In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Finish maintenance
vipereater
Member Posts: 90 ✭
At the last local gun show I purchased a Colt Trooper Mark III. 4" blued, never fired and in original box. Looks nearly perfect except the cylinder has been turned. (I have a high standard for quality). Two months ago a S&W 2" combat magnum blued never fired and in original box was purchased. Both are 357 mags. I keep them in a gun safe with silicon moisture absorbers. Current humidity is 60% (Oh that midwest humidity). I wipe them down every couple of months with a silicon cloth. Looking for suggestions on how to keep them looking perfect for many.....many years from now? How often should they be wiped down? What are common mistakes gun owners make in taking care of their prize possessions?
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Comments
2nd re-activate the silicon every week or two when the humidity is high
3rd use a good water-displacing oil (mil-spec LSA is a GOOD one)
Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis
Nice gun, how's it shoot?
You mean it shoots?
Just funning guys!
Got Guns?
The most important things, Are not things.
...but if you want to save them for someone to admire 500 years from now, dissassembly them completely, grease them up and seal them in an atmosphere of pure nitrogen.
Rust is caused by the oxygen in the air; water acts as a catalyst. Oxidation will take place even with no moisture, but it's quite slow.
Most safes are not "air tight". Sealing can be done (weatherstripping the door is the most difficult), but keeping relative humidity under a target level of 20-30% will be difficult. The silica gel will absorb moisture which enters when the door is openned, but there needs to be enough of it and it needs to be "dry" inorder to work--works best if it has blue indicator crystals so you know when it is saturated or dry.
Putting an individual firearm in plastic (sealed) with a silica gel pack is the best way to keep the air surrounding the gun "dry"--you're not fighting the safe's leaks and air exchange from the door being openned.
Of course handling them, or wiping them with a well-handled silicon gun cloth can result in trace amounts of "salt" on the metal surface, which will atract and hold moisture, causing rust.
If "preservation" is the goal, I'd say you're probably better-off "oiling" them once and then avoiding handling...of course, maybe you find it fun to handle them; if that's the case, maybe you should try shooting them? You might learn that is even more fun than just touching them--it's sort-of like the difference between "just petting" and "making love"...