Someone asked me in email about what I do, if anything, to package guns for the Deep Sleep. It’s probably a disappointment to most folks who are expecting some sort of long list of ritual greasing, packaging, preserving, etc., but….I really don’t do very much.
Any gun I’m packing away is a gun that probably has a history of ruggedness, durability, and survivability. I’d package up a nice blued Colt Python a lot differently than I’d package up a Glock. Because the guns I’m putting away are usually mil-spec in terms of material and finish, they are already enjoying a head start on being resistant to the threats posed from long term storage.
Really, for most guns all I do is clean them thoroughly, lubricate them normally, pack them into a quality hard case with dessicant, and thats really about it.
I’ve handled guns that have sat around for fifty years in closets, under beds, in attics, hidden in barns, etc, etc. These were guns that were not given any special treatment nor stored in any purpose-built gun vault. Problems encountered have been:
- Rust – This is usually the most obvious problem. It can be a light freckling all the way to full-blown rust. The cause is, obviously, moisture. The source could be just the ambient humidity in the air, like if you live in Florida, or from an environmental scenario such as leaving the gun leaning up against an object like a furnace duct or other feature that has high temperature swings. The solution is to store in a case that is as airtight as possible along with a handful of dessicant. Most of the guns that I pack away for Der Tag are guns that are already pretty rust-resistant…Glocks, parkerized guns, etc… so I can give them less consideration than, say, a nicely blued Rem 700 or something.
- Bore obstructions – Be honest…do you always, religiously, without fail, check the bore of a gun that has just come out of storage before you shoot it? Most people do not. I’ve seen plenty of barrels with cobwebs in them, old cleaning patches, and on at least one occasion a mud daubers nest. Some folks say you should plug the bore of the gun with a foam ear plug to prevent anything from getting in there. I worry that traps moisture inside the barrel. I clean my bores thoroughly, run a lubed patch through, then follow up with a few dry patches, and leave it at that. And I always check for obstructions when pulling a gun out of storage.
- Dried grease – On older military guns (SKS, Mosin Nagants, Mausers, etc) guns were preserved by using copious amounts of grease…not oil. SKS rifles were notorious for having huge amounts of grease saturating them, this method preserves things beautifully but it is an enormous task to get all that grease out of a gun. I’ve had guns that, literally, sweat grease out of the stock when they heat up and this is years and years after I initially got the gun and cleaned it up. Grease that has dried up forms a crusty, hard residue that requires nothing less than sitting around for hours with a heat gun, rags, and dental picks to clear up.
- Dust mixing with oil – overlube a gun and the oil pools and starts collecting dust, which becomes a sludge, which eventually becomes a caked on mess. I lube a gun thoroughly and then use a rag to try an wipe off the oil I just applied. This leaves just enough to keep the gun safe without overdoing it.
Virtually all of these issues are resolved by using an airtight purpose-built gun case. The $9 Flambeau or Plano gun case is not good enough. Spend $200 and get a Pelican or Hardigg case. A lot of cases, at half the price, claim to be ‘as good as’ or ‘just like’…they are not. When you have to pull your genuine Belgian FAL or pre-ban HK93 out of the rafters, that is not the time to find out that your bargain case that saved you $50 had a crappy O-ring gasket and one side of your rifle has a nice orange sheen to it. The one good and cheap(er) alternative is when it comes to handguns – a genuine US GI ammo can, with good seals, is a perfect container for pistol rug, with dessicant, holding your preferred handgun.
The next question is probably “What else do you store with the guns? Ammo? Tools?”
Storing ammo with the gun is a bit iffy, IMHO. Why? Because the well-oiled gun is in an airtight case. Leave some ammo in there and I suppose there’s a possibility of oil contamination rendering the ammo unreliable. Big if, sure…but if things have gotten serious enough you’re pulling Ol’ Painless outta storage then things are serious enough that the last thing you want is ammo of questionable reliability, no? As an aside, I pack ammo in perfect/good condition military ammo cans. Metal ones. Not the plastic ones that when dropped on a hard surface shatter like my dreams and hopes.
Remember guys, guns have only two natural enemies: rust and politicians.
I try and go through the collection once every six months or so for a quick caress, lube job and inventory check. Before shooting a bore snake is run to kick out any dust, oil or other stuff that might be in the bore.
Luckily our climate is very dry and the house is A/C so humidity isn’t a real problem. Put a few pounds of dessicant in the gun safe because it’s free, one of the perks of having family in the aerospace industry.
