Gun Storage and Maintenance

[V Man]

After sending my Colt AR back to Colt and having them tell me that the damage was caused by improper storage and maintenance I am looking for some guidance from the fine members of this forum. Remember this is a rifle that I bought from a buddy who apparently didn't take proper care of it while being stored. I want to make sure that I don't make the same mistakes.

I have a small safe and I clean my rifles and handguns after every trip to the range or at least every couple of months. What should I be doing to protect my rifles and handguns while being stored?

[Pezhead]

Make sure you wipe them down with some gun oil. We even use gloves sometimes when we're handling them.

[Stradawhovious]

Here's the 64,000 dollar question............

What kind of damage are you talking about?

[yuppiejr]

Humidity and temperature control are big factors - the $30 Remington or similar mini safe dehumidifiers seem to work well for me and is easy to "recharge" as needed by just plugging them in to a wall outlet for a few hours every couple of months. Think of it as a giant dessicant packet that you plug into the wall to recharge occasonially. If it's a more budget priced safe it may be worth applying some of the cheap foam weather stripping along the inside of the door where it contacts the safe to make a better moisture shield. Only open/close the gunsafe as you are taking from or adding to it and make sure the door is closed otherwise to avoid letting a lot of humidity back in whenever possible.

I assume the gun safe is in a climate controlled part of the house rather than a garage/shed/etc..? Any time you handle the firearm make sure you wipe down with a lightly oiled cloth and keep the gun clean and lubricated. I like to store mine with actions open and usually apply a grease vs oil lubricant to the more wear prone surfaces (bolt lugs & hammer where it contacts the bolt on the AR, slides on any semi-automatic pistol, the "arms" on my pump shotguns, etc..

[V Man]

Here's the 64,000 dollar question............

What kind of damage are you talking about?

[stesch_s10]

DUH Strad. welcome to the huge thread he started.

http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=21015

[The Lance]

here's a quick way of how to prevent your guns from corroding or any metal that is. You want the least amount of oxygen possible to be in contact with the guns.


So if you can put them in a sealed bag gander mountain sell's rifle bags made by the company i work for http://www.zerustproducts.com/index.php ... oducts_all

or just get some clear poly bag's even two trash bags would work put some moth balls in the bottom as it creates an ammonium gas that combines with the oxygen in the bag to create a gas that will not harm the metal on the gun. After a while it when you open it will smell like a strong ammonia smell and may make you dizzy but its completely harmless as I work with it everyday.. Its just overwelming and if you have air you'll be fine. with the bags and the moth balls zip tie the ends and viola the protection is good for 12 months and during that time change out the bag and the mothballs as any poly bag leaks over time. Our Vapor Corrossion Inhibiting bags at work are just poly-bags that are yellow with a film blown onto it for protection.

If you want samples of some VCI capsules or a product called Activpak get in contact with me as I can show you where to get upto 5 samples Activpak is a great product for corrossion inhibiting I would know I formulated it and its been working great for industrial applications.

only problem is any form of vapor corrosion inhibiting is when it comes in contact with copper it discolors it. Which does not hurt the bullets or copper at all It just essentially makes the copper more stable as copper is a very unstable metal when its in it's clean form and starts technically corroding immediately as a metal.

The discoloration is creating a film that protects the metal underneath and will not damage anything if you fire it.

any other questions feel free to ask me.

[Thunderjohn]

Start storing your guns at my house.

[V Man]

Start storing your guns at my house.

I do store my guns at your house until you show them to me and I buy them.

[Pezhead]

Start storing your guns at my house.

I do store my guns at your house until you show them to me and I buy them.

[Seismic Sam]

EWWWWW - that's some nasty looking corrosion, and it ain't gonna "buff out". Once you get corrosion like that going, the metal underneath is contaminated and attacked by the layer that's already corroded, so it's pretty much like the metal has cancer and it will spread out and down. Hopefully somebody in here may know about how to stop this process, but I can't think of anything myself, other than buying a new lower for under 100 bucks and getting rid of the Colt lower. I know that isn't what you want to hear, but the condition of that lower makes its resale value practically nil anyway...

[EJSG19]

as my last class instructor said, "if you aren't going to shoot it for a while, that thing better be swimming in oil." and "if its an AR15 and you are going to shoot it or you aren't, it better be swimming in oil either way."

so oil the darn thing. Metal + oil = best friends.

Then control your humidity. Below 50% is good, and less is better. If you have a gun safe, get a golden rod dehumidifier or a bunch of desiccant and monitor the situation. Shameful way for a great collection to go to crap.

Biggest thing is pay attention every so often. Guns that get forgotten get rusty.

[Scott Notaeh]

What if my storage is not temp controlled? But still have the goldenrod thing. Am I doomed?

[Dave Pendleton]

What if my storage is not temp controlled? But still have the goldenrod thing. Am I doomed?

Like what? Outside?

Normal temperature swings aren't going to hurt anything if you keep the humidity under control.

[The Lance]

Make sure you are using Ph neutral oil though too as acidic oils can cause corrosion even faster.