Long Term Storage

[w55]

I want to put away a few guns for my kids. Ones I don't shoot or have a "few" of already.

Any website or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks...these are older wood/metal guns btw

[justin4fun]

I will hold on to them for you . No charge

[BrokerB]

Cocmoline, if not heavy soak of oil in very back of your conditioned safe. Check them once a year if you want.

[Caseless]

If kept in a dry safe, Breakfree LP plus silicone soaked gunsocks always worked for me near the coast.

[surplus-addict]

....are we talking apocalypse type of storage where you REALLY want your kids to have them, or just to hand them down?

If just for handing/passing down, a gun sock or bag like what Caseless suggested would work fine. Inspect them periodically and try to keep them in a low humidity, temperature stable environment and you should be good to go!

Now, for long long loooong term storage I've uh, read, that you should do this:

1. Disassemble the guns, and clean them thoroughly, leaving the stock and metal separate. If you can, buy new some new cosmoline or a similar product. Cover the metal with it: his is the first level of protection.

2. Take the metal pieces of the gun and put them in a Mylar bag. Do the same with the stock. Vacuum seal the bags: this is the second level of protection.

3. Find some PVC or ABS pipe that is wide enough for the gun to fit in. Buy a section long enough for the gun to fit, and two end caps. With the joints properly cleaned, cement one end cap on the end. Put the mylar sealed bags into the pipe, along with anything else you want to put in there (vacuum sealed ammunition, magazines, spare parts, cleaning supplies, etc). Once you're done there, attach the second cap. This is your third layer of protection.

4. Go find a secluded place to bury the PVC pipe in the earths climate controlled gun vault known colloquially as "dirt". The guns will be dry, rust free, and the temperature won't vary much at all.

Again, I only, um, read about that, so YMMV.

Tips and extra stuff I didn't add since I'm a lazy bum:

Print a sticker to put on the outside of the pipe, and have it say something like "Johnson Family Time Capsule 2012-2088, please don't open!". That might deter a person who finds it accidentally.

You can purge the container with nitrogen, carbon dioxide via some dry ice you take out right before you seal it, or if there's enough room even a small candle to burn out the oxygen when the cap is on.

Bury a bunch of nails and staples 50 or so yards in a circle around the area of the container, so you can frustrate metal detectors.
That's about it, I think.

[fal_762x51]

The plastic pipe idea did work. If I recall right a guy did that with a Mini 14 after the 1994 AWB. He dug it up a decade later and all was good.

[Divernhunter]

Poly Bag will keep them good and no need for grease etc.

[TRAP55]

I just proved a good wipe down with CLP, is good for five years in a non airtight gun safe.

[Enfield47]

Check out Poly Gun Bags I've heard about people who've used this product with good results, but I haven't used it. The price is good and it might be just what you're looking for.

[Latigo]

How about Swiss rifles that were stored for 20 to 50 years? You all know the condition of those stored rifles when they arrive in the US. Pristine barrels and receivers, and all were stored with Waffenfett and/or Automatenfett.
The US equivalent is Lubriplate 930.
The Swiss grease was even used on the stocks for storage. It differs from Cosmolene in that it doesn't go thick and stiff with age.
Sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer.

BTW......... I recently found out that Swiss Automatenfett is essentially the same as our Moly grease.
The following is info from your Stickie above on Swiss Rifles. Its all there.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Written by Guisan:

The grease is used for three purposes being cleaning, lubricating and protecting and the last can be divided in normal use and storage.

To start with the cleaning first, before shooting the Swiss run a pad through the bore to clean out the grease there and from the bolt face, they do that with the help of a grease rod, that ones comes with a jag for a pad and a black grease brush.
Immediately after shooting they run that black brush with Automatenfett through the still hot bore, put some grease on the bolt face and leave it like that. After they get home they clean it all from the grease, get a bore rope or cleaning brush through the bore and after that they lube it all again with fresh grease that stays on till the next shooting match.
The grease dissolves the fouling and makes cleaning way more easy as using oil.

Lubricating during normal use is only done on few spots, the most important ones are the flat (or round with the older straight pulls) inside receiver sliding part of the operating rod and the tip of the operating rod where it enters the bolt sleeve groove, that area needs to be lubed well.
There should be no grease inside the bolt or at the outside but it won't hurt to use a tiny bit in the locking nut area.
Do not use too much grease, the manual reads for the K31 "battle lubricating"......NONE , so the above is only to make your rifle operate more smoothly with less wear, after all the shooting range is no battle field.

The protecting part is easy, Automatenfett can be used on bare metal to protect it against corrosion, use it limited especially on moving parts as we don't want sand to stick to these.

For storage, the -"Parkdienstschmierung" as they say there- it's easy also;
Barrel inside and outside, greased
Chamber, greased
Trigger assembly, inside bolt and hammer piece, NO grease (still the arsenals did not follow that rule that well as examples show)
Bare metal parts, greased
Blued parts, greased

The storage part is the reason why so many new owners of K31's in the USA think that they are in Cosmoline which is not the case, when they have been in storage in Swiss arsenals for a long time they are still well protected by the old yellow Waffenfett, the more recent ones are well protected by black Automatenfett

[Edvil91]

What I've been told by a very serious collector that purchases very rare and expensive firearms is to take a soft brush and spread rem oil all over the metal of the gun. For long term storage, remove the grips as well. He said the rem oil will dry and leave a thin film that will protect the metal from air contact.

[TRAP55]

I thought all your long term gun storage was done here in my gun room?

[bsg]

never let your bare finger be the last thing to touch the metal on a gun that's going into storage mode. i've seen classics that have permanent, clearly marked fingerprints on otherwise beautiful finishes.

[bonusweb]

What I've been told by a very serious collector that purchases very rare and expensive firearms is to take a soft brush and spread rem oil all over the metal of the gun. For long term storage, remove the grips as well. He said the rem oil will dry and leave a thin film that will protect the metal from air contact.

I use eezox, even during regular use. see other ideas on long term in article below. as well as long term corrosion tests using popular products. eezox soaks into metal, is dry to touch. will not attract dirt. put on top of eezox on moving parts some other quality lube. Eezox does seem to change color a bit on some metals (light colored aluminium alloys for example, very porous) as if wet sometimes, I could see that possibly being an issue on some antiques. Stainless and blued steel, can't notice, if present at all.

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

Use these with Eezox, a product that sets up a "dry" barrier, and you get superior long-term rust protection without heavy greases or oils. We've also found that Eezox seems to offer a "harder" and more stable barrier to fingerprints than the more conventional oil-based preservatives

[w55]

Thanks for all the ideas! Yes Trapp guilty as charged