ARTICLE ARCHIVES

Short Term Firearms Storage

Short Term Gun Storage

Protecting firearms from potential damage while in storage for any length of time requires primarily the right products for the job.

Not much could be worse than opening your gun safe or case to find rusted and pitted metal parts and a swelled and/or cracked wooden rifle stock or pistol grip.

This can occur after time in storage even if the gun was properly cleaned before storage. Most gun owners understand the need to clean their rifles and handguns after use and prior to storage to remove any residue which is already commonly known to have a corrosive effect on metal components. Still the major culprit for potential damage will be moisture. Moisture problems during storage can result in rusted metal and possibly cracking, chipping and swelling in wooden stocks. Synthetic stocks are not as prone to damage from moisture but could also suffer staining and reportedly cracking after prolonged exposure to mildew.

The good news is that guns can be effectively stored for extended periods of time with a little planning and the right equipment to help reduce the possibility of damage and in most situations eliminate the possibility of damage completely.

The first layer of protection – Lubricant film

Safe storage of firearms does not have to be difficult or time consuming. One key element is understanding the nature and source of moisture and learning how to create the necessary barriers between the elements (moisture, water, dew) and your rifle, shotgun or hand-gun.

The other aspect that needs to be addressed is defining the length the firearm will need to be in storage, i.e.: Long Term vs. Short Term Storage. The interpretation of what this means will vary depending on the gun owner and the particular firearm you are trying to protect. A hunter may consider long term storage to be from one hunting season to the next, so, more or less a year. A gun owner that keeps a firearm for purposes of self defense may store his or her gun for indefinite periods of time, especially if a situation does not arise for it to be needed. The extreme for much longer term storage need would be for the owner of a large gun collection where some firearms may not be handled for several years or for those cacheing weapons for TEOTWAWKI or when TSHTF. Long-term storage situations will require extensive preparation that could render a firearm inoperable during storage and needing additional preparation before it is ready for use when the gun comes out of storage. For purposes of this article we will limit the scope to the first two scenarios as Part 1; storing firearms in a relative state of readiness.

For the most part firearm storage for about 12 month periods is typically identical with only a few exceptions.

Stainless-steel and newer titanium guns are easier to maintain, but must still be properly maintained. These typically wont rust as easily as a blued gun. Black powder guns require special cleaning and should be seasoned with any specialty product that creates a film to prevent corrosion. Muzzle loaders should be wiped down with a good lubricant prior to extended storage.

With modem firearms cleaning the gun and coating it with a thin film of lubricant inside the bore will do the trick. We recommend that you break the gun down as far as your knowledge allows. Remove all powder and other fouling material residue and reassemble. Wipe on a thin film of gun oil.

The Outer layer – Watertight case

Moisture still seems to find its way around most any gun oil or film that is applied directly to a firearm, eventually causing damage as the lubricants dry up and cease to perform as intended. Simply lubricating the weapon is not enough and this is where a good quality waterproof, airtight protective case comes in to play. Depending on where you live and the relative air humidity, the risk of trapping moisture inside the case with your firearm will need to be considered. By design, our cases will prevent he transfer of moisture and air once the case is closed. In the same fashion that moisture or air will not be able to enter one of our cases it will also seal in any moisture contained within the case. It is important that you initially ensure that the immediate environment is as dry as possible (avoid rain, snow, dew, fog, etc…) and then control the migration of moisture to your firearm by adding a desiccant pack of some type. We will cover desiccants in detail later in this article. The waterproof and airtight properties of our cases depend on the perimeter O-ring seal functioning correctly with the tongue and groove design of the case parting (opening) line. All of our protective storage cases utilize the best possible inorganic polymer materials for our O-Ring seals that will not dry rot and deteriorate to ensure flawless performance. You can view additional case care information here.

Another feature we offer is your ability to lock the protective case to help keep the firearm out of unauthorized hands. All of our firearm size cases have two molded-in padlock holes that accept most standard padlocks. Some case manufacturers have difficult-to-reach padlock holes that require you to purchase special (their own brand usually) padlocks. Because of the size of a given hasp, using only padlocks to guard against moisture can allow for the case latches to be opened, thereby cracking the case seal open defeating the watertight properties of the case. We fortunately also offer locking latches with our entire Seahorse Case line that prevent the case seal from being separated as could happen when only using padlocks. Your choice of keyed chromed steel or 100% rustproof plastic locking latches can be specified with any Seahorse case. All of our cases exceed airline, state and federal firearm safety regulations for safe storage and transport of your firearm. Our cases can also be easily mounted on a wall in a closet, on a bed frame or a vehicle’s floorboard as a more permanent fixture to prevent loss or theft of the case (and firearm). Mounting a case and maintaining its watertight properties will be the topic for a future newsletter.

Moisture Absorbing Dessicant Packs

Dessicants will attract and retain any remaining moisture that manages to get trapped inside the case when closing it. Dessicant packs are available at most boating supply stores and some craft stores sell this material in bulk. You could also reuse the packs you get with most new electronics, they are the little pillows you are warned to discard and not eat. Care and preparation must be taken to ensure that the desiccant is dry when placed in the case, especially when reusing them Dessicants can only absorb a certain amount of moisture and if you start out with a wet or saturated dessicant pack, it will not be able to properly absorb additional moisture inside the case. Dessicant packs can easily be dried by warming them up in a microwave for 60 seconds or a standard oven to about 150° F (keep-warm setting) for 15 to 20 minutes. When buying bulk dessicant pellets from a craft store you can easily make a pack with a paper coffee filter twisted up and tied with twine. Do not use a rubber band as these will deteriorate over time and spill the dessicant within the case. White rice will also work in a pinch as a dessicant to absorb moisture with the paper filter. Do not use brown rice as it contains oils that can become rancid over time.

More barriers in the middle – Socks and bags

Additional barriers can be created inside the case and around the firearm by putting the firearm in a silicone impregnated gun sock to help protect even further against corrosion and rust. Gun socks are usually made of nylon fabric that's designed to hold in oils.

Wrapping a gun in a clean, dry towel before placing it in a case can also help. Another layer of protection inside the airtight case (mainly pistols) can be as simple as placing the clean and lubricated gun inside a zip-lock type freezer bag. This can be done with or without the gun sock. Again, each environment must be dry or you chance sealing moisture inside something like a zip-lock bag. When using a gun sock a dessicant pack could be placed inside the bag. We do not recommend that you allow the dessicant to be directly in contact with the firearm. If saturated with moisture it may cause rusting in the area that is in contact with the firearm as moisture will be concentrated in the dessicant beads.

A more restrictive approach to sealing the firearm inside a bag would be sealing the firearm with a vacuum sealer. This can be done with or without a gun sock as well. When vacuum packing a gun, we would strongly recommend that you also keep a pair of scissors in the waterproof case in case of emergency. Vacuum packed bag would be almost impossible to open with bare hands.

These suggestions are offered as general guidelines to help prevent potential damage to firearms while in storage and to hopefully offer some ideas for safe firearm storage. Each gun owner can decide to which level to protect their guns from the elements. This will also have to do with how often you plan on using your firearm. Even if you don’t plan on actually using the gun, a gun owner should still inspect their guns as often as possible if only to confirm that they are still where you stored them. Firearm can be stolen and the gun owner does not become aware of it until months later when he finally gets around to checking on it.

We always welcome your feedback for more article topics you would like to see or about information that our readers can find useful.