Enemies: Theft and Rust (Firearm Storage at Home)

[GlockSpock]

The obvious answer is safe. However, I do not have one and do not wish to go through the hassle of purchasing one and having it installed in my rental house that I don't plan on staying in more than a year. Thus, I'd like some input and ideas on how to store a rifle and a few pistols that will keep them out of the way (of us), out of sight (from thieves), and clean (from rust). I was very close this morning to purchasing one of these two:

http://www.castlerocktactical.com/crt_dc16.htm

http://www.laruetactical.com/covert-rifle-case-mkII

However I gave it a second thought and decided that soft cases like that would probably promote rust.

I'd like to store the rifle and pistols along with some cleaning supplies, ammo, and some loaded magazines. Obviously there are many options if one does not mind spending money, and I'd love some recommendations of different products. If there is an option for it to be made in the USA, that'd be awesome. Mainly I'm hoping that some of you here will chime in on what you've done in the past and what to do and what not to do.

[Raoul]

I rather like the gun sacks. They're silicone treated.

Also keep your AC or heat on to reduce moisture in the house.

As for storage, well you just have to come up with somewhere to hide them. Since it's arental wherever you hide them you'll have to repair when you leave. I'm thinking something like inside a wall etc.

[GlockSpock]

I wonder if anyone has ever tried taking on of these soft cases and applying some sort of silicone treatment? Something like spraying Remoil (or equivalent) on the contact surfaces ever few days for a few weeks? I suppose you wouldn't want to soak the material, but a "layer" and then air dry, theoretically the silicone would stay put right? Or is this all just foolish talk?

[Jonnin]

For a pistol, just buy a silicone rod & reel type cloth or whatever they call them these days. Cleaned, oiled, and wrapped in that, you can store the pistol in any sort of case (a $5 generic foam lined plastic gun case from any gun store) for long periods of time without fear of rust. You can pull the foam out of those cases if you fear moisture and it becomes a handy plastic box.

For a rifle, I would buy a plastic walmart under the bed type box and store the gun with NO foam/cloth or anything touching it, just "bare in the box" with maybe a wooden support block if needed for some guns. Again, lightly oiled and cleaned before stored. Put in some sort of moisture absorb chemistry in the box if you feel you might want that.

Now, remember, with no foam in them these are for STORAGE not travel. You don't want you guns loose in a box banging around on a road trip. Put the foam back in for road trips for the handguns, and get a foam lined rifle box for the rifle if you need to haul it.

This approach should work fine and cost less than $10 per gun.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Jonnin

[peejman]

As long as the house has conditioned air, I wouldn't worry too much about rust in a year. Clean them, lube them, wipe them down with a silicone gun cloth and they'll be fine. Maybe add a few packs of desiccant. What you want to avoid is storing them in a way that might trap moisture... like a gun case with foam. I keep mine in a cheap Stack-On cabinet and have no issues with rust. It's not exactly a theft deterrent, but my kids can't get at them, which is the important thing.

Edited October 24, 2012 by peejman

[gjohnsoniv]

If it's like my house where moisture is an issue, oil them down well before storing.

[FJCrusing]

Find a random indiscreet closet and change out the door knob with one that requires a key. This will do until you have a permanent location that you can put in a safe.

[Jonnin]

Many ways to hide things from a burglar. Most of them are in a hurry to score a few pricy items and leave, and they know where folks are prone to hide goodies. Anything locked, IMHO, draws attention and most such things are fairly easy to get into (excluding the better safes). A room full of gun stuff, I would not hide it there. Instead, as a totally random example, buy a used board game at a yard sale, dump the game, and put the pistols in the box and put that in with a few other board games in a closet. Odds of discovery, pretty slim. You can do similar things all over any home, the point is to hide it amongst the mundane clutter that a crook in a hurry will bypass. Won't always work (some toss everything to see what falls out) but nothing is 100%. Spread them out, and the odds of finding ONE is higher but the odds of total loss is lower, thats a decision to make. What you can do and will want to do is going to vary depending on how much you want to get the guns out of storage and what your home looks like and has for hiding places.