Storing in hot attic : ~2 weeks?

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Kayser

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So sometime around the end of July I'm going to be heading out on vacation. Probably won't be taking any guns with me. Don't have a gun safe. But I figured what I could do is stash them in the attic and park the car under the ladder so even if I did have a breakin, they probably wouldn't get up there.

Question is : is it kosher to store a few handguns and rifles up in the gnarly summer heat for a couple of weeks? If I oil the hell out of them and keep them encased, should that cover it?
 
If you live in a humid place you're going to have to take that into account, but heat alone won't bother your weapons a bit...I live in a desert and I don't even bother oiling mine before throwing them in the 100 degree garage for a summer...no problems yet.
 
Dont put them in a box with styrofoam. I bought a Weatherby .22 once that had a spot on the barrel where the blue was gone. I was told that the gun had been stored in the box with styrofoam, in very hot conditions, and the foam ruined the blue where it touched the barrel.
 
yea off the top of my head fire safes typically guarantee that the inside of the safe will stay in the low-300s for a half hour in a 12-or-1400 degree fire. if that's the industry standard, one must then assume that well maintained guns can survive low-300 degree temperatures.
 
Should be fine.

Like Dog wrote, you should worry about the humidity more. No problem if you will be oiling them up like you said.
 
I agree with all who say storing in an attic shouldn't be a problem. 150 deg. or so is nothing to metal. Also, the humidity would actually be lower in the hot attic than in the house during the day, but could be higher at night. You could have a condensation problem in the early morning, so the oil-'em-up idea is a good one.

However, if you have some wood or plastic stocks or grips that you think might be damaged, I would consider removing them before subjecting them to high heat.
 
Get one of the food vacuum sealers from Tilia or ???

Drop the pistol inside, seal the bag and you're good to go from moisture and all sorts of funk from the insulation insulation or moisture from morning condensation or high humidity from an unexpected rain storm.

Plus you can use the vacuum sealer for other long term storage, or even food if you wanted to of course.

Just a thought

BigSlick
 
with the vacuum seal thingamajigs, do you run the risk of having the plastic not necessarily melt but become more malleable and stick to the guns? i'd never thought about that until now, but it's just something i'd wonder if you need to look out for. AKA, do they make those things out of quality material?
 
You're supposed to be able to throw those bags in the microwave or boil them with the food still inside. I don't think a little attic heat will affect their composition.
 
The bags are meant to be able to be boiled and I've never seen an attic get over 140 deg F. I work in attics quite a bit and heat exhaustion is a concern so I've monitored attic temps quite a bit. It may feel like 300 deg but its not.

If you do use the attic for storage of carbon steel, I'd suggest crawling to the deepest darkest corner and laying them on the drywall with the insulation spread nicely back over them so just in case someone does pop their head up there they wont see them in a nice pile waiting to be collected. Spread them out not all in one area. Make em work hard for them if they get in.
 
with the vacuum seal thingamajigs, do you run the risk of having the plastic not necessarily melt but become more malleable and stick to the guns?
Click to expand...

Not in my experience. I had a box of spare mag springs, assorted screws, firing pins, a spare bolt etc.. It kept getting in my way everytime I turned around so I bagged all the stuff in a vacuum bag and put it and some other, not used leftover stuff in a box in the attic to get it out of the way.

That was 8 years ago. Every once in a great moon if I need a replacement screw because I bugger one up, I pop up to the junk box in the attic and cut the bag open, then reseal it.

I gave the stuff inside a shot of corrosion X when I first stored it, the parts still look like they were just put in the bag and the corrosion X doesn't eat the bags or turn to a sticky mess.

I have made my own battle packs of 22lr when I got a bunch on sale a few years back. Drop a couple of bricks in a seal it. It has taken several years but I finally shot the rest of those bricks up about 6 months ago.

The only caveat I am aware of when using the bags, is to make sure you don't get a puncture from a sharp edge of anything.

Otherwise the vacuum sealer is a hell of a deal for storing just about anything. I use it to store carb parts, food, matches or anything else I want to keep dry.

They work like a champ for me, and while the bags aren't the cheapest resource on this planet, the protection and convenience they offer is worth it. I buy a box of 6 rolls from Walmart for about 30 bucks. Each roll is 22 ft long and 11 inches wide. Each roll lasts a long time for me.
 
I store some guns in the attic. I put them in bags with a spray of WD mixed with synthetic gear oil. Then in a vacuum seal bag. never had an issue.
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The guns in the attic? fine. AMMO in the attic? no, NO NO!!!!!

High heat (140+) won't bother the gun, but can bother gunpowder. Keep the ammo where its cooler and all will be well.
 
Wood?

How about the wood stocks? In the mid-1980's I was a poor college student and moved in with a room mate in a bad neighborhood, rented a house, had a 10 piece collection of Jap. Arisaka rifles and some other Mausers. I kept them in the attic to prevent theft due to the high burglary rates in Portland, OR at the time (no jobs).

While there a year, the stocks seemed fine, but not sure how several years would have worked on the wood. Read that old rifle stocks that are hung over fire places get dry over time due to the heat, it has crossed my mind in question?
 
I trust Kayser didn't leave his guns in the attic for 12 years! But since he hasn't been around here for 4 years, we may never know.
 
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