Medium to long term storage.

[Dan Robinson]

Any tips?   The boy's Bolt action, and his L85 won't be seeing action for a year,  and eventually the same will the case for my pews.

So what's best?  I'm assuming just cycling them a few times every few months is enough,  then opening the gearbox to check grease and orings once a year.

Pistols I'm less worried about,  but keeping mags under pressure is the main thing?

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

My first two airsoft guns lived in the loft for several years, and still functioned much as I'd left them when I un-retired them.  And I did sod-all to prep them for storage.  So if you're prepared to crack open gearboxes and re-lube stuff at some point in the not-so-distant future, I reckon you'll be fine.

But maybe someone who's had other / more experience can chip in :]

 

[gavinkempsell]

If you're worried about storing them, rather than stripping them, why not simply add a few light squirts of silicone oil using the ' extension tube' into the gearbox via any opening & in the nozzle?

I don't know if it would solidify over time but it would preserve the moving parts & you could strip & clean it off easily enough when you want to use the rif's again.

 

[Haru]

probably be fine, keep em in a bag or something so dust dont get in

 

[EDcase]

I'd spray a good amount of GT85 (Not WD40) into the gearbox via the nozzle.

Best to keep them at the back of a wardrobe but if going into the loft then wrap them up in a sheet, towel or blanket.

Shed or garage is the last resort for storage.

The batteries should be kept indoors and either charged using 'storage' setting or taken off charge before being full.

Pistols should be well sprayed with GT85 again.

Mags are the hard part because they're unlikely to keep pressure for months so will need checking and topping up.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Sweet.....pistols we'll have with us, its the RIFs that will likely be staying.   I'll keep them at my ol' man's house in the cellar with his real steel.  So warm and dry.

Going to look up this gt85 stuff now.

Cheers all.

 

[Lozart]

Going to look up this gt85 stuff now.

GT85 is great. Used to use it all the time on my mountain bike. Smalls fantastic too! Halfords should have some.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Got a bottle coming from Amazon tomorrow... ?

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

GT85 is great. Used to use it all the time on my mountain bike. Smalls fantastic too! 

I walked into my local a few years ago and the barmaid remarked that I smelled 'lovely' and that I never usually used aftershave.  I had to confess that I'd fumbled a can of GT85 and sprayed my t-shirt with it rather than whatever motorbike part I'd tried to aim at...

GT85 is Teflon based.  WD40 is 51% thinners according to the T.U.V. datasheet.   WD is only good for initial water dispersant or cleaning.  It rots rubber and causes rust long term.  GT85 for the win!

 

[EDcase]

Wow, she must have a seriously messed up sense of smell ?

 

[SSPKali]

Wow, she must have a seriously messed up sense of smell ?

Nah, wife likes it too as I was a bike mechanic when we first met so it reminds her of when I was slim and handsome ?

 

[Lozart]

 WD is only good for initial water dispersant or cleaning.  It rots rubber and causes rust long term.  GT85 for the win!

I mean...it's IN the name! WD...Water Dispersant. It's NOT a lubricant! Dear BBC, WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY??????

Wow, she must have a seriously messed up sense of smell ?

Tell me you've never smelled a can of GT85 without telling me you've never smelled a can of GT85

 

[EDcase]

Tell me you've never smelled a can of GT85 without telling me you've never smelled a can of GT85

Oh I love the smell of GT85 ? but aftershave is definitely NOT the first thing I associate

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I mean...it's IN the name! WD...Water Dispersant. It's NOT a lubricant! Dear BBC, WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY??????

And yet I've always had to fix bikes that have been doused in the stuff, 'to protect it.'  Fork seals, rubber HT leads, valve stems(!), gunged up control cables, the lot.   

 

[Gunboat Diplomat]

I wouldn't use GT85 myself, other than maybe to wipe down the outside of the gun with. 

I suspect AEG gearboxes are lubricated with lithium grease, GT85 is just going to thin that out.  GT85/WD40 are more similar than they are different and both are reasonably effective degreasers - you want your gearbox grease to stay where it is.

I'd put them somewhere dry with a couple of bags of silica gel if I was worried about damp and be done with it.

 

[Lozart]

I wouldn't use GT85 myself, other than maybe to wipe down the outside of the gun with. 

I'm suspect AEG gearboxes are lubricated with lithium grease, GT85 is just going to thin that out.  GT85/WD40 are more similar than they are different and both are reasonably effective degreasers - you want your gearbox grease to stay where it is.

I'd put them somewhere dry with a couple of bags of silica gel if I was worried about damp and be done with it.

Good points all but don't assume that the gearbox has any sort of quality grease unless you've cleaned it out and redone it yourself. My guns have lithium grease on the gears, but they mostly came with some kind of amalgam of earwax and glue that Chinese manufacturers call grease.