How to Maintain Your Firearm After Hot, Humid Summer Conditions
Firearm safety is not only the way you handle them, but the way you store them is very important. It isn’t rare to find cases of rusted barrels or stocks caused by moisture from the humid air entering the firearm. This is bad for any firearm as it can cause them to jam or even misfire.
Here are some important lessons you can take home on how you can maintain your firearm in humid, hot conditions.
Humidity Control
It’s simple, really: if you want to stop moisture from entering your firearm, then maybe you should reduce the humidity. You can hang dehumidifiers in your firearm storage and let them absorb the moisture in the air. To a certain extent, this should be sufficient to protect your gun from rusting.
Keep Them In Cool Areas
Depending on the make, firearms can be greatly affected by temperature. Extreme heat can cause part of the fire mechanism or barrel to expand, and while it might not make it impossible to fire it, it will still reduce the efficiency. In some other cases, it can cause jamming or a misfire.
While you don’t need to keep them in cold areas, you still need to keep them in mildly cool areas to avoid any cases of substantial expansion or contraction.
Carefully Clean and Lubricate Your Firearm
It’s always a good idea to let them breathe, especially in hot weather. Repeatedly using a firearm without letting it rest can warp the barrel and cause some mechanisms to wear out, especially when you aren’t carrying out regular maintenance on it.
As a responsible firearm owner, you’ve got to remember to dismantle it and clean it every now and then. Part of your regular maintenance should also include lightly wiping it with the preferred gun oil in the manual. Some of these gun oil products even repel water trapped in small grooves and hold, saving your gun from rusting in those spots.
Regularly Check the Condition of Components
As part of your scheduled maintenance, you should inspect all components. Look for signs of rush, warping, or dents and ensure that the appropriate mechanisms are sliding, locking, and springing. If any of these are ignored, then you could easily find your gun jamming or misfiring at crucial moments.
Don’t keep them in their case forever; some are not designed to be stored in humid conditions. You can store your firearm in layers of fabric that can absorb moisture from the air, preventing it from entering the firearm.
Choose Tactical Dynamics for All Your Firearm Training Needs
All these require good firearm training, which a lot of owners skip out on because they feel it’s not important compared to learning how to point and shoot. Tactical Dynamics is a firearms training service with experienced veteran instructors who will drill into you all the necessary ways you can handle and maintain your firearm. Contact Tactical Dynamics today at 855-276-5730 to schedule your training session.