The pistol I just picked up from the local PD property room had just a little rust in the slide cuts after 5 years in questionable storage.
To follow the lead of the SKS example, I did pick up some marine grade automotive grease just in case one or two might have to become buried in some 4″ PVC out in the woods. Wonder if anyone has ever tested that idea IRL?
Jimbo,
Get yourself a copy of Ragnar Benson’s book, “modern weapons caching”. Everything you need to know is in there, with examples of deep storage done right.
Anyone ever have any adventures with vacuum storage of firearms (maybe + a desiccant or O2 absorber) ala Food Saver type?
Works great – see below
Oxygen absorbers are a no-no for gun storage. They will actually promote rusting.
I have one comment to add, closed cell foam is your friend in a case. This peel and pluck stuff (open cell foam) is NOT your friend. Sure you have to cut the closed cell foam your self (or buy it a form close to your firearm) but it doesn’t store moisture like open cell foam does. The HK sits in a former M249 hard case that I had to cut out some spots for it (and the scope and a few mags) pull it out every six months, wipe it with a rag, re apply the Barricade and back in the case it goes.
For the handguns in an ammo can, Case Club makes a nice insert that you can modify to hold handgun, six mags and two boxes of ammo, all in closed cell foam.
https://www.amazon.com/Case-Club-Magazine-Pre-Cut-Military/dp/B00X6H4442?ref_=ast_sto_dp
A little pricey, but they also make pre-cut rifle cases (Plano cases, precut closed cell foam inside) that seem to get good reviews.
Here’s a trick I use to get the Cosmo out of surplus European rifles. I have several Yugo Mausers. The regimine of these at the state arsenals was to remove them from storage and disassemble them and clean them every five years They were inspected and fired 5 rounds to insure functionality. Then they were committed to a bath of warm liquefied cosmoline. It got everywhere.
I learned this trick. Use a hairdryer on high heat. Play it slowly back and forth over the wood. You will be surprised how much grease bleeds from the stock wood. The SKS rifles I bought years ago were so plastered with grease, they actually stuck to my hand when I set them down. Those required a great amount of work to remove the majority of the preservative. Many of these guns were unissued when I bought them. A new Mauser at what is today give away prices. Say around $130 to $150.
I used to just pull the stocks off, stick the bayonet on and then spike the thing in the ground. Pour boiling water over it to get the big stuff off.
Had an old bluing tank that was filled with water and heated by propane. Drop the gun in when water hit a rolling boil. Skim off the surface oils and then pull the gun out after it cooked for about five minutes. Give it a good shake and the heated metal would instantly dry out any remains moisture. Great free, bone dry, hot as hell and ready for a quick coat of oil and re-assembly.
Handguns were easier. Field strip. Drop them in a pot of rolling boil hot water on the turkey fryer. Five minutes later take them out, shake, oil, reassemble.
Gas works pretty well but not great. I’ve heard of folks using heated or even boiling (!) gasoline but that always struck me as dangerous.
Around here some people use carb cleaner as a go to. I’ve also heard that Easy Off oven cleaner works well as long as you use it in a well ventilated area. Make that outdoors. It can be used on metal or wood.
And of course some of the newer spray on stuff works. That was one of the great things about SAMCO Global. Anything I bought from them was cleaned before I got it. My Swedish Mauser was clean as a whistle. That is my favorite Mauser and caliber. The most accurate rifle I own. The 45-70 govt is my second favorite.
A silicone-treated gun sock is a very affordable alternate. Once in a gun sock, you can store your firearm in much less forgiving environments.
“BePrepared” touched on this, but I have been told that long term storage in a gun case is not recommended. Foam is designed to protect your firearm from damage during transportation, not to safely store a gun long-term. Many types of foam trap moisture, and can contribute to corrosion.
This is why I wouldnt pack a gun away without dessicant in the case.
That hard case and a few others (all Hardigg or Pelican) are stashed (and chained) in the front of the garage for a less-than-10-minute getaway, back up the pickup, throw them in the bed and GTFO. These cases are inspected each quarter. (Add petroleum jelly to the seals, swap what needs to be swapped, check the batteries, etc)
I explain because that case is special, everything else (firearms) is in climate controlled (or dessicant added) spaces.
