Storing firearms: how long is "long-term"?

[RP88]

This question came to me while cleaning my AR.

I maybe only go out once a month with that. Sometimes, even less. I at least make one good outing every 4-6 weeks and get some good shooting in with it, though.

I remember reading how to lube only the main moving parts for short-term or patrol use.

But, when exactly is "long-term" storage come to concern when one should lube up...well, everything? And what about other firearms?

 

[caribou]

....how long you wanna store it?
Now for your shelf, inna house, you need to wipe the dust away now and then, and a heavy oiling will do....
or inna closet for a few years....a heavy oiling and something over them to protect from dust and the rust it can cause, hopefully in a gun case, and keep some form of humidity control, like a bag of dissacant (?) to keep rust away.

Slathers of Cosmoline on all metal and varnish outside are long term storage protectants, as well as absorbant materials, waxed/oiled paper wrapping, dissacants and crating. Be sure to box up and include solvents and cleaning gear with your stuff, its not safe to have a heavily oiled/greased chamber and shooting it that way, and theres little reliability in a heavily oiled/greased sticky gooy weapon anyhoo.

 

[Dionysusigma]

Lubricant is for preventing wear on surfaces during use. Protectant is for preventing rust. Sorry, minor nitpick...

Anyway, Caribou's pretty much got it. The only addition I'd make for storage lasting on the order of years would be a very light coating of Breakfree CLP (as in, apply, then wipe excess off), then vacuum sealing with a desiccant pack (yes, it's possible to vac-bag an entire rifle). Makes it so that it will store for possibly decades as long as the bag doesn't have a leak, but is 100% usable the instant you open the bag again.

 

[mshootnit]

Here's my 2 cents:
Long term depends on the ammo and atmosphere. If you are going to have the firearm trapped in humidity then long term to me is somewhere longer than 2 weeks. If you have been shooting corrosive ammo long term is also 2 weeks or less.
What I am saying is you can get long term damage in a short period of time in these situations so it pays to clean and treat the metal with rust preventative fast.

 

[RP88]

I keep everything in a gun safe, in a humidity-controlled (e.g. no humidity really) part of my house. But yes, I do mainly use CLP on pretty much all my firearms (except my Glock and AK, which may get a tad of motor oil on the slide/rail/frame contact parts). My ammo stays in lockboxes while still boxed up.

But even then, can problems arise from that?

 

[jayjaypunisher]

I put mine in a 55 gallon drum filled with grease, re-sealed and then buried in the back yard, concrete patio poured over that, pool installed on top!

 

[briansmithwins]

As a general rule, 1 month is not long term storage, in good conditions.

if you reapply the gun oil of your choice every month, your rifle should always be ready to go and you get to inspect it for any signs that you need to be oiling it more often.

If you live in a basement in a Florida swamp, you may need to oil your rifle more frequently. In New Mexico in the summer, rust probably isn't going to be a problem until the fall rainy season.

For really long term storage look at the heavier greases or waxes. Those are a mess to apply but can protect steel for years to decades when combined with plastic wraps and VCI paper. BSW

 

[Shadow 7D]

well, there are warehouses that contain (if we could only find them) stuff stored from WWI and WWII, so that would be long term, look at all the WWI and WWII rifles still around and still coming out storage, well, lets just say that cosmoline and rust inhibitors work.

For most people, a good coating of Ezzox? or your favorite gun oil is more than adequate.