Burying a firearm

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WhiteKnight

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If someone wanted to bury a firearm for 10+ years, what would be the best way to preserve it from rust? Dunk it in Cosmoline? Do more effective rust-preventatives exist?
 
Arrrgh! I'd put it in a big ol' chest and bury it with the rest o' me treasure! Then I'd make a map.

Shiver me timbers!

Gotta have a map to where I hid me booty!
 
A lot of people talk about using PVC pipe and plastic bags. I would probably get a grease like cosmoline and cover the gun in it put it in a garbage bag and then into a piece of pipe and seal it up. I would throw in some small silica packs for good measure too.
 
Apparently Bartowski beat me by 2 minutes....but there you be.


I recall a thread like this from a while ago. I think the idea of using PVC with sealed end caps was the preferred storage container.
 
Isn't there some kind of foil or something you have use, to blanket several square feet, a few inches under the surface, to keep from your firearm being found by a metal detecter?




Oh, and I'll be the first to use the quote "If it's time to bury your guns, it's time to dig them up." (unknown)
 
OK I give up why would you want to bury a firearm for 10+ years it is tuff to shoot them when covered in earth.
 
I would suggest breaking it down completely and coating the steel parts with a heavy grease such as my namesake. Then wrap those in cloth and seal in an air-tight plastic container with the wood separate. Some dry-zee air packs in there can't hurt. Bury the entire box.

Would that do it?
 
Hmmmm, another SHTF scenario...:rolleyes:


The only advice I can give is bury them deep and vertical. A vertical metal object is much harder to pin point. Another thing that will make the detection job harder is to bury lots of metal junk in the area: scrap metal, wire fence, old broken magnets :)evil:), etc. Basically, make it look like a junk pile.

Take it from a surveyor, lots of random hits from the metal detector will cause the searcher to give up the search quickly.:D

After they are buried, be sure to make "swing ties" or "witnesses" to fixed objects. You'd like to be able to find them when you need them.
 
A vacuum sealer sounds good (as suggested above). But first, make sure it's very clean and nice and dripping wet with CLP or some other gun oil. All over, inside and out.

Of course, if there's any rubber or plastic on the gun, petroleum-based products will destroy that.

Or you could always use a whole can of Gun Scrubber to make absolutely sure there's no moisture, then vacuum seal it while it's still fumey (so as to be sure little to no air moisture goes in the bag with it).

What kind of firearm? As well, I am also curious to know why (and where ;)).


-T.
 
a good oiling will do, some of the gun rags have had ads with plastic bags supposedly designed for that purpose in them. It will take a large pvc pipe to hold a rifle but you could do that and use glue on PVC pipe caps to seal it completely. Infrared can spot disturbed earth easly.
 
Dunk it in cosmoline, vacuum-seal it in a thick plastic bag, seal that in a PVC pipe with a number of dessicant packs, put that in a Pelican case, and bury it. That sucker'll be good for a century.
 
I love this place. It took 9 posts before somebody asked why you would do that.

And the rest of us have already thought about burying guns in the back yard. Awesome.
 
1) Cosmoline. Be liberal in its use. I might recommend removing the stock and burying it separately; those are harder to clean off (if wood).
2) Sealed PVC. I'd probably make the pipe quite a bit longer than the firearm itself so retrieval is easier- instead of trying to unscrew a sealed/glued cap, just saw the thing off. Besides, if you bury it vertically, you can probably dig the hole with a modified post hole digger- far less earth to move than with a shovel.
3) If concerned about metal detectors, then I'd probably bury metal objects throughout the area, even right on top of the item in question (which would be buried far deeper, mind you). Of course, a determined search will still find it, so don't give them any reason to suspect there is actually anything there. Given enough time, anybody can find a needle in a haystack when they know one is there. If they have nothing but a suspicion that a needle is in the haystack, then they aren't as likely to bring their best work ethic to the job.

Oh, and be sure to put it in a spot where you can't ever forget it is there. If you're burying it, maps are bad ideas, so you'll want it in proximity to a known landmark.
 
I perfectly understand the whole burying guns thing. But I always fail to understand the whole "scattering junk about" thing. Seems to me that if someone were sure enough that you were hiding guns, or doing some sort of area survey, the higher concentration of hits that you and everyone else burying a gun would have is an instant confirmation that there's a decent chance that guns are buried there. Unless you bury them somewhere with naturally occuring clutter, it seems self defeating. And once they're convinced that your yard's a good place to look, you'd be suprised how quick a guy with a dozer could toss a decent sized lot.

Personally I figure bury them in them park in the middle of the night. You need them, go get them. If they find them, oh well, no connection to you.
 
I'm waiting for the "what if" post about a certain political group who put Europe to the sword in the '40s.

:D

Not to hijack the thread, but what would you do, or what would you feel like thereafter, if some kid were to come along and unearth what you had buried?

I think if you want to bury something like that it should be on land that you have some control over. It'd be a damned shame if some 12 year old with no brains found your Pelican case peeping out the side of a mound of moved earth at a construction site.
 
I perfectly understand the whole burying guns thing. But I always fail to understand the whole "scattering junk about" thing. Seems to me that if someone were sure enough that you were hiding guns, or doing some sort of area survey, the higher concentration of hits that you and everyone else burying a gun would have is an instant confirmation that there's a decent chance that guns are buried there. Unless you bury them somewhere with naturally occuring clutter, it seems self defeating. And once they're convinced that your yard's a good place to look, you'd be suprised how quick a guy with a dozer could toss a decent sized lot.
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This may be the case; however, my parents garden had SOO MUCH JUNK in it as I was growing up. Some places are just full of clutter.

And if they're bringing a bulldozer, nothing you do will stop them from finding it. However, if it's just a shovel and they keep finding junk- you're good.

Also, put some junk OVER your gun. If they do happen to dig over your gun, you have something for them to find and stop digging.
 
If you REALLY don't want anyone to find it, seal it well with pvc and bury it in or under your septic tank.
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That would indeed discourage lookers, but I'd think that things would have to be seriously crappy to mess with that... :D
 
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