Storing Firearms

By necessity, a working gunsmith must store and secure guns. While we like to turn around a firearm quickly, sometimes this isn’t possible. Parts are sometimes difficult to obtain, the work takes place in several steps, there is finish removal involved, we wait until we blue several firearms together or any number of reasons. Refinish work takes multiple steps in polishing, all done after removing the factory finish, and this isn’t done at one setting. Sometimes the client is a slow in paying.

Then there are the parts guns and long term projects kept on hand. As a result, there is ample time for corrosion to set in. If you have a few years time in the business you have probably pulled a gun out of storage and found rust on the barrel or even damaged wood that you swore wasn’t a problem when it went in the safe. The gun was cleaned before it was stored, hopefully, but something occurred. The problem is always moisture trapped in the metal, the wood or perhaps the container.

When dealing with new and used guns corrosion is a constant enemy. New guns are not immune and more than once I have examined new firearms, usually the more inexpensive types, with a spot or two of corrosion on the metal surfaces straight out of the box. It isn’t unusual for anew gun to be in the pipeline several years before the end user actually takes it home. It is manufactured, stored, shipped to a distributor and/or a retailer before it finds its way into the hands of the end user.

Not all firearms are big ticket, on-demand items, although they may be steady sellers. It may be many months from the time the handgun leaves the factory until it ends up in the hands of the shooter. Let’s look at the standard adhered to by some of the major experts on storage. These are the folks that chase down surplus firearms from across the globe. When buyers scour the continents searching out older firearms for the US market, their first concern is that the firearms were stored properly.

Ideally, the arms were coated with grease and locked in an air tight container with a vapor barrier. Cosmoline or something like it and oil or wax paper is ideal for this use. Often the handguns or rifles were stored properly and they arrive in like new conditions. Other times the results are less desirable. Most military firearms are stored on racks. Private collections these days are most often stored in safes. For security nothing beats a gun safe but each situation is different.

When it comes to gun safes and long time storage, buyer beware. Yes, they are necessary for both safety and for protection from thieves but a dehumidifier needs to be present or they area capture point for moisture. Take along hard look at storing the rifle in a safe for long periods. Many gunsmiths find their customers bringing in rifles before hunting season for a scope mount, minor repair or accuracy job. That is the season at which we are swamped with work.

Each rifle must be properly tagged, entered in the books and the work to be done carefully as outlined with the customer. This isn’t true long term storage but could be long enough to get into trouble with corrosion. The first rule is that the firearm must be clean. We all find dirty guns or guns the client thinks is clean being brought into the shop. Be certain that the customers understand that cleaning the firearm is an extra

The author once had a customer that cleaned the copper-hued grease from his Glock. Not advisable and contra indicated for good function. charge. It is easier for them to thoroughly clean the rifle than for us to clean forty guns a season, but there you go. People are people and we end up cleaning a lot of guns. The gunsmiths idea of a clean gun is different from that of many shooters. The firing pin channel and the face of the bolt or breech are commonly ignored by the usual run of customers.

The primary objective is to clean the bore as a significant degradation in accuracy may occur from a pitted bore. Corrosion elsewhere is primarily a cosmetic concern. The bore is where moisture seems to be trapped most often. The same rules apply to blue steel and stainless steel. Stainless steel guns are not rust proof. They are stain LESS and require much the same due diligence in cleaning.

You can get away with more neglect in the field with a stainless steel gun but they can still pit like mad if corrosion is allowed to start and must be cared for nearly as closely as blue steel guns. The worst case scenario is a black powder rifle that has not been thoroughly cleaned after firing. The salts in black powder will begin to attract moisture almost immediately after firing and it is all downhill from there. This problem is depressingly common.

In fact, there is usually a rack of these black powder rifles with rusted bores at a pawn shop I fre- This can be time consuming but failing to do so might be expensive. A close look shows bare metal that would be a home for rust if proper storage procedure is not followed. quent that really need to be thrown away as the bore are useless after setting on the shelf without cleaning and rusting for two years or more.

