Ideal conditions for storage of guns in a safe

[rmca]

Title says pretty much all, what are the ideal conditions for the storage of guns in a safe, in terms of temperature and moisture percentage.
Rifles, pistols and ammunition.

Thanks

[Spencer]

Normal household temperatures (0-40C / 32-100F) are unlikely to cause any problems.

Zero humidity is achievable - the dehumidifier tubs from the supermarket work in in closed containers, but make sure you replace them once that fill up with water..

[rmca]

Thanks for the reply Spencer.

Would a zero humidity environment not be detrimental to the wood stock on rifles?
Pistols and ammo I suppose would be better in a no humidity environment, but I'm not sure about rifles.
To the metal part of a rifle a zero humidity would be good, but what about the wood?

[NuJudge]

When accuracy counts, there is typically free floating and or fiberglass, so probably not much trouble from zero humidity.

You can also get a vapor phase emitter to try to prevent rust.

[Spencer]

[quote="rmca"]...Would a zero humidity environment not be detrimental to the wood stock on rifles? .../quote]
I will ask my circa 1960 .243 (BSA featherweight that bucks like a mule, and the Cutts compensator is noisy, but does its job)

I hesitated to mention camphor wax, as it seems to have another name in USA - but it works well inside a gunsafe (and toolboxes)

[johngreek]

Nice info Spencer thanks.

[kevinweiho]

You could also try the Golden Rod dehumidifier. It does not remove the humidity, instead it generates a low level of heat that circulates in the safe, keeping the moisture from condensing on your guns and rusting them.

[Sunnyside Scott]

I have been using Golden Rods in my gun safes for years with good results.
I also wipe down my my rifles with a thin coat of oil to keep fingerprints from rusting from due to the acid in sweat. I keep my ammo in an old wooden cabinet in it's original packaging in my temperature controled house, not in the safe.
Scott

[Hemmers]

Absolute temperature is less important than the change in temperature you can expect. Unless you can get the humidity right down, warm air chilling down will result in condensation forming, which is the usual problem with fitting a cabinet in a garage or similar where temperature changes correlate to to outside air temperatures.

Obviously if the safe needs to go somewhere that temperature changes are inevitable, then get the humidity down as far as possible and develop a strong cleaning regime. Ammunition may be "non-corrosive" but residue will still trap moisture against the barrel, so clean it after every shoot and leave a protective film of oil or rust inhibitor in the barrel.

[RossM]

The key to preventing condensation is to keep the dew point below the ambient temperature. Heating the vault is the easiest way to achieve this. I have just installed an 8 watt "Pet Bed Heater" into our club safe. This is a heat pad for the cat or the dog to sleep on.

The biggie issue for safes are the metal work. The fact that it is in intimate contact with the room temperature means that it will respond faster than your guns and rifles in the safe. If it is getting warmer on the outside, it is possible that as the dewpoint in the room increases and the gun temperature doesn't then condensation has a higher chance of affecting the guns.

To cure the problem, line the outside of the safes with polystyrene sheet and add the heater to the bottom of the safe. The insulation slows the rate of change of temperature of the safe and thus allows the safe and the guns to stay very close in temperature while the room temperature changes.

I built a sheet metal cover for the heater to sit under to protect it. I can tell it is working because the temperature is warmer inside the safe.

The anti humidity gunge works by absorbing moisture from the air. Water vapour will get in unless the safe is hermetically sealed. Hermetically sealed is like a Pelican case with the valve closed!! Anything else will "leak" water vapour into the safe.

PS: I work in Humidity and Temperature Standards at NZ Measurement Standards Laboratory. (US equiv is NIST)

[Leon]

http://www.borestores.com/

You won't need anything else....

[rmca]

http://www.borestores.com/

You won't need anything else....

Leon... the safe is not an option for me. I'm obliged by law to have one.

And since I have it, no point in having guns out of it.

Best regards

[Leon]

So do we. You put your guns inside a borestores thingy, and then put it in a safe, They are specially treated to resist corrosion etc, plus the soft exterior protects from scratches and nicks etc

[BobGee]

With your collection Leon, it must be a nightmare trying to find that IZH-123 that you could have sworn you acquired two years back...