Long Gun Storage

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mtns2bch

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I have often read that rifles should not be stored in cases. However I store mine in soft cases and don’t have problems with them. Always in heated and air conditioned closet. I don’t have a good place for a gun cabinet and no way a safe is coming up to the third floor. No children in the house and the entire place has motion detector burglar alarms so I am not concerned about locking them up further. I am thinking about getting some S hooks and hanging these guns in their soft cases from the clothing bar in the closet. They range from a 1956 Remington .22 at the oldest through a recent AR, 9mm PCC, and a .22 semiautomatic. Any feedback from you all as to why various articles say to not store guns in cases? Thanks.
 
I was always told soft cases trap moisture.

No idea if that's true but I follow it. Never had unexpected rust.

Then again I clean and oil guns for fun sometimes....
 
I clean and oil them before they are put away. And yes, periodically check them for rust. It would seem that short of a fireproof safe with desiccant bags, the air would be the same whether in a case, cage, cabinet or just sitting there in the closet. But I don’t know.
 
It's all about trapped moisture in cases. There's a ton of moisture in the air naturally (aka humidity) that can get captured by some case materials. If it were me, I'm not leaving them in a case.
 
I keep a few of my great grandpa's hand me down rifles and shotguns in soft cases inside my humidity controlled safe. I haven't any issues with doing this for alot of years now. I think alot of the negatives about storing in cases is older cases and cases with foam padding. The foam will hold moisture as will some leathers and the flannel type material found in older soft cases. I use the cheap nylon soft cases and they use a poly fill padding the nylon and poly fill don't hold moisture like other materials. But if you leave a gun in a case with foam it will rust eventually.
 
I keep a couple of mine in cases but I also use a gun sock inside the case, and only in air conditioned space. I haven't have any issues in 30 years doing it like that.
 
I have a few old shotguns (that I don't want to get scratched) in a treated gun sock as @beamernc noted. But I don't keep any guns in a case due to the afore mentioned moisture trapping.

Just to note, you can replace a closet door knob with a key locking door knob from Lowes for ~$10 and convert a closet into a "safe storage" space.
 
Get one of those lockers--they're not a safe, but they lock and shouldn't trap moisture. You could even put a dehumidifier device inside...could probably add a thin gasket to the door/threshold to improve the performance. But the point is these lockers are relatively light and will at least prevent a smash and grab.

Like this (this is one of the more beefy versions I've seen): https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/stack-on-18-gun-beveled-edge-safe-gcm-1918-dx
87 lbs.
 
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I don't keep any guns in a case, never have. But, I do have a shotgun that I got from a family member. He kept it in a case, in a closet for 30 years. He seldom brought it out and it only had about one box of shells shot through it. Over 60 years old now and still looks pretty much like new today.
Make it a regular habit to bring it out and wipe it down "inside and out" 2 or 3 times a year with wd40 and it will do fine.
 
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tws3b2 said:
I don't keep any guns in a case, never have. But, I do have a shotgun that I got from a family member. He kept it in a case, in a closet for 30 years. He seldom brought it out and it only had about one box of shells shot through it. Over 60 years old now and still looks pretty much like new today.
Make it a regular habit to bring it and wipe it down "inside and out" 2 or 3 times a year with wd40 and it will do fine.
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wd40??? And you were doing so well...
 
All my lever guns are in treated gun socks in the safe with a dehumidifier. I have a few in the cloth tactical bags locked in a closet with the temp always between 70-72 degrees. All are inside the house. I have not had any problem with rust.
 
Not real tough to build something to hold them vertically on a wall…or even a door. 😎
 
alpharius said:
wd40??? And you were doing so well...
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Yep, been using it on """the Same guns """ for only over 55 years now. Wait, Wait, Hold on there. I know, I know what you gonna say. It'll make the barrel turn to glue, the wood turn to ash, the seas dry up and the mountains fall down because your neighbour said that the guy that picks up her trash was told by his mailmans butcher that his wife's brother in law was told by a guy that ran over his foot with his bike in Ethiopia that he once had a cow that when jumping over the moon heard some sailor say ----------. Heard it all before. Simply not true.
 
tws3b2 said:
Yep, been using it on """the Same guns """ for only over 55 years now. Wait, Wait, Hold on there. I know, I know what you gonna say. It'll make the barrel turn to glue, the wood turn to ash, the seas dry up and the mountains fall down because your neighbour said that the guy that picks up her trash was told by his mailmans butcher that his wife's brother in law was told by a guy that ran over his foot with his bike in Ethiopia that he once had a cow that when jumping over the moon heard some sailor say ----------. Heard it all before. Simply not true.
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If I get home from a rainy match and I'm too tired to deal with the guns, I'll douse the metal parts in WD40 and defer maintenance to the next day.

It works great for that.
 
tws3b2 said:
Yep, been using it on """the Same guns """ for only over 55 years now. Wait, Wait, Hold on there. I know, I know what you gonna say. It'll make the barrel turn to glue, the wood turn to ash, the seas dry up and the mountains fall down because your neighbour said that the guy that picks up her trash was told by his mailmans butcher that his wife's brother in law was told by a guy that ran over his foot with his bike in Ethiopia that he once had a cow that when jumping over the moon heard some sailor say ----------. Heard it all before. Simply not true.
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Dang. You been cleaning guns longer than I've been alive.

Well, we agree on one thing at least. Your guns have so much WD40 residue built up on them there's no way those things are gonna rust.
 
alpharius said:
Dang. You been cleaning guns longer than I've been alive.

Well, we agree on one thing at least. Your guns have so much WD40 residue built up on them there's no way those things are gonna run.
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Cleaning?-------Residue built up?? "No way those thing are gonna run?????"" Dang, They sure been fooling me. Wonder where all the ammo I been putting in them been going?? Think that cow jumping over the moon has been sneaking my ammo??? Dang cow.
 
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