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[Vanity] Long term storage of the modern sporting rifle: Food Saver vacuum bags
Email thread from friends ^ | 12/13/2002 | Unknown

Posted on 12/13/2020 10:48:54 AM PST by Blueflag

From a friend via a copy-pasted email thread

Many of you you have asked how safely store what we'll call "the modern sporting rifle" for the long term. Particularly let's focus on storage in what we'll euphemistically call "environmentally exposed" locations.

The typical answer has been to liberally coat the firearm in some sort of viscous grease (last generally sold in the Korean War era) that can take an hour to get off if the firearm is needed/desired for use, and place all the parts in various bags inside a large diameter PVC Schedule 40 or better pipe, with threaded caps.

Well, that'll certainly do the trick.

But let me suggest a simpler method, one that works for pistols as well: The 11" wide roll of Food Saver bags (ON THE 14' ROLL) and some silica gel packs. Clean and oil your firearm, place them in a proper length of Food Saver roll (having already sealed one end) add a liberal supply of silica gel packs and O2 absorbent if you have it, and then vacuum seal the bag. Then vacuum seal THAT gun-bag inside a second custom-length Food Saver bag. Be careful to not over-vacuum the bag or sharpish edges of your firearm can puncture the bag.

For an AR-platform rifle, you need to separate the upper and lower, and create two sealed bag-units. Double bag the upper, and separately double-bag the lower. Your bagged and protected firearm (long or short gun) is now ready for storage 'wherever'. Sure it'd be better to place the bagged unit in a PVC tube if you planned to bury it, but you may not be able to or need to bury items for your storage needs.

The upside of this method is that (a) it's cheap if you already have a vacuum sealer food storage system (like Food Saver) (b) you can store any modern sporting firearm or pistol - often dissembled, (c) ammo boxes (not the cans - be reasonable- also handle this really well, and (d) your firearm is ready to use in a couple minutes from removing it out of the bags - versus MANY minutes to get all that grease off a firearm.

It's especially easy to store a grab-and-go pistol kit: the pistol, extra mags 80% loaded for spring durability, and a box of 50 or 100 rounds.

Note well, the bags are not designed to handle friction from rubbing/moving. They're pretty tough, but if you have a bagged unit bouncing around in the bottom our your pick-up's tool box, it'll be torn in a month. Wrap it appropriately if you HAVE to store the unit where friction may come into play, and inspect frequently.

This may help you if you are considering ways to safely store 'items' for a while.


TOPICS: Hobbies; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: ar; banglist; platform; prepper; preppers; rifle; shtf; storage
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To: metmom

Enjoy the humor, and I know I shoot a couple hundred squirrels from the porch every summer; can’t slow them down either. I’ve lived in a few Indian villages over the years and prefer moose head soup & fry bread.


81 posted on 12/13/2020 4:20:30 PM PST by Eska
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To: Blueflag; TheBattman

https://www.eoffshore.com/showdown

Sundown at Coffin Rock.

Not criticizing being prepared or building reserves.
But, burying your weapons with expectations of using them in the future? More likely to end like this story.


82 posted on 12/13/2020 4:22:11 PM PST by sjmjax
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To: Blueflag

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

Yeah I get stashing some backup.

But during these times I want to encourage people to also use their weapons if the need arises. Not hunker down and wait for another “election”.

I’m in a mood I tell ya......but thank you.


83 posted on 12/13/2020 4:30:14 PM PST by David Chase
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt
Cosmoline is a heavy petroleum product that after exposure to air, forms a waxy like brown substance which protects metal parts.

Would it be feasible to wrap the gun in plastic wrap and then in Cosmoline with the idea being that the Cosmoline will provide an airtight seal but the plastic would keep the Cosmoline from sticking to the metal?

Couldn't the same be done with candle wax? Wrap the gun in plastic, pour candle wax into a long flat box, put the wrapped gun in, and then fill the remainder of the box with wax?

84 posted on 12/13/2020 5:37:57 PM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: sjmjax

Not all, but some.

For better insight read Resistance to Tyranny by Joseph Martino.

There’s reason to have fallback inventory.

The real life situation is more complex than bury versus use.


85 posted on 12/13/2020 6:31:43 PM PST by Blueflag
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To: Lurkinanloomin

GMTA


86 posted on 12/13/2020 7:50:05 PM PST by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: T.B. Yoits
T.B. Yoits :" Couldn't the same be done with candle wax? ".

I imagine a box could be filled with wax or paraffin for an airtight seal,
however I believe it to be fairly costly.
It might be cheaper to just purchase a ground vault with moisture and oxygen absorbers.

87 posted on 12/14/2020 7:19:49 AM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

More information for you.

I have personally observed that a bagged AR will fit between the studs of a standard 2x4 framed wall.

Same for mags and a chest rig.

It was demonstrated that a person CAN quickly punch into drywall to retrieve the contents therein.

The bagged contents of a go bag and the empty go bag itself will also fit.

Closet and garage walls are good candidates.

Who knew hanging and finishing drywall was prepping skill.

A hammer speeds the removal process. 😉


88 posted on 12/14/2020 7:37:36 AM PST by Blueflag
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To: Lurkinanloomin

“If you think you need to bury your weapons it’s time to use them.”
—————
Disagree. Sometimes you need reserves that no one knows exist. Have on paper guns available to hand over, or sell it to a dealer and have the receipt to prove it - and still be armed. Taking on the state at it’s biggest advantage is not always the smartest move.

Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor.


89 posted on 12/14/2020 3:55:41 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: strings6459

If, hypothetically, one were to do that, it would be somewhat unwise to date it less than a few months before date of death. Having a DL # that matched your state’s numbering pattern would also be wise. Hypothetically, of course.


90 posted on 12/14/2020 4:02:40 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: Drew68

We’ve had some low inventory, but supplies are strong her in Northern Idaho ans Western Montana. (for now)


91 posted on 12/14/2020 4:15:55 PM PST by Baynative ("A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore )
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To: TheBattman

So if you privately sold a gun in, say, 2015 when it was fully legal under your state’s laws (and thus under federal law), Beto & Co. are going to charge you in 2021 or later with an illegal transfer? It isn’t merely that it was legal when and where done, but the statute of limitations will have long since run out.

Please clarify how they’re going to do that with even the slightest pretense of legality.


92 posted on 12/14/2020 4:17:53 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: metmom

Tree branches. Some poor deceased soul’s grave (be careful how you dig to avoid it looking like someone was digging. If your property is fairly large, lots of old rusty nails and old tools spread in a variety of strategic locations can make “them” waste lots of time to find nothing. A friend (a REAL friend with a similar stake in this issue) with a junk yard or auto repair shop. The ideas are almost unlimited.

This sort of reminds me of one of my favorite stories, about the old man who’s son always dug up the garden in the Spring so that his father could easily plant for the year. Well one winter the son got busted for taking part in a bank robbery, and the money was never recovered. So, around mid-March the son was thinking about his father and the garden...so he wrote his father, explaining that if he ever needed a few dollars, to just go out to this particular area of the yard and dig down a foot or so, and there were about a dozen or so packets of cash there. A week later, the son got a letter back from his father, thanking him for sending out all those nice police officers to plow the dirt in his garden.


93 posted on 12/14/2020 4:42:47 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: Drew68

Supplies are steady up here in North Idaho. But prices bounce around a little. 5.56 is usually around $.50 a round, sometimes up to $.60 from Montana Armory. Reloaders are charging a bit higher also.


94 posted on 12/15/2020 7:55:29 AM PST by Baynative ("A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore )
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To: Ancesthntr

I never, ever claimed it was legal or constitutional. But it absolutely what they plaln to try to do.


95 posted on 12/15/2020 9:38:11 AM PST by TheBattman (Democrats-Progressives-Marxists-Socialists - redundant labels.)
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To: TheBattman

I just think that such an action would be a bridge too far even for these tyrants.


96 posted on 12/15/2020 12:36:04 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: TheBattman

I just think that such an action would be a bridge too far even for these tyrants.


97 posted on 12/15/2020 12:36:11 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
When Beta comes to collect your firearms with an inventory list provided by the BATFE, how do you explain the missing inventory?
Serious question.

It may be a serious question, but I don't know how realistic it is. Folks assume the goobermint has some kind of massive data base somewhere, with a complete list of everyone's firearms purchases through FFLs, going back to when they bought their first .22 rifle from the hardware store. The last I heard, ATF was years behind on processing records from expired/surrendered/deceased FFLs; apparently there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of cargo containers stuffed with stored/unprocessed FFL records. And even if they eliminated that backlog, the goobermint inventory wouldn't ever be current, complete, or correct...

98 posted on 12/20/2020 7:30:41 AM PST by Who is John Galt? (Mit Pulver und Blei, die Gedanken sind frei... ;^)
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To: Who is John Galt?

You appear to be laboring under the delusion that federal agencies feel an obligation to obey the law.

The BATFE is prohibited by law from copying all the information on Form 4473 from FFL dealers, but they do it anyway.

Over the years there have been multiple reports of ATF agents copying the records of FFL dealers right in front of them.

And with most dealers keeping computerized records these days, they are handing it all over when the ATF audits their records.

https://www.ammoland.com/2020/02/atf-proposes-make-national-gun-registry-easier/#axzz6hBTGtlTA

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/does-the-atf-already-have-a-national-gun-registry/

https://gunowners.org/does-the-atf-have-a-list-of-guns-that-you-own/


99 posted on 12/20/2020 9:09:18 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (You are in far more danger from an authoritarian government than you are from a seasonal virus.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
You appear to be laboring under the delusion that federal agencies feel an obligation to obey the law.

And you appear to be laboring under the delusion that clandestine government efforts to construct a firearms ownership database could produce any product sufficiently current, complete, or correct, to allow someone to show up at an address, with an actual inventory of firearms located inside.

Even a database that was lawfully authorized and properly funded would only be as correct as the individual records used in it's compilation; the 'human factor' (from poor eyesight to dyslexia, not to mention purposeful actions by citizens and even FFLs) would always degrade the quality - and utility - of the final product. And no inventory based on 4473s would be close to complete, due to transfers involving antiques, C&Rs, inherited firearms, 80% firearms, firearm thefts, etc. The Canadian government spent a fortune attempting to build a comprehensive database, and ended up with an expensive and useless 'white elephant', even though Canadians in general were probably more receptive to the idea than Americans will ever be...

100 posted on 12/20/2020 10:45:58 AM PST by Who is John Galt? (Mit Pulver und Blei, die Gedanken sind frei... ;^)
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