Gun storage question

[cornchuck]

Well I finally moved my gun safe and guns to my gun room/reloading room/to get away from the wife room and out of the house. Let me tell you what I have. The safe is just one of those Homak safes (until I can get a real fire/crimnal proof safe). My reloading room is in the upstairs of my shop. It has no windows so no one knows it's really there. I did put an window air conditioner through the wall of my room and it sticks out into the high ceiling garge bay. I have a thermometer and a way to measure humidity and so far it has been about 74 degrees and between 40-45% humidity.

Questions is: Do I still need to put a Golden Rod in my safe? The main reason I wanted to put my guns out there is that when I go to wipe them down and lub the barrel for storage, about every 3 months (WILL NOT HAVE RUST ON ANY OF MY GUNS), I don't have to take them in and out of my house. They are right there. Grab and clean.

What do you guys think?

Jason

 

[SidecarFlip]

My only comment is it heated in the winter? If it isn't, the transition between hot and cold will cause condensation on the metal and rust.....

My shop is climate controlled in the winter (heated) and in the summer (air conditioned and dehumidified). Along with that comes insulation and all the other expensive stuff to keep utility bills in check.

I used to be paranoid about having a 'criminal' proof gun safe but I've gotten away from that tack. If someone breaks into your home and you have a safe, they are going to bust it, one way or another, no matter how good it is, thats the reality of it.

Better to have them insured for the full value through a specific arms insurer and in my case, the junk is in the gun safe and the good stuff is elsewhere, out of sight and a criminal's mind.

If you sit down and logically place your guns in your home, in out of plain sight locations, you are way better off.

Mine are all there but you can't see 'em.

 

[cornchuck]

Sidecar,

Thank you for your info. Right now that room is not heated. It will be before the summer is over. The building is insulated. What other tasks should I do to keep things in check? Even though it is air conditioned, should I also run an dehumidifer?

Jason

 

[SidecarFlip]

The a/c will dehumidify the air in the room. As it lowers the temperature, it also lowers the dew point and as the dew point lowers, the a/c condenser will 'pull' the moisture from the air as it cools it. Just makes sure the business end of the a/c unit is dripping on something important...lol

Wintertime cold isn't an issue either, if you heat the room with an exception. If you use a non-vented space heater (like a wal mounted ng or propane one), the heater, as it heats will produce water vapor as a by-product of combustion so you'll need to dehumidify the air in the room or your metal will rust. Regular forced air or electric heat don't cause excessive moisture, if anything, in the dead of winter, it will get too dry and that is bad for wood stocks, furniture and your nose so you might have to humidify the air. Ideally,you want the ambient humidity in a room to be around 50% relative moisture.

I heat my shop with an in floor PEX system and a propane fired water heater. Once the 100,000 pound slab gets to around 70, the system idles all winter.