old fart

i am having a problem with rust on my handguns and longuns, i keep them in a safe in my bedroom closet. i take them out once a month to clean and reoil, i took them out this morning and a few have rust on them. i have 8 long guns and 2 have rust on the sights, trigger, and side, the rust is speckled on them not bad and it did come off mostly but i can still see a little more. i have 3 handguns and one of them has a rusty ejector, and recoil spring. i did notice that its the guns i have yet to shoot that have rusted but i take them all out about once a month to reoil. i use barricade, and rem oil are they good oils? i keep a humidity gauge in my closet, it stays around 50-60% is that high? do i need to change oil or get a dehumidifier?, thanks for any help.

KKBMTGG/go army

Humidity can certainly cause rust. I live in the Dallas area and we have some pretty humid days around here, what I do is keep a good desicant bag in the safe and of course wipe down the guns every now and them. I never have any problems. Desicant bags work pretty well just be sure to get one big enough for the square footage of your safe and replace when needed.
WD 40 is what I wipe down my weapons with, WD of course meaning "water displacement" which is what you want, been doing it for a lot of years, it works.

Nutty Ned

From what I read of your question, yes you do need to dehumidify.
I have sliding doors on the closet and keep the doors cracked one inch on each side and have not had a problem. It is a spare bedroom otherwise Mrs. Clean would have a fit about the cracked doors and possible dust in the closet.

Rockhanger

I use a dehumidifier in my safe along with silica gel seems to work well

DD430

For what it's worth - if you can - hang a low wattage light bulb in the safe.

When I was a kid we had a problem with welding rods absorbing water. (They'd 'spatter' like hell and give you lousy welds.) I took an old refrigerator and made a storage cabinet for the rods, drilled a small hole in the top and suspended a light bulb. No more spattering.

Ruger Redhawk

DD430 beat me to it. I was going to suggest a light bulb.First thing I would do is buy a Golden Rod for the safe.In my safes I have Golden Rods and I took a couple of what they call socketless fixtures. They look like the old time fixtures with no switch. The wires connect right on the ceramic.I burn the light bulbs 24/7.I'll be the first to admit I don't take my guns out often to be wiped down.I have never had a rust concern and for years they were in Florida with high humidity in a garage.
I swear by RIG (rust inhibiting grease). I apply it with a sheep skin wipe.Hopefully there wasn't to much damage to your guns.I'm sure you know not to keep them in a gun case.They absorb moisture.When I worked at gun shop years ago I saw some really nice guns come in covered with rust,pitted. It about brought tears to my eyes. All stored in cloth rifle cases.Good luck I hope you get this under control.

Magmoose

I agree with the RIG application. I apply heavy coating and don't wipe the gun until I use it. Also, I us a golden rod in safe and all seems well

Flash

Good advice here. Once you close the safe door, the humidity is trapped inside to rust your guns.

BronxBoy

There are a lot of good suggestions but much depends on your safe and what you keep in it. I own an environmentally sealed safe that is fire resistant first and gun friendly second. There is no practical way of getting electrical connections inside without reducing its fire resistance and I don’t personally like to run 110V electrical appliances 24/7 (cost and fire potential). Also, do you store other items in that safe and, if so, are these items packaged or made of leather, paper, cloth or other moisture absorbing materials?

Humidity gauges are good if they read relative humidity and have barometric and temperature compensation. As temperature drops humidity rises which is why it is “relative” and why heating sources keep humidity down. The air isn’t truly “dry” as some state as much as the moisture concentrations are kept low. Desiccants absorb and retain moisture but take longer to “dry” the air. Safes that do not “seal” allow the open exchange of air and moisture so the heat sources work well in those types. The sealed ones do well with desiccants and this is what I use. I use a “dry pack” that is designed for a larger safe. I do not store anything moisture absorbing and I do not go into the safe often.

A good oil or protectant is often the best first line for corrosion defense. I use a CLP product but I also live in a an area designated as a coastal desert which is to say that things are on the dry side. For military purposes and designs we focus on finish and protective coatings so you might use your rusting guns as motivation to try other products or change the method you use to apply what you are currently using.

Dana the Dane

I use a sealed fireproof safe with lot of dessicant packs, and keep a light coating of CLP on them. Do not store in leather or cloth holsters/cases. Works for me, and I live near the ocean here in Rhode Island.

ManInBlack83

+1

This method has yet to fail me.