Black powder is so prone to corrosion that the rifle should be cleaned and the barrel greased when the rifle is stored. When a rifle has been fired with corrosive ammunition the process is even more complicated than that with black powder. Black powder simply requires a good scrubbing

This is exactly the type of thing we wish to avoid. We do not wish to have the corrosion grow and pit the metal. and then greasing. With corrosive priming I go a few steps further. We have all seen rifles with the bore turned red, with rusted bores and flash hiders and even rusted bolts. Hand loaders have cussed crimped military primers, which make for added difficulty in reloading corrosive primed brass. You also must clean the brass more thoroughly to remove all corrosive residue before reloading.

For the first half of the twentieth century corrosive ammunition was in use by all of the world’s armed services and practically every round of small arms ammunition fired up through World War Two at least were corrosive primed. The first move to non-corrosive priming came with the introduction of the .30 M 1 Carbine. Maintaining the carbine did not include scrubbing the gas cylinder as was required to the M 1 Garand. What exactly is corrosive priming?

Corrosive primers contain potassium chloride and sodium chloride. These elements are very stable at both very high and very low temperatures. Soldiers operating in the Aleutians or the sub Saharan desert are confident these primers will always fire and that they will be consistent without pressure spikes. The compositions are actually not corrosive on their own but they attract moisture.

The bolt, barrel, bore, action, gas cylinder and any muzzle brake or flash suppressor are especially susceptible to corro- We all like to keep a few rounds on hand of various types for test purposes. This ammunition is corroded and shows signs of verdigris but the Winchester ammunition, circa 1935, fired just fine. Use caution when dealing with such ammunition.

Most of the time modern Wolf ammunition is available in the appropriate cartridge for inexpensive test firing rather than using original Com Bloc loads. sion induced by these compositions. In short, corrosive primers have no negative affect on reliability but will instigate corrosion. To clean a firearms that have been exposed to corrosive priming, follow a program similar to that used with black powder firearms. The firearm must be field stripped.

One old method was to run it under hot water, but one that I use more sparingly. I prefer to carefully field strip the piece and use powerful ammonia to clean the bolt, bore, trigger mechanism, flash hider, gas cylinder, etc. You must be completely thorough in using this ammonia to clean the firearm. The spray bottle the same as household glass cleaner. I often flush the ammonia off with hot water, running the

part under the faucet. Boiling water isn’t necessary. Firearms not using black power or corrosive primered ammunition are less complicated. Clean the gun well and apply a thin coat of lubricant. It is best to store the guns in open air racks in the shop. Cases and safes tend to trap moisture. If you are storing collector grade firearms it is a good idea to check them more often than once a season to be certain that corrosion has not started. Firearms must be stored clean.

No powder on the frame, no powder ash in the bore. It will rust if not cleaned and lubricated. If you are going to store the firearm for a longer period, Kroil (kanolabs.com) is highly recommended. Remember, be certain the surfaces are first cleaned. I have heard metal shavings referred to as "rust seed" and this is an apt description.

If metal work has been done but the firearm is not going to be refinished immediately, all shavings should be cleaned before storage and the firearm lubricated so that there are no metal shavings to instigate rust. Among the better examples of storage containers are the ZCORR Vapor Barrier Bags (zcorrproducts.com). These are relatively inexpensive but area great aid in storage. Silicon treated gun bags work well, too.

Final Notes When working with aluminummade parts they must be cleaned and lubricated as well as any other. Aluminum will peel and become exfoliated from corrosion. Be certain that the firearms are stored with all action springs relaxed. They must The heavy Cosmoline has to be removed prior to firing. Hot water works wonders. As it turned out the revolver was as new after being completely cleaned. never be stored long term with the action cocked or with the springs under pressure.

This means, of course, unloaded magazines but also that the bolts are in the fully lowered position and uncocked strikers. It is better to snap the action than to leave it stressed for long periods. Conventional wisdom holds that while storing muzzle up isn’t particularly bad, for long term store muzzle down, allowing oils in the action to run down and out instead of into the stock. These few tips for firearms storage are sure to pay off in less rusted guns and less problems down the road. AG