On the board of directors of a museum: dealing with firearms.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Solomonson

Solomonson

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2017
Messages
765
Location
God's Country
A year ago I accepted an appointment to the board of directors of the local historical museum. Even thought I'm located in beautiful coastal California most of the staff seems to be pro-gun if anything. History is so important to them that they really don't care that if it's preserved in the form of firearms.

Still, the curator and the collections manager were concerned about handling the firearms -- they needed to be audited to make certain we have what our records say we have and they need to be inspected for corrosion.

I made the entire staff a deal -- we would audit, inspect and clean the firearms as a team. A few other board members even showed up. Last Saturday I arrived with plenty of Ballistol and cleaning gear in hand and gave them a little seminar on cleaning guns. We began with the NRA's safe gun handling rules plus how to clear/check a firearm for the absence of ammo.

We made it through all 136 firearms in the collection. From three gorgeous German drillings, to a pair of 1873 Colts to three 1911s, a Luger and a Garand. They were all in great shape and now have a nice coat of Ballistol protecting them.

We are planning a historical firearms shoot sometime next year. Our goal is not to appeal simply to gunnies, but to tap into those with a deep interest in history and museums. We figure such an event will also be a great way to grow our collection.
 
That sounded like a well spent day! Very cool that the collection has not been neutered. A functioning collection is a real collection! Your idea of a Range Day is great! I bet some that have visited the museam would like to try some of those exibits. I know I would.

Mark
 
Hardtarget said:
That sounded like a well spent day! Very cool that the collection has not been neutered. A functioning collection is a real collection! Your idea of a Range Day is great! I bet some that have visited the museam would like to try some of those exibits. I know I would.

Mark
Click to expand...
The range day idea came from someone else -- which I very much support. Each firearm was especially cool because they have local provenance. There was a Broomhandle that used to be the duty sidearm of a former chief of police back in the early in 1920s -- when times were different.

The toughest thing about a range day might finding ammo for some of the firearms without spending a mint. Where does one buy say .505 Gibbs at a good price?
 
Balistol is a fine cleaner and short-term anti-rust agent. It sounds as though your museum is being well managed in this day of political correctness. Your curator should have known about "Renaissance Wax" the museum standard for long-term preservation of metal and wood. Nonetheless, you did good! Having done this for more than 40 years, I arbitrarily break firearms into two categories; probably fired with corrosive ammo or not. In the "corrosive" group I further divide into muzzle loaders and breech loaders. Probably half of the muzzle loading guns that came my way were still loaded. These took special attention. A bore scope is handy to inspect the interior of the barrel. Neutralizing black powder residue and corrosive salts from fulminate and chlorinate primers usually requires a very careful disassembly (not always possible) and hot water bath. Once cleaned and preserved, firearms should be handled with clean cotton gloves so no finger-prints are left on them..
 
Finger prints are nasty....wife worked at a research lib. back in college....learned a great deal about safe handling.
 
I'll just add this - Balistol, or any other petroleum based oil, can lead to discolored spots on unprotected brass. It's not something extreme, but is does look ugly and unprofessional. Not to mention that it drips away, dries, and attracts dust on top of that. One can get away with it on a Colt 1850 for example, but on a Gardner gun not so much. Oil finished stocks and grips will loose their lustre if treated with non polimerising oil. I second the recommendation about "Renaissance Wax" - you cannot call it a "museum" if you don't have at least a gallon of it...;)
 
Last edited:
Curator said:
Balistol is a fine cleaner and short-term anti-rust agent. It sounds as though your museum is being well managed in this day of political correctness. Your curator should have known about "Renaissance Wax" the museum standard for long-term preservation of metal and wood. Nonetheless, you did good! Having done this for more than 40 years, I arbitrarily break firearms into two categories; probably fired with corrosive ammo or not. In the "corrosive" group I further divide into muzzle loaders and breech loaders. Probably half of the muzzle loading guns that came my way were still loaded. These took special attention. A bore scope is handy to inspect the interior of the barrel. Neutralizing black powder residue and corrosive salts from fulminate and chlorinate primers usually requires a very careful disassembly (not always possible) and hot water bath. Once cleaned and preserved, firearms should be handled with clean cotton gloves so no finger-prints are left on them..
Click to expand...

Ren Wax all the way.
 
