Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we took a look at how bigger handguns aren't always better. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. Now this week, I thought it would be appropriate to go over some key maintenance tips that will help you keep your gun in the best shape possible. Over the last week, I’ve had two people have different issues with their guns or gear due to a lack of maintenance, so this is certainly a common issue with the concealed carry community. Let's take a closer look at some key maintenance tips. Water Is The Enemy One of the worst things for your carry gun or any type of firearm is prolonged exposure to water. Most guns aren't built to deal with constant exposure to moisture, with the exception of the SIG Sauer MK25, but that's certainly a rarity. While metallurgy and finishes are better than ever, it's still tough to keep things nice when you constantly have water or moisture in your carry gun. Of course, this won't hurt your overall function in most cases, but given enough time, it can damage the overall integrity of your slide or internal parts. I recently looked at a close friend's carry gun and once we took it apart, every single internal part had light surface rust and we were both fairly shocked. I asked him when the last time he cleaned his gun and he responded with a blank stare, which is everything I needed to know. While a simple cleaning and oil treatment can keep surface rust away, as soon as surface rust appears, your intervals will need a lot more attention since the finish has been weakened by moisture and water exposure. Whether it's a concealed carry pistol or even a rifle, once you get rain or moisture inside the gun, it's very important to wipe it down and reapply oil to the finish in order to combat any potential surface rust. Overall, it takes five minutes and you'll be glad you cleaned your carry gun, even if it's just reapplying oil onto the slide and internals to keep a layer or protection. Holster MaintenanceMy other good friend was recently telling me about how his carry gun holster is missing screws and asking where he should buy new ones. He has been carrying his handgun around with only one screw holding his monoclip onto the holster. He then started telling me how the gun shifts and moves around on him with only one screw, which is certainly a fairly large issue. The best thing you can do to maintain your holster is to clean it every month and inspect the screws. Some like to use a paint pen to mark the screw position so they can immediately see if there's been any movement. Another thing I typically do with a new holster is take the screws out and apply a bit of Loctite to keep things in place, which will do wonders for stopping screws from backing out. It’s important to use the blue Loctite and NOT the red! You still want to be able to take the screws out without them being permanently fused to the holster.When it comes to cleaning the holster's internals, it's important to get any debris and material like lint, dust or any sand working its way into corners of the holster, which can cause major issues by scraping and scratching your handguns' finish. I had this happen with my first carry gun way back when I was carrying an HK USP Compact. I continued to holster the handgun for weeks with material inside the holster without realizing how much damage it was causing to the slide. Polymer holsters aren't the issue when it comes to scratching, but rather the material that gets trapped inside them. Over time, more material builds up and without any cleaning or maintenance, there will be more material to destroy your handgun's finish, which can then lead to surface rust or issues with pitting. Overall Thoughts While these two are by far the most important aspects of carry gun maintenance, there's certainly more when it comes to taking care of your self-defense ammunition as well as accessories. If you're interested in looking at part two of this article, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have questions about carrying concealed or firearms in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you next week for another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. TFB’s Concealed Carry Corner is brought to you by GLOCK