Effects of smoke and heat?

[TFLeader]

The post about the recent fire at a Derry gun shop makes me wonder "what if anything does the effect of smoke and heat have on a firearm?"

Have seen firearms on GB that are noted to "have been in a house fire".

I am sure they need to be torn down and completely cleaned, however does the smoke contain any damaging chemicals?

 

[Dr. CCW]

Not to state the obvious, but gunpowder creates smoke and intense heat. Just sayin.

 

[Kevin_NH]

It's the moisture that does the real damage.

 

[smokey-seven]

Soot will clean, direct flame impingement is a metal softener. You get a gun that's been burned, then you might just have one that will fail drastically. It's a guess unless you do hardness testing all over it and that just makes no sense. Collect the insurance and cut it up for scrap if it's yours and if it's not yours, don't buy it unless you are paying real short money and going to a gun buy back soon.

 

[seanc]

You know what they say..
"where there's Smole, there's Fiber"..

 

[Blitz1]

Not to state the obvious, but gunpowder creates smoke and intense heat. Just sayin.

.

 

[Masterguns]

smokes fine for obvious reasons, although soot is very bad for electronics (aka battery powered optics)

flame impingement? yah thats a definite no no, but i would guess a firearm that has been exposed to direct flame would have visual cues... discoloration, charring, warped magazines... etc

 

[milktree]

smokes fine for obvious reasons, although soot is very bad for electronics (aka battery powered optics)

Um... "soot" is "smoke" that's settled out of the air.

It's pretty nasty stuff. If you have a gun that's been in a fire, clean it off, every surface inside and out, as soon as you can.

The smoke/soot will rust the hell out of nearly any metal.

I had a small fire in my basement, and within weeks every metal thing had rust on the top half where the soot settled. That includes chromed tools . It was nasty.

Yea, smoke is bad. Think of it as corrosive primers, but covering *everything*.

 

[Boghog1]

I can tell you sustained heat of approx 1400°f and subsequent prolonged water bath will destroy a National Match M14 and a S&W 629 however a can of FFF black powder can still be used after

 

[Masterguns]

Um... "soot" is "smoke" that's settled out of the air.

i'm a firefighter, i know what soot is... if my statement was unclear i was trying to say smoke is not going to hurt the metal components much but when it turns into soot its bad for electronics / circuit boards

 

[milktree]

if my statement was unclear i was trying to say smoke is not going to hurt the metal components much but when it turns into soot its bad for electronics / circuit boards

Right, but any electronics that are water/fog proof are also smoke/soot proof, so just cleaning the outside will be fine. Anything with ventilation for heat dissipation is hosed though.

And... the soot *is* bad for metal, it'll destroy the metal the same way it destroys exposed electronics. It's just that metal bits are thicker and less fragile than PC boards.