Hey all-

If a firearm was going into "indefinite storage" today in less than ideal conditions, would cosmoline be the choice for corrosion protection? Has another substance/technique surpassed it?
I have some "CLP Collector" that sounds like it's intended for longer intervals but know nothing about it.

So, what's the modern solution to long term storage protection? What do you use?

Bruce

Cosmoline was what wer used in the service for “lay-up”.
Weapon was cleaned to bare metal and dipped into a bucket of hot cosmoline, then wrapped in a foil/paper outer barrier and then slipped into a plastic bag that was vacuum sealed with the name/nomenclature and serial number on it.

For big items like a breech for a 25mm M242 Bushmaster cannon, we cleaned them and slathered artillery grease all over in into the corners and wrapper em the same....

If I was stashing a rifle for teotwawki, I’d just oil up a AR and seal it in a pvc tube glued on end caps and then the same for some ammo and mags....make sure to put a few bags of silica gel or even better dump some dry ice in and let it chase out all the oxygen, then seal it.

Or place an AR in a plastic bag and vacuum seal it, it will Withstand the weather and being buried.

How long do you foresee the storage to be? Are we talking months, years, decades, etc.?

I know... "indefinite". But surely you must have an idea of how long it could/should be in your specific circumstance. Are we talking "I'm moving to a new house, and putting my stuff in storage for a few months"? Or "I'm going on temporary assignment to another city for a year or two"? Or "I'm going to bury this rifle to dig it up in 20+ years if needed"?

Or is this just purely a hypothetical?

I oil my milsurp collection annually with Breakfree Collector. I would be comfortable going a few years between oilings with just that, especially if they're stored in a somewhat climate-controlled manner. But Collector is still just a thick oil. So if storing for many years or decades, or storing in more austere conditions, I'd want something more substantial like a thick grease (like cosmoline) and/or some form of vacuum sealing.

The main benefit to Breakfree Collector is that it's one of the few options for longer-term protective coatings that doesn't require being cleaned out before using the rifle. You can go straight from storage to use, unlike something thicker like cosmoline, which has to be cleaned off before use. But that comes at the cost of not being as long-lasting as more substantial protection methods.

It also depends on the humidity of where you're storing them. In Nevada or Arizona, you could likely get away with less protection for longer than in somewhere like Washington or Louisiana.

Lube or preservative is one thing but read up on VCI storage bags sold through Brownells. Yes I've used them. They work quite well. Fact, there are many companies selling some form of protective VCI sheets or bags. Brownells is a good place to get those intended for long term storage of firearms. Sizes for various sidearms or long guns.

I can tell you from experience that EEZOX works extremely well.

I put several handguns in safe deposit boxes for a five-plus years overseas assignment. I removed the wooden stocks and wrapped them separately, but the guns themselves I sprayed with a liberal coating of LPS 3 and sealed in zip lock bags. Everything was in perfect condition when I got back.

Rig works very well and it is not as much of a mess to clean up. I have stored guns for several years with it and they came out looking like new. Museums have been using it for many years.

I also use Breakfree collector, and usually do a complete breakdown, cleaning, and photograph “about” every 5 years. I’ve never noticed any abnormal breakdown of the metal or wood, and my storage area is just a basic climate controlled room.

From having cleaned I don’t know how many rifles stored in cosmo over the years, I would never deliberately do that to anything I owned, unless maybe I was intending to bury it.

OK. I've conducted a pretty extensive set of tests in this area. Now I can't conduct "indefinite" because you know its indefinite. The main points of success would be to coat the gun with something (what doesn't matter a whole lot, more on that later), put in in a VCI bag, add an additional VCI emitter and some form of moisture absorbant and seal the whole mess up. At that point it will survive
"a very long time" in absolute sh** conditions. Now there are some small learnings in this that if you are willing to discuss the type of gun (and most exactly if there is any wood involved) I can add a little bit of extra guidance. But net net VCI is your success plan.

More details:

This would be an AR being stored in a location with higher humidity and large temperature variation between night and day.
Eezox is my usual go to. In the absence of better advice, I was planning to hose it down with Eezox, inside and out, seal it in a rust inhibitor bag with a few dessicant packs, and then vacuum seal that into a Foodsaver bag. It would be indoors but PVC tubes sound like the best option for outdoors.

What's a good amount of dessicant for that volume of space? Sources?

Does anyone use a bag of rusty iron filings? I hear a sacrificial bag of rusty filings can inhibit rust on everything else. Is that true?

Bruce

An AR is easy. Disassemble it. Hose it down with anything, I've had AR's be just fine with CLP, buried. No difference using actual Cosmoline RP-342, but if you wanted indefinite that is what I would use... VCI bag, extra VCI emmiter, some desiccant (I buy it by the gallon and toss approx 1oz (you can get it in bulk anywhere amazon, zoro, etc. if you don't want bulk the little packs takes about 6) press the air out and seal it. if you have the ability to vacuum bag it great, I didn't and I can't imagine it will matter. Will be mint till it won't matter.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
OK. I've conducted a pretty extensive set of tests in this area. Now I can't conduct "indefinite" because you know its indefinite. The main points of success would be to coat the gun with something (what doesn't matter a whole lot, more on that later), put in in a VCI bag, add an additional VCI emitter and some form of moisture absorbant and seal the whole mess up. At that point it will survive
"a very long time" in absolute sh** conditions. Now there are some small learnings in this that if you are willing to discuss the type of gun (and most exactly if there is any wood involved) I can add a little bit of extra guidance. But net net VCI is your success plan.

Yes the wood. The bags are treated and will film the finish. Think I still have some of the bags for long guns.

Cosmoline reacts over time. Go with R.I.G.

I also use R.I.G. Grease, not sure how cosmoline compares. I use it on guns I have no plans for inside 3+ years.

It’s a storage grease, wipe clean inside & out when putting the gun back in action.

I think the change in temperature is more of a problem than the actual humidity... this is why folks have a problem with safes... the mass of the safe causes condensation when the temperature of the air changes...

I would think a very light coating of good protective oil... with the weapon wrapped in a reasonably air tight bag would suffice... but I'm no expert.

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
More details:

This would be an AR being stored in a location with higher humidity and large temperature variation between night and day.

Now that we have the criteria, I’d take it apart, hose it with oil, put it in a vacuum bag and seal it. Throw that in the safe, and not worry. And no way would I add iron filings or rust chips, maybe add a silica gel pac but no extraneous stuff....

I used to work with a guy that had some highly desirable Browning shotguns and rifles . He rubbed them down with Vaseline and put them in zipper cases . Kept them this way for years . He showed them to me one day . Pristine .

I vote for RIG as well, may drive out any moisture with a hair dryer before sealing. Back before my gunsafe, with little kids running around, I kept broken-down handguns coated in RIG and locked in a locker in my attic (large temp swings) with no freckling. There is a good scientific analysis of the rust inhibiting effectiveness of different popular products (RIG, CLP, Essox, et al). can probably still find it on the web.