Trunk Gun Question

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meef

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Okay, I've decided I'd like to carry a rifle full-time in the trunk of my car. Likely a Mosin or an Ishapore faux jungle carbine. Maybe something else? That's not the issue though.

I live in Oregon. My trunk is pretty weatherproof as trunks go. It isn't a hermetically sealed environment, but there's no mold or fungus thriving in there.

Things get hot here in the summer, cool to cold and wet the rest of the year. The last (only) time I ever put a rifle in a case in a trunk (way many years ago) it sprouted the nicest crop of rust you could ask for in no time at all. Big, dumb mistake. Fortunately it wasn't one of my favorite pieces.

At any rate, I'm a bit paranoid to have that happen again and being as this place is the best source for folks who know pretty darn much something about everything gun related - I'm seeking guidance once again.

:)
 
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First off, no matter how water proof you think you trunk is, take that critter out at least once a week, let it dry and wipe it down. Here in CO, our humidity is usually 10-30% and I still get rust.

As far as what rifle, what might you be using it for? I personally have a Remington 700 .30-06 in black trim with a 3-9x 40mm illuminated mil-dot.
I carry 40 rounds, 10 ea. of 180 gr. spitzers, 150 gr. FMJ-BT, 110 gr. V-max and 162 gr. A-P. I figure there isn't much that combo can't handle.
 
As far as what rifle, what might you be using it for? I personally have a Remington 700 .30-06 in black trim with a 3-9x 40mm illuminated mil-dot.
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Well, I won't be using it for much of anything except to have a rifle close at hand in the vehicle. One of those "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" rationales. Call it insurance you never expect (or want) to have to collect on. A rifle that me and my carry pistol don't have to fight very far to get to. :)

The VCI Emitters referred to by ugaarguy's link look great. The question I would ask anybody who might know about using such things is - would it be better to have the rifle in a tightly sealed case or a more porous one when using them. My guess is the tightly sealed case is the preferred option, but I don't want to take anything for granted.
 
Meef,

I'd get an SKS or sporterize one of the 7.62 NATO Ishapores (easier to get 7.62 than 303 ammo) and toss it in a $10 walmart rifle case with the vapor emitter. Keep a couple spare mags for the enfield; and stripper clips, or detachable mags if you choose that option, for the sks; then check it every week or two for any rust. Here are couple SKS optic mount ideas;
http://www.crankyfarmer.com/mounts.html
http://scoutscopes.com/gallery.html
 
Keep a couple spare mags for the enfield;
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Nope, strippers. If you try to reload an Enfield, any Enfield, with whole magazines, you're in for nothing but heartburn. :)
 
Tou might want to check out Classic Arms. They have been offering hard chromed M44 Mosins that would seem to be ideal for trunk gun use. I am sure that they would not be maintenance free, but if you forgot to check on them, they would have an edge over blued guns.

As I recall, the price is right- around $150 or so. As some of our THR brethren would write, that is "cheep".
 
Trunk gun

Whatever gun you choose[I like a basic bolt gun myself], do yourself a favor and find someone locally that is doing GUNKOTE type spray and bake finishes and have it coated....this will help imensely with storage/corrosion issues and slick up the action quite a bit. If you can find someone local to do the finish work, you save allot on shipping.
 
Auto wax has been used to prevent rust on long term storage of firearms.I've carried SKSs,Mosins and AKs in my trunk and I've never found any rust on them.I really wouln't worry too much about rust on a $50 Mosin.I wipe my guns down with Breakfree CLP and they don't rust.
 
Kept a .22 in my barn for a while, had a constant problem with pidgeons for a while. Old barn, so the weather is pretty much the same inside as it is outside. A long as I oiled it up once a month it was fine, if I forgot, I'd get some light rust, although that was easily cleaned.
 
SKS - Hard to Beat for the Price

I'd take a close look at the SKS variants - you know, Yugos, ChiCom, all that.
It depends on what you plan to do with it, of course, but the SKS is to my mind a big boy's Ruger 10/22 - rugged, reliable, simple, oh yeah, and cheap. Not a match gun, mind you, but for under $200 anyplace for new, it's something you can leave in your trunk, especially if you get one of those "new" Yugos that's still in its cosmolene (or whatever THAT stuff is). :barf: I still haven't gotten all of it off mine. For a "beater" to leave in your trunk, it's not a bad deal at all. I've had a Yugo and a few ChiCom SKS, and they're really the kind of gun I leave in my truck and never worry about.
 
Well.... here's what I decided on for now, in case anybody's interested.

An Ishapore .308 with 12 rounds in the magazine, another 50 rounds of South African surplus in stripper clips. A used Kolpin case picked up at the local gunshop for ten bucks and the really neat VCI vapor emitter referred to by ugaarguy's link in post #2 to handle the rust concern.

All in all, I feel reasonably sure that I'm prepared for a small outbreak of mutant ninja zombies should I need to fight my way back to base. Or whatever else trunk guns are supposed to be for.

All in all, about $240 invested. Seems reasonable for the intended purpose.

