How do you "Weather Proof" your sidearm?

Freedom1Man said:

All your info was really great for this subject. I just wanted to add one thing to this part. You can paint the crimp line with nail polish too if you're paranoid.

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Maybelline or Revlon? And why onlly the crimp line when there are so many fashionable opportunities here? And what color goes best with brass? Oh, but what if I have nickel cases? Then what color do I use? Should I harmonize it with my eye-shadow or my lip gloss. Decisions. Decisions.

Since the first m16 was put in my hands in 1969 until now I have cleaned every gun I have ever owned in hot water. Often taking long guns into a steaming hot shower. getting guns wet does not hurt them. Just dry it.

Steveboos said:

Extremely Biased and not what the OP was looking for..

Most Modern Polymer Guns can withstand some rain. Unless your carrying some bottom of the barrel Kel-tec or Taurus, your gonna be fine.

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Really? I gladly/proudly carry both with out "rusting". My EDC OC is a Taurus 24/7 PRO DS 9mm.

Freedom1Man said:

All your info was really great for this subject. I just wanted to add one thing to this part. You can paint the crimp line with nail polish too if you're paranoid.

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To be honest I don't think water can get in, some of the military ammo is sealed on the primer. I guess it is more possible for water to get in around the primer. With factory ammo or factory crimp, the ammo is so tight I highly doubt water could get in. I bought 500 presized and primed cases from Winchester some years back and they came with sealed primers.

Citizen said:

Maybelline or Revlon? And why onlly the crimp line when there are so many fashionable opportunities here? And what color goes best with brass? Oh, but what if I have nickel cases? Then what color do I use? Should I harmonize it with my eye-shadow or my lip gloss. Decisions. Decisions.

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Since it is you asking, I will say that Avon is what you'll want. Clear goes with any thing. If you want to be fashionable you might want to color coordinate your color to paint your bullets to match your brass. You might want to paint your primer too.

If it's anyone else though I will suggest the cheap stuff.

Steveboos said:

Extremely Biased and not what the OP was looking for..

Most Modern Polymer Guns can withstand some rain. Unless your carrying some bottom of the barrel Kel-tec or Taurus, your gonna be fine.

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Yeah, "extremely biased"... You Taurus haters.

BTW, my EDCs are both Taurus handguns in stainless. I've gone swimming with both and they are just fine, thank you very much.

Get it wet, clean and dry it, then move on.

Freedom1Man said:

Since it is you asking, I will say that Avon is what you'll want. Clear goes with any thing. If you want to be fashionable you might want to color coordinate your color to paint your bullets to match your brass. You might want to paint your primer too.

If it's anyone else though I will suggest the cheap stuff.

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Thank you for understanding that I have taste.

Now, let me see. No, Winchester White Box or American Eagle did the whole bullet-matches-case thing with their practice ammo a few years ago. Totally gauche. Just completely unimaginative. Style is what we're looking for here. Inspiration is what I need (shut up).

(Sigh) Well, I can totally see that I am going to need several more range bags in assorted colors to make this work. Givenchy, Gucci, and Lois Vuitton to start. Maybe a Prada or two.

Stainless slide and polymere handle. My Taurus has withstood many nights on the beach in with 30 to 60 mph winds, sand, and salt. I just made sure to get one easy to tear down and rinse off.

WOD said:

Hey MB, just noticed you're in my neck of the woods!

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Are you going to the south sound meet? Several guys I work with live out in Ony.

Freedom First said:

Yeah, "extremely biased"... You Taurus haters.

BTW, my EDCs are both Taurus handguns in stainless. I've gone swimming with both and they are just fine, thank you very much.

Get it wet, clean and dry it, then move on.

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In my experience, the finish on some of their models is just weak and they feel flimsy to me. So i personally haven't been wowed by any of their models. But in most situations water is no issue. A lot of these guns are tested in water for issues with jamming and ejecting the round, so it would make perfect sense that they can hold up to some rain or snow.

