storage yes and no's

rifle1978

rifle1978

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I have access to an abundant supply of silica gel, ( blue stuff, turns pink when used up). I was wondering if you can make your gun cabinet too dry. I have a standard 10 gun cabinet and it is by no means air tight or climate controlled other than that it is stored in my dry not damp basement. All my rifles are all military surplus so they don't do well stored in adverse conditions, at least not without oozing cosmo. Less moisture would be great for rust issues but bad for stock preservation. I'm pretty good with routine gun maintenance but I'm looking for some free insurance from humidity problems. I am new to collector pieces in terms of older firearms so I want the best for each rifle over the long term. In 40 years the only thing I want to deal with is myself breaking down ;).
 
You say that your basement is dry and not humid so you should not have a problem with the normal practice of using a light wiping of oil on the exterior and interior metal parts. Military stocks can be refreshed periodically with a light coat of raw linseed oil or pure tung oil.

A lot of this depends on where you live and how humid it gets. A basement de-humidifier is a good precaution in high humidity areas. I used one when I lived in Ottawa where it gets pretty muggy in the summer. When I lived in Florida, which has pretty high humidity, I kept my guns stored in a wooden gun case in the attached garage with ventilation holes drilled in the back and never had a problem with rust.
 
Use a hygrometer and check the moisture in the air if it's between 30-40 percent humidity I think your doing good
 
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Re-applying pure tung oil periodically is unnecessary. (35 plus years since I tung oil finished my Plainfield M1 Carbine. Nice honey blond.) Pure tung oil, properly applied, soaks into wood to about 1/4" and keeps everything out. Won't soak into greasy wood any more than BLO will though.
In any case, like purple says, a dry basement is a dry basement. No real need to do anything but oil the steel. If you're going for long term storage, firearms get greased inside and out. Putting 'em in big plastic bags, sucking the air out and sealing 'em is best. Makes 'em hard to play with though.
Milsurps are made for adverse conditions. If there's any Cosmoline coming out of stock wood(that should have been completely cleaned in the first place), the conditions are excessively hot.
 
I've been using a golden rod in the safe and it seems to keep it free of humidity - it raises the temperature in the safe just enough to push moisture out but not enough to dry the stocks. I wouldn't put the golden rod too close to a stock though just to be safe. My hygrometer usually reads 30-55% humidity depending on time of year, which seems to be fine.

Regards,
-Steve
 
A good product for long term protection of metal is RIG (rust inhibiting grease) now being sold by Birchwood Casey. Before going on a 3 yr overseas tour I treated all of my guns inside and out with this prior to putting them to sleep in a long term storage warehouse in Ottawa. It does the same job as cosmolene, but is a lot easier to apply and remove.
 
Be aware that applying any type of oil to some collectible stocks is going to seriously affect the collector value in a negative way. Stocks like the one on the byf44 L block I just posted are far more desirable and valuable the way they are. Ruin that raw wood in the sling and bolt cutouts and you're ruining value.

Store your guns in a humidity and temperature controlled environment. Oil the metal periodically and you'll be just fine.
 
rifle1978 said:
I have access to an abundant supply of silica gel, ( blue stuff, turns pink when used up). I was wondering if you can make your gun cabinet too dry. I have a standard 10 gun cabinet and it is by no means air tight or climate controlled other than that it is stored in my dry not damp basement. All my rifles are all military surplus so they don't do well stored in adverse conditions, at least not without oozing cosmo. Less moisture would be great for rust issues but bad for stock preservation. I'm pretty good with routine gun maintenance but I'm looking for some free insurance from humidity problems. I am new to collector pieces in terms of older firearms so I want the best for each rifle over the long term. In 40 years the only thing I want to deal with is myself breaking down ;).
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NRA standard for firearm museum is 70 degrees and 50% humidity.
 
Room temperature and humidity.
Guns stored butt down and metal parts rubbed down with a rag with a touch of Remoil sprayed on it and a little squirt down the barrel.
I air out the gun safes and check for rust periodically.

I never store a gun long term zipped up in its carry case.
 
Have used silica sand forever, same thing as silica gel except when it turns from white to brown you can heat it in a microwave or oven and reuse it over and over. Use a light coat of silicone gun oil wiped on firearms and patched down barrels, never any problems.
 
flying pig said:
JB, the Germans didn't oil their stocks? I'm Mauser illiterate...
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For the most part they did. Late in the war however, you see stocks that left the factory completely raw. No finish applied. The L block I recently posted and another L block I posted some time ago both have raw wood stocks. They have darkened with age and handling but the raw wood still visible in the cutouts and indentations shows their original state.

Also, just another point about raw wood in the cutouts: Mauser Oberndorf, later in the war, was in the practice of applying oil to the stocks after the rifle was completely finished and the slings were installed. It is very common to see untouched MO made rifles with raw wood in the sling cut outs but no where else. Raw wood in the bolt cutouts or stamps is an indication that the stock left the factory raw, as these areas would not have been covered by the sling and should have received some oil if the stock was finished. I suppose it is possible that if a stock was rushed through the oiling/finishing process that these deeper indentations could have been missed though. The recent L block I posted could be an example of this since the stock is pretty dark. I'll consider it a raw wood stock though for now.

Oh, one more thing. I am unaware of any maker, at any point in production, that oiled the interior of the stocks. Barrel channels and under the handguards should be raw wood. I could be wrong on this as I concentrate on late war MO where they are definitely NOT supposed to be oiled in the interior so maybe CanadianAR or Remembering can verify this for sure.


So in conclusion, DON'T oil original K98k stocks! You could be pissing away collectibility and value!
 
I have a dehumidifier in my storage room.

It is necessary to empty the bucket of water BEFORE is it full and the dehumidifier stops! If that happens, you have a stopped dehumidifier and a bucket of water evaporating back into the room!

In order to stop that problem, I simply replaced the dehumidifier bucket with a furnace condensate pump ($30 bucks at the wholesale store) and a line to the house drain.

Now I don't have to do anything.......... I empties itself unattended.

Pump1.JPG


Pump2.JPG


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Cheers!
B
 
Very nice setup... I might copy that idea.

As for me... a 25W lightbulb 24/7 (one of the new energy efficient things with mercury in them)... never, ever a problem with rust.
 
Canadian tire sells a cheap little humidity gauge in the housewares section that comes with a magnet on the back. I paid $2.50 for it and stuck it to my gun safe. I keep a de-humidifier in the room set to keep the room between 40 and 60 humidity. Not too picky about the exact number, because every time I've looked at humidity gauges in a store, each one varied by 20 or more, even for the same make and model, side by side.

Since most have wood stocks, trying to keep your milsurp guns too dry can be just as bad as them being damp.
 
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