Gun storage

Thegreengiant34 said:

. . . besides a safe.

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Does this mean "other than a safe," or "in addition to a safe?"

My shop is in the basement, in subtropical South Carolina. I run a dehumidifier, and lights/goldenrods in the safes. Works fine.

Safe or no, control the humidity.

Besides a safe? Then any decent container affording a good seal. You can buy Desiccant Bags and place them in a container with your guns. They come in High and Low humidity types. Needless to say a light coat of gun oil on the guns is important, especially below or under any wood lines. I am in Ohio and humidity hit 69% outside today but in the house we run central air which makes comfort for us and the gun safe. Every now and then I bake out my Desiccant Bags. Not knowing what you have as to gun storage makes it difficult to give you an answer.

Ron

If they are stored in a soft or hard case make sure they have a nice light film of oil on them.

Ron

Whats a good place to order desiccant bags from?

I'm by far a firearms expert , but I like to keep mine with a coat of oil.

Any kind of fabric soft case can and will hold moisture from the last humid day you had. Use them for transport only - never storage. As a gunsmith I have seen far too many nice guns covered in rust because the owner stored it in a soft case. Cardboard boxes can hold moisture also. Storing guns on a shelf or rack in open air is better than keeping it in any kind of case. The box your was gun shipped in was for shipping only - not storage. Keep all the guns oiled. Check them every couple of weeks. The best thing you can do is buy a small room de-humidifer and a hygrometer (moisture meter). Keep the de-humdifier running to maintain about 45% humidity. Every time anyone places so much as a finger on a gun - re oil it. Some people sweat battery acid.

Look at:
https://www.zerustproducts.com/

They sell rust prevention bags and barrel rust prevention tube devices. I bought several feet of 22 caliber and 30 caliber tubes. The price was reasonable. For what I paid, I don’t have anything to loose. As long as my guns stay rust free, any price is worthwhile. I do keep my firearms in a safe and I do constantly monitored the humidity. And where I live, Ohio, it is humid.

I have a safe.
It sucks.
Use a rechargeable desiccant deal (plug in wall overnight and put back in safe).
Do it once a month.
Plus pull everything out and oil.
Am I overdoing it? Maybe.
Am not very trusting. Best IMHO to establish a routine.
Safe is in bedroom, house has AC.........temps don't vary widely (like if safe was in non climate controlled garage).

I didn't have the worry back in the old days of having em lined up in a closet. Think the humidity and temp was more stable, or at least had longer ramp times.

Just pulled all my crap out to move a scope on a rifle.

I need a bigger safe...........as the listed capacity must mean no scopes/bolt handles on anything. Dinged up one wood stock trying to fit em in.
Not an expensive rifle but still honked me off.
My OCD...........that rifle now wears a new synth stock.

But...............I have my most expensive rifle NOT in the safe. Its in a soft case, oiled and tucked away. I check it weekly.
Has a nice wood stock I don't want dinged.........so not putting that one in a cramped safe.
Might get some dessicant and put in some sort of minimal contact container.

Worst killer of guns I've seen is the sheepskin soft gun case.
Those have ruined many a gun.
Also seen folks come from cold hunts to warm houses and the guns sweat.

I live in Missouri and the humidity creates air you can wear.

Moisture can only condense on a surface that is colder than the surrounding air. Physics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, call it what you want. So if you can find a way to keep your guns warmer than the air in contact with the metal, no moisture can condense on your firearms. (Even keeping the guns and surrounding air at the same temperature prevents condensation. It's the fluctuations that cause problems, like an air conditioner cycling. )Probably easier said than done, though. An old fashioned incandescent light bulb can keep the temperature up in a small space. Warm air around the guns, which are not in contact with any absorbent fabric or other material, would be ideal. Those who hunt in extremely cold conditions reportedly leave their guns outside the cabin at night, to prevent moisture in the warm inside air from condensing in their guns, which would then re-freeze when going out on the next day's hunt. Reportedly. I don't go hunting when it's that cold.

But a thin film of grease or oil is excellent additional protection and insurance. Don't let it get between the wood and steel. You want to keep the wood dry. Check them frequently (a good excuse to handle them again!)

I keep all my long guns in a silicone gun sick. In my safe with a small damp rid container in the safe. And a large one made for RVs in the closet. My safe is in. It's worked so far. Zero rust. In the southeast.

Meeks36 said:

I keep all my long guns in a silicone gun sick. In my safe with a small damp rid container in the safe. And a large one made for RVs in the closet. My safe is in. It's worked so far. Zero rust. In the southeast.

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Big fan of the silicon socks. Just take them out and wipe down with an oily rag occasionally.

No safe....wipe them down with good oil and put them in dry gun cases or socks and put them in a closet with a light bulb on. Put a hygrometer in the closet to monitor humidity.

Back when I lived in an upstairs apartment, I installed a sizeable (3/4") eyebolt in the back of a closet where it was not very obvious. I had a buddy in a shop who could make up some swaged eyes in 7/16" nylon coated aircraft cable, this got a Medeco padlock. It was not ideal, but it was as ideal as I could make it.
Since it was indoors, it was relatively controlled environment. And, nothing much sta for longer than about a week at a time, so they were getting attention pretty continuously.

Later, I upgraded to a Stak-On cabinet, and it "felt" more secure in some ways. Still indoors, so, not too much environmental changes--and I lived in a Central Texas county between two rivers, humidity was a way of life.

Really, I was never comfortable until I got a ground floor unit and a Liberty Lincoln. The mass on that moderated changes nicely. I store dessicant in the safe, and swap it out with sun dried. That's all personal bias.

Besides in a safe?......well you can buy a Pelican 1750 double rifle case. It has rubber seals to keep out water, a pressure valve, and it has latches for 2 padlocks, wheels, handles, pick foam inside for a good fit, and it is TSA approved for travel if you need. I keep one under my bed with a couple of dessicant packets inside for extra protection. Total cost is around $250-$300

Or purchase stainless guns with synthetic stocks! Seriously, why not a safe? But I spray everything with Ballistol regularly and wipe the excess off. Spray into the barrels as well. Of course, before shooting the gun needs to be cleaned, the barrel patched and the exterior wiped down. But I have never had rust during storage. I put the guns into a sock after spraying them down. Not dripping wet, no, but spray and wipe to leave a protective shield, then into the sock. Originally from Louisiana. My grandfather would varnish his guns and my father did as well but not as much. I have been cleaning that crap off of my inherited guns for years. But, there was not much rust, .

Im in the equatorial tropics, same humidity and surrounding forest type as the amazon, 13ft of rain a year. Safes work fine here. The rules here are keep guns well oiled, dont bother with heating rods but check regularly( at least once a month) , especially for mold forming on wood, textiles, rubber or slings(anything semi organic attached to the gun) Dont store guns in soft cases, particularly when also inside gunsafes with limited airflow as it exacerbates mold forming. Any airtight or closed container can have a sock or ladies stocking full of dehydrated dessicant added to it. Dont bother with kitty litter or rice or other home remedies. Find a local chemical supplier who can get you the real pellets- they aborb a lot more and also change color as they do. Whenever they are completely hydrated just pour the pellets onto a tray and heat in an oven for 20-30 minutes to vaporise the trapped water back to start color.

I use RIG in the bores, a light coat of oil for the innards, and Johnson's paste wax on the exterior (metal and wood). Each gun is stored in a teflon retreated gun sock and stored in a Zrust bag. Never had any rust problems.

I use silicone socks on EVERY gun in my safe, handgun and rifle and shotgun..............NEVER keep a gun in a foam case........................