Leaving my gunsafe open good, bad or irrelevant?

[Steel Horse Rider]

In my opinion 40% is low enough that unless you have some type of drastic temperature fluctuation you should not have a problem with condensation. If you guns are put into the safe in a clean and lubricated condition you should be fine. Long exposure to ultra low humidity (I would say below 15%) will dry out the wood and make it more susceptible to cracking. This is the same reason that the floors in a wood framed house creak more in the winter if the air is not humidified.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Silica Gel will give you about 40%. Professional musicians consider about 45% the absolute minimum for wood storage but I am using silica gel in my safe and not worrying about it. I have a nice collectors addition wood grip pistol I keep in a 50 cal ammo can with anhydrous ammonium nitrate instead that keeps the humidity about 59%.

Mike