what is the best way to store guns for 1-year or more?

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tuj

tuj

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No I'm not burying my AR's in a tube...

I am going to need to store several of my firearms in a climate controlled environment for about a year or so. Can anyone tell me what they think the best method for prepping the guns (long guns and hand guns) for storage is?

I was thinking some CLP or hoppes oil on a patch, run it through the barrels, and then plug the muzzle and breech with patches. Then coat the whole exterior of the firearm with a light coat of hoppes oil. Then place inside case with desiccant.

How would you do it?
 
A light coat of oil, inside and out, stored in a locked cabinet. Don't store guns in soft/hard cases where they touch foam or lining.

1yr is nothing. There are guns in my safe I haven't touched in a year.
 
There are also special bags that Brownells carries. If you can purge them with nitrogen even better, but not a deal breaker.

Foam or felt on the spacers inside a safe or cabinet can be problematic. They attract moisture and foam will break down over time, and one of the byproducts is cyanide gas which is hugely corrosive to metals.
 
Clean them, oil them, and put them away. I use a rag when I put them in the safe so I don't leave any oily, salty finger prints on them. Once in a while I'll toss a few anti-desiccant packs in there too.
Anybody store their's in a silicone gun sock? I was taught to never store in a holster, etc. so I'm a little leery of letting them touch cloth or leather, but I know some folks swear by those gun socks.
 
My climate controlled environment is a safe with Goldenrods, clean them and put in safe works for me. I have some guns that haven't been shot for years, wouldn't have a second thought about pulling one out, loading and shooting it.
 
Guns are metal (or plastic). Keep away from extreme temps, moisture, UV or direct sunlight. Coat with oil. Good to go.

I'm sure this advice will clash with some sort of metalurgists advice about storing metal. Complete with a huge explanation about how the bi-polarity of water will cause....

Enough conjecture, my concerns would be with security more than storage.
 
I've had a number of guns in long term storage for many years. I clean them, give them the usual oiling, place them into water/air tight vapor phase inhibitor/VPI bags (aka 'gun condoms') , and place the VPI bag into something that pads the 'gun condom'.

I've pulled out guns that were stored this way for close to a decade so far, with zero indication when inspected that this storage method would not provide them with indefinite coverage.
 
I had 2 shotguns from my youth recently delivered to me. They had been cleaned and lubed/ oiled and put into the soft, felt lined, zippered case I used to take them to the range in. They sat that way in a closet in my dads house in Houston for 23 years.

They look as good as they did when I put them away 23 years ago.

Just clean and oil them well. If you really want to be extra careful, I would disassemble them and store them that way, in a safe with a goldenrod.

Plugging the barrel is a bad ides because that could trap moisture. Same goes for keeping them assembled I guess.
 
I've used Z-corr bags for the past few years and have stored uncleaned rifles in non-ideal storage conditions (high humidity basement) and they come out looking exactly like they did going in. They can be pricey but I'm convinced they work.
 
No need to plug barrels, just wipe off excess. Store muzzle down

G96 Synthetic CLP Gun Oil has been APPROVED for use by the U.S. Army for 21st Century CLEANING, LUBRICATING, and PRESERVATION of both Small and Large Caliber Weapons and Weapons Systems. Military Specification MIL-PRF-63460E and NATO S-758 effective September 18, 2009.
 
Can anyone tell me what they think the best method for prepping the guns (long guns and hand guns) for storage is?
Click to expand...

Treat the bores with eezox. As for the other parts of the gun, simply clean and oil them with whatever sorts of gun juice you usually use. (You could treat the whole guns with eezox, but that's time consuming and not really necessary, as it's the bores that are most apt to rust during long-term storage, and having a little rust in other parts of the gun is not as critical to function.)

ETA:

Plugging the barrel is a bad ides because that could trap moisture.
Click to expand...

^^^Yeah, this. don't plug your barrels. That will be ineffectual at best.
 
Climate controlled? No sweat. Clean them well, lube them well and store them where they don't contact cloth or foam. Leaned up in a closet corner will work just fine.
 
About 25 years ago I stored two lightly oiled revolvers inside a small (30 cal) military ammo can along with an activated dessicant bag (the kind activated in the oven). A year ago I removed the revolvers from the ammo can and they were as good, clean and rust free as the day that I placed them into the can.

In case you are wondering, I used to have a large firearm collection and these two revolvers were unimportant to me yet I didn't want to get rid of them so I just stored them away.

P.S: The collection is now mostly gone.
 
Depends on the environment but, as said before, a year isn't very long. I think Eezox was a good call but not critical if stored in a dry place.

If I wasn't sure about the climate conditions the most I would do is Eezox inside and Johnsons Paste Wax outside. But under good climate conditions a year is no biggy.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I went with some poly bags just to be safe. They look like a good product. In a year or so, we will know for sure!
 
tuj said:
No I'm not burying my AR's in a tube...

I am going to need to store several of my firearms in a climate controlled environment for about a year or so. Can anyone tell me what they think the best method for prepping the guns (long guns and hand guns) for storage is?

I was thinking some CLP or hoppes oil on a patch, run it through the barrels, and then plug the muzzle and breech with patches. Then coat the whole exterior of the firearm with a light coat of hoppes oil. Then place inside case with desiccant.

How would you do it?
Click to expand...

The best way for you to prep your guns for storage is to send them to me. I'll make sure they are clean as a whistle when you need them back. I'll even exercise them for you so they don't feel neglected. ;)
 
I'm a big fan of Johnson's Paste Wax for all the exterior metal, then any good high-cling oil for the bores.
 
When I was on active duty and left Alaska, I only had a few guns, a Mossy 500 and a Win 70, both blue and wood. The military shipped my guns with my furniture as I was driving to DE through Canada and didn't want the hassle. I cleaned both really good and applied Ballistol liberally (per advice of a friend) over the entire weapons. Then, I packed them in a foam lined travel case and thought I'd deal with them in a few months in DE.

When I got to DE, work, life, and young kids got the best of my time, and those guns ended up remaining in their gun case in a cardboard packing box never opened in a damp basement for four years. Then, with orders to Japan, they were re-packed (just opened the case, reaffirmed the serial numbers for the shipper, and put them back in the case, and shipped to storage for another three years while we lived in Japan. I finally gave my guns a thorough inspection and cleaning after arriving in TX in 2009, 7+ years after packing them in that case in Alaska, and they look as good as the day I packed them. No rust/tarnish at all on either firearm.

Not saying this is the best way to go, and maybe I lucked out, but I'm a believer in Ballistol these days.
 
. . . for handguns . . .

Spray with RemOil and place into Ziplock 1 Gallon Vacuum bag & pump out all the air then put into a regular Ziplock & get as much air out as possible with a straw.
 
I just took a collection out of a five year storage. The guns were cleaned, then wiped down inside and out with Breakfree COLLECTOR. This stuff is made expressly for preventing rust long term and it does a great job while still being easy to apply and remove.

The guns were then stored in VCI bags from polygunbag. After 5 years in storage there wasn't a speck of rust anywhere.
 
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