Store Your Guns in a Room with Argendon Dehumidifier

Why Do Guns Rust?

The essence of gun rust is the electrochemical reaction between metal + water + oxygen + time. When moisture comes into contact with the metal surface of a gun, it reacts with oxygen in the air, causing corrosion and rust. This process often happens quietly and gradually, especially in the environment where the gun is stored.

How Does Moisture Affect Guns?

In a gun safe, which is a relatively enclosed space, moisture tends to linger and is hard to escape. While many people choose to store their guns in air-conditioned rooms, if the gun safe itself isn’t perfectly sealed or if there are significant temperature fluctuations, moisture can condense and form tiny water droplets (also known as condensation or dew) on the metal surfaces. This is especially common at night or during seasonal temperature changes. When the temperature fluctuates, the water vapor in the air comes into contact with the cold metal surface, quickly forming a thin layer of water—this is the key factor that leads to corrosion.

Moreover, if a gun safe stores damp guns, wet cloths, or moist clothing, or if the safe itself has poor ventilation, moisture will continue to accumulate in the enclosed space, further increasing the risk of rust. In some environments, moisture may even come from gun cases, cloths, or other materials that absorb moisture. Carrying a gun inside from a rainy or snowy day and immediately putting it into the safe, or leaving hand sweat/fingerprints on the gun without wiping them off—these seemingly small details often serve as hidden sources of moisture accumulation.

Gun care and storage experts frequently remind people not to store guns for long periods in cloth cases, leather pouches, or soft bags, as these materials act like sponges and, once damp, they rarely dry out quickly.

How to Keep Moisture Out of a Gun Safe

A. Multiple guns (collection / multiple in the family): Recommend Argendon dehumidifier

If you have multiple handguns, rifles, hunting guns, and store them long-term, we suggest:

Put the gun safe in a controllable room, and set up an Argendon dehumidifier, so the whole room stays at a stable low humidity, and then the environment inside the safe is easier to keep within a safe range.

Benefits:

• Wider coverage: protects not only the safe, but also ammunition, optical sights, leather slings, etc.
• More worry-free long term: humidity is more stable, with smaller fluctuations
• More “resistant” to seasonal changes / interference

Suitable for: multiple guns, a gun room converted from a basement/garage, coastal / high-humidity areas.

B. Only one or a small number of handguns: a small solution inside the safe is enough

If you only store a single / a small number of small handguns:

• Desiccant (silica gel): economical, simple, can be replaced / baked dry and reused
• Small rechargeable dehumidifier: more convenient, suitable for small spaces

Pair with: regular checks, replace / regenerate in time
Suitable for: a small number of guns, safes placed indoors (master bedroom closet / study), budget-sensitive users.

C. The lowest-cost method if you “don’t want to spend money” (usable but unstable): keep it in an air-conditioned room

You can also place the gun safe indoors in an air-conditioned room.
But we recommend you at least do two things to make it more reliable:

• Put a hygrometer/thermometer inside the safe (not in the room)
• Keep the humidity inside the safe as much as possible at <60% RH (more ideal is 40%–55% RH)

Reminder: this method is very sensitive to seasons, home ventilation, and air-conditioner usage habits. Its stability is not as good as “room dehumidification” or “inside-the-safe dehumidification.”