Well, I've Got Some Bad News.

Status
Not open for further replies.
The problem is the moist air in the basement that is trapped inside the cabinet. Move it upstairs and add a light.
 
Iowa humidity is not as bad as Kansas humidity, which is not as bad as gulf coast humidity I betcha.

IMO: The problem is that you have toxic sweat, and aren't doing a good enough job wiping them down when you handle them.

Some people leave hand prints that will rust the chrome off a trailer hitch ball while you stand there and watch it happen.

Try this:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=4110525&postcount=7

Followed by this:
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=31842/Product/RIG-reg-UNIVERSAL-GUN-GREASE
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=31843/Product/RIG-RAG-UNIVERSAL-GREASE-APPLICATOR

rc
 
I Simoniz mine, use it on both metal and wood. If it will stay on your car for 6 months, think how long it will stay on a gun that is not left out in the weather.

How much is this product?

I don't know if I'm spelling it correctly bu Ezoxx always comes out on top during tests. Military likes it.

Again, how much is product? And where can I get?

I grew up in south florida and started hunting in the swamps . Still own the first firearms I bought in the mid '70's and never had rust issues. Allways used breakfree clp. Clean your guns and give them a good coat ,every where, Over time it does soak into the metal to help keep them in good shape. My old shot guns and rifle have both been under water a few times too. I use kroil for when a barrel needs hard cleaning then recoat with breakfree clp again. Just try to pick a good synthetic clp that several companies make and use it.

I've been getting a thin film of rust about once a year, when the temperatures outside change from cold to hot, and I've scrubbed and oiled, problem was done. Once I noticed a thin layer of rust there that dehumidifier comes on. But now it's gotten rediculous.

I can promise you the humidity where you live is nothing like
the humidity where I live on the Gulf Coast. That being said,
I use Kroil Weatherpruf. It will stop any metal from
rusting.

Glad of your results. I'll look into this.

You could get the Mauser counter-bored, if you really don't wanna rebarrel it.

Well, I've been wanting to do a Mauser based custom for a while, and it is a large ring, no notch variant (reciever not cut to allow clearance of 8mm). Only thing is, I've thought about just counterboring it, but the whole barrel was caked in rust. Not just the muzzle end.

Something funny is going on.

has there been, by any chance Chorline bleach spilled or used liberally in the area? or Muriatic acid used to clean the floor? or some sort of strong drain cleaner?

All these chemicals (and many others) will make steel rust by encouraging Oxidation.

I live on a BOAT, on LI in Summers, FL in winter, and Tidewater in between, and I do not have much of a rust issue, using CLP.

Hasn't been bleach used in the area for a couple months (laundry room is caddy-corner from my room). Hasn't given me an issue before.

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSearchQuery=dessicant

Dessicant: It's your friend.

If you don't want packages in your gun closet, get a little cordless job like this one: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/141...bic-feet-white

I live down near Houston, so I feel your pain. The guns in my house are in good shape, but I keep an old stack-on type gun cabinet in the garage with some older beaters. If I don't check those guns semi-regularly, I'll even get mold on the wood stocks.

I have a bag of it in the cabinet, already. I should get a new one because I looked at it last month and it was still good, but the temperature did change. But even before, it's never been this bad.

When I used to live in Houston, I used to have them dehumidifier (the one you buy at the local store) where it sits on a 2 part plastic 1 pint container and the gel is on top and it drains water from the air and collects at the bottom part of the container. Doesn't require electricity

I think I know what you're talking about. Used 'em before with okay results. Didn't do enough to impress me.

Hi LJ,
Get a "Golden Rod" for your storage cabinet. You also might see if there is a gun smith that can counter bore your Turk. Easier than re-barreling BTW.
Best,
Rob

Again, maybe a custom build off of, because it caked the whole bore.

Look into "Bore Stores" (gun protective storage) cases. They work very well for me.

DMH

I'll look into those. Links?

I use a product developed by Boeing called Boeshield T-9. I use it on guns I figure are gonna sit for awhile. While I do not have bad humidity issues for my guns, I did use Boeshield on all rust-able parts of my brand new Lee turret loader about a year and half ago. It sits unused in my non-heated garage. You can still feel the protective coat on it and there is no rust at all after sitting in a damp garage for that long!

http://boeshield.com/

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...sl_9s9ikrzyi_e

Heard a lot about it. I'll look into that as well.

I live in Iowa and cannot figure out why you are having all of those rust problems unless something is going on with storage conditions. So, read again what Jad0110 is saying. I hope you are not storing them in an unheated/un-air conditioned barn or out-building or a musty basement with no dehumidifier...that sort of thing. I do not have nearly the problems you have had.

Basement, in my bedroom. Thing that doesn't make sense is my step-father's guns are in the next room and don't rust at all. And mine are the only ones that do. And mine get cared for more than his does.

The problem is the moist air in the basement that is trapped inside the cabinet. Move it upstairs and add a light.

Moving it upstairs is not an option, but adding a light shouldn't be too difficult.