I have a Mosin of 1897 vintage – re-barreled in 1945 at the Tula Armory, packed in cosmoline and never issued or shot til I got ahold of it. Outside of barrel & receiver has some rusting due to storing, shipping, handling, etc. til I got it. The cosmoline in the barrel and internals of the receiver was original but not difficult to get out. Any of the cosmoline coated parts were pristine. So there is first hand info on the use of “old tried & true” preservative methods. Remember boys and girls, should the upcoming events fail to go full on “rule 308” a very deep sleep in other than deep sleep prime areas may need to be used to preserve our Founders (and our) stated goals. We will have our Republic back. Sooner or later! All ready on the right, all ready on the left, all ready on the firing line: Watch your targets – TAAARGETS!!!!
I remember cleaning cosmoline off issued firearms back in the military with gasoline. Times have changed, and lessons have shown that one of the best ways to get rid of cosmoline is to spray the firearm down with any penetrating oil (WD40, CLP etc.). The penetrating oil brings the old hard caked cosmoline back to a much more viscous-fluid state which makes it easy to wipe off.
As for me, the best long term storage solution I’ve tried was to lightly spray down the firearm with WD40, place it in a long plastic bag and vacuum seal it.
I read once where a gun broker would take a shipment of mil-surp rifles down to the car wash and use the pressure washer to clean off the majority of the cosmoline
We used to do that after Civil War reenactments. Especially if we had rain and the cannonsxwere muddy. Clean the bores with hot soapy water and then rinse. Worked great. 15 minutes and done. The wood dried on the way home.
Enjoy reading your blog. Many years ago we started sealing some of our more important treasures in vacuum food storage bags. First we clean, then spray copious amounts of breakfree on all the metal parts. Every year or so we take the package out of storage and look the treasure over before returning it to storage. After many years they still look new. Since most of us already have a vacuum sealer the only cost is the bag and some breakfree.
Commander Zero,
You wrote, “The one good and cheap(er) alternative is when it comes to handguns – a genuine US GI ammo can, with good seals, is a perfect container for pistol rug, with dessicant, holding your preferred handgun.”
Don’t stop there with ammo cans. Sportsman’s Guide has these cans for less than $25.00: https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/us-military-surplus-pa154-120mm-mortar-ammo-can-used?a=1935509. The can’s dimensions are:
Interior Dimensions: 32″ x 11.25″ x 6″h.
Exterior Dimensions: 32.5″ x 11.75″ x 6.5″h.
If the barrel and action are separated from each other, a wide range of long arms can fit in this can.
About using genuine military cans vs. plastic ammo cans, yes the plastic cans are much more fragile. Another reason not to use them is that the O rings are not moisture proof.
A few years ago I watched a YouTube video in which ammo was placed in a military ammo can and in a plastic ammo can. Both cans were secured with a rope and were tossed into a farm pond. A year later, the cans were retrieved and opened. The military ammo can contents appeared to be new in the box. The plastic ammo can’s contents were a royal mess.
IMHO, it is false economics to save a few bucks with a plastic ammo can and take such chances.
A buddy told me that another reason to use military ammo cans was that if he ever had to bug out in a hurry, he would be grabbing his ammo cans and heaving them out of his house toward his pickup and trailer in order to speed up the bugout process. That may be an extreme approach, but I expect that military ammo cans would not be too badly damaged.
Check videos of USMC combat resupply-cut hold down straps,back up HARD-BRAKE HARD-drive for next load
Foodsavers…Vacuum pack them. Vacuum pack ammo in a separate bag.
I use jet engine oil (MobilJet 254) to lube firearms, so anything going for a nap gets cleaned, lubed as appropriate with the 254 or synthetic CV grease or both, and then gets the giant suck. Remove any batteries for lights, etc of course.
I then write on the outside the date, using a sharpie..
Pistols usually fit in the pre-made bags, the roll material will allow for rifles to get stored…Some (ARs’) require wider material and a wider than home use sealer, but those are available from Amazon.
CRC sells a product called SP400 rust inhibitor. Basically cosmoline in a spray can. Very handy.
Tom Hinkle (above) has it – clean it, clean it some more, oil it very, very lightly, insert into FoodSaver bag, add dessicant, add oxugen absorber, vacuum seal. Done. (dessicant absorbs moisture, oxy absorber absorbs oxygen; no oxygen, no rust, even if there is some moisture present.
Pro Tip: Instead of using the automatic “vacuum and seal” setting with bags, use the canister setting – it will keep the vacuum pump running longer to make sure there isn’t any air at all in the bag. You will have to manually press the “seal” button to heat seal the bag.
It is advisable not to use both Silica gel and Oxygen absorber together. The reason is the conflict in their nature because oxygen absorbers will require moisture to activate and work.
^This^