Preservation and Protection.

WehrmachtP08 · 02-28-2009, 06:11 PM

Albert,

The whole point of applying anything to the exterior of a firearm when storing it is to prevent oxygen from comming in contact with the metal. Oils and greases are used to prevent things such as hand oils and moisture from speeding up the process of oxidation, which is also known as rusing. If what you are putting on your firearms is allowing the surface to 'breath,' then the potential for oxodation is inevidable. While oils and greases can protect the surface of a firearm in the short term, most should be reapplied every month to every year as oils can get wiped off and grease eventually dries and cracks. The perfect storage of a firearm would be to have it in an environment with absolutely no moisture inside of a vaccum, where oxygen is not present. If you are looking for long term storage of a historic firearm, you want to make sure that oxygen does not come in contact with the metal at all, because even being exposed to oxygen will cause it to rust. In addition to this, wax is not a hard surface, but is, in fact, flexible, and is capable of expanding with metal in heat changes while creating a seal around the metal preventing external factors such as moisture or skin oils from reaching the metal finish.

02-28-2009, 06:11 PM	#9
WehrmachtP08 User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Clifton, VA; West Point, NY Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Albert, The whole point of applying anything to the exterior of a firearm when storing it is to prevent oxygen from comming in contact with the metal. Oils and greases are used to prevent things such as hand oils and moisture from speeding up the process of oxidation, which is also known as rusing. If what you are putting on your firearms is allowing the surface to 'breath,' then the potential for oxodation is inevidable. While oils and greases can protect the surface of a firearm in the short term, most should be reapplied every month to every year as oils can get wiped off and grease eventually dries and cracks. The perfect storage of a firearm would be to have it in an environment with absolutely no moisture inside of a vaccum, where oxygen is not present. If you are looking for long term storage of a historic firearm, you want to make sure that oxygen does not come in contact with the metal at all, because even being exposed to oxygen will cause it to rust. In addition to this, wax is not a hard surface, but is, in fact, flexible, and is capable of expanding with metal in heat changes while creating a seal around the metal preventing external factors such as moisture or skin oils from reaching the metal finish.