Looking for voices of experience.... Has anyone used gun safes in an unheated garage? What are the problems. It seems that the temperature swings would not be good for them. I am in Wyoming so vary between -15 and 110 degrees over the year. I do not want to put a safe in my basement due to the tight access and stairwells. I also do not want to put one upstairs without having the floors reinforced.

Leave it in the garage. Store an acetylene torch and a worm-drive Skil 77 nearby and have an abrasive disc already installed on it to save the crooks precious time. A big red ribbon on the safe would be a nice touch.

If the crooks are willing to work, and you are not, guess who'll win?

Moving your guns to the garage is often an indicator it's time to trade in the wife as well.

Add a dehumidifier unit in the safe as a minimum. Keep all metal well oiled. I would also add a couple desiccant boxes that can be reactivated.

rethink this as already posted above....All good point to consider
add in... the outside of the safe will suffer as well.I would never do it in this part of the country.My garage will have 90% humidity in the summer

We moved tried to give the safe away, buyers of home did not want it. So we had a bunch of buddies over to try to drag the dad gum thing out the narrow basement. A big fat feller who looked unfit for the job showed us how to take the door off! Just lift! Easy peasy. New house no room for safe put in the garage, wife filled it so full of valuable [bleep] I cant put many rifles in it. Gonna reinforce a closet. And NO I aint trading her in.....she is the one for me! I insulated the garage thought about a insulation sleeve around safe & and a light inside safe but I think a better door in the closet would be more cost effective. On the Savage collectors forum there is an excellent thread on corrosion protection.

Mine's well secured in my unheated garage. But I live in a low humidity area, and although we'll get into the triple digits in the summer, winter is not severely cold. Didn't even have the dehumidifier hooked up for the longest time.

I personally don't see the problem, but my risk level is pretty low here:
- I live in a pretty low-crime area.
- We're almost always home.
-We live in a cul-de-sac and any traffic is out of place.
- Lots of neighbors around 24/7.
- Safe is not easily visible.

Oakster: I strongly advise against the storage of firearms in an unheated garage!
Hopefully you can make room for things in a corner of your home somewhere.
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I've had a safe in an unheated garage for a long time, like 20 years or so. no issues here. I do live in a semi desert though...

I did it probably about 20 years ago. I don't get quite the extremes in temperatures but do have 100% humidity much of the time. I haven't had any problems. I had to check the firearms more often and keep them clean and oiled, but never had any serious problem. I moved the safe upstairs in my office space when I could and just put it over a wall downstairs. It hasn't fallen through yet�

Two safes in the garage....uninsulated garage. Not much humidity here, but each has a dehumidifying rod. They are bolted to the slab. If somebody wants them that bad.....they can have them.

I have a few gun safes and one is in my unheated garage, I have never had a problem with it but I always check my dehumidifier and wipe my guns down at least once a year, I also keep most of my powder in this safe.

Living in Gillette Wyoming I have no doubt you can be -15 but I have never seen even close to 110 outside of Phoenix or Vegas. In Wyoming you could convince me of 110mph winds but not temps

My father tried that once. I am still re-finishing firearms involved in that experiment.

Out west you may get by with this type of storage , but in the east they would be rust buckets

When I was a kid my dad kept a cheap .22, purchased for the purpose, in the barn when we were having trouble with skunks and raccoons coming in to sample the molasses in the rolled oats we kept there. We did wipe it with an oily rag now and then, but it got no special treatment. Within a year the surface rust had noticeably pitted any steel parts, which on that rifle was mostly the barrel and magazine tube. Interestingly the bore remained good...whatever lube was on those .22 bullets protected it quite nicely. This was in eastern Montana.

Bluing is a process of Oxidation and I believe it has a tendency to attract more rust than normal steel would. I have seen rust appear much quicker on blued guns without some oil protection on it...

One source has the record high for Wyoming at 115 at Basin, Wyoming. Gillette saw official temps at 107 in 2012. I saw unofficial temps of 111 in Thermopolis.

Texas Gulf Coast,check 'em often and keep a Golden Rod in it.No problems so far.

Thief's will be in for a big surprise and an even bigger BOOM if they try a cutting torch on my safe that's in the Garage! Mine has a big sticker that says,

"Warning!!! This Safe contains Black Powder!!! The use of a cutting torch will result in an explosion / death!!!"

Build a large, well insulated closet to hide the safe, and add a small electric heater, or even just a light bulb or two

I built an insulated closet to house a 2nd refrigerator in my pavilion. I heat it with a 250 watt halogen worklight. I connected a line voltage thermostat to a receptacle and keep it set to 60*. The refrigerator wouldn't run when the outside temp was under 40* so the freezer would thaw. The heat also keeps the humidity from condensing on the metal refrigerator case.

Those signs deter thieves like the beeping horns on a car in the parking lots. Thieves laugh, then go ahead with their theft...

