gun safe rust

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greyling22

greyling22

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I had my blued pt1911 sitting in the gun closet in the foam lined box it came in and it got some light surface rust on it. I would like to prevent this. Obviously I oiled it and all my other guns right then and there, but a couple days later I looked at the pt1911 again and the foam appeared to have pulled the oil off the gun. the question is:

can the synthetic foam wick away oil and hold moisture against the gun allowing rust? if so, what can I keep the gun in? I would like to keep it in some kind of protection since I sort of have to stack guns to make them fit.

also, I am newly married and poor so suggestions will need to be somewhat cost conscious.
 
You can get silicone impregnated pistol socks for about $5 per. To lower costs, you could buy one for a rifle at $5 and cut it into 5 or 6 bits and sew an end shut on each.
 
Bore-Stores are available for hanguns and long guns from Midway and a variety of other places. They breath and are treated with silicone. Regular gun cases (foam, pile, etc.) are probably the worst place to store guns. When you have the room to put the guns in racks, open air storage (in a safe) may be the best.
 
ahhhh, room. I agree about open air, but not really an option. I forgot about the silica socks. see, I got spoiled with my glock which lives happily in foam, rustproof as can be. silica sock it is, at least until I can duracoat it.
 
I am not very wise about

these new foams and cases myself. I got back into shooting two years ago and bought some cheap pistol hard cases with foam inside in which to store some blued revolvers. I oiled the guns and put them in the case sandwiched in the foam. When I took them out it appeared that the bluing was fading from where the foam contacted it. However, when I re-oiled the areas that looked faded the color came back okay. However, now what I do, being a frugal person myself, is to wrap the handgun in old t-shirt (100% cotton) material after oiling the gun surface. So, now the gun has some oil on it and does not contact the foam. I do not have much room in my gun locker so cannot leave the guns in the open for air to circulate. So, I am trying this and I think it will work. I have had these guns for two years now and no rust. I got them in 2006 and hardly shot them through all of 2007 so they got hardly any attention. Just a poor man's way perhaps will work.
 
I've had issues in the past with a couple guns rusting in their foam containers. What I've done since then is purchase Bore Stores (a treated fabric pouch) to place the guns in or if I'm leaving them in their plastic cases I've taken to placing the guns in Ziplock plastic bags. The trick seems to be to avoid direct contact with the foam in the case. For a couple years now I've put pistols in plastic bags, not sealed them, just folded them over and put them in the foam cases the guns came in. So far I've had no trouble with this method. Putting them in plastic also prevents the oil from drying out or getting wicked away by the foam.
 
well my cheapo taurus case is about to break anyway, maybe I need a new holder. perhaps a gun rug with wool or something inside?
 
Don't store your pistol in a gun rug either. One of mine rusted in a carpet lined zippered pistol rug. While I don't recommend it, I did at one point store some pistols wrapped individually in t-shirts in a cardboard box for a little while. Like, 3-4 years or so. They were pretty dry when I got around to digging it out but no rust. I'd do that again before I stored any unprotected in a rug of any kind.

I'm sure some will have varying experiences. For instance I broke one cardinal storage rule for years before I knew it was wrong: I stored a pistol in its leather holster. A stainless 4506 in a Galco Miami Classic and a Dan Wesson 357 in a Bianchi x15. Never had a problem, although I keep hearing it's a bad idea.
 
Way back in my younger and cheaper days, I'd take the foam out of the plastic case and spray it heavily with silicone. Stinky, but effective. Do it outside and let it dry for a few days.

I suppose enough oil or RIG would do the same thing, but I never tried it on the foam.

John
 
I really don't trust any porous material touching my guns. I had one, well oiled, wrapped in a shop rag once that rusted. I have found a good coat of any decent oil, Eezox, Ballistol, Rig whatever and the loosely wrapped in wax paper works the best for me. Either that or hang them so they can breathe. Do you have a Goldenrod in your safe?
 
Those gun cases are the worst place to store a gun because it dont allow circulation of air. The foam depending on whether its closed cell or open cell foam in not good either, out of the two the closed cell is better, but again no circulation of air if its in a case. Open air storage in a safe with a golden rod dehumidifier is the best way to go. Like RCmodel said, a good wipe down with an oil rag after handling will go a long way in keeping rust away. That Eezox is really a good gun oil / rust inhibitor, I'v been using it for about a year now. This is how I store mine in the safe, its a great handgun rack, im the one who builds them. http://manaboutracks.com/default.aspx
 
Last edited:
goggle 'bullfrog rust' They make many rust proofing items for use in shop or gun safe. They keep small metal items from rusting in my greenhouse. I have used them in my gun safe for many years.
 
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