Is that allowed in California? If you must carry it empty I would opt for a big hammer or tire tool.

If you are willing to blow it off every month or so it shouldn't matter. What you might be shooting at would be more important in the selection than a little dust.

PS: I am not a farmer but do live down a dirt road.

Depending upon why you feel you need a gun in your truck, I might suggest that a shotgun or a .223 carbine would be a better choice.
Could you go into more detail? Do you have much handgun experience? What's the gun for?

Yes, you can carry a concealled weapon in California with the right license. It would be for pertection when working. This would be my first handgun purchase, have some experience with handguns. Would rather not cary my rifle or shotgun for pertection. I drive around in the dust all day, and want to know what is more durable. Will I have to be cleaning the gun constantly? What is a .223 carbine Steve?

Not to burst your bubble or anything but if there is going to be dust, any handgun is going to be at risk for malfunctions or jams (be it revolver or semiauto). That said you have some handguns out there that will perform well under dusty or rough conditions.

For instance, an HK USP of any type is a combat handgun and will run under rough conditions like dust/ dirt. It is an $800 handgun. A Glock will also be very reliable in the conditions you described.

Nevertheless, maintaining your firearm is of the upmost importance so when you do get your car gun, make sure to clean that sucker every once and a while!

Good luck!

What I believe Steve is talking about is a .223 semi-auto rifle. With have an AR that we use on the Ranch for coyotes and hogs down here in Florida. It works great and is accurate as can be. But for defense I believe you need a handgun and going off of it being dirty you could use a revolver no problem but you will want to clean it every once in a while and Glocks are known for being able to run dirty and still be reliable if you want a semi-auto handgun. For hog hunting I use a smith and wesson .357mag double action revolver and it has gotten plenty dirty and it always worked great so you could maybe go with that. Good luck on your search.

Originally Posted by california

...What is a .223 carbine Steve?

Originally Posted by rjrudolph

What I believe Steve is talking about is a .223 semi-auto rifle...

Yup: either a Ruger Mini-14 or the AR-15.
(People call 'em rifles, but they're really carbines.)

What's a good pistol for really dusty conditions? A G.I. M1911 or M1911A1, as issued in WW2.
It'll need cleaning, but it'll also chew up dirt and spit it out.
The key is a somewhat loose fit, slide to frame.
It might be worthwhile to hard-chrome it, too.

Modern-made 1911s are probably tighter than G.I. WW2 versions, so you might risk being laughed out of the gunsmith's shop and ask to have it loosened up.

a revolver is a good choice, the advantage of a revolver is if the first round does not fire, just pull the trigger again. I use to throw a charter arms bull dog 44 spl stainless around my dusty vehicle ( very dusty construction sites). It always fired when I pulled the trigger maybe every two years without a cleaning.I would often blow it off, but that would make me dizzy,lol , I often pocket carried the revolver getting in and out of the vehicle I even brought it in to the gun shop. The gun salesmen all came just to look at how dirty, mostly dusty the revolver had become.I gave them a serious look and said "i guarantee you pull that triggger the gun will go off"

As far as a semi auto handgun, a Glock would be a good choice, if money is an issue there are plenty of good police trade Glocks at a good price, also a new S&W SD is also a tough pistol and if you don't mind a harder trigger pull there are a number of good used S&W Sigmas on the market as well at great prices, all three are solid and reliable and would survive well in the conditions you outlined. A good revolver choice would probably be an older used Ruger.

Originally Posted by pic

a revolver is a good choice...

...However, it's very difficult to detail-strip any revolver, if ever it should get jammed-up.
Detail-stripping a 1911 is about as easy as the job could ever be.

Originally Posted by Steve M1911A1

...However, it's very difficult to detail-strip any revolver, if ever it should get jammed-up.
Detail-stripping a 1911 is about as easy as the job could ever be.

1911's are my favorite's, I have only owned with great performance the colt govt and sig traditional 1911 .Can't vouch for the rest of the bunch.