Guns and Storage The Hard Way
By Gregory Kielma
What is the average lifespan of weapons stored in a depot before they become unusable due to age or lack of maintenance?
What is the average lifespan of weapons stored in a depot before they become unusable due to age or lack of maintenance?
Surprisingly long, if you can keep the weapons dry. In fact a few years ago Interarms was able to procure a huge stockpile of various rifles including the M1 Carbine now in my collection.
They were literally stored in steel quonset huts like the U.S. military used during WWII, out in the Ethiopian desert. My rifle was sent over some time around 1954 and looks like it stayed in a stack like these for the next almost 70 years. I just cleaned it up, checked it out, then had fun.
As mentioned by others there are many countries that do this, some coat the firearms with wax or grease. Some with oil like the M1 Carbines in Ethiopia. The trick is to keep them dry and they will last for decades, probably even centuries. Just look at the Martini Henry rifles out of Nepal over 90 years some over 100 years in storage.
P.S.: Wow 2.8k upvotes thanks everyone never expected this sort of response to a pretty simple answer. Great comments below keep them coming!