if keep in a safe in a room without a dehumidifier and a constant temperature of 78 degrees?

I need to lock some items up for a while and wondering how long they will be safe before any rust may start.

Just found some cancer on my 10/22... Arrrggghhh!!! It is only 6 months old! Swamp coolers suck!

Coat what every you have in something and check it every couple of weeks!!!

I had to put all my toys away for 3 years and 8 months at my parents house while living in Europe.  Here is what I did and what happened.

I cleaned each gun and then sprayed Ezzoxx (sp?) all over it inside and out.  After applying Ezzoxx to each gun they were placed inside the safe standing up and just to make sure they didn't get bumped I placed styrofoam sheets between each long gun.  Handguns were wrapped in wax paper and placed inside individual cardboard boxes.  All the accessories and magazines were cleaned and sprayed with Ezzoxx and then wrapped in wax paper and then in cardboard boxes.

5 months after I left my parents moved to a new house and they put the gun safe in the garage because it was too heavy to move into the house.  Also they didn't plug in the golden rod.  Also, the safe fell on the side during the move.  For just over 3 years the safe sat in the garage in hot and humid South Florida weather.  

When I returned and opened the safe all the guns were in excellent condition (not even a scratch thanks to the styrofoam strips).  However, there were some light rust on few magazines that were shaped like finger prints.  I realized that I had used gloved hand to handle all the guns after they were sprayed but I used my bare hand to wrap and put away those mags.


Just my $0.02  

Your humidity is high in FL just like here in Houston. As long as you got the AC keeping it at 78 then the humidity is probably kept fairly low. If they have a good finish then it can take quite a while in these conditions. Years...

How long before a rifle/pistol starts to rust? There's no answer. You'd have to know the carbon content (If it's SS - the hardness, AND carbon if any), humidity, humidity spread, salinity, & the EXACT make-up of the finish.

If it's going to be years, use Rig or cosmoline. If it's going to be a lot of years, wax the whole gun including any wood (with Pledge), fill the barrel & internal parts SOLID with Rig, remove the stock, then cover the rest of the gun with cosmoline as you're wrapping it with Saran Wrap.
Use so much grease that it's squishing out of the sides as you're wrapping it (the extra doesn't protect the metal - it just seals the wrap against itself. Use an entire roll on each long gun.

If the furniture is wood, wax the stock/forearm again, & space out 6, or 8 small BB sized dabs of Rig on the inside on the unfinished part (a single one on the inside of each pistolgrip), don't really rub it in - just smear them flat.
Now wrap the wooden parts in Saran Wrap (a lot of it), after youre anout 1/3rd done start spraying grease on the wrap itself to seal it (then wrap some more, then grease some more, then...).

The Rig, & wax on the wood isn't to waterproof it - just the opposite, it's to keep it from drying out, warping, cracking, & keep it in good condition.

Wrap the two packages together with more Saran Wrap just to keep everything together, then label them if you want (It'll make things easier later).


Now go away for a few decades, & don't worry -  they'll be in the same condition when you get back, & spend 2hrs cleaning that mess up.
EVEN if there's a flood, they [u]will not[/u] have any rust - I KNOW! The only ones that survived 2 weeks underwater were the S&W SS pistols, & the mumified rifles.