Cabinet Moisture Management

Glevum Owl

Glevum Owl

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I bought a gun cabinet in anticipation of getting my FAC. The cabinet's inside, attached to an outside wall that gets the sun late afternoon in Summer. The cabinet door is obviously closed and locked the majority of the time.

Currently only my air rifles are stored in it but they are cleaned and now I use Renaissance Wax on them. The cabinet came with a free pouch of Napier's Super VP90 "Total Corrosion Protection": not sure if this is effective or a gimmick but that's fitted in there.

I also bought a cheap temperature / humidity monitor that sticks magnetically to the inside of the cabinet. In the last 6 months, since the cabinet's installation, the monitor's recorded min / max:
- temperature = 13.4°C to 30.5°C
- humidity = 27% to 75%

Is this normal? Acceptable? I've no idea what the ideal stats should be. Are those cheapo moisture capturing pots from the pound shops any good in a gun cabinet? And then there's the separate compartment in the cabinet for ammo: anything need to go in there?

Or am I overthinking things?
 
Is your humidity monitor calibarated? Is it accurate?

You could put a small electric dehumidifier in there .

I have some VCI paper in the bottom of mine . It came with liners for an engine. Not sure if they are working as I would expect they need to be wrapped around the rifles .

www.zerust.com

VCI Paper | Anti Corrosion Paper | ZERUST®/EXCOR®

ZERUST®/EXCOR® carries and produces a wide range of VCI papers that offer corrosion protection for metal parts in shipping and storage.
www.zerust.com www.zerust.com

We have a cheap humidity meter in the same room as the cabinet and the highest its got is 65. I doubt its calibrated.

I have not seen any visible corrosion on my rifles that was not there before I got them.

I let my rifles acclimatise out of the cabinet before putting them away if they have been outside .
 
Silica gel. About the only good thing to have come out of the covid years.
 

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My cabinets are in the loft due to lack of space anywhere else, not ideal due to the temperature swings. All my guns are kept oiled, in a gun sock and as mentioned above, with silica gel packets all over the place. Each cabinet has a VP90 sachet and so far I have no rust issues.

Wish I could say the same for other stuff stored in the loft
 
Stevie Darling said:
A friend of mine put a small dehumidifier in his a few years ago.

Works an absolute treat.
Click to expand...
Nice idea and possibly the ideal solution but there are no holes in the cabinet and even if there were, we've no spare sockets.

jimbo67 said:
Those silicon bags you get from covid testers or similar
Click to expand...
Mad Andy said:
Silica gel. About the only good thing to have come out of the covid years.
Click to expand...
Excellent idea. I hadn't though of that. We have quite a few of these. I've popped them in the airing cupboard to ensure they dry before using them.

Lightning22 said:
My cabinets are in the loft due to lack of space anywhere else, not ideal due to the temperature swings. All my guns are kept oiled, in a gun sock and as mentioned above, with silica gel packets all over the place. Each cabinet has a VP90 sachet and so far I have no rust issues.

Wish I could say the same for other stuff stored in the loft
Click to expand...
Thanks for the mention of the VP90 sachet. I might get another when mine expires. Sorry to hear about the loft storage issues. We have most of our stuff in Really Useful Boxes and, so far, that's kept everything in good condition despite peaks of almost 40°C and 95% humidity.
 
It is likely you are overthinking, if you have it inside a centrally heated house :)

What sort of FAC are you applying for? If you are going for centerfire and part of your cleaning process takes place before you return the rifles to your safe, and you leave them with a layer of treatment in the barrel and perhaps a silcon sock, then I think you will be fine.
 
Bighit said:
Is your humidity monitor calibarated? Is it accurate?

You could put a small electric dehumidifier in there .

I have some VCI paper in the bottom of mine . It came with liners for an engine. Not sure if they are working as I would expect they need to be wrapped around the rifles .

www.zerust.com

VCI Paper | Anti Corrosion Paper | ZERUST®/EXCOR®

ZERUST®/EXCOR® carries and produces a wide range of VCI papers that offer corrosion protection for metal parts in shipping and storage.
www.zerust.com www.zerust.com

We have a cheap humidity meter in the same room as the cabinet and the highest its got is 65. I doubt its calibrated.

I have not seen any visible corrosion on my rifles that was not there before I got them.

I let my rifles acclimatise out of the cabinet before putting them away if they have been outside .
Click to expand...
The monitor is a cheap and cheerful little device from Amazon currently on offer here. We have another one in the loft monitoring a network switch. Accurate and calibrated? Nope. I look upon these devices as the equivalent of an aerodrome's wind sock; not as accurate as an anemometer but it gives a good enough idea of what's happening.

Thanks for the link to the VCI paper. I'd not heard of it. Lining the cabinet with could work well.
 
Glevum Owl said:
The monitor is a cheap and cheerful little device from Amazon currently on offer here. We have another one in the loft monitoring a network switch. Accurate and calibrated? Nope. I look upon these devices as the equivalent of an aerodrome's wind sock; not as accurate as an anemometer but it gives a good enough idea of what's happening.