Solomonson said:
A year ago I accepted an appointment to the board of directors of the local historical museum. Even thought I'm located in beautiful coastal California most of the staff seems to be pro-gun if anything. History is so important to them that they really don't care that if it's preserved in the form of firearms.

Still, the curator and the collections manager were concerned about handling the firearms -- they needed to be audited to make certain we have what our records say we have and they need to be inspected for corrosion.

I made the entire staff a deal -- we would audit, inspect and clean the firearms as a team. A few other board members even showed up. Last Saturday I arrived with plenty of Ballistol and cleaning gear in hand and gave them a little seminar on cleaning guns. We began with the NRA's safe gun handling rules plus how to clear/check a firearm for the absence of ammo.

We made it through all 136 firearms in the collection. From three gorgeous German drillings, to a pair of 1873 Colts to three 1911s, a Luger and a Garand. They were all in great shape and now have a nice coat of Ballistol protecting them.

We are planning a historical firearms shoot sometime next year. Our goal is not to appeal simply to gunnies, but to tap into those with a deep interest in history and museums. We figure such an event will also be a great way to grow our collection.
Click to expand...

Next time, bring a camera!!
Lol
 
What is your museum? I used to live in the central coast (Paso Robles), and still have family there, so I might like to visit sometime when I visit them (if you are close enough, or on the way to or from).

Another fan of waxing here! On guns. Not eyebrows.
 
Solomonson said:
The range day idea came from someone else -- which I very much support. Each firearm was especially cool because they have local provenance. There was a Broomhandle that used to be the duty sidearm of a former chief of police back in the early in 1920s -- when times were different.

The toughest thing about a range day might finding ammo for some of the firearms without spending a mint. Where does one buy say .505 Gibbs at a good price?
Click to expand...
A small museum in California has a .505 Gibbs? A real one, built by Gibbs? I'd love to hear the story behind that one.
 
Curator said:
Balistol is a fine cleaner and short-term anti-rust agent. It sounds as though your museum is being well managed in this day of political correctness. Your curator should have known about "Renaissance Wax" the museum standard for long-term preservation of metal and wood. Nonetheless, you did good! Having done this for more than 40 years, I arbitrarily break firearms into two categories; probably fired with corrosive ammo or not. In the "corrosive" group I further divide into muzzle loaders and breech loaders. Probably half of the muzzle loading guns that came my way were still loaded. These took special attention. A bore scope is handy to inspect the interior of the barrel. Neutralizing black powder residue and corrosive salts from fulminate and chlorinate primers usually requires a very careful disassembly (not always possible) and hot water bath. Once cleaned and preserved, firearms should be handled with clean cotton gloves so no finger-prints are left on them..
Click to expand...

I know about Renaissance Wax as do members of the museum staff. Nothing I posted suggested we didn't. Given the local weather, climate control and the storage conditions at the museum, Ballistol was an extremely appropriate choice.
 
Ballistol consistently scores poorly in the informal corrosion tests I've seen. It's far better than nothing but there are superior choices for corrosion protection/prevention.
 
JohnKSa said:
Ballistol consistently scores poorly in the informal corrosion tests I've seen. It's far better than nothing but there are superior choices for corrosion protection/prevention.
Click to expand...

I've used it for decades around here and it has performed excellently.
 
Last edited:
I've used to for decades around here and it has performed excellently.
Click to expand...
Very good. I misunderstood your comments to mean that you had limited experience with corrosion protection for museum firearms. If you've been using Ballistol for that purpose for decades with excellent results, then I suppose it should continue to do a good job.

It is interesting that it performs so poorly in the various corrosion tests I've seen and yet has provided excellent long-term corrosion protection in your experience.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
Alaska State Museum Firearms Display
Replies
4
Views
537
Cosmoline
C
Shipwreck
  • Locked
Oklahoma Gun Museum Upgrading After Firearms Thefts
Replies
6
Views
807
skunkum
S
P
  • Locked
FYI - Louisville, KY, Gun Museum Needs Visitors
Replies
11
Views
842
coonan357
C
D
  • Locked
(MI) Case of the missing relic handgun
Replies
0
Views
406
Drizzt
D
B
  • Locked
National Firearm Museum
Replies
4
Views
439
swinokur
S
Back
Top