How to Keep Moisture Out of Your Firearm Storage Facility and Protect Your Firearms?
If you’re a firearm owner, you know how important it is to keep your firearms in good condition. One of the best ways to do this is by preventing moisture from getting into your firearm storage.
Tips to Keep Moisture Out of Your Firearms
When it comes to firearm storage, moisture is your number one enemy. Moisture can cause firearms to rust and corrode, leading to serious damage. In order to protect your firearms from moisture damage, it is important to take measures to keep humidity levels down and keep moisture out of your firearm storage area. Some of the crucial steps you can take to achieve this include:
Using Vacuum Seal Bags
These are storage bags that are used to store firearms in vacuum conditions. The bags are available as either airtight zipper bags or heat-sealed bags. The firearm is placed in the bag and gently zipped up for airtight zipper bags to prevent any air from entering the bag. Once the bag is sealed, a vacuum pump is used to suck out any remaining air trapped in the bag.
On the other hand, the heat-sealed bags use a heat-sealing machine to seal the bags, subsequently pushing out any air trapped within the bag as it is sealed. However, because heat sealing machines are costly, this option is less popular than airtight zipper bags.
Use Firearm Safe Heating Rods
Some firearm safes come equipped with drilled holes to allow for heating rods. These heating rods are electrical appliances that are used to heat up the air within the firearm safe.
By supplying heat to the safe and keeping the air within the safe hot, the air temperature within the safe is maintained at a level that prevents the moisture in the air from condensing and damaging the firearms.
When the safe is opened, the hot air expands and is pushed out while cool air comes in, and the cycle begins afresh.
Install a Bulb in Your Safe (DIY Method)
Instead of using a heating rod, you can install an electric bulb in your safe. The electric bulb is a less expensive alternative to a heating rod. The bulb heats the safe and maintains the air at a temperature that prevents the condensation of water vapors in the safe.
Firearm Safe Dehumidifier
Some firearm safes come equipped with dehumidifiers lined in their walls to prevent moisture from damaging the firearms, while others use a silica gel dehumidifier. The humidifier is made from silica gel beds, which absorb moisture from the safe by leveraging the high-affinity silica gel has for moisture. These are usually blue or orange when fresh depending on the type of gel used, and eventually turn pink or green respectively, when saturated with moisture. The spent silica gel can be easily recharged to eliminate the absorbed moisture and reused until it’s time to replace it.
Silica Impregnated or Coated Firearm Socks
Firearm socks are another great way to store your firearms. The socks are fabric materials embedded with silica gel to absorb moisture from the firearms. The sock is used to cover the metallic or rust-prone parts of the firearm so that the silica gel absorbs any incoming moisture.
Desiccant Packs
Do you know those little packs that you always see whenever you buy a new shoe? Those are desiccant packs. They are usually filled with silica gel and are used to absorb moisture from the package.
In fact, some firearms even come with them when you buy them brand-new from the store. However, in case your firearm didn’t come with one, you can purchase a desiccant pack from your local store and place it in your safe.
Not that we’re asking you to fill your safe with little desiccant packs. But there are bigger ones that are made specifically for firearm safes and can serve much better than the little packs.
However, the beautiful thing about desiccant packs is that they can be oven-dried at 250 degrees Fahrenheit to remove the absorbed moisture and reuse it.
Room Dehumidifier
One of the most important steps to take when maintaining your firearms is to keep the humidity in the storage area relatively low. This can be easily achieved by using a room dehumidifier to keep the moisture levels within the room to a bare minimum.
You can also pair the dehumidifier with a humidity monitor to keep track of the humidity levels in the room so that you don’t leave the room too dry or at a very high relative humidity.
Use Antirust Agents
In the past, firearm owners used antirust oils to keep their firearms from the adverse effects of humidity. They coated the firearms with agents like cosmoline, which helped prevent the firearms from rusting when exposed to harsh weather conditions.
In fact, during WW2, entire tanks, firearms, and other metallic equipment were coated with cosmoline to prevent them from rusting. Of course, this is a less popular option nowadays because of the tedious task involved in cleaning and preparing the firearm for operational usage.
Nonetheless, some die-hard firearm enthusiasts still employ this protection method for their firearms.
Extra Tip
- Don’t use sheepskin or foam cases to store your firearms. Sure, they might look classy for the moment, but they tend to absorb moisture which can easily damage your firearm.
- Always wipe your fingerprints from your firearm before storing it. Your fingerprints contain dirt, debris, and moisture from your daily activities, which can easily cause your firearm to rust.
The Most Important Way to Keep Moisture Out of Your Firearm
Using a desiccant, heating rod, and other moisture removal devices is good, no doubt. However, before storing your firearm in your storage device, you need to clean it properly to remove dirt, debris, and moisture that might have been trapped during use.
And even if you don’t use your firearm often, it still comes in contact with dirt and moisture from the air, which needs to be cleaned off.
At Armory Den, we know the importance of firearm maintenance. We are dedicated to providing you with the best firearm cleaning solutions to ensure your firearm remains in optimum condition.