Thanks for the link to the VCI paper. I'd not heard of it. Lining the cabinet with could work well.
Click to expand...
Our monitor is similar.

The vci paper may or may not work. If you have an engine recon place near you . It might worth asking if they can keep you some .

This one possibly . https://newentauto.co.uk/promotions/engine-machining/
 
Redboat01 said:
It is likely you are overthinking, if you have it inside a centrally heated house :)

What sort of FAC are you applying for? If you are going for centerfire and part of your cleaning process takes place before you return the rifles to your safe, and you leave them with a layer of treatment in the barrel and perhaps a silcon sock, then I think you will be fine.
Click to expand...
Fair comment. My wife says I'm "thorough" in my research.

Yes, the house is centrally heated but the cabinet's in the coolest room in the house fitted on a west facing wall that gets a lot of sun (when there is any) and most of the rain from the prevailing wind. What was unexpected was the wide variance in temperature and humidity in the cabinet in the last 6 months. I'm tempted to get another monitor to compare the cabinet to the ambient room atmosphere. Overthinking? ;)

I'm intending to get rimfire rifles and am already trying to get into good habits by cleaning the air rifles after every use. I'd not heard of silicon socks. Something else to look up. So much to learn.
 
Glevum Owl said:
Yes, the house is centrally heated but the cabinet's in the coolest room in the house fitted on a west facing wall that gets a lot of sun (when there is any) and most of the rain from the prevailing wind. What was unexpected was the wide variance in temperature and humidity in the cabinet in the last 6 months. I'm tempted to get another monitor to compare the cabinet to the ambient room atmosphere. Overthinking?
Click to expand...
Yes, you are :). Have a look at something like some Ballistol which you can use to clean and will help protect the rifles between uses. You don't need to clean an air rifle between every use. You dont even need to clean a rimfire rifle after every use. Quite a few are not really (in my view) designed to be cleaned after every use e.g. Ruger 10/22. Centerfire rifles, by contrast, do need to be cleaned every time.

Silicon socks are useful not just to help with moisture, but also to protect against scratches. they are not expensive:

Here is an example for some I have used:
 
Might be worth checking the calibration of the hygrometer - the cheaper ones especially can vary quite wildly. Put a few tbsp of table salt in a ziplock bag and add a little water until damp but not wet. Then put in your hygrometer and leave for around 12h - should read 75%.
If you're willing to spend a little more, something like the Inkbird data logger will record a snapshot of the temp/humidity every 30s/1m/5m. Then you can see how it varies through the day with atmospheric temp or when the central heating comes on etc.

For your cabinet Silica gel and VP90 are solid options. Also have you seen the Goldenrod units?
 
Quick update. I spent a few hours this week trying out a few things.

@Jollygood I followed your advice and two cheapo hygrometers registered 76% and 74% respectively so I was pretty pleased.
Sadly there's no hole in the cabinet to allow for a mains cable for a heater. The Inkbird Data Logger would have been great but after testing with a phone and network scanner I confirmed thaty the cabinet is an excellent Faraday cage and won't allow any wireless signals in or out. :(

@Redboat01 I should have made clear that I was only referring to cleaning the outside of the rifles. My fault there. Sorry. However, silicon socks are now on the (ever growing) purchase list.
 
Glevum Owl said:
The monitor is a cheap and cheerful little device from Amazon currently on offer here. We have another one in the loft monitoring a network switch. Accurate and calibrated? Nope. I look upon these devices as the equivalent of an aerodrome's wind sock; not as accurate as an anemometer but it gives a good enough idea of what's happening.
Thanks for the link to the VCI paper. I'd not heard of it. Lining the cabinet with could work well.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, IMHO, the cheap humidistats from ebay, amazon, ali-express, etc, et al, are not very accurate, so I would take any readings from those with a pinch of salt.
We use pro damp meters and humidistats and hygrometers at work, and they cost a bloody fortune, but they have to be calibrated and accurate as we use them for evidential purposes.
As others have said if its in a well heated house, where internal temps do not fluctuate wildly, and you have a good cleaning regime, eg: wipe down and oiled after every session, they should be fine. (y)
 
My cabinet is in the loft, absolutely roasting hot in summer...freezing cold in winter. As others have said, I clean and wipe my guns down with ballistol after every use and never had a problem. The only issue I have noticed is condensation forming on the roof felt and dripping onto the cabinet, mainly resolved now with better ventilation
 
Lightning22 said:
My cabinets are in the loft due to lack of space anywhere else, not ideal due to the temperature swings. All my guns are kept oiled, in a gun sock and as mentioned above, with silica gel packets all over the place. Each cabinet has a VP90 sachet and so far I have no rust issues.

Wish I could say the same for other stuff stored in the loft
Click to expand...
do you not worry about the high temp in the loft affecting your guns. my loft can get very hot in the summer.
 
I use the VP90 bags, even leave the previous years one at the bottom of the cabinet just in case it has some life left in it.
Silicone socks as well for the O/U and semi auto shotguns, as mentioned these prevent scratches as well.
Never had a rusty anything up to this point.
 
Just purchased some silicone socks following the recommendations on this thread. Cheap way of preventing rust issues, so worth a try.
 
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