Long Term Storage

[Amin Parker]

Hi all

A friend of mine will be leaving for around 5 years and relocating to another province. He will be leaving his pistols at his moms place in a bolted safe. There will be no one to maintain these pistols and will probably not be touched while he is away. He has asked me for advice.

The house where its kept is on the coast. A few meters from the sea actually so corrosion is a very big concern.

Im thinking it should be very well lubricated. I remember cz pistols during the late 80s and early 90s were completely submerged in oil.

Should i ask him to dis assemble it and store the parts in containers submerged in oil? That way all of it will be covered and protected. Will motor oil do?

[Dobe]

I don't think that is a good idea. There once was a product called Rig Grease that I believe was used for long time storage. It was similar to cosmoline.

I just found this link on the web. I didn't research it, but cosmoline (don't know if it is the same as the link) was once a standard for stored military small arms.
http://www.cosmolinedirect.com/?gclid=CPGimrCd5KMCFRFW2godqDF3Sg

[carguychris]

Im thinking it should be very well lubricated. I remember cz pistols during the late 80s and early 90s were completely submerged in oil.
The product used by CZ probably wasn't oil per se; it was probably cosmoline (the last syllable is pronounced "lean" like gasoline). It's a translucent yellow pasty substance that's sticky and waxy; the stickiness ensures that, unlike most oils, it will stay put unless the part gets very hot (>140°F). It has been used by gunmakers and military forces for years to protect firearms and other metal objects from rust during long-term storage. Since it can be melted into a liquid, an entire firearm or subassembly can be dunked in it, ensuring complete coverage.

You can buy cosmoline online from a variety of vendors. Brownells also sells a similar product called Rust Veto that I've heard good things about, although I have not personally used it.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=26344/Product/RUST_VETO

The main downside is that the stuff is so sticky that it can be hard to remove. Milsurp collectors know all about this due to the number of milsurp firearms that are sold soaked in it, and many people have their own pet methods for removing it. I favor the "old school" method- disassemble the gun and dunk the individual parts in boiling water. You'll want to do this outside due to the smell. :rolleyes: Parts too large to dunk can be blasted with non-chlorinated automotive brake cleaner. You will obviously need to thoroughly dry and re-oil everything after using these methods.

If you choose cosmo, I recommend removing wood and plastic parts and storing them separately. It soaks into wood so thoroughly that you really can't ever get all of it out without a complete chemical strip and refinish. (Ask a milsurp collector about this and you'll probably get some stories about yellow stains on his or her skin from cosmo weeping out of a hot rifle stock during a long shooting session. :( ) The common methods for removing cosmo- heat and solvents- can harm many plastics.

[overkill0084]

Find out whatever it was that they soaked my Chinese SKS in. A gun soaked in that stuff could probably survive a shipwreck at sea without excessive corrosion issues. :D

[dean1818]

Just curious, but what about a good lube then vacuum sealing?

no oxidation, and if sealed properly, would seem to be almost indefinite

(I have one for food storage, and am curious if anyone has tried this)

[Brian48]

I kept my guns in long term storage when I temporarily relocated to CT (about 5 years). I heavily oiled all my guns with CLP/Breakfree and kept them in sealed plastic bags. Worked just fine. So long as the seal is secure, the oil should never dry out.

This is how I kept my personal guns in storage as well when I was in the USMC and had to deploy overseas.

[bikerbill]

I have a gun which was cleaned, then put in a silicon-impregnated "gun sock" almost three years ago ... I just went to take a look and it looks the same as it did when I put it in ... if there's something in the safe to dry the air, I'm betting the gun sock will keep it in perfect shape until he gets back.

[johnbt]

RIG grease is still being made and sold. It will work fine. I would remove the wood stocks and then apply the grease. I've used RIG for decades, it's not messy at all if you don't slather it on (and waste it.)

Look at the VCI plastic bags. They release vapor and require no grease or oil. Some of them will protect for 5 years if they are sealed and never opened. Here's the only brand I can think of www.zcorrproducts.com

My 1996 CZ-75B came in a plastic bag with 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil. I bought it in 2000 and it was rust free.

[carguychris]

Find out whatever it was that they soaked my Chinese SKS in. A gun soaked in that stuff could probably survive a shipwreck at sea without excessive corrosion issues.
That would be cosmoline. :D

Aside from the other suggestions, I have also heard very good things about a product called Boeshield T-9, which was supposedly first formulated by the Boeing Company (hence the name "Boe") for long-term storage of spare aircraft parts. It reportedly performs like cosmo but is not as messy or smelly.

[Amin Parker]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with me.

A lot of the good lubricants and oils are not available in this neck of the woods. Since he will be needing a fair amount, what other oils could be used? Motor oil or just normal gun oil? How about normal grease?

Also, if he puts a slide for example into a zip lock bag and pours in some oil or grease to coat the entire part, would that do the trick?

I will be helping him and he is depending on me and i dont want to let down a good friend and shooting buddy.

I appreciate all your help

[gwnorth]

Persaonally, I think you may be over thinking this a bit. Just oil the guns well but do not drench them. Maybe put them in a silicon gun sock or wrap them in some gunwrap paper (I by it from Brownells, it's like $1 a sheet and supposedly will protect metal for years and years).

Then just place them in the safe with some dessicant or something to keep the relative humidity down.

I have 90 year old rifles in storage for the last 11-12 years and they were just wiped down with oil, wrapped in gunwrap paper and lay in an old steamer trunk with a tin of gel dessicant. I checked them out last year and they are fine, and it has been 8 years since I last had an opportunity to check them (they are stored at a relatives in another country).

Cosmoline does work, but as mentioned, it is a royal pain to get off again, especially after years of storage. And I just don't believe you need go to those extremes.

P.S. gunwrap is not nice to old wood finishes (varnish) so beware of that. Supposedly not good for nickel finishes either, or so I was told. The guns I have used it with were all oiled wood finishes and either carbon steel "in the white" or blued steel.

[overkill0084]

"That would be cosmoline. "

I figured it was a chinese knockoff of cosmolene. Quite persistant stuff.
I kept my guns at a cousins house in FL (Bradenton) for over 5 years while I was overseas. They were not "Gun folk" so they just sat in the attic (the guns, not the cousins). My prep was to lube the bores with gun oil and a good wipe down/soaking with WD-40. They were stored in soft cases. It would seem that with minimal but effective prep, guns can be pretty tolerant. There were no isues to report on the guns.
However, the knives were a different story. The leather sheath on my stainless bowie contributed to some surface corrosion.

[Dobe]

When I store knives, I take them out of the sheaths. When I store handguns, I remove all rubber grips. Rubber traps moisture. I found this out the expensive way.