Gun in the Car Summer Heat

[libby09]

My wife ask me if it is safe to leave her gun in the car /we both have car lock box's cable to the seat, in the summer heat live in NE Fl and temps last year hit 110 +

So any one have a fear of this?
this is just during work hrs or when not able to Carry by law.

Thanks all

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[archer51]

There's no problem with leaving a gun in the summer heat, other than burning yourself on it. You don't say what make guns they are, but a steel or ally framed weapon will withstand more heat than the sun generates inside your vehicle. The polymers used in modern weapons will also withstand the heat. Temperatures do not get high enough, even in a closed up car, in the summer to cause ammo to cook off either.

[gasmitty]

My wife ask me if it is safe to leave her gun in the car /we both have car lock box's cable to the seat, in the summer heat live in NE Fl and temps last year hit 110 +

So any one have a fear of this?
this is just during work hrs or when not able to Carry by law.

Thanks all

No problem here in the AZ desert. Temps inside the car easily reach 140F.

[harley2007]

I keep mine in truck in Florida no problem...think about it, they ship this stuff in trucks and use non air conditioned warehouses...

[JohnLeVick]

We often get to 100+ here in the summer, and I have guns and ammo in my vehicle ALL the time. I use a reflective dash protector in the windshield, and usually crack the side windows a bit, but it still gets mighty hot. I used to worry about it, and I try to shoot up whatever was in my pickup every fall, but don't always get it done.

The only vehicle-related ammo problem I've ever had was a result of extended vibration, I believe, not heat. I had a Glock 23, loaded with Cor-Bon 135gr. JHP ammo, riding in a door pocket for 200K+ miles in my old pickup. When I finally got around to shooting the ammo, several rounds showed fairly serious pressure signs, including a couple of pierced primers and one blown case. The ambient and ammo temps were low when I shot it, in the 50s. I'm sure it was a result of the powder granules gradually becoming smaller with vibration. I try to cycle out my ammo every 50,000 miles or so now...

[libby09]

Current CC guns LCP with CT, Glock 26 with CT

[varob]

The US Military keeps tons of ammo in the deserts of Iraq, and we don't hear of rounds being baked off over there.

[azchevy]

My wife ask me if it is safe to leave her gun in the car /we both have car lock box's cable to the seat, in the summer heat live in NE Fl and temps last year hit 110 +

So any one have a fear of this?
this is just during work hrs or when not able to Carry by law.

Thanks all

I have left my weapon in the car in AZ heat for many many years. It can get 115-120 where I am at outside the vehicle.

[Janq]

There's no problem with leaving a gun in the summer heat, other than burning yourself on it. You don't say what make guns they are, but a steel or ally framed weapon will withstand more heat than the sun generates inside your vehicle. The polymers used in modern weapons will also withstand the heat. Temperatures do not get high enough, even in a closed up car, in the summer to cause ammo to cook off either.

Bingo!

Proof positive of this is that man has fought multiple wars for very much extending time frames using all manner of firearms made from all manner of materials including wood, metal, alloys and polymer while firing all manner of rounds that themself are powered by all manner of blackpowder and smokelesspowder...And yet 99% of the time they always go bang.

Even when set out in direct sun, or boxed/cased for days/weeks/months/years under sun and even kept buried under sand in gun & ammo caches. They continue to work and are doing so up to current wars and activities.

Your car trunk even if you live in AZ, NM or the desert is not going to get so hot as to cause a firearm to mechanically fail.
As noted it may get hot to the touch upon exposure to direct sun regardless of material it's made of...But it will not melt into goo. If it did then you yourself and everything else near by would have melted too.

Same goes for ammo and it's powders.
Generally ammo is advised to be kept in a cool dry place, and this would be correct.
But factually ammunition outside of some specific exceptions (.22LR for example and shotgun shells) are pretty darn durable by general manufacture and can withstand much including heat, humidity and even being dunked and kept under water for extended time periods beyond a second or sixty.

To that last item for functional proof positive just ask any countries warfighter who has served in any war or conflict as since WW1 forward about how it is to be dunked or even purposefully swim through/among bodies of water with gun & ammo loaded and spare ammo at the ready.


Date: June 6, 1944
Title: Landing on the coast of France under heavy nazi machine gun fire are these American soldiers, shown just as they left the ramp of a Coast Guard landing boat.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration
Image source - http://clinton4.nara.gov/remembrance/WWII.html

Guns and modern ammunition are generally tough as hell, as by design for use outside of dry air conditioned and de-humidified indoor ranges.

- Janq

[usmcj]

In his book "Gunshot Wounds" Vincent Di Maio describes various experiments where ammunition was heated in ovens. He says that .22 long rifle cartridges detonate at an average of 275F, .38 Special at 290F and 12 gauge shotgun shells at 387F. The interesting thing about these furnace experiments was that in all instances the cartridge cases ruptured, but the primers did not detonate. In fact the primers were removed from some of the ruptured cases, reloaded into other brass and fired.

[gasmitty]

High heat will cause firearm lubricants to migrate more quickly than in cool weather. Coming out to AZ after decades in New England, I noticed that my semiautos seemed 'dry' after just a few weeks during the hot months.

As a result, I check the "car guns" more frequently, and also I now use a light grease (Slide Glide) on slide rails and other sliding parts instead of oil.

[Janq]

I now use Slide Glide as well (light) on _all_ firearms (handguns, shotguns and rifles) after cleaning and base metal protection using Gunzilla.
Slide Glide works very well even through summer carry heat.

But if I happened to live in a desert or spend a lot of time there on going I would likely send the guns I need to _always_ cycle out to be treated with Robar NP3 which does not require lubricant and is itself perpetually self lubricating as well as base material protective.

Heat will cause water in oils to evaporate, not the oil itself. I forget off hand what temp it generally takes for oil to cook off but it's high temp.

Robar NP3 Firearms Finish
Brian Enos's Slide-Glide Firearm Lubricant & Gun Grease
Gunzilla

- Janq

Note: I am in no way what so ever affiliated nor ever have been affiliated to Robar, Brian Enos/Slide Glide nor Top Duck/Gunzilla.

[REVMAN]

I had that same question some time ago and found out that it's no problem leaving it (gun or ammo) in a hot car.

[hipthunder]

yup - hot car with weapon?? no problem

[glockman10mm]

We often get to 100+ here in the summer, and I have guns and ammo in my vehicle ALL the time. I use a reflective dash protector in the windshield, and usually crack the side windows a bit, but it still gets mighty hot. I used to worry about it, and I try to shoot up whatever was in my pickup every fall, but don't always get it done.

The only vehicle-related ammo problem I've ever had was a result of extended vibration, I believe, not heat. I had a Glock 23, loaded with Cor-Bon 135gr. JHP ammo, riding in a door pocket for 200K+ miles in my old pickup. When I finally got around to shooting the ammo, several rounds showed fairly serious pressure signs, including a couple of pierced primers and one blown case. The ambient and ammo temps were low when I shot it, in the 50s. I'm sure it was a result of the powder granules gradually becoming smaller with vibration. I try to cycle out my ammo every 50,000 miles or so now...

Not laughing at this post but the wording" cycle out my ammo every 50000 miles or so". Now I know why my trucks are not lasting, I have been changing the oil and not my ammo! lol