Long-Term Storage For Your Guns

Guns Magazine, Annual, 2001 by Carolee Boyles

Protecting you firearms from damage only takes a bit of time and the right products.

The calendar has turned and you're planning for a great hunting season. You've been using your .243 for a couple of years now, but this year you're going after an elk and you want something a little heavier. You pull out the .30-'06 you haven't hunted with for a few years and discover the barrel has rust spots inside and out. There's also a crack in the stock.

What happened? You cleaned the gun before putting it away. Chances are moisture was trapped in the storage container or case. Potential moisture problems for guns during long-term storage include rust on metal parts; cracking, chipping and swelling in wooden stocks; and cracking in synthetic stocks.

The good news is guns can be stored for extended periods with few problems. A little planning can help reduce the possibility of damage and in some cases eliminate them.

Jerry Guiliano, marketing manager of accessories for Remington Arms, said firearms come from the factory prepared for long-term storage.

"Some guns are in the distribution channels for longer than three years," he said. "When we build a gun, it may sit in our inventory for a period of time. Then it goes to a wholesaler and sits in his warehouse for a while. Then it goes to a retailer and may sit there for six months."

Although it's tempting to think the manufacturer's preparation for extended storage would be enough to guard against problems, it isn't always. Just ask the U.S. Army.

Arguably the masters of gun storage and handling, the Army's experience shows that even the best prepared and stored firearms can suffer deterioration. Jim Glenn is with the U.S. Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. He said the Army plans for a 10- to 20year storage.

"We know that a lot of our weapons are going to sit in depot storage for at least 10 years," Glenn said. "If we get into a conflict and have to expand our armed forces, we can't wait for a manufacturer to crank up an assembly line. We need to have our assets in what we call our 'war reserve.

Most Army weapons are coated with an oil-type preservative, placed in airtight vapor barrier bags or wrapped in corrosion-inhibiting paper and then packed in boxes. In some cases, they are also shrink-wrapped.

In the late '80s and early '90s, the Army bought 2,500 sniper rifles.

"We fielded about 2,100 of them and put the remaining units in depot storage in 1992 or '93," Glenn said. "In 1996, we sent some to a National Guard unit, who called and said, 'These are all rusty and moldy.' Another unit called and said the same thing.

"They'd only been in storage a short time. But we found that a significant number had rust, mold, mildew and water damage. The commercial packaging methods used were ineffective in protecting the weapons during long-term storage," Glenn said.

The damage wasn't confined strictly to steel parts. The rifles had aluminum bedding, which had corroded or exfoliated, meaning it had bubbled, flaked and ultimately expanded, causing the molded synthetic stocks to crack.

The Right Technique

The long-term storage of firearms is a complex subject, with two main schools of thought and a lot of gray area in between. At one extreme are experts who say "never put guns in cases or safes except for safety reasons." At the other end of the spectrum are those who say guns should always be stored encased or in a safe.

The point is, there's no "right" answer. Each gunowner must take some general principles and apply them to his or her situation. Find the right combination of cleaning, care and storage techniques that work best for you. The first question that comes up, of course, is "What is long-term storage?" Even that is open to interpretation, depending on whom you're talking to.

Jim Fuller is product manager for Outers and the accessory lines of Blount. He belongs in the leave-it-exposed-except-for-safety group.

"We recommend gun safes only for their safety aspect," he said. "But if you have a dehumidifier or a desiccant in them, they work very well at drawing the moisture out."

How you define "long-term" varies with the individual and the situation. "We find that most people regard longterm storage as from one hunting season to the next, maybe fall to fall," Fuller said.

Guiliano agrees. "Most people, when they finish with their firearms for a season, will put them away for a year," he said. "Extended long-term storage would be three to five years." Storage techniques differ for the two periods, so it's worth examining both.

One Year, Give Or Take A Little

For the most part, Fuller said, one-year storage is basically the same for all types of firearms, with a few exceptions.

"Some of the stainless-steel guns are a little easier to maintain, although they still have to be maintained properly," he said. "But typically, they don't rust as easily as a blued gun."

While Fuller has no experience with the new titanium guns, his educated guess is they're similar to stainless steel.

Black powder guns require special cleaning. "A lot of people clean black powder guns with hot soapy water and that's fine," Fuller said. "Once the gun is clean, you need to season it with Bore Butter or a similar product that creates a film to prevent corrosion."