Been using it for nearly 6yrs, handguns, rifle, shotguns and no rust

Worth looking into.

Iowa humidity is not as bad as Kansas humidity, which is not as bad as gulf coast humidity I betcha.

IMO: The problem is that you have toxic sweat, and aren't doing a good enough job wiping them down when you handle them.

Some people leave hand prints that will rust the chrome off a trailer hitch ball while you stand there and watch it happen.

I degrease the whole firearm, oil it, and will wear gloves through the whole process so finger oils don't sit on the firearm after the fresh coat of oil.
 
First....just how long were you gone?
Guns that are properly cared for should not have that much rust unless there is something else adding excessive amounts of moisture into the air. I once left a Kel Tec P32 on a windowsill overnight. The moisture combined with the high carbon steel caused a film of rust to form overnight. Perhaps you have a water pipe running down the wall where your guns are stored....

You might want to experiment with treated bags as an option until you find a more suitable location. Try moving the cabinet across the room. The fact that there are other guns in the house without the same problem indicates that yours is specifically due to location and not overall humidity of your locale/ house.:eek:
 
Well, I haven't touched the rifles in a month, due to work. But I'm home every night. Last week they weren't rusted, noticed my Astra had some rust on it so I looked at the rifles and they were fine. Should've put a coat of oil on them then, but I didn't. Not sure what's causing this. I'll try moving the cabinet to the other wall and see if it helps. My bedroom is t located near the water lines, but my step-fathers guns are closer to the pipes than mine are.
 
One more vote for Eezox. Last time I bought it was on eBay, because I cannot find it locally.

The 18-oz spray can shows $25 on their site.

Eezox's web site has a "Dealers" page. http://www.eezox.com/dealers.html#ia
For Iowa they show:

Gene McCarron
631 Weaver Rd. NW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52405
Phone : 319-396-9727
Email : [email protected]

Midwest Tactical Supply
Marengo, IA 52301
Phone : Toll Free: 866-253-3586
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 AM to 5.00 PM CDT
Email : [email protected]
Mail Order/Online Sales

Ranchero Sporting Supply LLC
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone : 319-269-0432
Email : [email protected]
Call ahead for local sales... mail order is okay.

Southern Archery
305 11th St SE
Spencer, IA 51301
Phone : 712-262-7213
Email : [email protected]
 
Iowa humidity is not as bad as Kansas humidity, which is not as bad as gulf coast humidity I betcha

Not sure that's correct since Iowa gets more rain than I do and my humidity is fairly low in Kansas except in summer. But, be that as it may, EEZOX, as others have said, is the answer (along with a safe and a dehumidifier and BoreStores). I have no rust issue at all.

Which raises again the question about caustic sweat in different persons.
 
I feel your pain on the Iowa hummidity, although the up side is you get to dig into the safe more often :)
 
One more vote for Eezox. Last time I bought it was on eBay, because I cannot find it locally.

The 18-oz spray can shows $25 on their site.

Eezox's web site has a "Dealers" page. http://www.eezox.com/dealers.html#ia
For Iowa they show:

Gene McCarron
631 Weaver Rd. NW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52405
Phone : 319-396-9727
Email : [email protected]

Midwest Tactical Supply
Marengo, IA 52301
Phone : Toll Free: 866-253-3586
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 AM to 5.00 PM CDT
Email : [email protected]
Mail Order/Online Sales

Ranchero Sporting Supply LLC
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone : 319-269-0432
Email : [email protected]
Call ahead for local sales... mail order is okay.

Southern Archery
305 11th St SE
Spencer, IA 51301
Phone : 712-262-7213
Email : [email protected]

Thank you!

Not sure that's correct since Iowa gets more rain than I do and my humidity is fairly low in Kansas except in summer. But, be that as it may, EEZOX, as others have said, is the answer (along with a safe and a dehumidifier and BoreStores). I have no rust issue at all.

Which raises again the question about caustic sweat in different persons.

Again, when handling for maintenance, i.e. oiling, I wear rubber gloves. Otherwise they usually stay in the safe (if you wish to call it that) until range day.

I feel your pain on the Iowa hummidity, although the up side is you get to dig into the safe more often

Well I just wish the reason I dug into the safe last night was a good one. I noticed the rust on the Astra (kept in a different lockable cabinet) and went to work inspecting the rest.
 
I live in Oregon which isn't known for dryness on it's Western side. I keep an EVA DRY unit in my safe as well as a desiccant cannister. I also keep a hygrometer in the safe to keep tabs on the interior humidity. As long as it's kept below 40% there shouldn't be any corrosion. A damp rod is good but I prefer desiccant because it absorbs water vapor instead of reducing condensation which is what a heat source actually does. One other important thing is not to keep a firearm in a leather holster or case. That tends to accumulate moisture against the metal.
 
Another vote fro EEzox and I also have alway s kept a jar of pennies in my gun safe! For years....

Two reasons....the pennies will draw moisture to themselves and you will notice quickly if any of the pennies are getting tarnished or green! This will alert you to a moisture/humidity problem.

