Today is Maintenance Day at Castle Argghhh!

Mmmmm, I love the smell of firearm oil almost as I love the smell of an expended round!!! *drools helplessly*

For the perpetually "gun identifier impaired" what type of gun is it? And how long does it take to clean it in all that sand? *grin*

That weapon be the ever popular machine gun, caliber .50, M2 heavy barrel. It is been said that the weapon slices, dices AND makes swiss cheese!

Well, to be truthful, the Arsenal doesn't use Hoppe's any more. Not because it's bad, just because, any more, all the gun cleaning products are sufficient, in our view. We pay more attention (unless it's in the closet where we, ahem, don't look very often, apparently) to display storage versus shooting storage. For those items that are on the 'don't shoot it list,' either because we don't have ammunition and don't choose to make any, or due to considerations of delicate health and age (not too mention parts availability) those get hit with Rennaisance Wax for the wood if they still have no oil finishes. Oil finished wood gets, well, nothing, since if it isn't out in the open or hot sun, they don't need anything. In fact, when I get a new acquisition to the Arsenal that needs degreasing I sit it out on the deck in the sun, sitting on newspaper. That will sweat out the cosmoline or equivalent it was dipped in. If the metal still has a good finish, that gets hit with the wax, too. For those weapons that have a poor finish, they get hit with RIG, rust inhibiting grease, a very light coat on the outside, a liberal coating in the bore. For the active weapons, a very light coat of machine oil for the metal parts, and whatever the wood requires. The real deal is to clean 'em after you shoot 'em (especially milsurp ammo, which is usually corrosive) and then pay attention to how you store them. I have a dehumidier in the basement, and all the weapons are in 'open storage' where they are in circulating air. Gun safes are mighty fine things (I prefer the vault door, make the room the safe - but I can do that, I have a cast concrete basement) but a gun safe in a humid environment is a moisture trap unless you use some form of dehumidification in it. Make sure the carpeting in there is treated (it should be, if it's a competent gun safe) and don't store your weapons in cases with cloth interiors. Hard cases are usually okay. If you do have to store them in case with cloth interiors, you need to keep an eye on them.

swornenemy, Silica gel isn't flammable. The packages it's in may be, though. Silica gel can be partially renewed by placing it in a very slow (less than 200 degrees F) oven for a long, long time. The problem is that most people don't have a way of checking to see if it's finished. You can put a sample into a sealed jar with a humidity test strip (you know, the things that change color with humidity). Leave it for an hour, then check. Humidity test strips may be available at your gun shop, or they can be bought at companies that sell packing and shipping materials. Keeping a test strip in the gun cabinet is a good idea, too. IIRC for most things -- certainly for electronics -- 40% humidity is ideal. You don't want either too much or too little. Regards, Ric