[Papa]

I live in E. WA where the winters can get fairly cold. I just bought a new, larger safe and placed it in my garage against an interior wall.
I currently have 2 heater rods in it and the interior temperature is at 50 degrees. I also have a humidifier in the safe.

My Question: What would you say would be the MINIMUM inside temperature should be for safe storage of my firearms?

Thanks for your thoughtful responses.....John

 

[JohnnyP]

As long as the temperature in your gun safe is a few degrees warmer than the air outside the safe you should have no problem. It's when the safe and it's contents are cooler than the temperature outside the safe that you have problems, such as an unseasonal warm up while you guns are still cold. Moisture condenses on the guns when they are cooler than the temperature outside the safe.

 

[Ishouldknowbetter]

I am sure you meant a de-humifier. The temperature in the safe is not important, it is the temperature differential between the inside and outside of the safe. Two heaters in more than plenty to keep the temperature warmer that ambient to preclude condensation on the colder metal surfaces of the the guns.

I have used one original goldenrod for the last thirty+ years in each of my safes and have had zero problems with rust even with humidity levels of 60%, because the internal temperature of the safe was a few degrees above ambient.

I was more worried about extremely low humidity levels in the safes during the winter months affecting the wood, but "knock on wood", I haven't had any problems with humidity levels as low as 20% either.

 

[kline2054]

make sure you put a goldenrod in the safe and you will be fine

 

[oberon]

Not dissin' your plan, bro:
A garage is, by far the best and easiest location for thieves to rip it out of.
Some guys camouflage their setup to deflect such things.
It's worth a thought, anyway.
One guy, here or somewhere, hollowed out a reriigerator dropped the shell down over the safe.
Keepin' the interior dry is the most important task to preserve your guns. 50" is a perfect temp.

 

[JohnnyP]

Refrigerators are certainly not immune to thieves. We had a home burglary some 30 years back, and the first thing the thieves did was to get two bottles of wine from the refrigerator and enjoy it while they ransacked the house.

 

[capstan]

I keep a safe in the basement and sometimes it gets to 55 degrees (F) . There is no problem with stocks. I never had a problem in the wintertime or summer with stocks. I keep a small heating rod in there and in the summer whenever it gets hot and humid,i plug it in. I have never had a problem with guns rusting with that little rod.(the only rods I see now are the big,long golden rods I guess they quit making the more compact smaller ones) I unplug it in winter because colder air doesn't hold as much moisture and humidity is usually much lower in winter.

Colder temps should not be a problem for your stocks. I have hunted in 20 below zero weather with my rifle and had no problem with the stock. Back when winters were more consistently cold, I hunted all day when temps were in teens or single digits with no problems at all with hardwood stocks. The wood blanks for stocks are cured a LONG time before the actual stock is fabricated so the moisture content is stabilized.
Wood also gains strength in tension, compression, and shear as it gets colder and its modulus of elasticity goes up.

I have read that the newer, black plastic stocks are not so good in extremely cold weather and can become brittle.

 

[chipdougless]

I would never put anything in a safe in my garage. I used to go into my garage in the morning and find my motorcycles chrome dripping with condensation as the air temp would rise.