As summer winds down, many of us will not being heading outside to our favorite gun range as often, and may need to store our firearms over the fall and winter. If you have multiple firearms that are not used for home defense, consider preparing your firearms for long term storage. Below are some tips to properly prepare you firearms and ammo.
Preparing firearms for long term storage.
First, clean your firearm thoroughly following the manufacturer’s recommended procedure. Double check the necessary parts of your firearm are well oiled and lubricated, and be sure to wipe fingerprints away with a silicone cloth. Next, you will need to wrap your firearm in a material that will prevent moisture from easily passing through. Fortunately, there are plenty of options available. Several manufacturers produce thick, anti-corrosive bags that can be sealed with a vacuum. They are available in sizes that will fit everything from rifles to handguns. Whichever manufacturer you choose, be sure to throw in a silica packet or two before sealing the bag. Silica packets will absorb any moisture that may pass through.
Preparing ammo for long term storage.
Ammo is much simpler to prepare as no cleaning is involved. Make sure no chemicals or solvents used to clean your firearm are near your ammo at any time during preparation. The boxes most ammo is sold in will absorb moisture, so be sure to remove the ammo from the original box. Place the ammo into a vacuum sealable plastic bag, then place the bag in a metal, military style box or a plastic box you can seal securely. Throw in some silica packets before sealing your storage box to absorb any moisture that may seep through the box. Finally, label each box of ammo with the current date so you know exactly how long the ammo has been stored. When removing ammo to use in the future, always take the oldest ammo first.
Location considerations.
Heat and moisture are the two variables to consider when storing your firearms and ammo. The cooler and drier your storage location, the better. Your gun safe should already be in a cool, dry location, so this should not be a problem for most folks. Besides heat and moisture, ammo needs to be stored away from chemicals. If you keep ammo and chemicals stored near one another, the chemicals may seep through the casing and damage the primer.
