Proper Gun Cleaning and Storage - How to make them last!

As a gun store that both buys and sells firearms something we see way too often is a great firearm that's very collectable but wasn't well taken care of, or someone looking for a gunsmith because of stock damage, or looking to get a barrel re-blued because they hunted with a gun in the rain and then threw it right back in the safe. What I want to cover in this blog entry is proper firearm maintenance and storage, to save both your firearms and our sanity from seeing another poor gun in deplorable condition.

One of the most basic but most helpful tips I can give you is read your manual! It sounds silly but seriously if you have a question about how your firearm works, please ask the shop you are buying it from, or ask a trusted friend or advisor, or thoroughly read the manual! Unfortunately, we've seen it happen that someone didn't exactly know how to operate the firearm and damaged it so badly they had to send it out to be repaired to function. In addition to that, learning the most efficient way to disassemble and reassemble your firearm will help with any aspects. YouTube is a wonderful thing and I know I've used it to solve some questions. I suppose other than knowing how to use your firearm, cleaning it after using it is pretty important too.

The more ‘traditional’ way to clean firearms is the “rod and pole” method, putting together that metal pole and getting those gauze type patches with some gun oil, often times it takes a few minutes and can be an ordeal to go through your whole gun safe- one of my favorite things that I've discovered are bore snakes, they truly take the guest work out of gun cleaning! Obviously the one downfall to bore snakes would be the fact that they are caliber specific but honestly there's more crossover then one would think (Check out the chart below)!

Honestly, I think the caliber specific issue is totally overshadowed by how easy it makes cleaning your firearms! All you have to do is put some gun oil by the first floss area (Maybe spray some along the of the main floss area if you are using an aerosol) then insert the brass weight end of the bore snake down the barrel (Receiver side) and once it comes out of the end just pull it through (See our handy ‘anatomy of a bore snake’ chart below)! Then congratulations you've cleaned your firearm in all of two minutes! Another step you could take to prolong and protect the life of your firearm, take an old cotton t-shirt or rag and spray some clean and protect gun oil (I use CLP personally) on there and wipe down the outside of your barrel/ receiver as well! A few other things to keep in mind, watch your fingerprints! Natural salts and oil from your hands can be an entry point for rust so even if you take them out shooting and don't want to immediately clean them, at least wipe them down with an ammonia free cleaner before storing them again. Speaking of those natural salts and oils one of the most recent pieces of advice I was recently given was to wipe down any guns that you purchase after you bring them home, obviously coming from a gun shop people pick them up and look at them all the time so protecting then from those natural salts and oils we referenced earlier in the article can be a big help in preventing rust! Kinda a commonsense thing but not something you always think about! Another tip that a good friend of mine taught me was specifically about hunting rifles, tape the end of your barrel before you go out in the woods with it! That was something I'd never thought of before, but it will keep debris like leaves and twigs out of the barrel.

Another key component to gun maintenance is storage! Most people have gun safes, which are inherently the most practical and safest location to keep firearms but the location of that gun safe is key! Some people I know keep them in their basement, but basements can be very humid which can lead to rust and other problems for your firearms, ideal humidity level is around 50%, But if that's your optimal location or you live in a humid area in general, luckily, they make dehumidifiers and hygrometers specifically for gun safes! Hornady actually makes a line of gun safe accessories that OFW has had in the shop before, and we've gotten great reviews on! One more thing to look out for (That I'm often guilty of…) don't overcrowd your guns in the safe, that's the best way to end up with dings and scratches- Plan your placement and remember even though the safe may say ‘holds 32 guns’, the likelihood of you actually fitting 32 guns in there is slim to none. Also another ‘safety’ tip, please bolt your safes down, there's way too many stories of safes tipping over and that's definitely a way to get some scratches and dings…

The best way I've found to gather information and more tips or tricks (beside reading OFW blog of course) is talking to other ‘collectors’ or enthusiasts, they can often give you a perspective you might not think of or look for. There's so many little tips and tricks to look out for that can help you maintain a great collection of firearms that uphold value and condition, or just to keep your best hunting rifles looking sharp and around to pass to the next generation! Speaking of which, look out for our upcoming blog post on firearm collecting, how to start building a collection and how to maintain your investments!