:D

ishy-2.jpg


I think I need to get a sling for that rifle. Any suggestions?
 
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well, I dunk all my rifles in sweetshooters , in a trough i had built for just such a thing. then i put them in regular bags, with the little baggies of silicone, and also the vci emitters. these are a fantastic product, I highly reccommend them.
But I must say , pretreating with sweetshooters was the key.
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This is a 1937 made mod 81 marlin, I wanted one bad , and bought it off an auction site, could not tell from the pics , the actual condition.
When i took it out of the box, i froze! It was a rust bucket, totally orange.
I went to the next gunshow looking for the sweetshooters guy, we had talked a bunch , and he told me what the product could do. So I bought a can , and every day for 5 days, anytime I passed my room, I took the toothbrush , and brushed it top to bottom. After 5 days, it looked like this , but a ghostly white, as it thoroughly removes ALL moisture of any kind. Again , a little freaked out, but I took a rag , put synth oil on it , and wiped it all down.
I then threw this in an old rifle bag, one with fur on the inside, and put it both in the back seat of my car , and in the trunk , which is leaky. I left it in there from April to the 2nd week of june. In Houston. Went from cold , to rainy , steamy , hot. This is what it looked like when I pulled it out.
I told the sweetshooters guy this, and showed him the pics, he told me to contact the corp office and do a show and tell with them.
it is expensive, but so are great guns, so I had a stainless steel trough made for about 60 bucks, 36"x6"x3", and bought about a gallon of this stuff. I even bouth some cheap indian made stainless steel bowls for the pistols. Everything I keep gets dunked in this stuff. if you do this, you must use stainless, and do it in an area that is covered , and stays warm.
 
Kel-Tec SU-16. Daily rider in my rig, cleaned whenever I remember to do it. No rust problems yet, but I'm in an SUV, so that might make a difference.

Yeah, I got a permit for it and yeah, it's legal!:neener:
 

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Well, for starters - there are a number of past threads that deal with this very exact question that are jam packed with debate, testimonials and suggestions that are VERY good. Great discussions.


In short, perhaps the all time favorite is the SKS. Reasons? Capacity, firepower, cartridge, reliablity, low cost etc...


If worried about corrosion - the best rust preventative that I've ever used is Breakfree LP (not CLP). I've personally tested most of the other oils (as well as some non-gun oils used by gun owners) in my own controlled salt-spray test. Nothing blocked rust more than this stuff. I was impressed. I had plenty of spare time and was aggravated by the endless debate over which ones are good and which ones are junk. People would both praise and condemn the very same products which confused me.


There might be one thing better though. Breakfree Collector. I haven't tested this.This is an oil meant to be used to store firearms. It has a whole lot more of the rust preventing ingredient than the LP. It is also thicker, which prevents it from drying out. Breakfree states that it can be used as an oil, and will NOT hinder or negatively effect a firearms performance. They state that you can take a firearm out of storage and shoot it. It is not like cosmoline.


I'd hose that thing in Breakfree Collector and that will completely solve your rust issues. Check it once every 3-4 months, and clean it twice a year. You should be fine. If LP prevented rust from salt spray...I doubt any conditions in your trunk will rust a firearm treated with Collector.
 
Don't Tread On Me....

Your reply was very informative and led me to do a bit of searching. Here's one item I came up with:

http://keyword.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=breakfree+lp&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D1858c884ce806960%26clickedItemRank%3D1%26userQuery%3Dbreakfree%2Blp%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thegunzone.com%252Frust.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DnsBrowserRoll%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegunzone.com%2Frust.html

Pretty much bears out what you said, except he has a bit of a preference for CLP. I've always liked Breakfree for various firearms chores, I just never realized what a great rust preventative it was. I suppose either LP or CLP would serve my "trunker" very well. I expect I'll get around to giving Collector a try, too.

:)
 
I'm not a great beliver of Mil-Surps..........

as a trunk or truck gun. Just because they were great battle rifles does not mean they are ideal for this application. First off most do not shoot to point of aim....They shoot high by variying amounts. By today's standards they are not efficent Give Me a 16" A2 and I'll be happy. And yes, I love all My mil-surps. I just don't think they are ideal for the job.....Essex
 
I would have to say, as much as I hate them, an AK rifle is the ideal "who cares if it rusts, it'll still work" trunk gun. Yes, I HATE AK's. Heathens rifle of choice.:barf: But, they have thier place
 
I would have to say, as much as I hate them, an AK rifle is the ideal "who cares if it rusts, it'll still work" trunk gun. Yes, I HATE AK's. Heathens rifle of choice. But, they have thier place
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I definately have to agree on the perfect "who cares if it rusts" trunk gun part. No problems with mine. Just pull it out every so often and give it a spritz of NAPA silicone.
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I think just about any you choose will require care and feeding every so often. Personally I would go with an SKS just because they are inexpensive, Small and cheep to shoot.
If you find an 1894 or 1894c Marlin the 44mag or .357 carbines are Good choices too, but at least twice the price of an SKS. So if cost is the key factor 336 in 30-30 is the same price as the SKS but sans the Para Military look.
 
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