How’d the dot fare in those conditions?Originally Posted by GJM
How’d the dot fare in those conditions?
Last edited by LOKNLOD; 08-19-2018 at 10:57 AM. Reason: Grammar vs Autocorrect
--Josh
“Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.
Only some of the Arizona guys. I live in the Other Arizona. I have to avoid summer rain due to lightening. But I get snowed on two or three times a year training/practicing in Dec, Jan and Feb. Of course when the temp is 85 I sweat like a pig and start to whine. LOL.
On a serious note, I have wind much of the year. Carrying AIWB I found that instead of grabbing the hem of the cover shirt I just grasp it over the pistol and clear it that way. With the wind I often would miss the hem and slow the draw way down. Much more consistent in rain, snow, wind to grasp the shirt at the back of the slide and lift up.
What you do right before you know you're going to be in a use of force incident, often determines the outcome of that use of force.
I kept the optic covered with the Leupold rubber cover, except when actually shooting, and it did fine. The harder part of shooting in the rain is holding onto the pistol.
Maybe we should turn this thread into a picture one, with folks posting pictures of shooting in lousy conditions?
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
I'm about eight weeks away from being able to take those kinds of photos in the weather. There are basically two seasons here: Raining (mid-October to early April) and not raining (the rest of the year). Because we're on the coast it can get fairly windy any time of year, especially summer/fall afternoons. It can also be "falling fog" some early mornings in dry season. The good news is that freezing temps are rare, and if I want hot it means driving 30 minutes inland.
If one of my clients needs something that requires a field visit, we go no matter what the weather is doing. This being grow country, carrying in bad weather is part of the deal. Thus training in bad weather is a no brainer.
Both of the ranges I use are covered at the shooting line, but water can and does blow in. Targets are in the open. One of the ranges is graveled, the other turns into a swamp after heavy rain so mud can become a factor too. We're doing a fundraiser this fall to bridge a swale so we can get to the 600-yard targets in rainy season, but even the 25-yard targets are beyond mud.
One thing I've noticed: While it's hard to complain about "winter" evenings that bottom out in the 40s and wet, polymer pistols seem to transmit a sharper recoil at that temperature than even 10 degrees warmer. Barely noticeable with 9mm, very obvious with 45 acp. Less give in the polymer, I assume. I like aggressive grip texture on a nice 65-degree summer day, in rainy season it becomes a mixed blessing; easier to hang onto when wet, more abrasive on the hands. Got to wonder what it's like at sub-zero.
it's not all that unusual to work all day in the rain, or to get caught in it as a storm moves in. Did that once halfway back from a 16-mile hike in the Trinity Mtns, which is why the gore tex is always in the pack; in the inland mountains storms can happen in summer, too.
Last edited by Salamander; 08-19-2018 at 07:52 PM.
So, I don’t have an ultrasonic cleaner, and detail stripping a 92 is way beyond my skills. Tomorrow is set to be my first uspsa match. Equipment is an Elite LTT with np3 on the internals. It wasn’t inexpensive and I’m not looking to trash it; and frankly mechanical sympathy means I don’t like trashing anything if I can help it.
Should I stay home due to my inability to detail strip? Or is there a way to clean and dry the weapon adequately otherwise ?
I'd just field strip when you get home, wipe things down, re-lubricate, re-assemble and you should be good to go. This goes doubly so for an NP3'd 92 where (I'm guessing from pictures) most of the moving parts are coated. Depending on what sights you have, that's actually the main place I'd expect rust to form.
Understood, thank you. And that is a major reason I got the np3. I have Spartan sights (ameriglo w/ tritium) on this.
Can you tell me more about rust on the sights? Do you mean literally on them or on, say, the place where they are fitted to the slide ? Please forgive my inartful phrasing.
I train and compete without consideration of weather, and I don’t do much to keep my guns dry. My Shadow2s are typically well lubricated with Lucas extreme oil, and I haven’t had more than a little surface corrosion on the sights and under the grips that is easily scrubbed off later. The sear and hammer are the main things that you don’t want to get rusty, so if my gun gets really soaked, I’ll apply more oil and blast with compressed air.
Mags can get a bit rusty inside. I don’t worry about it, and just scrub them periodically. Mags and oil don’t mix, so I use Hornady One Shot Dry Lube, which is a good anti corrosion lube.
For my carry optics gun, I cover it with a disposable shower cap when it’s holstered, so the optic doesn’t fill up with rainwater. You can get these by the 100 on Amazon for cheap.
I don’t care about the cosmetics of my guns. Actually I like a well worn gun better than a shiny pristine one.
Last edited by Clusterfrack; 04-12-2019 at 12:21 PM.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
In my experience, the answer to your question is "Yes." Gun sights are typically blued steel, so they lack any of the super-duper coatings the rest of the gun has.
However, rust on the actual sights is far more common than moisture creeping around them and getting into the dovetails. I've ameliorated both issues by wiping the sights off with an oily patch. You can also use one of those canned air computer dusters to blow moisture out of nooks and crannies. My guns spend quite a bit of time being wet, and I've found that heating them up with a hair dryer can help evaporate some of the moisture as well.
Don't neglect your magazines. I've had magazine springs get rusty.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
Yes, sights that aren't treated specifically against corrosion can definitely develop some minor surface rust from exposure to rain, sweat, etc. I've had that happen with ameriglos in the past, assuming they haven't altered the finish for their sights since then. In my experience, rust generally seems to start around the edges of the dovetail cut of the sight as that's where water/sweat is most likely to collect or pool and, is the part of the sight most likely to have had some of the coating displaced or removed during installation of the sight itself.
Knowing you'll be in inclement weather, I'd just apply a very light coating of your preferred lubricating oil which should help prevent any rust from getting a foothold.
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