I carried a 442 daily for about a year, IWB, in Missouri. Very comfortable and a nice shooter, but at first I treated it like the Glock it replaced - i.e., I put it on in the morning and took it off at night and left it on the dresser, always in the holster. After a couple of weeks of that I happened to take it out of the holster just to check it over, and found rust spots on the steel yoke.
I managed to minimize those spots, but then I began checking the gun every night. If it had been warm or hot during the day there would usually be a couple of drops of moisture between the yoke and the frame. I would wipe these away with a silicone impregnated cloth, and never had a rust problem again. But I'm sure there would have been a problem without that regular maintenance.
Later I came across a 638, the alloy/stainless humpback like my (favorite) all steel 49, and have been using it for daily carry ever since. No rust issues with that gun, and I don't have to handle it nearly as often.
So - nothing wrong with the 442. It's more "invisible" than an all stainless gun, and the black sights are certainly easier to see than stainless ones. But keep an eye out for rust if you carry it daily.
I managed to minimize those spots, but then I began checking the gun every night. If it had been warm or hot during the day there would usually be a couple of drops of moisture between the yoke and the frame. I would wipe these away with a silicone impregnated cloth, and never had a rust problem again. But I'm sure there would have been a problem without that regular maintenance.
Later I came across a 638, the alloy/stainless humpback like my (favorite) all steel 49, and have been using it for daily carry ever since. No rust issues with that gun, and I don't have to handle it nearly as often.
So - nothing wrong with the 442. It's more "invisible" than an all stainless gun, and the black sights are certainly easier to see than stainless ones. But keep an eye out for rust if you carry it daily.
