IT'S HERE! HUMIDITY!

USMA-82

USMA-82

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Please forgive the recycling, but SKS Ray put it so well back in July 2009:

"Now that I have your attention, its not a new acquisition I have to post about, but instead something horrible! One of the worst things you can possibly have come into your life if you're reading posts in this section of NES!

Are you ready? Don't be afraid, but be prepared!

HUMIDITY!!!!!

The whole summer has been lacking in it so far in my area, but the weather forecast spelled it out for last night, tonight, and tomorrow.

If you have rifles or handguns you've been shooting corrosive ammo through, make sure you've cleaned them well to remove corrosive ammo deposits. If you have any rifles with slight rust below the wood line or on the underside of the barrel, take em' down and make sure those spots are greased well with quality preservative like Break Free Collector.

And don't neglect your bolts! A friend of mine moved from my neighborhood to Rhode Island right near the shore and had the insides of a few of his bolts rust out from shooting corrosive primered ammo after he moved them to a more humid location. "

*
 
learned that lesson hard way last summer. Before moving to where I am, my firearms were stored in a climate controlled room, so never had to worry about humidity. Now that they were in the basement, my old safe didnt have any doodads to stop humidity damage, and lets say I went ape shit at myself when I realized my union switch and signal 1911a1, and a few other high end items showed surface rust. Since been remedied with a new safe with a full time heater, and a dehumidifier. (99% of rust problems were remidied with no damage on all but my my mausers butplate)
 
I only have a simple cabinet in an antique house, but I have had a heat stick since day one. For something to do, I did just finish running a patch down the four .30-06s; M03, M03A3, M17 and M1. I have only shot Greek HXP the last six months which is allegedly non-corrosive. Came out a little black, but nothing else.

Had to stop as I had shoulder surgery Wednesday and it's kinda tough to do it one armed. Plus I didn't want to have to explain to the wife/nurse.

I'll check the Mausers in a day or so; they're the ones in the most danger.

MS

Oooh, 1,000 posts - is there a prize?
 
Just bought two humidity meters at home cheapo. Need to clean two more rifles then find a home for the de-humidifier in my hobby shop.

What is ideal level?
 
It was extremely humid this morning when I got off work here in the Sonoran Desert. According to the weather app on my phone it was 20%. Stifling, I tell you.
 
Fixxah said:
Just bought two humidity meters at home cheapo. Need to clean two more rifles then find a home for the de-humidifier in my hobby shop.

What is ideal level?
Click to expand...

I set mine for mid-50's. That is what is on the humidity monitor on my cellar wall, not a setting on the
dehumidifier. It's a big dehumidifier (pricey) and it's really comfortable and dry in my cellar.

http://www.thermastor.com/Santa-Fe/
 
I have two large humidifiers in my gun room which is also air conditioned. The AC is set for 75 and the humidifiers at 50%. I also oil all my rifles after each use with a good layer of Break Free, the storage product they make. Its sold in grey or brown bottles, smaller than the big pump Black bottles but it works great. It is much heavier and thicker in consistency.
If its a bad week with 80+ humidity I run a patch thru the bores just in case. It takes me awhile but heck, they are worth it.[wink]
 
Since moving I don't have the luxury of leaving the vault door open for a while while the AC runs non stop. I've been thinking of getting a few of the Stack On recharchable dehumidifers.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk 2
 
Best deals right now:

Large:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00145EDV500

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-dry-E-500...40613825&sr=8-1&keywords=eva+dry+dehumidifier

Small:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00145EDV300

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-EDV30...0613825&sr=8-10&keywords=eva+dry+dehumidifier



SKS Ray said:
Since moving I don't have the luxury of leaving the vault door open for a while while the AC runs non stop. I've been thinking of getting a few of the Stack On recharchable dehumidifers.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
USMA-82 said:
Best deals right now:

Large:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00145EDV500

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-dry-E-500...40613825&sr=8-1&keywords=eva+dry+dehumidifier

Small:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00145EDV300

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-EDV30...0613825&sr=8-10&keywords=eva+dry+dehumidifier
Click to expand...

Do these re-chargable dehumidifiers work as good as the golden rod type? Is it just calcium chloride? I currently have some no-name brand damprid I got from the Dollar Tree, I usually can't get humidity down under 56%. I'd like to find something better.
 