Most Thief's are so stupid they would think the black powder explosion would help them get the safe open quicker

No doubt they'll be fine in Gilette, due to your low humidity. I'd keep a golden rod or desiccant in there just to be safe. Might keep a close eye on the moisture inside the safe during spring and fall where you see your biggest temperature swings.

They won't be laughing if they try it on mine. The Garage safe has all the Goex and ammo in it.

Not a bad idea. But I'd have to buy a few or 10 more pounds of black powder.

I think I have 1 lb.

One thing I left out on my first post is the safe that I have in my garage is on a wood platform (and bolted to the house from inside the safe). This eliminates most rust problems of the safe and its contents, not a good idea to put a safe on a bare cement floor in a garage.

That is true, but you won't be laughing either, with your safe contents and your garage spread all over the neighborhood. Signs don't deter theft...

Yes.

I am in Havre and I think most would qualify this area as dry. Temps are similar to yours but it gets a lot colder than -15.

I leave mine in the garage but it is climate controlled. I keep it at 35. However; there are plenty of people that keep them in their garage (I know the guy that has delivered most of them) and they have no issues.





Travis

Dad has a safe in an unheated garage, so do several friends her in south central pa. Dad has had issues, stopped with vci use, friends have all been fine.

Tag

It's always best to clearly describe your firearms storage and security measures on da internet. I like to leave a sign out front with my work schedule and travel plans.

I hope you don't have a house fire, you won't feel so clever if you blow up the fire fighters.

I have one in my unheated garage. It gets 95 down to single digits here and 90% humidity in the summer. I put 2 tubs of dessicant in the safe. I've had zero issues.

Good luck getting into it. I guarantee potential thieves won't be tipping it over to gain any sort of leverage. Of course they could bring a jackhammer, a sawzall, and various pry bars to have a go at it. Of course they'll have to have it done by the time the local police show up or my neighbor cop or anyone one of my armed neighbors. Good luck....

In this general area , I dont think you will have much issue with condensation. A golden rod or other humidity control should be fine. Depending on your neighbors , maybe a little cover up to hide the fact that your gun safe is in garage while door is open makes since. I do see a lot of safes in garages around though. I think in general people here aint the stealing type.

I've always understood that if the temp inside your safe is 3 or 4 degrees higher than outside, that will keep the moisture at bay, and that seems to be the entire principle behind the heater rods that I've used without problems for years. A small lamp should do the same. However, I don't have a safe in an unheated garage.

You will be fine in your location where it is fairly dry.

As mentioned, lift the safe off the floor with 2x4 or similar to reduce any condensation and keep some minimal heat or drying system (goldenrod, desiccant, low wattage bulb) inside.

You just need to keep the compressor and oil warm enough to operate. That can be accomplished with a 40 - 60 watt bulb sitting near the compressor.

One of my very good friends here on the 'fire uses this and it works great in his safe: http://www.damprid.com/moisture-odor-control-center/how-damprid-works

No rust on the firearms and water in the bottom of the cup. This is in south Texas.

I know that will remove moisture i have had it for ice removal and it did "make water" and turn into a brick. But it is salt and putting that in my safe would worry me.

I hope the garage doesn't face the street or other houses, or if it does that you never open the garage door.

Unless you have a way to conceal the gun safe.

I was going to say that a garage is probably better than a storage unit, but that is obviously not true if anybody at all knows it's in the garage.

How hot does powder in a safe have to get before ignition, vs the heat that the safe will recieve

EVERYBODY knows already.

I had 2 safes in the garage in lower SE Alabama for 6 years. Lows maybe high teens in winter, summer high 90's. Humid as crap most of the year. Golden Rod in each safe. No rust on anything. If tools aint gonna rust sitting in the garage with no dehumidifier, cant see where oiled guns in a safe will either.

Powder plus safe equals bomb, because the pressure gets really high before the safe lets go. That's probably why it's against the law to keep powder in a safe, but OK in a wood box.

Wonder if homeowner's insurance is good if you blow up your own house? You can get another gun (if you don't go down for murdering the burglars with a booby trap) but a new house costs money.

Not my business, just thinking out loud.

It's not smart to keep explosives in strong closed containers

You have one huge BOMB sitting there

No, they don't, unless you happen to think the OP has given a real name and location

If I ever have a house fire, my house and any ensuing explosions will be done long before the Firefighters ever arrive. Our Ranch house sets over a mile off from the nearest County Road and over 20 miles from a town with a Fire Dept. No worries for Firemen.

You're right, not literally EVERYBODY....

I'm in Wyoming and have one in my unheated shop. I have a goldenrod heater in it and a few packs of desiccant.
No issues at all.

My brother in law stores his this way in Mississippi (high humidity) and they seem to be doing fine. He has a dehumidifier rod in it but that's it.