basement gun/ammo storage

[944turbo]

ogden, moving out of the city!

no real land or anything but should definitely be a quieter neighborhood.
gonna miss the 19th ward but it's time to move on.

Welcome, neighbor!

[harleyhutch]

All good advice, beware that should the Temps be lower in spring when you first start running the dehumidifier, it may ice up on you, so you may need to run a little heat on occasion which will help with humidity as well.
If you finish the basement in the future, don't use wood, even pressure treated unless you have to, steel studs and mold/mildew resistant sheetrock as anything else will absorb moisture making it harder to remove it. Another consideration is an open floor plan as anytime you put up walls you interrupt air flow which in turn makes removing humidity more difficult l, but a fan to move the air works wonders.
As far as ammo goes, go the redneck route. If storing indoors, food grade 5 gallon pails as long as you maintain the integrity of the seal. If storing in a garage or work shop, clean out 5 gal oil or grease pails, who's going to look in there for ammo? If an univited guest is helping themselves to your possessions, the bad guy probably isn't going to help himself to a pail of grease or donut filling.

[big flash]

great suggestions everyone!

i like the concrete pad idea, i will have to incorporate that once I figure the location exactly. i do use plastic pails and a foodsaver for longer term ammo storage. i try to use ammo cans to break down into calibers for the ammo i shoot through and that seems to work well for "sealing" them and organizing conveniently.

Welcome, neighbor!

it was very encouraging looking for houses in that area and seeing all the pro-2a/anti-safe signs in yards. felt like home

[WARFAB]

Since we're on the subject, anyone know what a good humidity level is for a basement? I have an unfinished basement that doesn't have a sump pump and never gets water, but does get some humidity in the summer. In the winter the dehumidifier never registers enough humidity to turn on. I keep the dehumidifier set to 55% humidity and that keeps it running most of the time in the summer. I don't have a separate hygrometer but am thinking I might buy one to check the humidity level further away from the dehumidifier.

[big flash]

good question, i was assuming something like 50% RH. been shopping for a decent but cheap hygrometer.

[masterswimmer]

In my experience, in my basement, which never has had any water infiltration but does have summertime humidity issues, setting a dehumidifier at 50% RH it runs 24/7 during the summer.

[WARFAB]

A quick google search......

According to the NRA:
50% humidity at 70 degrees is considered ideal "Arms Museum" storage conditions.

Any dryer then that, and you will have problems with wood stocks drying out and shrinking / checking.

In my own gun room, I follow the 65/65 rule for temperature and humidity, which is just about ideal for gun keeping.

National Firearms Museum says 50% humidity at 70 degrees: http://www.nramuseum.org/media/94096...vationinfo.pdf

Consistent temperature is obviously best because temp swings could cause condensation. For most people the basement is probably is probably the part of the house with the most consistent temperature.

[camper4lyfe]

I'd offer to store your guns for you, but I'm still trying to find a house to move into so I'm bare bones living right now.

[big flash]

I'd offer to store your guns for you, but I'm still trying to find a house to move into so I'm bare bones living right now.

we were having a hard time too until we rolled the dice and went non-contingent on selling. then almost immediate we landed this house lol.
really started stressing though trying to sell but actually sold pretty quick too thankfully. close on the new house friday, close on the current house at the end of the month! woohoo

[camper4lyfe]

we were having a hard time too until we rolled the dice and went non-contingent on selling. then almost immediate we landed this house lol.
really started stressing though trying to sell but actually sold pretty quick too thankfully. close on the new house friday, close on the current house at the end of the month! woohoo

We just listed a week ago, but the most stressful thing for me, at this point, is finding houses that we like. Nothing really matches our criteria. We looked at one house on Monday for a second time, and it just wound up being too many negatives for the price they were asking.

[big flash]

yeah, being too picky makes it tough. we definitely had to make some compromises but still am happy with where we are ending up.

[Cgrutt]

we were having a hard time too until we rolled the dice and went non-contingent on selling. then almost immediate we landed this house lol.
really started stressing though trying to sell but actually sold pretty quick too thankfully. close on the new house friday, close on the current house at the end of the month! woohoo

Awesome news good luck and congrats!

[Cgrutt]

yeah, being too picky makes it tough. we definitely had to make some compromises but still am happy with where we are ending up.

Good luck I'm sure something will turn up soon.

[masterswimmer]

Good luck I'm sure something will turn up soon.

LOL, it already turned up. They found 'it' already. They made concessions in order to make it happen.

[masterswimmer]

Oh, congrats big!!