Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Preparing Firearms for Storage and Interstate Moving

I am making an interstate move and have concerns over the protection of my collection. I am addressing only the issue of rust protection. I think I have the issues of legality, damage and security under control.

I will have the firearms and other household goods picked up and placed in storage for two to three months and then shipped to another state.

I spoke to a representative of all the major moving companies and I am told they do not have climate controlled trucks or warehouses. In fact, they are not even temperature controlled. They state they have never had a problem with rusted firearms.

During my military career I moved often and never gave it much thought and I did not have a rust problem, but I never had things in storage for more than a few weeks, and did not then have a large collection.

I have original boxes for many of my firearms, but not all, and I do not have the original brown paper they came wrapped in. I do not know this for a fact, but I always suspected that paper had some kind of preservative.

I would like to avoid field stripping and grease coating all of my collection. Are there less time consuming alternatives for my situation?

Thank you for any assistance.

I move quite often as I'm still active duty. Same as you mention, my rifles are not in storage for long periods of time, but I am still paranoid about the rust issue. I have few rifles, but they are high quality.

I coat my rifle bores in Dyna Bore Coat. I coat all external metal surfaces with Dyna Gun Shield.

It's not the cheapest or easiest option, but both products are darn good at rust prevention.

An alternative might be a good wax like Renaissance Wax. That won't help the bore though.

Good luck to you!

I recently returned home to my safes after a year and a half away to find all of my pieces just fine. They were wiped down with Sheath before leaving. Worked fine.

I think the name for Birchwood Casey Sheath is now called Birchwood Casey Barricade. I use it as well, but I think sjs's concern is valid since his guns will be stored for many months without climate control.

Years ago, I took a job working overseas and had to move quickly. I left my Marlin 39 with my uncle. It was stored in his closet in Alabama in a soft rifle case after wiping the bore with oil and the exterior metal as well. Several years later when I came to pick it up it had rusted heavily at the muzzle end, both inside and out. It was pitted deeply around the sight and the muzzle end of the bore was literally plugged with rust. I'm sure part of the problem was the cloth interior of the case probably absorbed some of the oil, but also moisture from the humid air over time. So I wouldn't store them in a cloth lined case. I think just treating the inside and outside metal with Barricade would work, but might also consider wrapping them with saranwrap after having done so. I've never tried that, but my thinking is if the metal is treated, and then wrapped in a climate controlled environment, this would seal the metal off from exterior humidity, and the air inside would be low humidity since it was wrapped in a low humidity environment. I'd wait until the Barricade had dried before wrapping it. Another rust preventative product you might consider would be Birchwood Casey RIG grease (check out the reviews on it at the MidwayUSA link). Barricade is an aerosol and convenient to apply though.

One other suggestion might be using silicone treated gun socks.

Thanks for the tips guys. I also found some treated storage bags in Brownells that might be good.

Mine sat in a vacant home without dehumidifiers in the safes.

That's encouraging. I've never really put Barricade to a hard test. My rifles have gotten wet while hunting, but I always wipe them down at the end of the day when that happens.

One caveat to that saranwrap idea I mentioned would be to test any rust inhibitor one would contemplate using with it to make sure they aren't reactive or act like a solvent to the wrap prior to implementing it. That occurred to me after I posted earlier and since I've never use that idea before I went and sprayed some Barricade on some saranwrap to check. The saranwrap did not melt or dissolve.

I have always had good luck with Birchwood-Casey's 'Rust Prevent". It is similar to Barricade or Sheath.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/42...-preventative-and-lubricant-6-oz-aerosol,

I've not tried it myself but I've heard of people vacuum sealing guns for long term storage with good results

When I was working for a gunshop I had to pack and store several hundred guns while an estate was being settled. I wiped the exteriors and bores with Breakfree COLLECTOR. There are many good rust preventatives out there, I chose Collector because it's easy to apply and doesn't have to be removed.

I then packed the guns in Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI) bags from Polygun bags. I got a discount on volume, ask if you need a lot of them.

The bags will help prevent rust and are thick enough to offer some physical protection as well. I have removed some of the guns after 6 years in storage without a speck of rust.

Last month we were looking for old records at my deceased parent’s home and found my younger brother’s long lost Rem 600 and Win 22LR pump. Both had been missing for 19 years. They were wrapped up in blankets and stuck in the back of a storage cabinet after he left home. They were both gummed up so I think they had some type of gun grease on them. Most likely Rig as that was what I kept around the farm for guns before putting them up. Both had spots of light dusting of rust here and there but nothing deep anywhere. And those most likely from finger prints when the guns were wrapped up. I am 71 and started using Rig as a teen. To this day, I don’t think any oil/grease is better for long term storage. Rig is among the best in any current rust prevention test I have seen. BTW, back then we used lighter fluid to clean/oil the hard to reach working parts on the guns like the bolts and triggers. We also used lighter fluid to clean the Rig off. Today I use Kroil to clean the grease. Like most of us, I have a “TON” of different gun oils/grease and bore cleaners but today I use Eezox to oil my guns. I think I will try the Polygun bags for my "collector" level guns.

I too am moving. To prepare my home for realtor and prospective purchaser visits, I oiled all my firearms, place them in cases and, relocated them (and all indications of shooting interest) to a climate controlled public storage facility (buried under a lot of other household objects).

I was told by several moving companies that firearms are not recommended for shipping in vans (theft and damage are possible), so I am renting a small moving van and towing my car. I figure that at $0.76 per pound to ship my household goods by interstate mover, I'll break even moving the firearms, reloading gear, bullets, loaded ammunition, heavy tools and other heavy objects myself.

the new wd40 rust preventative spray works far better than the older version
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667 READ THRU THIS LINK

Works better than the old stuff? You mean it turns to glue faster?




Kidding, don't know anything about this stuff but the original turns gummy pretty quickly.

I'll swear by RIG as a tractable long term storage alternative to cosmoline from experience, BUT that's not what was asked.