Long term storage?

[comma]

Just curious if there is a "right" way to store a shotgun long term. Should it sit upright (like in a gun cabinet, closet etc) or flat?
If flat, is there a specific way it should lay? (ejection port up, etc).

Maybe I'm overthinking it

 

[Bobster]

To properly store a shotgun long term you should completely disassemble it and individually number each part, then metal parts oiled and put in a vacuum-sealed bag and wood parts waxed then put in a climate-controlled locker. Although I'm "sort of" kidding, military storage of surplus arms often involves a bath of cosmoline, then a plastic (or wax paper) wrap before shelving.

You should probably define "long-term". Generally, when I'm done shooting I'll give a gun a good clean and lube then into the safe or case, muzzle up because it is convenient. The storage area is somewhat climate-controlled with aids in preventing rust. If the gun didn't see a lot of rounds, say only 50-100, and it doesn't look dirty, I'll just give the barrel a pass with an oily patch and maybe a drop or two here or there and a wipe with oil. If I were to store long term say for collecting purposes, I would clean and oil, then wrap the gun in plastic shrink-wrap with paper towels down hill from the receiver/bolt/trigger to soak up any excess oil, then I would put it back in the original box and shrink-wrap it and probably store it horizontally like the mfg does. But then you go into a gun store and their guns are vertical on the rack so who knows...

Note that oil will "settle" and could possibly discolor a wood stock of a gun stored muzzle up. So can some solvents/cleaners. You could also see what the mfg suggests and you will probably find out that everybody has their own "special" way of storing a gun.

 

[comma]

To properly store a shotgun long term you should completely disassemble it and individually number each part, then metal parts oiled and put in a vacuum-sealed bag and wood parts waxed then put in a climate-controlled locker. Although I'm "sort of" kidding, military storage of surplus arms often involves a bath of cosmoline, then a plastic (or wax paper) wrap before shelving.

You should probably define "long-term". Generally, when I'm done shooting I'll give a gun a good clean and lube then into the safe or case, muzzle up because it is convenient. The storage area is somewhat climate-controlled with aids in preventing rust. If the gun didn't see a lot of rounds, say only 50-100, and it doesn't look dirty, I'll just give the barrel a pass with an oily patch and maybe a drop or two here or there and a wipe with oil. If I were to store long term say for collecting purposes, I would clean and oil, then wrap the gun in plastic shrink-wrap with paper towels down hill from the receiver/bolt/trigger to soak up any excess oil, then I would put it back in the original box and shrink-wrap it and probably store it horizontally like the mfg does. But then you go into a gun store and their guns are vertical on the rack so who knows...

Note that oil will "settle" and could possibly discolor a wood stock of a gun stored muzzle up. So can some solvents/cleaners. You could also see what the mfg suggests and you will probably find out that everybody has their own "special" way of storing a gun.

Thanks so much for the reply!
Honestly, by long term I probably mean around a year (which not sure if that constitutes long term).
I would probably at least handle and clean it at least once a year.

 

[Ernst]

You should have no issues storing a cleaned gun muzzle up for a year of more. I'd just be careful to not use excesive oil since it has a tendency to migrate down to the wooden shock and penetrate the wood which is not good. Just a quick wipe down with a lightly saturated oil cloth to protect it from corrosion before storage will be fine and once you pull it out of storage you should once again do another inspection and lube.

Regards

 

[CaddmannQ]

Any oil is better than no oil but I like to use oil with a long-term corrosion inhibitor, like the WD-40 specialist long-term corrosion inhibitor. Of course it’s about six times as expensive as regular WD-40.