And I also use Unit Paks from Dessicare, Inc. Always have kept them with my firearms and in tool boxes with precision tools. They work great and you are able to reactivate in the oven.

www.desiccare.com (could not get there web site up????)

but this must be a distributor http://www.protectivepackaging.net/desiccants
 
try GibbsBrandLubricant (.com if you want to buy and try). it cleans, lubricates, will not gel in cold weather (I'm in WI and shoot and hunt in winter), leaves microns of residual lubricant on treated surfaces, repels water and prevents rust. my local dealer at the gun shows says you can use and store your gun for up to 5 yrs without worry about rust. it's got heptane in it, so make sure of ventilation. best of all, no oil. do not use w oil. no oil=not a dust and dirt collector. i use it on all rifles and my xd 40
 
So your cabinet of guns is rusting but your father's cabinet of guns is OK? This says that you need to look at what is different.

The worst humidity times in a basement are in the summer. The coolness of the ground below the floor and on the foundation walls lowers the dew point in the basement air.

If your cabinet is in contact with any of the outside concrete or only has a thin layer of separation which isn't a good insulator then your cabinet will be receiving the coolness more directly.

The very first thing you need to do is insulate the cabinet from any floor or outside foundation wall contact with something like 1.5 inch blue or pink styrofoam.

The next is to warm up the air in your cabinet to get the air up well over the dew point temperature. The Golden Rod product or simply an incandescent light in the cabinet will do this nicely. But mount it down low and near a corner to encourage a good circular convection flow to even up the warming of the whole cabinet.

Continue to run the dehumidifier you have for both your comfort as well as reducing the moisture content in the air of the room.

If you do all three things, insulate, warm and dehumidify, your guns should cease to have rusting issues.
 
I noticed that you mentioned CLP and Hoppe's 9, in that order. If you clean a gun with Hoppe's 9 and then leave it, you don't have much rust protection going on. May not be what you meant.

The Eezox is absolutely the way to go. In addition to covering all metal surfaces, run a wet patch of it down the barrel of each gun before storage. You can run a dry patch before you go to shoot, in order to remove any excess that might cause a pressure spike on firing.

Now I'm going to go double check that Mauser that's been sitting for about a year. I'm sure I lubed it before I put it up...
 
But it's a Kodak EasyShare and doesn't want to auto-focus in the right spot.

Does the camera have a Macro setting? That should help a lot in getting a close shot. Otherwise shoot at the highest density for the clearest image, and then blow it up on screen before cropping and sharing here.
 
Seems pretty odd to me too. You say you store them in the room you sleep in.. people pump out/expire quite a bit of moisture.
 
I live 10 minutes from the beach in Central Florida. So basically the swamp and ocean. Duracoat works excellent against salt air corrosion moisture. But inside my safe I have one of those small $10 disposible dehumidifier containers. It sucks the moisture right out of that small enclosed space. You can get them at Wal-mart or most any hardware store. Most important is to use an oiled cloth or something like remington wipes to wipe down your weapon after use. I do not have any rust issues with these techniques.
 
Simonize for the outside and 'Ed's Red' for the inside. If I don't have any Ed's Red made up I use straight ATF.

With respect to the badly rusted bore, I would shoot it and see what it does. If it performs badly, I would take a drill slightly larger than the bore and counter-bore it to the depth of the worst damage (assuming 2" or less). This has the same effect as cutting a bit off the barrel without the hassel of screwing around with the sights, and the barell is toast anyway.
 
I noticed that you mentioned CLP and Hoppe's 9, in that order. If you clean a gun with Hoppe's 9 and then leave it, you don't have much rust protection going on. May not be what you meant.

Hoppe's #9 and then CLP.

Does the camera have a Macro setting? That should help a lot in getting a close shot. Otherwise shoot at the highest density for the clearest image, and then blow it up on screen before cropping and sharing here.

I'm not even sure what that is. I just looked through the camera and didn't see anything like that.

Seems pretty odd to me too. You say you store them in the room you sleep in.. people pump out/expire quite a bit of moisture.

But I've never had this problem before.

With respect to the badly rusted bore, I would shoot it and see what it does. If it performs badly, I would take a drill slightly larger than the bore and counter-bore it to the depth of the worst damage (assuming 2" or less). This has the same effect as cutting a bit off the barrel without the hassel of screwing around with the sights, and the barell is toast anyway.

If the barrel won't "shoot" anymore, the receiver is going to be made into a bench rifle.
 
I use Mobile and/or Castrol synthetic to clean and lube most of my stuff ... and even to wipe them down fairly regularly. And it doesn't get any hotter with high humidity that SC/GA.

Also, the main thing I do which I believe helps my stored firearms is that I keep them all in silicone gun sleeves and I regularly (every couple of years) recharge the gun sleeves with silicone by spraying them with a good silicone aerosol.

Bottom line is though, don't store your firearms in the basement - that is number one. Everything rusts in the basement eventually.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top