Handgun Durability: How Long...?

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Stargater53

New member
I had a thought the other day. Perhaps someone here can answer it.

If I walked into a cool dry room that was constantly 70 degrees F and placed two handguns on a table: a stainless Ruger Security-Six and a S&W Model 66. I coat each with a cloth saturated with BreakFree CLP and shut the door.

QUESTION: IF I came back in a hundred years, would each of these guns still function? How about two hundred? At what point would the gun not function, do you think? And at what point, if any, would the springs cease to work or some internal part fail? And what of the rubber grips. Or wood grips if they had them?
 
100 years is a very long time to observe primary, secondary and tertiary (or more) effects. Did the solvent breakdown into acid and ??? Or just evaporate?
Was the low humidity not low enough to prevent rust after 95 years?

Tulsa put a car in a “sealed” time capsule a little over 50 years ago.
Thing was totally rusted out because the perfect seal wasn’t.

But if the world was ideal I expect both guns would be fine. ;)

By the way there have been some Russian weapons that were covered in Cosmoline that 60+ years later were fine (other than the stinky Cosmoline smell)
 
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I think they'd be just fine and shootable. No way of knowing, though.

I used to have a 170 year old black powder pistol. I doubt it was stowed in as good a way as a constant dry 70 degrees with oil on it. It still worked and shot fine.
 
My bet is a McDonald's Big Mac would last longer as it has nitrates and all kinds of preservatives that the firearms don't.
 
I'd like to be able to.

Any road, 100 years is peanuts.
The 106 and 111 year old Winchesters and the 100 year old Colt in the next room shoot just fine and they haven't had the advantage of air conditioning for much of that time.
 
I've got a couple S&W's pushing 140 years that I occasionally shoot. These were some of the first double action guns ever produced and they still function just fine. I'd guess that the revolvers being produced today will still work just fine after 200 years no problem without any special precautions, even if shot occasionally. Stored in the appropriate time capsule and the centuries would tick by without issue.
 
No idea about a room at 70 degrees...etc. However, if you double or triple vacuum seal a gun with one of them food processor vacs, placed it in a sealed plastic tube, I'm pretty darn sure it will be in pristine condition after a 100 years buried in the ground.
 
One hundred years is a relatively short period of time. There are collectors and museums with firearms stored even longer. The firearms are still as good as the day they were stored or put on display. Many museums use wax as a preservation treatment to the exterior components. I believe Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish claims to be used by museums for guns and other items.

I use it on the exterior finish of a lot of my guns. It sure beats oily surfaces and does not accumulate dust and grit as easily while using the firearms.
 
QUESTION: IF I came back in a hundred years, would each of these guns still function? How about two hundred? At what point would the gun not function, do you think? And at what point, if any, would the springs cease to work or some internal part fail? And what of the rubber grips. Or wood grips if they had them?
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Yes, and yes. OF course its just a guess, and if I'm wrong in 200 years, I'm not really going to care very much. ;)

A stainless steel revolver at rest, in climate controlled conditions? Lifespan of the mechanism is indefinite. If anything, chemical breakdown of the CLP is more likely to do harm (if any) than anything else. Oils do not last centuries, they turn to solids, eventually.

A stainless revolver without ANY lube can sit for centuries (in theory, anyway, I doubt there has been a verified test case) without any wear, or damage. So can a blued gun. AMMUNITION is another matter...

I can't say for certain if the rubber will retain it softness, but wood will be just fine, if no outside factor works on it.

I've got my Grandfather's Ithaca shotgun, its been in my family for 109 years this year, and it spent the first 80 some years of its life either in the field or in a closet in an upstate NY farmhouse (no AC). While there is a bit of pitting in the bores, ad some finish wear on the outside, there is no rust, and the gun functions mechanically just as perfectly as it did the day it left the factory.
 
Ridiculous question
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Not really. You'll never be out in deep space, yet people still ask what is out there. You won't be alive in 500 years, but people can still wonder and ask what it might be like. If you don't like the question, don't respond.
 
You're entitled to your opinion. Still a ridiculous question and I'll respond to any post I choose to:p
 
Who knows?

I have a 108 year old Colt Army Special and a 115 year old GEW98 Mauser that I shoot and they work just fine. Who knows where they've been before I got them. The Mauser I can guarantee you was exposed to all sorts of in climate weather before the WWI vet that I knew brought it back form France in 1919. From there, it probably spent many years in a closet.

I have fired original buns that were well over 180 years old and they shot just vine. Again, who knows what they went through but I'm sure they weren't in a "sealed room" all of their lives.
 
I have a rifle, two revolvers, and a semiautomatic pistol that are all over 100 years old and work just fine. One of the revolvers has plastic grips.

If we an assume that there would be at least some moisture in the room, the composition of the CLP, or an alternative lube, might be important.

Or like another poster said, slather them with cosmoline and I wouldn't be surprised if they would be fine for longer than just a hundred years. My 1950's Russian SKS looked brand-new after I cleaned it up (which took quite a while).
 
I have a Winchester Model 92, made in 1913, that spent most of it's life hanging on Grandpa's wall in their non-air conditioned house and another 42 years in my bedroom closet. I don't think Grandpa ever did much maintenance on it. I never found a cleaning kit in the house. It's still in excellent condition. The rifle, not the house.
 
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