Gun safe in garage….in Texas

[doubleh]

It depend on where you are located. It's a big state and humidity varies with the area you are in. From the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado and west you will have little problems. The farther east you go the higher the humidity gets so the more protection you need. I use nothing in my safe and just wax my guns with paste wax about once a year. After shooting I wipe them down with Pledge furniture polish and buff. No rust since the late '60's with this method. There wasn't much before but oil would let some appear if they sat long enough but always light and easily removed.

I have been in the slightly eastern part of Texas during July and wasn't' sure if I would live long enough to return home. Outside it was almost instant sweat soaked clothes. People may make jokes about "it's a dry heat" but I can testify there is a huge difference. I will choose baked over stewed any day.

 

[trackskippy]

Id do whatever best fits the needs of the area you live in.

Id also suggest, you remove all tools of any type that can be used to get into the safe from the garage.

I say that because I bought my first safe from a friend that worked in a gun shop, and he said to be aware of that. He had a customer that put the safe in the garage, and apparently, the thieves used "his" torch, that he had in the garage to cut the side out of the safe and remove its contents.

Somebody above mentioned building a false wall, or such, and hiding the safe from view of the road. I think that would be the prudent thing to do.

 

[Buzznrose]

If I were worried about people being able to look inside my garage and see my safe, I’d probably use a large sheet to cover it. Lots of folks here use their garage as their “Texas basement” and stack moving boxes and storage tubs in the garage and cover with old sheets.

 

[tarosean]

When I had too many safes. I kept one in my garage north of Houston. ( High temps and humidity). I used a number of desiccant cans and recharged them routinely along with liberal oiling of the long guns. I didn’t store any wood stocked guns out there though. Never got any rust nor had scope issues.

Forgot to add; I also had the safe put on a horse stall mat so it wasn’t touching the concrete.

 

[tazbigdog]

I Lived in TX, and now AZ. High heat is not the issue, but humidity that causes rust. Bigger issue will be that it is in the garage, and home thieves will get it easy.

 

[Trey Veston]

When I inherited my father's firearms collection, complete with two giant safes, I couldn't fit them in my house, so I bought a steel shipping container, put it in my backyard, and put the safes in there. It was a disaster. The drastic temp changes overnight along with improper venting of the shipping container caused rust to form in just a couple of days. I used a giant de-humidifier in the container, drilled ventilation holes in the container, and changed the Remington dehumidifiers every couple of days in the safes.

Didn't help. I ended up moving all the guns inside my home, wiping them all down with Lucas CLR, and bought multiple smaller safes that my house could withstand. No rusting issues now. Thankfully, none of the rust I experienced was bad enough to damage anything and came off with light rubbing of a cloth.

Like others have pointed out, it's the drastic temp changes that causes moisture issues.

 

[JDeere]

Golden rods or the Lock down brand type inside a safe will solve humidity problems. The military solved the problem long ago. Ammo bunkers and arms rooms left the incandescent lights burning 24/7. All that needs to be done is keep the temp inside the safe above the dew point temp. If your safe has no electricity inside tap a 1/4" hole in the back and run the wire before attaching the plug. Seal it with silicone and be happy you don't have to mess with anything else including coating your guns with oil. I wipe mine down with a rag and they go back into the safe after use. It's really very simple...

 

[sparkyv]

Born, raised, and lived all my life along the Texas Gulf Coast. I've kept my firearms in the garage for well over a decade without issue by thoroughly wiping down with a silicone oiled rag before putting them away. This year, I "upgraded" and purchased inexpensive silicone-treated socks, so I'll be keeping an eye on those to see how they perform, though I expect no issues.