Gun preservation and long term storage? Opinions needed

fightinghamster

fightinghamster

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So I managed to get a few double of various handguns during the panic and when I started going to the range I chose one of the two of each pair and used those for shooting leaving the others as unfired, I’d like to preserve them for long term as they will be in the back of my safe and won’t be cleaned often unlike the others.

My question is mostly about what preservative to use, I’m planning on using a cheap trigger lock, putting the gun in a vacuum bag, absolutely soaking the living daylights out of it in WD40 and then sealing the bag with the vacuum sealer.

I feel like this will be more than sufficient for long term storage, keeping the action lubed and rust free, humidity and sea salt air is a big issue around here, so what’s everyone else’s thoughts on this plan, what do you all recommend, any thoughts and suggestions welcome
 
WD-40 should not be used on firearms unless you want to displace water. Products like G96, Barricade, Cosmoline and others are much more suited to your purpose. You’ll thank me when you want to take them out of storage.
 
Just lube it well externally. I've never heard of vac bags for guns before. Just keep it in dry air and you'll be fine.

There's also simple rust-protectant sheets you can get. Also the dessicant packs the LeeV
 
Jahnj0584 said:
Just lube it well externally. I've never heard of vac bags for guns before. Just keep it in dry air and you'll be fine.

There's also simple rust-protectant sheets you can get. Also the dessicant packs the LeeV
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There just vac bags for food but guns fit in them, I mostly want to set them in the back of the safe for 20 years and not worry about them
 
Hoppes Airvault is a product designed to do exactly what you describe. They guarantee five years but realistically that’s the lawyers talking and I’m sure they would do a lot longer inside a safe.
 
fightinghamster said:
There just vac bags for food but guns fit in them, I mostly want to set them in the back of the safe for 20 years and not worry about them
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Probably not going to happen. Even the Hoppes Airvault's Scraggle mentions have a defined time limit.

My friend vac sealed some hippie lettuce, he's into that sort of thing, and that's when I learned that the bags loose their seal over time. Now, imagine a vac bag that has let in all those things you were concerned about surrounding the firearm you're trying to protect. Not good.

Disassemble and liberally lube everything with a CLP. Keep the area free of moisture with some type of dehumidifying system. Once a year take everything out and repeat the process. That's what I would do.
 
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fightinghamster said:
So I managed to get a few double of various handguns during the panic and when I started going to the range I chose one of the two of each pair and used those for shooting leaving the others as unfired, I’d like to preserve them for long term as they will be in the back of my safe and won’t be cleaned often unlike the others.

My question is mostly about what preservative to use, I’m planning on using a cheap trigger lock, putting the gun in a vacuum bag, absolutely soaking the living daylights out of it in WD40 and then sealing the bag with the vacuum sealer.

I feel like this will be more than sufficient for long term storage, keeping the action lubed and rust free, humidity and sea salt air is a big issue around here, so what’s everyone else’s thoughts on this plan, what do you all recommend, any thoughts and suggestions welcome
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I have never done as you suggest or want to - but has been many rifles here that "looked" like they had been hanging on nail in barn for 50 or 60 years - totally rusted up inside and outside. Based on that, I would suggest to dismantle the things, to some extent - separate the wood, plastic and metal parts - depending on your tooling - maybe remove pins, etc. - then preserve each as it wants - I believe Swiss and Austrians tended to smear grease in the bore to keep them pristine - likely want to do similar on exteriors as well?? No reason that differing substances need same protective regime? Maybe tuck a "field strip" guide along with the parts so that you can re-assemble in the future.

Might be helpful to research how collectors store things - I believe there are arms made in early 1800's that still look gorgeous - so somehow they have been "preserved" for 200 years?

I was recently in NAPA store looking for penetrating oil - amazed to discover half a dozen products made by "WD-40" - not all the same, at all. Not sure about any of them as longer term preservatives though - the lighter components will likely evaporate away - I believe similar happens with lighter oils - I think that is what Cosmoline was invented for? I think it is counter to practical to think to store item like that for 20 years or more in a state that it is ready to function - maybe plan to need a couple hours for cleaning and re-assembly, after removing from storage - maybe even submerge metal stuff in a good oil or grease to store it?

What I found was focus on exterior condition - that may have "looked" acceptable, but bore and metal below wood line totally pitted and rusted - is not likely what you want to end up with? Was a time of minimal concern about small parts - easy to find more, then - not easy any more. So even a rusty pin or threads on a screw gone rusty are going to "tie you up". Sort of like Grandpa's gun that has been standing in closet in basement for past 30 years - looks okay, until you start to dismantle it, or look down the bore.
 
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If you want to store long term I’d use grease internally and a thick oil externaly before I vac seal them, the vac bags can loose their seal so I would likely double up. I had a rusty M94 to bring back to life for a buddy and the original owner had greased the internals, the exterior was basically orange but the inner workings of the action were rust free.
 
Potashminer said:
I have never done as you suggest or want to - but has been many rifles here that "looked" like they had been hanging on nail in barn for 50 or 60 years - totally rusted up inside and outside. Based on that, I would suggest to dismantle the things, to some extent - separate the wood, plastic and metal parts - depending on your tooling - maybe remove pins, etc. - then preserve each as it wants - I believe Swiss and Austrians tended to smear grease in the bore to keep them pristine - likely want to do similar on exteriors as well?? No reason that differing substances need same protective regime? Maybe tuck a "field strip" guide along with the parts so that you can re-assemble in the future.

Might be helpful to research how collectors store things - I believe there are arms made in early 1800's that still look gorgeous - so somehow they have been "preserved" for 200 years?

I was recently in NAPA store looking for penetrating oil - amazed to discover half a dozen products made by "WD-40" - not all the same, at all. Not sure about any of them as longer term preservatives though - the lighter components will likely evaporate away - I believe similar happens with lighter oils - I think that is what Cosmoline was invented for? I think it is counter to practical to think to store item like that for 20 years or more in a state that it is ready to function - maybe plan to need a couple hours for cleaning and re-assembly, after removing from storage - maybe even submerge metal stuff in a good oil or grease to store it?

What I found was focus on exterior condition - that may have "looked" acceptable, but bore and metal below wood line totally pitted and rusted - is not likely what you want to end up with? Was a time of minimal concern about small parts - easy to find more, then - not easy any more. So even a rusty pin or threads on a screw gone rusty are going to "tie you up". Sort of like Grandpa's gun that has been standing in closet in basement for past 30 years - looks okay, until you start to dismantle it, or look down the bore.
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Disassembly was always the plan, I was going to disassemble completely (minus pins that required a punch and hammer) coat in recommended oil preserve (im leaning to cosmoline now) reassemble and spray with another layer, place in one or two vacuum bags and seal until I want to open it, open up, clean all the oil off internally and exterior put fresh oil on and go shooting the only reason I’d put it back together is so I don’t forget how to after all the time in storage
 
Butcherbill said:
If you want to store long term I’d use grease internally and a thick oil externaly before I vac seal them, the vac bags can loose their seal so I would likely double up. I had a rusty M94 to bring back to life for a buddy and the original owner had greased the internals, the exterior was basically orange but the inner workings of the action were rust free.
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One should look for MYLAR bags, as they have better long term storage properties. In particular they resist the air entering the sealed bag better than a plastic based bag.
 
Spo0nFED said:
One should look for MYLAR bags, as they have better long term storage properties. In particular they resist the air entering the sealed bag better than a plastic based bag.
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I use them for long term food storage, not sure why I never thought about them for gun storage tho, going theory now is coat in cosmoline, put in Mylar bag with oxygen absorbs, seal for 10 years
 
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