Hello Everyone,

I've never needed a safe until recently. My pistols are some of my most prized possessions, and I just want to know the best way to keep them safely stored. I bought some Break Free Collector wipes and gave them a good wipe down. I also keep them in Bore Stores. My next step is to buy a dehumidifier. Am I doing too much? Should I skip any of these measures? As always, any and all input is greatly appreciated.

I wipe mine down with BREAKFREE CLP, store them in ZIPLOCK plastic bags, and place them into PELICAN cases. The safe has three DAMP-RID tubs and a GOLDEN ROD. I don't think I'm overdoing it.

I have stored my guns in a safe or lockbox type thing for many many years. Most of the time they have been in a climate controlled house but they have spent some time in a garage.

All that said I do nothing different. They go in wiped down with whatever product dujoir I am using and that’s it.

I do NOT store them in any kind of foam case.
I DO toss in any deccident (those little packs of moisture absorbing crystals) that I pull out of other things.

Beyond that nothing special and I have never had a lick of rust or problems.

Chris

I wipe mine with Corrosion-X and just put them in racks in the safe.
I've never had a problem with rust. Corrosion-X is great stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by elberettas:
Hello Everyone,

I've never needed a safe until recently. My pistols are some of my most prized possessions, and I just want to know the best way to keep them safely stored. I bought some Break Free Collector wipes and gave them a good wipe down. I also keep them in Bore Stores. My next step is to buy a dehumidifier. Am I doing too much? Should I skip any of these measures? As always, any and all input is greatly appreciated.

No and no. It's ok to do "too much" now that you won't have to say "I didn't do enough" in the future.

This is what I've been doing for years. My safes have several dehumidifiers in each. All pistols are generously oiled, inside their plastic bags, inside their original cases/boxes. Rifles, obviously, cannot be in their cases. But most that are not used are in Bore Stores.

I've had my guns in safes for decades.

Basic, initial precaution: wipe it down with a good gun oil.

Second: I love the rechargeable desiccant units such as these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002..._apa_i_8pLEEbYTN528T

I keep a couple in each safe. When the desiccant changes color to indicate it need re-drying, simply take the unit out of the safe and plug it into the nearest wall outlet over night.

My safes with electrical power also have Golden Rods in them.

I like using both systems when I can in case the power is out for a long period of time.

I wipe all my weapons down with CLP and store them on either plexiglass covered shelves or in their plastic bags in their boxes. I have either a golden rod or some rechargeable desiccants. plus I have added Bullfrog inhibitor cups that stick on the wall and emit a vapor protection for a year. I know I overkill, but I’ve never had an issue. Heck I have guns I haven’t even wiped down for years and they are perfect.

The only time I had an issue was about 15 years ago when I stored a couple pistols in some nylon zip pouches. After a month I opened the safe and the pouch had mildew on it. Now this was an old small safe that was not a gun safe, but rather one of those sentry safes for like documents or whatever. I learned that they use a moisture rich insulation for fire protection so I got rid of it and use gun specific safes now. Lucklily the pistol was fine and had no mildew or rust on it, but that’s because I caught it in time. And I have learned from my mistakes.

I would love to know if the BreakFree collector is really that much better than standard CLP.

I have two Golden Rod heaters in my safe. Beyond that I do nothing special. I have seen no rust in decades.

I use bore stores, they work great.

Most of mine are in a gun safe. No boxes, cases or bags. After I shoot them I clean them and put them back in the safe. The pistols hang from racks under he shelves. The rifles stand up. There are desiccant bags in there just for good measure. Those that are in use are in holsters or on a rack in the house.

My dad has rifles and shotguns in two gun cabinets in our family room that have been there for over 60 years without issue. If you clean them after each use and wipe them down from time to time there is not a problem. One of my memories of childhood was cleaning 870 Wingmasters after duck hunts.

Most houses in the U.S. have AC and heat. Both of those take humidity out of the air.

Can't beat the benefits of a good dehumidifier. Also great if you store ammunition nearby as well.

I run mine 24/7 and drain it through my HVAC air handler pump.

I store lots of my pistols and rifles in a safe too.
No special bags or desiccants, I just toss pistols on one of several racks and rifles are stood up.
Some are cleaned and oiled, some are a little dirty and fingerprint smudged, some look like I just dug them out of a muddy berm after a high round count class.
Being in Colorado I don't have the humidity issues to worry about but I still throw a couple silica gel packs into the .50 cal ammo cans I keep loose ammo in. Other than that I've never worried about not have had any rust problems and everything looks factory new whenever I get around to knocking the crud off of them.

Gary and Ryan combined. Two heating rods and shit tossed in the safes. I don't wipe them or anything. Most are clean, but plenty are dirty and have finger prints.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:


I would love to know if the BreakFree collector is really that much better than standard CLP.

You, me and everyone else. No way of knowing I guess, but it does seem to work.

So, most of the methods used by those above will work just fine. The key is to occasionally check the guns. Maybe even too often. My gunshow partner used to spend half a day or more getting all his guns out and reoiling them, then putting them back away. It worked because he did it.

The Collectors grade CLP seems to work well because it turns into a wax almost. The old stuff works well too, maybe better because you don't need to wipe it off. I don't care.

I have a collection of nasty old guns. Many of them produced in the 1930s. Before wonder oils were available. So some how those 80 year old guns survived with just 3 in 1 oil or whatever. The key being they were kept indoors and checked from time to time. That doesn't mean once a decade, but often more than once a year. Radical concept.

Ok lots of the above makes some sense but some is just silly. The absolute best long term method is oil/breakfree/whatever on gun and then store it in a VCI bag or a bag with VCI.

My safe is in an Un-airconditioned garage in South Florida and I live 1/2 a mile from the beach. I have a Golden Rod and just wipe them down with Breakfree CLP, most are in the hard plastic pistol boxes, I have stored them this way since Jan 2014 and have ZERO corrosion on any of them.

My safes are in an unattached garage with no heat. I use RIG grease for ones the one I don't shoot. Guns that are used at least once a year are wiped down with whatever gun oil I have handy. I have a dehumidifier rod in each safe. I've done this for several years with zero corrosion issues.

Lots of good info here. I use Weapon Shield CLP for general firearms maintenance. I'm not sure if using the Break Free Collector wipes is overkill or not. What does everyone use to clean oil or grease off of grips, before shooting?

I have a rod in the safe as well as some Damp Rid. Guns are on shelves or door pockets. I usually use some grease on the rails.

I stick one of these in the safe and check it every month or two. When it goes slightly green, I dry it out.
https://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry...id=1585138448&sr=8-8