Gun storage?

Jan 01, 2013 11 Replies

So, if someone wanted to preserve their guns, say maybe in the bottom of a well,pond, or underground, what would be the best way to store it? I'm wondering about the vacuum bagging, keep the moisture and air off the gun. The problem with the vacuum bagging might be if a hole from a scuff in the bag, it draws in water. Another idea would be to make a container, air tight, weight to be heavier than the water (or whatever) it displaces, then pressurize it with ?? (Nitrogen?) or whatever would hinder oxidation. I also thought of dipping the whole thing in wax, not sure how to remove all the wax upon retrieval.



Any ideas?



RogerN


The best would be to take a stainless steel container, such as a stainless stock pot, put the gun in, fill with grease almost to the top, and then TIG weld shut.

If welded properly, it could last hundreds of years.

i

PVC pipe with solvent welded caps works just as well.

Many reports of this for the outside container. And various schemes to rust proof the weapon.

karl

A simple & easy method. In a pinch, you can take a hammer to the PVC to open it.

Wrapped in a cloth soaked in gun oil, would make it easy to clean before use. :)

I do not trust PVC with long term storage. But I do trust stainless. Is there any info on how long it lasts?

i

The plumbing for my pool is PVC pipe laid underground for at least 25 years circulating chlorinated water with no problems. Certainly it would not take as much physical abuse as SS or copper.

I've read a report of a fella that dug up his weapon after 12 years with the PVC in a post hole by a tree in the woods with no trouble.

I've had PVC electric conduit underground 30 years, still like new.

I've found city water main PVC in 12" diameter for my trials. get back to me in 25 years or when the s*it hits the fan.

Karl

Ignoramus1274 wrote in news:xbSdnfJSoISqwH7NnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

I worked in Harold ("Doc") Edgerton's lab at MIT when I was in grad school. He had a couple of thick stainless steel underwater camera housings that had gotten snagged & lost looking for the Monitor civil war ironclad. They were retrieved a number of years later (~10?), and they were heavily corroded. Stainless steel is OK, but there's no easy way to guarantee against crevice corrosion when it's in a nasty environment for a long time.

Doug White

I just sold some salt spreaders off of 17 year old trucks. The truck dump beds are shot, but the stainless looks like new, barest traces of rust on the welds.

i

It depends on the stainless. 316 is salt water type.

SS 317 is used in most transformer cases (power pole) and in the salt areas - 316. 317 is nice, but it will rust as does 303.....

I have 316 in the shop and it just sits there. Steel of allows and some SS versions rust or lightly rust.

I have Naval Bronze that had been under water on the equator for over 20 some odd years - and in my shop for another 45. No general corrosion but a beautiful patina and some small green near a brazing point.

Some Naval Bronze lasts nicely for a few years but stains. It becomes an issue on exact alloy.

Mart> >> Ignoramus1274 wrote in

DISMISSED! Too simple, cheap and easy. Please rethink.

The problem with stainless is lack of free oxygen. It needs the oxygen to form the oxide film that protects it. In an environment with no free oxygen, such as underwater in the ocean, corrosion can be severe in a short time. And there are also bacteria that live in these anoxic environments that speed up corrosion. This caused corrosion problems in some nuclear power plants.The Washington State Ferry System learned about SS pipe the hard way when it was specified for the salt water sprinkler system. See the link:

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I have personally seen propshafts that had to be replaced because of "worm holes". These holes follow an inside random path for a couple feet along the length of the shafts. When the shafts were brought in for me to make replacements they were left behind as scrap. Sawing into them revealed the extent of the corrosion. Eric

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