Acid rain is a whole other ball game...

Steveboos said:

In my experience, the finish on some of their models is just weak and they feel flimsy to me. So i personally haven't been wowed by any of their models. But in most situations water is no issue. A lot of these guns are tested in water for issues with jamming and ejecting the round, so it would make perfect sense that they can hold up to some rain or snow.

Acid rain is a whole other ball game...

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It rains acid in your area? Trippin', man. Groovy. Free acid. I gotta get some.

My carry weapons are protected by the same products my motorcycles are protected with. Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Paste Wax. It's a pure polish with no abrasives at all in it. It's meant to be a final application wax. It is composed of a blend of waxes and oils, and nothing that will harm bluing, stainless or other slick finishes. Never used it on matte finishes. It also has a neutral PH.

The wax takes a while to dry, be patient. Buff with cotton cloth,[I use a few old toothbrushes to get any dried wax out of nooks and crannys]. After the dry is buffed off, all that remains is a microscopic coating that burns off as the weapon is fired. Nothing that will gum up the works. Any cleaning oil will remove the coating. No finger prints to worry about. Beads and repels water. Your metal is protected.

No Meguiar's? Johnson Paste wax works great. Carnuba based and no abrasives. Candle wax has been the favorite with the duck hunting crowd since the days of black powder. They devised means of protecting those one-off custom English doubles while out in the duck blind. No need in re-inventing the wheel, or buying a Mattel firearm, or hiding your weapon like a sneak thief.

Freedom1Man said:

Since it is you asking, I will say that Avon is what you'll want. Clear goes with any thing. If you want to be fashionable you might want to color coordinate your color to paint your bullets to match your brass. You might want to paint your primer too.

If it's anyone else though I will suggest the cheap stuff.

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By the way freedom was that pale pink you were wearing this morning it looked lovely.

1911er said:

By the way freedom was that pale pink you were wearing this morning it looked lovely.

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No, it was Fuchsia and I wore it just for you. You're such a dirty old man.

Munkey Butt said:

Today i was walking through the walmart parking lot and the liquid sunshine started to fall. This got me a little concerned, so the question popped up. How do i weather proof my carry gun?

So what precautions do you folks take to keep your weapon high and dry?

-PJ

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I carry a HiPoint.

If it gets wet I just throw it away and buy another

1911er said:

By the way freedom was that pale pink you were wearing this morning it looked lovely.

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What!?! I put all that effort into nail polish and coordinating range bags and he gets the compliment!

OK. That does it! Its spandex from here on out. And, I'm not shaving my armpits. Y'all are gonna pay for being tactless.

Weather proofing?

Stick it in a sealed bag with a desiccant, problem solved.

I do the same thing to my carry gun as I do with my duck hunting gun, Don't use oil or grease!

Make sure you keep your equipment clean so if water does get in it there is no dirt stuck to oil or grease to collect and malfunction your weapon. I have done this for the last 8 years and never ever had a gun fail from wet weather.

guns I use this method on: M&P,glock, and benelli pump.

Mind you that I have only used this on guns with the least amount of internal parts and has never failed even when I am sitting in a down pour for 8 hours.

Metalhead47 said:

I carry a HiPoint. If it gets wet I just throw it away and buy another

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You crack me up.

Don't worry about it.

To answer the OP:

I don't do anything to "weatherproof". Don't worry about it.

Just clean it regularly, then more often when it's exposed to harsher conditions.

I found that regular cleaning and good oils/preservatives are just fine. I like the break-free and CLP stuff for general cleaning, and a good grease for the internals/friction points.

I use my guns. They are worn and used, and show it. But, I don't have safe Queens. Cleaning and oiling have always worked well.

This is exactly what I recommend to customers. I'm a Gunsmith, so I have a vested interest in the question.


Of course, YMMV, depending on your environment, frequency of use and frequency of cleaning.

T.