Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Long-term storage - Best Protectant?

I guess it really depends on what your definition of "long term" is. The military does frequent maintenance on the weapons assigned to units whether they are actually assigned to individuals or not. Most arms rooms I was familiar with had dehumidifiers running during the more humid times of the year.

For long-term storage at depots or base storage facilities, Cosmoline is king.





I've been playing around with LPS 3 and Boeshield. Both products are pretty similar and I like the results so far with the exception of dirt and debris tends to stick to it. Bullfrog is my absolute favorite, as it also has Vapor Phase Corrosion Inhibitors as part of their formula. Bullfrog aeresols is hard to get sent out to Aleutian Hell.

We use that stuff on ringworm.

I used Eezox for years with good results.

Then, a few years back someone did a test with a dozen or more of the most popular products.
He took small plates of soft steel and coated them with each product, several for each product.
Left a few of each in salt water tide pools, in the desert, in the rain.

Eezox did very good, but Frog Lube was the best..
Zero corrosion in a tide pool for two weeks.

I now use Eezox to clean, lubricate and quick wipe downs. Frog lube for long term storage of safe queens that don't get used very often

Was this the test?
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

That takes a sense of humor!

Everyone is using a different product, is it the moral of the story that they are all good or none of them really work that great?

Yes, that was the same one, but posted here earlier, IIRC. It was a ridiculous test due to total lack of control and he simply used raw steel and did not even prep it all the same. No relevance to gun use and a joke...

I have used paste wax as the base and a wipe down with a number of corrosion inhibitors. Lots of time on boats around Kodiak and found it very effective on plain old blued steel and wood.

Thanks

all the top products were tested by someone here a few years ago and WD40 specialist easily beat them all.

Rick, for corrosion protection, I think the Hornady Extreme HD, non-oil based is the best.

Not corrosion of metal related.
Butt pads have some serious issues also with breakdown and deterioration sometimes.
Getting gummy, spongy, cracked, dried out, misshapen from gravity.
Some people take em off for long term storage in a upright position.

I use a product from the Kellog Company called Kel. It comes in a spray can. I've been using it for 30 years. I buy it by the case and give it to my friends for their firearms and anything else that needs protection from corrosion. A lot of years ago I tested the product on a shovel blade. I cleaned of the residual dirt, sprayed the blade and left it out for the fall, winter, and spring, no rust.

Kel Spray 132 or something? Local feed store sells it. Got a couple cans in the shop.

Rig


Fluid film sounds interesting

Lowe’s and Advance auto has fluid film in the shelf.

I have found this to be a great tip - I learned it at the required CMP course 25 or 30 years ago and have used it ever since.

I use an approximately 5 x 5 inch piece of chamois. I started with a new chamois, cut out a piece and worked in about a teaspoon or so of RIG gun grease. I keep the cloth in a baggie between uses to keep dust away. After cleaning, the gun gets wiped down with the chamois. It leaves a VERY thin layer of RIG. Is thin enough not to be goopy but has been very effective in preventing rust. Every now and then I put a bit more rig on the cloth.

When I started this, I bought a new chamois and a jar of rig. I haven’t used up either.

I store over seventy-five long guns in silicone gun socks and place them muzzle down in gun safes. That way any excess oil runs away from wood stock and doesn't soak in stock wrist like the old shotguns you see and the recoil pads don't sit with the toe collapsed. As funny as it seems , I think I can get more firearms stacked in a gunsafe this way. Also as being able to identify them better , because the flap of gunsock is upright and I can peek easily in gunsock to verify which firearm I have hold off. Clean the firearm properly and use just about any synthetic gun oil and store in silicone gunsock and they won't get gunsafe dings and never have to worry about the metal finish.

The key is to use a golden rod so that moisture does not condense on the guns. I stored mine in a safe in a non climate controlled garage in coastal Florida for many years this way and never any rust. It is important to wipe them down before putting them away because any sweat residual you leave on them will cause rusting. I mostly use the hornady extreme because it did the best in a study that was published several years ago and it doesn't leave a mess or attract dirt.

A little goes a long way. I bought a big can of RIG from Brownell's in 1995. Still more than 1/2 full.