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Good evening,
I hope everyone had a great Fourth! As to my question, may I please get some opinions as to whether or not storing an original 1866 carbine in a silicon-treated Bore-Stores case can be harmful to the firearm? I’m particularly concerned about any ill effects on the brass-appearing “gunmetal” receiver and wood stocks.
Your time is very much appreciated.
Deacon
I store all my guns while in a gun safe in one of those gun socks usually one from Cabela’s and haven’t had any negative issues. Some for 30 years. In my case the sock is used to protect the guns from bumping into another gun while in the safe since I have to stack them in. I guess that is a good problem.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Online
I store my 66’s in socks, the last bunch I bought from WACA. Just click on Store on the top of the page. T/R
Deacon said
Good evening,
I hope everyone had a great Fourth! As to my question, may I please get some opinions as to whether or not storing an original 1866 carbine in a silicon-treated Bore-Stores case can be harmful to the firearm? I’m particularly concerned about any ill effects on the brass-appearing “gunmetal” receiver and wood stocks.
Your time is very much appreciated.
Deacon
Deacon, I’m not sure any of the foregoing answers dealt with your question – does silicon have an adverse effect on gunmetal, which I understand to be similar to bronze. I don’t know the answer to that question but you might call up Bore-Store and put the question to them. I believe they are a small company. My own opinion is silicon is inert and damages neither metal nor wood. what it does do is provided a barrier against water vapor.
As a woodworker, a hobby just as infected with paranoia as gun collecting, I have heard and read horror stories about the terrible effects of silicon on raw wood. What I have personally observed is silicon on raw wood can make finishing or refinishing difficult if not removed.
As for gunstocks, unless yours is unfinished, I can’t see a problem, whether the finish is shellac, varnish or oil — UNLESS you are in the habit off adding to an oil finish or restoring a worn shellac or varnish finish. Silicon then might interfere with getting a good finish because it serves as a barrier to the wood itself. That’s just my opinion. Lots of collectors feel differently and, if it’s going to keep you up at night, don’t store your gun in a silicon impregnated sock.
Alcohol, mineral spirits, vinegar are solvents for silicon residue. The only time you would want or need to remove silicon from finished wood is when you want to refinsh the wood, so the effect these solvents have on an underlying wood finish shouldn’t be a concern. The only time you would need to remove silicon from a finished wood surface is if you’re refinishing the wood. Once again, if you have or want an oil finish and add to it from time to time, I wouldn’t want the wood exposed to silicon because it might interfere with bulding up or restoring the oil finish. If the stock is varnished, silicon shouldn’t be an issue.
I’ve been storing guns of various vintages – none as old as an original 1866 – in silicon treated gun socks, including Bore Store socks, for decades and have never seen any harm come to them. None of my guns wear a non-drying oil finish, however.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Hi Bill,
I don’t intend to do anything with the stocks – there’re in good original shape – I just don’t want them to come in contact with anything that could be harmful, and so from your answer it sounds like I should be okay using a silicon treated case, at least as far as the wood is concerned. As for the gunmetal, I think your advice to contact Bore-stores directly is a great idea, and I shall do so and post their answer.
Thanks very much for your, and everbody else’s, time.
Deacon
Bill brings up some very good points, as does others! Many of us have posted that the silicon bore store socks have been used for years in many different environments, and with no issues, what so ever!
Mind it, I’m sure most if not everyone like myself, have not only wiped their firearms down with the appropriate products, before put into the sock’s!
You’re good to Go!
Anthony
Deacon,
The 1866 receiver and trim was made out of what Winchester called gun metal. Gun metal if not plated with gold, silver, or nickel develops a natural patina over time. The value of a 66 depends greatly on the condition and wear of the gun metal. As it ages it darkens and develops a butter scotch pattern that collectors desire. This look disappears quickly when rubbed, cleaned, or carried. I have seen 66s loose some of the patina over time by being carried bare handed though gun shows and repeatedly wiped.
I do not oil, wax, or rub gun metal, but I do store them in a sock. I have not seen any signs of damage to wood, iron, or gun metal from my socks. I handle my nice 66s by the iron and wood with minimum contact to the gun metal.
T/R
What holds water out also holds water in. Don’t store wet metal in a water proof sock.
Chuck said
What holds water out also holds water in. Don’t store wet metal in a water proof sock.
Concur. Wipe it off with a dry cloth. If Kroil (a water displacing oil) is available, apply some and definitely run a patch saturated with it through the bore. Leave the gun uncovered and as disassembled as possible, e.g. if a shotgun, remove the barrel and open the breech. If possible, put it in moving dry, warm air, like in a centrally heated house with a fan on.
If the gun has been submerged, that’s another matter entirely and most of us need to get it ASAP to a competent gunsmith for complete disassembly.
Also, if a dry gun has been brought in from cold weather, let it return to room temperature before covering it and storing it away. Cold steel will condense water from the warm room atmosphere onto its surface, just like a glass of iced tea. I learned this the hard way by accidentally leaving a new nickel plated Colt Police Positive in a gun rug in my car during freezing weather and then carelessly bringing it in the house and not opening the rug for a week. It developed leprosy. Nickel plate is pretty if pristine but a lot worse than rusted blue when it starts to fail.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
