Condensation on guns coming in from the cold

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I think that the key is taking the time to do preventative maintenance. I am on the side of the debate that takes the firearm out the case/holster and lets it warm to room temperature. The amount that I tear it down depends on whether it got wet or just cold. Oil as required.

When you stop to think about it, life is full of things that last longer and work better if they are cared for. A firearm is just one of them.
 
I also take the gun out of the case. One option is to just leave it outside until it warms up gradually such as is common in the south where it is cold for a day or two and warms up or warms up in the afternoon... then bring the gun in. In essence, it is a more gradual change.

If you really care about rifles, you need to be aware that the condensation also happens on the underside of a barrel where you can't see it. The only effective approach is to take things apart which I generally do not do.
 
wrap them in a dry towel and let them warm up gradually. Don't leave them in there too long, just until they have reached room temperature. Wipe them down with a clean dry cloth, and give them a quick coat of your favorite protectant.

Run a dry patch through the bore, and then a light oil or whatever you use as a bore protectant.

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Je Suis Prest
 
If you really care about rifles, you need to be aware that the condensation also happens on the underside of a barrel where you can't see it. The only effective approach is to take things apart which I generally do not do.
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It also occurrs inside the bolt and inside the trigger mechanism.

In a fairly recent article on the Remington 700 in Rifle magazine, the author discussed a rifle where the ejector and spring were rusted in place so badly the bolt could not be closed on a cartridge.
 
I leave my gun in the garage after hunting. Its usually around 50 degrees, and when the gun warms up, I take it inside to normal house temperatures. 20degree jumps and i never see any condensation-
 
JR, I do the same thing, but frequently the firearm is left in truck in the garage as a transition. Seems pretty safe unless you leave the garage door open and have guns leaning against things visible.
 
When I'm doing some serious hunting -- say for elk in Colorado -- I leave the gun outside the bunk house at night
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same here....
Condensation has caused my .54 muzzle loader to hang or misfire during hunting season. I would leave it charged instead of firing it off every evening and reloading every morning.
Now I leave it in the cold 'til the season is over, or I fill my tags.
 
TLDR all the posts but I would like to point out to SNOWDOG that even pistols being carried DO get cold enough to get condensation on them.

This is relevant to where you live but just last week when I got back from the gun range and was taking my .357 out of my pant pocket I noticed an excessive amount of condensation on it (which made me want to go right back out and shoot it again and see any effects).

Gotta love winter :D
 
As I posted earlier in this thread, this condensation is easy to prevent by letting the gun warm up slowing by putting it a cold case before entering a house. Never fails. All this talks about condensation under the barrel, in the trigger mechanism, etc. is a non-issue if you prevent it from forming in the first place. It is sooo easy.
 
I love the cold weather! Condensation isn't an issue then.

My trouble is the rest of the year when I take a gun out of my air-conditioned house or truck and expose it to the hot and humid gulf coast air. If I take a gun to the range and don't shoot it enough to warm it up I have to dry it out and oil it when I get home.
 
Get a paint brush and a can of break free from Walmart.

When the gun comes in from the cold, spray breakfree in the brush. Brush your gun, inside and out.

Let it warm up.

Wipe it off completely.
 
I wanted to point something out:

Never had any problem. Of course I live in Colorado...low humidity
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I've seen guns brought into the bunkhouse and within minutes have moisture beaded up on them.
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It's so dry here that condensation is not a problem.
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Moisture indoors is often not a result of the humidity of a location.
One of the primary sources of moisture in the air indoors is humans and animals breathing it out.

For example the average human loses about a pint (16 ounces) of moisture every night while sleeping.
People are losing the least amount of moisture while sleeping because obviously exertion causes increased breathing and puts more moisture in the air in the form of water vapor. Yet they are still losing about 16 ounces while sleeping.
While awake and active people are putting far more moisture in the air while breathing.
The more people inside the more vapor produced.
This is the same source of fog on the windows in a car when you stop the air circulation (like while parked) when the air outside is colder than the air inside. Most of that moisture in the car is from your breathe.


Other obvious sources are wet items brought inside, wet gear, clothing, snow etc
Hot water like showers and cooking are another major source.
These things typically add more water vapor to the air within the confines of a home than the difference that would exist based on your location within the USA.





So indoors the moisture content has a lot less to do with where you are. Most moisture inside a closed dwelling is not from the outside environment.
So when condensation is not noticed indoors it will typically be more as a result of a lack of temperature extremes between the metal and air temperature to induce it.
Even in the driest parts of the nation if you take something out of the freezer and let it sit in the room it will typically get condensation on it, that condensation is the evaporated breathe of people indoors, and other evaporated moisture.
 
