[REVMAN]

This may sound like a crazy question but can anyone tell me if you are in a place that you have to leave your gun in your car for an extended period of time and the temp is very hot, can this cause ammo to discharge and does the heat effect your gun?

 

[digitalexplr]

No.

 

[ryater]

Heat and a gun...

I am a civilian employee in a jail at my local police department, and we are not allowed to carry weapons while working. I leave my gun in the car. Though our past couple of summers have not been very hot (90's max temp mostly), I have never had this happen. Hopefully it never does. It has spent 2 summers in a hot car and nothing like this.

On the other end of this spectrum, will cold affect they way a gun would function if left in the car during the winter?

 

[Anubis]

Unless the car were in a fire, it couldn't get hot enough to fire cartridges or melt your Glock. I once measured the temperature on the dashboard of a car sitting in the hot Oklahoma summer sun, looking for the max, and recorded 168 degrees Fahrenheit. I bet it would require, oh, 451 degrees to damage your pistol or ammo. :smile:

 

[gunthorp]

I'm pretty familiar with cold. I suggest you remove all traces of oil and then lube with Rem Oil or similar. Then you're good to go in 40 below.

Up here a hot car is prolly stolen.

 

[searcher 45]

Our troop in Iraq carry weapons in much hotter conditions that are encountered here at home, and have no known problems with ammo going off from the heat. I know you can throw rounds of ammo in camp fire and they will go off, but I have never heard of rounds going off in from overheating in a closed up car in the sun.

 

[ryater]

Thanks for the info gunthorp.

 

[PastorPack]

I seem to remember a similar question being asked a while back and one of our Phoenix members said no problem. There aren't many places hotter than PHX, so I'll add my +1 to the "No" group.

 

[Thumper]

During the extreme heat of the summer here, the temperature in my closed vehicle exceeds 130 degrees. I have left my 1911, Glock, SIG and S&W guns in that heat all day and never had any issues, even when the metal of my weapon was too hot to hold! :wink:

 

[nutz4utwo]

We have talked about this topic before... http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/general-firearm-discussion/79407-hot-cars-guns.html

and http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbull...issues-discussions/87218-how-stable-ammo.html

take a look at this Mythbusters putting guns in the oven:

YouTube - Mythbusters - Bullets exploding inside an oven

Yes, ammo can self-ignite if it reaches a high enough temperature. This is not a problem with in your car on a hot day (not hot enough), but can be a problem in fires.

Ammo igniting outside the gun's chamber will not launch the bullet anywhere, but the brass case will explode and send shrapnel about. Not deadly, but might cause injury.

Ammo in a gun that is loaded can ignite and will fire the round normally out the muzzle. Very deadly.

Quality modern firearms work great in the cold! CPL is highly recommended and is rated to colder temps then most of us will ever see. Note: if you take a very cold firearm and place it somewhere warm and damp (like next to your skin or inside your tent camping) you may get liquid water condensation on the firearm. If you were to then go outside, the condensation can freeze causing malfunctions. Not much of a problem for concealed carry, but a problem for hunting in freezing conditions.

 

[buckeye .45]

Our troop in Iraq carry weapons in much hotter conditions that are encountered here at home, and have no known problems with ammo going off from the heat. I know you can throw rounds of ammo in camp fire and they will go off, but I have never heard of rounds going off in from overheating in a closed up car in the sun.

Yeah, I had a condition one M-16 in temps around 130 last summer, it wasn't and issue, and the "cooling breeze" felt like a blow dryer in your face.

 

[RETSUPT99]

Never a problem, and Florida can get 'toasty'...:31:

 

[automatic slim]

Heat won't make the ammo go off or damage the gun (think about the temps involved when you're firing it), but it can cause deterioration of the powder in the ammo. Thats why it's recommended that ammo and powder be stored in a cool, dry place.

 

[archer51]

The temperature inside a vehicle will not get hot enough to cause ammo to discharge.

As to damage to your gun. It shouldn't cause any serious problems. Metal and polymer parts should be fine. Rubber parts shouldn't be affected either. Plastic parts, such as some grips, may warp from the heat. Biggest problem the heat will cause is a breakdown of some lubricants. If your lubricant gets runny you can end up with parts with little to no lube on them and areas with excessive lube. Not to mention the mess they can make on a leather holster.

 

[BlueNinjaGo]

From what Mythbusters and High School science taught me, it should be just fine. I'd avoid leaving it in direct sunlight(not that it'd cause anything to go off), but then again, who leaves a gun out in the open?

 

[Retired GMC]

It takes a lot higher temps for ammunition to cook off. When I was in the Navy and we did daily magazine temp checks, if an outdoor ammo locker reached 100, we had to do temp checks hourly, but if it reached 110 we had to start external cooling (shading the locker, water cooling). This wasn't due to possibility off cook off, but for stability of the ammo.

 

[Retiredonce]

I've been hit by exploding ammunition many times during house fires, ranging in caliber from .22 to 12 ga. buckshot. nutz4utwo is correct, it just goes bang and that's it. I have heard the pellets bouncing off my faceshield, but nothing has ever penetrated my fire gear. I quit worrying about it years ago, but it will certainly get your attention. Now, a loaded, chambered weapon is a totally different animal, and having a loaded weapon in a residence is an important consideration for any firefighter.

 

[gilliland87]

Hot car in phoenix

I am a phoenix member (summer temps to 120-125 record high) I store in the car and you won't have problems with discharge but as stated earlier high heat can have an adverse affect on the powder itself. I rotate through carry ammo every other month or so and shoot the stuff I had been carrying off. I don't carry +p rated ammo either figuring that gives me a little wiggle room in pressures affected by high temps.

 

[paramedic70002]

During the extreme heat of the summer here, the temperature in my closed vehicle exceeds 130 degrees. I have left my 1911, Glock, SIG and S&W guns in that heat all day and never had any issues, even when the metal of my weapon was too hot to hold! :wink:

I think this is a serious issue. If your stars misallign, you may be forced to pick up a hot gun and use it. Anyone who says they can fight through the pain of the burn has never been burned, IMHO. When you get burned, you will do anything, I mean anything, to make it stop. Like jump out of a window. You may be so amped up with adrenaline that you don't feel the burn, but if you notice it, you will drop the gun. I have picked up my own firearm from inside a hot environment and couldn't hold it.

My suggestion: Whatever you keep your gun in, cover it with a heavy folded blanket. You will find that the gun remains insulated from becoming as hot as it otherwise would. This is a result of my highly unscientific experience.

 

[Majorlk]

Unless the car were in a fire, it couldn't get hot enough to fire cartridges or melt your Glock. I once measured the temperature on the dashboard of a car sitting in the hot Oklahoma summer sun, looking for the max, and recorded 168 degrees Fahrenheit. I bet it would require, oh, 451 degrees to damage your pistol or ammo. :smile:

Just to be clear, no amount of heat will fire a cartridge. What will happen is the case will rupture. The majority of the time, the bullet is still in the case. And yes, it will take several hundred degrees. Just ask the guys on MythBusters. :wave: