could get them for under $300 dealer from CDNN. Most everything else out there will have at least the trigger made of metal, or is too expensive.
 
I've never done this my self, but you might consider making a "thermal" pistol case. Get yourself a plastic pistol case with flat insides, a roll of aluminum tape (Lowes or Homeless Despot) and a roll of masking tape (2"). Cover the inside of the case with a layer of Aluminum tape, then a layer of masking tape. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Then reinsert the foam padding and add your Makarov. Test it. It should keep your pistol significantly cooler than the inside of your car.
 
Glocks still function when embedded in ice, so maybe get a Glock and leave it frozen in a cooler in the trunk. j/k

What do you do with the steering wheel? Isn't that too hot too?
 
I just don't leave a gun in a car. I carry mine, don't do much good in the car if you're in the store, now does it? Leaving a gun in a car is a good way to get a gun stolen, IMHO. If I can't carry the gun, then I don't leave it. Of course, I'm never in a car, always on a motorcycle, but that's beside the point.:D

Would a polymer gun melt in that oven???? It gets pretty stinkin' hot here in Texas, but it's the humidity that makes it uncomfortable. Rarely do we get 100 degree days, much less 115, just that it feels 115 when the humidity is 80%.

I like my P11. You might look at the PF9 when it becomes available. It's to have a much lighter trigger from what I've been reading, for the DA phobic. The P11 has a great trigger for a pocket carry gun, safe even if it requires some getting used to, but you could keep an SA in a car or a Glock "safe action". Glocks out of your price range???? You don't have to settle for a pocket sized gun if you got a Glock. A Glock 19 ain't a bad carry piece, either, sorta mid sized. Glocks work, Glocks are accurate. I don't have one for CCW because I just don't trust the safety of "safe action" for civilian carry. I'd rather have a REAL DA. But, that wouldn't matter in a car. Heck, I'd keep it condition three stored in a car. Heck, for a car only gun, why not a 10mm Glock? Then, you got some POWER with your fire power.
 
Re a car gun in that climate, I wouldn't. Even though a polymer frame (probably) won't get hot enough to blister your hand, remember everything inside the gun is metal. Hot enough to cook off a round? I don't know, and wouldn't like to find out.
Click to expand...

Everyone says this, but has anyone ever ACTUALLY had it happen? I seem to recall in a thread on that topic someone posted that the cookoff temperature of ammo is several hundred degrees. Much higher than the air temperature inside a car anywhere. Can anyone confirm or deny that?
 
Thanks for the responses.

As for the steering wheel question, I have one that is covered with shiny black leather and yes, it gets very very hot unless covered with a towel, or behind a reflective sun shade in the windshield. Ultimately, you just manage for the first mile until the AC begins to cool the interior.

The point about rounds "cooking off" is a good one, but I have personally never heard of it happening except in full auto guns and then only very rarely. The chamber of most guns can get a lot hotter after prolonged shooting than my car interior ever will, especially when I'm shooting out in the desert, and I have never known a round to cook off even under those extreme conditions.

Thanks for the gun suggestions, I'm adding the PF9 to the list of potentials.
 
My great uncle had a Beretta 92 in the late 80's that, in the panhandle of Florida, began cooking-off ammo. He drove a Volkswagen Rabbit pickup truck and had the pistol on the dash (in the country). The pistol became so hot it cooked off several times. I know this for a fact because I saw the bullet holes in the truck.

Ash
 
Newton:

I keep a handgun in a shady part of my pickup all day, every day. Metal frame 1911 or a sp101, one of the two. I live in phoenix.

Are you leaving your Mak in the sun? If it's in the sun, then it's visible in the open (which strikes me as askin' for it to be stolen).

My metal-framed guns do not get too hot to handle, sitting in my truck. Certainly not hot enough to cook off... I've shot them to the point where they are too hot to handle and kept shooting and never had a cook-off.
 
Arizona Summers

I live in AJ, I also carry a Makarov. I try never to leave it in my vehicle any longer than necessary. If you leave your Mak where the sun hits it, it will get too hot to handle as you know. I use a Coleman six-packer with a towel inside. I just put the Mak in the cooler and cover with the towel when leaving the vehicle. While driving I lay it on the seat or the console, If it's in the sun I cover it with the towel in such a way as to be able to uncover it if I'm concerned about it not being in plain sight, to conform with the law about being concealed.
 
My great uncle had a Beretta 92 in the late 80's that, in the panhandle of Florida, began cooking-off ammo. He drove a Volkswagen Rabbit pickup truck and had the pistol on the dash (in the country). The pistol became so hot it cooked off several times. I know this for a fact because I saw the bullet holes in the truck.
Click to expand...

OK, I would like more info about this.

Are you saying more than one round cooked off basically at once, or did he have this happen on multiple different occassions.

The reason I ask is that I can see how the round in the chamber could be a problem if it cooked off, as it would travel down the barrell and have the usual velocity, but if other rounds in the magazine cooked off, they would have no barrel, and surely would not have enough energy to penetrate the magazine, gun frame, and then the truck chasis, would they?
 
Yeah, I'll take the rain up here over that any day.

If the Walther is a little out of the price range, I'm thinking Kel-tec.
 
I have experienced a similar problem in Texas... the only thing that helps me is putting my little car safe underneath a seat or something else, so that it's not getting directly blasted.

And a polymer gun will still get pretty darn hot (the slide will burn you) but you can actually handle the polymer without burning yourself.
 
I keep my Glock 23 in my center console when I cant bring it where I go. The slide gets insanely hot but the frame isnt to bad to handle.

I keep a M38 Mossin in the trunk of my car and never had a cook off.
 
I would think of something like this

aluminum block big enough that can hold a gun under car seat either use passive heatsink fins or have pathway machined for water cooling. simple 2 pipes would be needed to run water to radiator with fan could use a couple of those solar kits 1 for fan the other for water pump.

gun inside the aluminum block shouldnt get very hot.

it wouldnt take much to build but price could hit $100 easily. look at the water cool kits of PC's.
 
The gun isn't in the sun, it's well concealed but still gets molten, that's Phoenix.

Dreamer - be safe out there in Apache Junction, that's one scary place.
 
Newton, I've never had a problem with a weapon getting too hot to handle using the cooler, but then I never leave it in the vehicle any longer than necessary. AJ isn't all that scary, we've become civilized over the last few years. I sure do miss the old days, it was lots of fun. "Jake's" is still a nice place for a cold beer on a hot day. :)
 
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