They work well - the only problem is you need to keep track of them. They're not "plug in and forget" devices like the golden rod. Once the material gets damp and goes from blue to pink, you have to plug them in and dry them out. For that reason, it's a good idea to have one or two more than you need so you can rotate them while one is always on charge.

To be honest, I like to use both the golden rod AND the rechargeable for protection in the summer.

I went away from the damprid stuff when a container of the stuff got completely saturated and turned into a cup of water - which promptly spilled all over my milsurps. Crap!

*
 
I'm bumping an old thread, rather than starting a new one....

I don't have the space or luxury of having a safe since I'm currently renting, and I don't have a gun cabinet. Right now I keep things in a hard or soft case with some kind of lock. I've picked up some gun socks (which are supposedly treated) but I still worry about rust/corrosion. The Mosin gets wiped down and clean, but I'm still paranoid as hell on how to do some prep work to store these.

The house varies temperatures and humidity often, since I live w/ some roommates and sometimes it's hot, some times its cold, some times its rainy out and windows are left open... It's less of an issue right now during the winter time, but come spring - I get nervous. So much so, I found that my stripped AK receivers are covered in surface rust (could be a total loss, I'll have to sand them down and see).

What should I be doing? Spraying them down with oil? Covering them with grease? Putting them in plastic bags and sealing them? The hard cases are from CMP, so they don't seal like a pelican case.
 
Last edited:
You should at least get a small cabinet. You can reinforce the security by adding a few hasps and padlocks.

As for humidity protection, a few desiccant containers will help along with wiping down inside and out with CLP.
 
SKS Ray said:
You should at least get a small cabinet. You can reinforce the security by adding a few hasps and padlocks.

As for humidity protection, a few desiccant containers will help along with wiping down inside and out with CLP.
Click to expand...

I've thought about getting a small cabinet, like a stack-on 8 gun, but I really don't have the room for it. It would stick out like a sore thumb in the common spaces, and the roommates wouldn't be cool w/ it. I have the smallest bedroom, and it's arranged for maximum space usage as it is. The basement is super damp and I'd be asking for trouble there.. I may just bite the bullet and get a small cabinet and stick it in the corner of my room and deal w/ stubbing my toe every so often (my bedroom is tiny, especially with a queen bed, tv stand and computer desk).

Thanks Ray
 
They do make under-the-bed safes but they are not cheap and don't hold much.

Do you have room to lay a gun safe/cabinet on its back at the foot of the bed, like a foot locker? Cover it with a blanket, some doilies and a picture of some loved ones. Your room mates wouldn't know the difference and you could load it with desiccant packs or rig it with a goldenrod.

Maybe get one of the corner safes/cabinets and stuff it in your closet, behind clothes. Good luck
 
As it stands right now, I've got a really small footprint for where I could stick a cabinet. Right now it's occupied by a small baby safe that holds the handguns. Stacked on that are locked pelican cases with ammo in them.

Ideally I wanted to get a cabinet that might fit the pelican cases and/or the baby safe, but I asked Stack-On customer service, and the inside dimensions and the door opening just wont work for me. I may say screw it, get the cabinet, and figure out where to put the stuff I displaced...

As for laying it on its side, I kid you not, I have about 14" of room between the edge of my bed and my tv stand. The room is about 15'x15' with two doors that open into the room (bedroom and closet doors). A small little ikea computer desk takes up the other corner.



 
Gillham said:
As it stands right now, I've got a really small footprint for where I could stick a cabinet. Right now it's occupied by a small baby safe that holds the handguns. Stacked on that are locked pelican cases with ammo in them.

Ideally I wanted to get a cabinet that might fit the pelican cases and/or the baby safe, but I asked Stack-On customer service, and the inside dimensions and the door opening just wont work for me. I may say screw it, get the cabinet, and figure out where to put the stuff I displaced...
Click to expand...

Stack On cabinet where the baby safe is, baby safe bolted to the top of the cabinet, cases with ammo under the bed or in a locked cabinet in the basement.
 
Lots of room on the ceiling.

I could easily see a free standing frame straddling the bed, and against the wall above the head area. The taxi-cab picture will need to go.
 
a2ynumy9.jpg


Hoping Santa brings me a goldenrod and hygrometer for Christmas



-------------
Excuse the brevity, I'm mobile.
 
Try zerust blocks -they use them on the big machinery at work
Covers so many cubic feet depending on size- lasts a year or so
Order enough to get the free shipping
 

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