Rust issues

Where are you located, and what's the usual humidity? I would think as long as they are in a climate controlled atmosphere, something else might be in play here. You do know you need to "reactivate" the silica from time to time.

Sometimes the culprit is the felt padding on barrel rests, inside gun safes. This is hygroscopic, absorbing moisture from the air. Being in constant contact with steel rifle barrels, it promotes rust. It's better to rest the barrels on bare wood. I noticed this problem, and ripped all the padding out. Haven't had rust since. (The same thing can happen with carpet padding.)

Ccctennis wrote:
Perhaps I need to check the humidity level in closet.

Click to expand...

If you are going to store guns long-term in a particular space, then by all means you should install a hygrometer.

I would skip the endless cycles of trying to "recharge" silica (which doesn't work in the long term) and go for active de-humidification. What you are looking for is humidity comparable to Phoenix in the summer time.

Also, make sure your cleaning regimen isn't causing the problem. Make sure the gun, the bore and the exterior is clean and thoroughly oiled. Make sure that un-gloved hands don't touch the gun after it has been cleaned.

I would also make sure that any guns I didn't use regularly were wiped down with a modern synthetic motor oil with a good anti-oxidant package. I know from other threads that there are some posters who say motor oil doesn't provide corrosion protection, but few - if any - have the experience of having left guns out in the environmental swings of north Texas for twenty-plus years. I have. Not by choice, but because of a handicap. Still, my experience was that both motor oil and 3-in-1 machine oil worked great at preventing rust across more than two decades..

Get rid of the gun socks, they attract moisture and don't allow for air to move evaporating moisture. My gun safes are in what used to be my garage. I enclosed it a few years back and turned it into a man cave. It is not connected to the HVAC in the rest of the home, but has a window AC unit and a wall mounted gas heater that are only used when needed. Every few days I'll open the safe doors for a few hours when I'm home to get some air moving. Never had any rust issues.

Buy a humidity gauge and monitor the humidity where your guns are. If it ever goes above 45% - do not store your guns there - or buy a small dehumidifer and make sure it keeps running 24/7. Regardless of what the temperature is or whether air is moving you must know what the humidity is. And as said, keep them oiled and stored in open air, no socks or bags or padding. Just dry air.

I've never had any issues with rust, but the dehumidifier I had been using crapped out earlier in the year. When I go to check on it periodically, it always has an error after a few days have passed that requires me to cycle the power to reset it before it will work again. The sad part is that before it started doing that, it worked great!

Does anyone know of a model that lasts more than a year or two? It seems like none of the ones I've read reviews for last much longer than mine. If I'm going to shell out close to $200 for such a unit, I want it to last at least a decade! (Ideally forever, but that is probably too much to ask nowadays.)

Maybe keep a couple of light bulbs on in there? If you can keep the guns and/or the air around the guns just a mite warmer than the rest of the immediate area, no condensation can form on them. You can only get moisture condensing on the guns when the guns are colder than the air, not the other way around. In addition to dehumidifying efforts, keep the closet warm.

A dehumidifier is a miniature refrigerator. It pulls in room air, forces it over cold coils which causes moisture to condense on the coils and fall into a trap, and returns the chilled air to the room. The chilled air will circulate downstairs to be replaced by warmer moist air rising from the living area. When you go into the room to play with your guns, you will probably be breathing (!) and adding humidity to the air. If the room temperature varies at all, you can expect condensation to form on the guns when the room air is warmer than the metal surface of the guns, even if the humidity is low. For example, you will still get condensation forming on a glass of iced tea in the summertime in Phoenix. And that is a low humidity area.

I think you would be better off to hang a light bulb in the closet on an extension cord.

12 years experience combatting condensation in packing house coolers here...

I'd keep the metal surfaces coated with "Sheath." It's a great corrosion preventative.

I live in Charleston. I feel your pain. Finally, after many years of trying, solved the problem via Corrosion-X. This stuff really works well. My safe is now in my garage which has no hvac at all and 50' from a salt water creek and 100' from the matsh. I also have a home made "goldenrod" in there. The safe queens get wiped down once every couple of years. No more rust speckles. Even my stainless TCP, pocket carried, which the magazine release would always get rust in its serrations, is clean as a whistle. $16-20 a can is worth the try. The stuff is also good for fishing equipment and outboard motors. Good on golf cart battery connections too.

Well I have to live in my home so 45% humidity is too low for comfort for me. The dry air causes static electricity and makes the house harder to heat and cool.

I try to keep the temperature in my vault around 60+/- 5 degree in winter and no higher than 70 in the summer. Average humidity is 55%. I just went down to check and the temperature is 63 with 60% humidity.

I store most of my handgun is the original cardboard or plastic box they came in. Many of my long guns and a few handguns are stored on pegboard. I just give the ones on the pegboard a occasional wipedown of light oil and the handguns once a year. I have never had a gun rust in 15 years. In fact I have blackpowder rifle barrel that I stripped the blue finish off of and is raw unprotected steel and it has not developed any rust.

I kept an Ithaca shotgun in my closet for over 10 years with no rust. I wiped it down about 3 times in that span using RIG grease on a RIG Rag. Been using it for 45 years and no rust on any carbon steel guns yet.
Joe

That's what I like about the dry Southwest, rust is a non-issue. Even the milsurps my son foolishly didn't clean after using corrosive ammo didn't rust.

This is what I use. The bore gets a really wet patch and when I go to the range it get a dry patch. Mine are in a safe in a stone foundation basement that is around 80% humidity.

I live on Florida's East Coast, high temps. high humidity it even rains salt water sometimes
and was having a similar problem
The solution I found was wax, Museums wax their displays to prevent rust ( a special wax )
So I tried car wax, 2 coats on disassembled parts and inside the barrel also
It works on stored guns, displayed guns and even on my carry guns
( carry gun was totally wet from a downpour, inside and out, I was working so it was 9 hrs
before I could give the gun any attention --- NO RUST !!! Just dried it out and a little oil
on moving parts and its good to go )
I use Mothers California Gold it has NO polishing compound in it
I beleave any quality car wax will work just make shure it has NO COMPOUND in it
( I use an old tooth brush to get wax from edges, joints and indentations )