olcop said:
Anyone have experience with using a magnetic holder to secure a gun concealed? I have a perfect area in my vehicle to conceal it, but was wondering if it would magnetize the internals of a semiauto over time also thought it might work well to hold spare magazines.
Any info, advice or opinions appreciated.
Some good years ago I read a piece about a firearm (Police S&W semi-auto I think) that failed due to a magnetized firing pin. It's thought that the firearm was magnetized by the officer's proximity to an MRI, but two other officers also had magnetized firearms as well. I don't recall the nature of the failure, but the problem was resolved by disassembly and demagnetized in a high powered drawer-type degausser which was used for permanently erasing industrial video cartridges.
When I was in the oil/gas/power gen business, we used to occasionally need a degausser for power turbine shafts on generator sets where the generator rotor magnetized the gearbox, coupling and PT shaft. The demagnetizing equipment is quite expensive. A degausser could cost as little as 500-1000 bucks for a wand, or up to 5K-10K (or more) for larger drawer type models.
I'm personally not wild about magnetic holders for that reason. I especially wouldn't use one in an automobile where I'd be inclined to remove and re-attaching the weapon repeatedly, which probably would hasten the magnetization process. e.g. Like magnetizing a screwdriver... (I never leave a firearm in an unattended vehicle)
A bedside table where a weapon is attached and left in place might not magnetize as quickly, but I still (personally) don't like the idea.
The rule of thumb as I understand it, is that if a paper clip sticks to the weapon, then it probably ought to be demagnetized.
Good luck!
Regards, Pete
