Gun Safe Locations

otter6412

If you have no choice but to put your gun safe in a Tucson AZ garage, what might the high heat do to your guns and ammo?

Thanks in advance

Otter

llama

Heat? Make oil drip and flow, which could get the wood nasty.

For ammo, it may cause powder to break down, etc.

At least you don't have massive humidity to deal with...

Txs

It depends alot on how long you keep your ammo on hand.

No huge deal for short term, but if your talking storage for several years it's best stored where temps remain lower and more stable.

An example of short term storage requirements is that it's common for military ammo to be stored in non-AC'ed CONEX/shipping containers, often in very hot conditions.

lcdrdanr

I have several thousand rounds that has been stored (in sealed ammo cans), over 25 different calibers plus reloading supplies (primers, powder kept in GI Ammo boxes) in a garage in Lake Havasu City, Az for over 6 years with no noticeable deterioration or change. Temps in LHC reach 120+ in the summer, somewhat less in the garage however.

Gun safe is in the house so I can't comment on that although I grew up in South Texas with no air conditioning and don't recall ever having issues with guns due to temps, high humidity there was the problem.

Just a suggestion, I finally put a swamp cooler in a garage window with two cutouts in the ceiling to exhaust the evaporated air. Noticeably dropped the temps in the garage as well as sending the cooler air into the attic space and cooling it. Dropped the electric bill quite a bit, made the garage comfortable and total cost was under $500.00. In Tucson I would bet the humidity is low enough that even the swamp cooler won't put enough moisture in the air be concerned about humidity and stock warpage. Leave the water off and just run the fan during the Monsoons and you will be surprised at the difference it makes.

Dan R

Ray B

You might consider building an insulated framework around the safe, surrounding it by about 6" of insulation. It would at least prevent the peak temperatures from heating the guns.

andrewsw16

I was also taught that if you are concerned about oil running out of the barrel and action and down into the stock, softening the wood, store them in the rack muzzle down. Sure they don't look as pretty as muzzle up, but it reduces the oil soaking into the stock. [:)]