Long term gun storage

[roysha]

I am going to have to store a few guns for quite some time, possibly as long as 4-5 years and I don't want to worry about rust and so forth.
I DON'T want to use anything like cosmoline! So, my thoughts are these; If I was to thoroughly clean and lube with something like BreakFree, then put into one of the vapor phase inhibitor bags and vacuum seal everything in one of the heavy duty "seal-a-meal" type bags, could I reasonably feel at ease? The guns would be accessible for inspection occasionally, I'm not going to bury them or anything like that, but I don't want to really have to think about it.
I suspect it would be wise to remove the scopes before vacuum sealing since being under vacuum for that length of time the nitrogen might leak out. Since the scopes are aluminum my concerns would be minimal regarding them.
Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

[gnoahhh]

Ixnay on the vacuum sealing. That traps whatever moisture is present also. You want a little air to circulate, preferably dry air. I have used Breakfree for long term storage, combined with occasional inspections, with no problems. RIG grease works well too, with minimal cleanup effort, but I'm not sure if it's made anymore.

[uncle joe]

roysha, there was an article on the backwoods home magazine website where a guy talked about storing guns and ammo for long term. He was burring them though, I think the process started with removing all the wood, cleaning and oiling all the metal parts which included taking the gun apart, putting the gun in a mylar bag from new computer equipment, vacuum sealing the bag and putting it into a piece of PVC pipe removing all the air from the pvc and replacing it with dry nitrogen. He planted the pipe for about 10 or 15 years and opened it up and all was like new. May not be what you want but interesting for a SHTF situation.

[reloader62]

I use STP oil treatment,doesnt run and evaporate. They have those small tubes perfect for it.It works

[Catshooter]

roysha,

If I really didn't want to worry at all, this is what I would do.

Seperate any wood from metal and bag the wood. Cosmoline the remainder, inside and out. End of story.

After cosmoline, it hardly matters what else you do short of leaving them outside. Cosmoline isn't cheap, but there's a reason that every government that stores weapons long term does so in cosmoline.


Cat

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I do this every time I am up there.
Which ever rifles - pistols I unpack from 3 year storage get shot then repacked.
I use any motor oil I have open. Remove wood if easy. I leave forearms on my lever guns. Lay down a sheet of wax paper long enough to easily wrap the actual gun metal assembly (again without the rear stock or complete stock). With an oily rag or toothbrush all metal gets a coat. Then wrap up in wax paper. I do oil inside the chamber barrel action... Use extra wax paper as need to get aroung levers, bolts... I then masking tape the wax paper shut. Felt pen mark what is inside on the masking tape. Wrapped metal gets placed in a heavy long wood box on rollers with a screw on lid.
Been doing this for 26 years and never any problem. I have also used chain oil (farm equipment) and car grease.

[Shooter6br]

Vasoline is also excelent to prevent rust. Put some on a polished piece of metal . Leave [t outdoors exposed to the elements. It will do very well.

[Storydude]

Ixnay on the vacuum sealing. That traps whatever moisture is present also. You want a little air to circulate, preferably dry air. I have used Breakfree for long term storage, combined with occasional inspections, with no problems. RIG grease works well too, with minimal cleanup effort, but I'm not sure if it's made anymore.

How is moisture present in a vacuum? Air pressure drops, boiling point of water drops as well. Draw down to a vacuum and there should beno moisture present as it will boil off.

[ilcop22]

LLA has also been used for long term storage as an alternative to cosmoline. A lot of good ideas have been posted in this thread. Adding onto the CLP ideas, Eezox is superious to CLP in terms of protection, so if you're gonna go that route, try Eezox.

Personally, I would do as Catshooter suggested and just comso the metal. Cleaning cosmo off metal is really, really easy. All it takes is some steam and a rag. You can also boil the small metal parts with water and baking soda. Clean as usual, lube and you're good to go.

[autofix4u]

I have to recomend the LLA, I did a test just for my own benefit. I gave a dissassembled CZ 52 pistol a very libral coat of LLA and reassembled while still wet. Let it dry well and attached a 50lb test line to the trigge guard, tossed the pistol in my pond and tied the other end to a tree.
After 2 years i recovred the piistol, dunked it in a tub of Varasol and cleaned well. I showed ablsoutly no signs of any rust or corrosion.
I now have several rifles packed this way fo longterm storage (not in the pond) and have no doubt the will be just as I left them when the time comes.

[parrott1969]

My 2 cents, get some mylar ( ebay, I have seen bags as large as 48 inches) oil your gun and place in mylar. Take 2 or three hand warmers and toss in the bag. Then iron the opening almost shut (leave about 1-2 inch opening) take your vacum and suck out all the air and iron shut. The hand warmers will absorb any remaining O2. If there is no oxygen in the bag it is impossible for rust to form ( remember iron oxide). You can custom make bags if needed to fit you firearm by laying two pieces together and ironing its very simple but be sure to use a teflon coated iron. Some people will say that the hand warmers have water in them and that it will cause problems, they are both right and wrong. The hand warmer ( exact same thing as 02 absorber used in food storage) does contain trace water but it is just enough to get the chemical reaction going and is bound up in rust. Ok guys, flame away but it is true. Do your reasearch! Your firearms will be perfectly protected using this system. Just remember, without oxygen it is impossible to have rust. If you are concerned about the trace moisture in the hand warmer drop in a few desicant packs. Be sure that you place them on the oppisite end of the bag from the hand warmers.