How Do You Store Your Guns

[Uncle Buck]

A friend and I are in disagreement over this.

I store my handguns with no holster. When I quit shooting for awhile, I just lubed my guns with a heavy coat of grease and put them in a safe.

Now, I clean them, lube them and put them in a safe.

He stores his inside the holster after cleaning and lubing the guns. (These are the same holsters he uses when he goes to the range.)

Some of these guns are not shot for six months to a year at a time.

 

[zombie237]

the only holster i have is for carry, the guns are cleaned after every range visit and once a month, the rifles same deal, all firearms fully stripped and cleaned, lubed and safe, which has foam to protect firearms. why holster? (just curious)

 

[ZEBRARANGER]

I store mine in open air storage, in the safe, in racks like these. Also with a rechargeable dehumidifier in the safe. I've never had any rust or corrision issues storing this way. Many years back I stored a revolver in its case in the safe and after a while, it started getting the little rust specs on one side of it. I had gone on vacation, turned on the alarm and turned the air off in the house, a big mistake in florida, too much humidity.

 

[FishEngineer]

None of the above from your poll list. I store most in a safe; handguns in a plate rack and long guns in stand up shelving within the safe.

 

[SilentHitz]

Same here, no holster...locked in safes.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Leather can, over time, be VERY rough on a gun's finish if they are left in continuous contact.

 

[Baphomet]

.
I store them cleaned, lightly lubed and in racks in the safe. No holster. Holsters are a bad idea for long-term, or even semi-long-term, storage.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Just like ZEBRARANGER in post #3

 

[45Gunner]

I don't even leave my EDC gun in it's holster overnight. It comes out, gets wiped down, and I apply a light coating of oil. It sits on the night stand next to the holster. I do the same for the magazines, take them out of the leather overnight. For years, I stored my guns, after applying a light coat of oil on them in their original box. However, I am running out of space and just ordered some custom gun racks for the safe. Soon, they will sit on the gun rack and the original boxes will be stored elsewhere.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Mike Irwin is correct,,,

Leather (being a porous material) will absorb moisture from the air,,,
Which if in contact with the metal of the handgun,,,
Provides an optimal condition for rust.

Never store handguns in a leather holster,,,
No matter how well you oil the gun.

Aarond H. Graham
Leather Worker

 

[Mike Irwin]

Many leathers are also tanned with metallic salts, trace amounts of which can remain in the leather and which can cause problems with both stainless and blued finishes.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Again Mike is Correct,,,

Avoid holsters that are lined with Suede, Garment, or Upholstery leather,,,
They are tanned using Chromium Salt solutions.

They have a chemical reaction to steel that is much worse than rust,,,
It actually corrodes and etches the metal like an acid would,,,
This reaction is accelerated greatly by any moisture,,,
It even has a negative effect on Stainless guns.

Hey Mike,,, Is my endorsement check in the mail yet?

~chuckle~

 

[Mike Irwin]

You should consider yourself fortunate that you can agree with me.

 

[Fishslayer]

Thanks, Zebraranger! When my wife says I have too many guns I'm gonna show her yer racks! Nice collection!

Mine get cleaned & lubed after use and live in a Sentry Firesafe.

No idea why, but it seems very humid in the safe so they get frequent wipedowns with CLP.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Yer killing me here Mike,,,

I'm glad to know that humor still abounds here,,,
Sometimes these threads get so danged serious like.

Seriously Uncle Buck:
Storing your guns in close contact with anything that may collect moisture is not a good idea at all.

Until I started using cans of desiccant in my cabinet I was even having trouble with the foam absorbing and holding moisture during the more humid months.

I'm a wood worker as well as a leather guy,,,
I made some racks similar (actually copied after) those that ZebraRanger posted the pictures of.

The less surface contact my guns have with anything porous, the better,,,
Oklahoma in the summer is a very humid place to be.

Aarond

 

[Stevie-Ray]

No idea why, but it seems very humid in the safe so they get frequent wipedowns with CLP.

These are worth their weight in gold. Available at most outfitters under different names.

Or Goldenrods if you want something constantly plugged in.

 

[armoredman]

I realized I do store one in a leather holster, will stop doing that tonight. The other in-holster stored sidearm is ib a Mikas synthetic pocket rig, don't think that will cause any issues, but I can change that too.

 

[imthegrumpyone]

Throw them in a drawer. Na don't have enough guns to worry about storing them, just put them on a shelf in the closet with "several" thousands rounds of ammo. Of course one of them is always in SOB in the ready. ZEBRARANGER nice little racks.

 

[blume357]

My experience is the 'evil corrosive leather story' is a myth

I stored a revolver on a leather holster for over 6 months... hanging outside on a covered porch until the holster was growing stuff off of it. The revolver did not have one speck of rust on it.

but even with that said... I don't do store my handguns in holsters of anytype usually. Now I do leave them laying around and transport them in one.

 

[Uncle Buck]

For me, I have also stored my with-out the holster. I never really knew why to do it like that. Twenty-four years in the USAF and nothing was ever stored in a holster in the armory. Everything was store in racks.

The weapons that we shipped on deployments with us (if they were not carried) were cleaned, oiled and wrapped in a brown type of paper. (I can not think what the paper was, but it was also used to ship precision tools, even though the tools were in foam packages.)

I can not wait to show him this thread and have him read the reasons why.