THE GUN CABINET

Even the most careful preservation of the gun with a good gun oil such as Ballistol Universal Oil is no guarantee that corrosion damage will not occur on the gun.

Even if normal conditions with regard to temperature and humidity actually exist in a gun cabinet, an air exchange takes place. As hardly any gun cabinets are gastight, condensation water can form due to the air exchange and temperature fluctuations in the interior – for example, due to the general humidity, a fridge in the same room or temperature fluctuations between the exterior and the interior of the gun cabinet. Therefore, an air dehumidifier and dehumidification granules or bags should be placed in the gun cabinet as well.

Ammunition Storage

If you also store ammunition in your gun cabinet, it should be taken into account that it will more or less degas over time – even if only on a very small scale that is therefore not easily demonstrable.

The reason for this is that the propelling charge of cartridges is, in itself, a highly unstable chemical compound that “self-combusts” due to its structure. Upon ignition, this process takes place extremely quickly; however, even at room temperature an extremely small conversion takes place. For this reason, cartridges can be stored for only a limited time. Depending on the quality and quantity of the stored ammunition, an enrichment of corrosive gases can occur in conjunction with the existing ambient air humidity; this can damage a gun.

Where possible, the ammunition should always be stored in a separate compartment of the gun cabinet. Additionally, regular ventilation is recommended here – in addition to an air dehumidifier – in order to ensure sufficient air exchange.

Used military ammunition boxes are ideal for storing ammunition, as these mostly have rubber sealing and are gastight. In this way, the ammunition can degas only until there is a gas balance in the box, which provides for longer durability and storage capacity of some ammunition types, e.g. surplus goods.