Not to mention that some forced hot air systems have a humidifier to put moisture into the air during the heating season.

Folks with wood stoves or radiators (me) frequently put a large kettle on to provide moisture. Or just get an aquarium or two.

Using a cold air-tight gun case isn't practical for me - too many guns go on the range trips. I know, I could buy some expensive, heavy, wheeled monstrosity, but range bags with zippered compartments are easier to carry up and down the hill to the outdoor range.

The waterfowl guns stay in the frozen car overnight.
 
If only the whole gun could be made of plastic! (I'm just kidding, please don't stone me.)

It's the interal parts of the gun that are not easily 'towel dried' that concern me the most. The air-tight case seems to be the only real solution for ensuring it stays dry, assuming you need to bring it in the house. I always leave my shotgun and bow outside during those seasons, so they don't have to go in and out so ofter. I may try taking it downstairs to a cooler room and leaving it my non-air tight case and see if that works any better. I wonder if it is more or less humid in the basement in the winter, it is colder but there's less air circulation as well.

Thanks for all the suggestions and discussion!
 
Ryanxia, you forgot to bold, underline and italicize my name when typing it in upper case. Am I not worth the effort? ;) Kidding.

You're right about firearms cooling enough for condensation when talking about rifles, shotguns and handguns in belt and perhaps shoulder holsters. I was drawing on my experience of concealed carry, in which case the pistol is kept close to the body and much too warm to cool sufficiently.
I should have specified that's what I was referring to.
 
"It's the interal parts of the gun that are not easily 'towel dried' that concern me the most."

If you spray or mist the guts of the clean gun with something like Barricade (the old Birchwood-Casey Sheath) - and let it dry - before you go out into the rain you more than likely won't have any problems at all. That's what I've always done with my waterfowl guns and we primarily hunt out of boats in saltwater.
 
I might start a product bashing here but, this is where your good ole WD40 shines.

When you finish the detail stripping of your firearm, the last thing you do is give every part a spray of WD, then remove the excess with a rag or blow dry with compressed air. Once the peice is protected internally, all you have to do is remove it from the case,let it warm to room temp. Then when dry, wipe the exterior with the WD laden cloth.
 
I really don't think you need an airtight case if you put the gun in a cold thick zip-up case to bring it inside to warm up slowly in the case. Been doing this for over 40 years in a relatively humid area and never had any condensation occur when warming up the gun slowly like this. And I hunt in the winter A LOT (multiple times a week). Just bringing a bare gun inside seems silly to me, considering all the remedies I am reading in this thread to prevent rust on a wet gun after it occurs. This should be a non issue!!!!!! Why is this so hard to understand? I don't get it.
 
Why is this so hard to understand? I don't get it.
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I dont either and I agree with what you do as I do the same. Seems like more people work harder at causing themselves trouble and work than they think.

A real simple way to check out the "leave it in the case" method is, try it with your sun glasses. I do it all the time with mine at work, as I have to keep them in my lunch box in the morning so they dont get all screwed up. I keep them in a plastic zip lock bag on top of my ice packs. Just before I need them, I take the "cold" zip lock out of the bucket, and set it on top for about 5 minutes so they "warm up". When I take them out, they dont fog or have any condensation on them.

If I take them right out, it takes about 5 minutes of constantly wiping the condensation off them until they come to the surrounding temps.

Works exactly the same with guns or pretty much anything else.

Dont they have science in the schools anymore? Jeez!:rolleyes:
 
A real simple way to check out the "leave it in the case" method is, try it with your sun glasses.
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Sunglasses are not guns -- they have a very low thermal mass. And if you put them on ice, by definition they cannot get colder than mere freezing.

Try leaving your rifle in the freezer for several hours, then bring it into the living room and stand it in the corner.
 
Ive dont that too (not specifically the freezer, but it was colder outside in the truck than it was in the freezer), and brought said "frozen" gun, in its "frozen" case, into a "warm" house, and let the case sit there, unopened, until it warmed (done this about a million times by now too). Opened the case, and the gun was dry, and room temp, just like the case.

Like the sun glasses, if I open the case as soon as I bring it in, instant condensation.

Go ahead, try it, I dare ya! :neener:

Im really starting to wonder now about thinking and common sense. Its either that, or people dont get out much. :rolleyes:
 
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