Long-term storage of Tokyo Marui MWS (or any GBBR)

[Uncle Pauly]

What's the correct way to store a TM MWS plus magazines (or any GBB rifle) over the long-term - i.e. a few years?

 

I’m lucky to own two Marui MWS rifles, one of which needs to go into long-term storage away from home. Now there’s lots of advice on storing GBBRs here and elsewhere, but it nearly always assumes that the RIF and mags will be in storage for a few seasons - e.g. during winter - and not a few years as will be in my case (for the record: I’m not doing a prison stretch! It’s a work thang 🙂). 

 

So I thought it’d be useful to collate the correct advice into a single thread for easy reference in future. Mods: happy for this to be merged with the MWS mega-thread, but I thought it might get lost over time (“like tears in rain…”) and may be best kept separate.

 

So here’s what I think is the right method. Grateful to hear from anyone who can confirm yay or nay:

 

1) Give the RIF a good clean and lube, as per usual.
2) Give the mags a 5-second blast with Abbey Maintenance Gas (to partially fill them).
3) Squirt a little bit of silicone oil into the mags here…

 

..and also squirt some into the nozzle here:

 

4) Put the RIF in gun bag and store at ‘normal-ish’ temperature and humidity (10-20 Celsius). I thought perhaps not in the loft or garage as the changes in humidity may mess up the metalwork? Dunno.

 

Would that be sufficient to keep the RIF and magazines in good nick over a 2-3 year stretch? Or would some things need more frequent maintenance - e.g. do the external mag and nozzle O-rings need lubing more often?

 

Thanks for any input 👍

[EDcase]

Sounds good to me tho personally I would go a bit further.

 

Use PTFE Silicone grease on all accessible rubber parts.

Plentiful silicone spray all over other internals.

If storing in loft or garage, put weapon with mags in plastic bag and vacuum air out.  Seal well then place in gun bag.

 

I agree, best to avoid loft or garage.  Back of wardrobe would be ideal.

[Uncle Pauly]

1 hour ago, EDcase said:

Sounds good to me tho personally I would go a bit further.

 

Cheers! 🍺

 

Two questions in follow-up:

1. Do you know where other rubbers parts are located on the MWS - i.e. other than the nozzle as per above (which I assume has an O-ring)? Perhaps the sealing buffer? Otherwise I think the rest is all metal, but I could be wrong.
2. I’ve read that silicone spray can cause problems with metal-on-metal parts and was planning to give the internal a good going over with a Teflon (PTFE) spray instead. Is that pretty much the same thing?

[EDcase]

I can't help with MWS specifics since I don't have one. (I was thinking of GBB weapons including pistols)

Yeah Teflon spray could be better. I was thinking of silicon spray to protect the metals which would all be cleaned when taken out of storage.

[Wo1f]

seals lubed with silicone, moving parts lubes with PTFE/Teflon, mags gassed and the whole thing stored in a box/ case with some silica packets to keep moisture away.

[Uncle Pauly]

Cheers guys!

 

@Wo1f ...can you point me in the direction of where the seals are that need lubing? (my knowledge of MWS internals is limited to basic field strip and clean).

 

Anywhere other than as shown in my original post above? Thanks.

 

PS: off topic but I picked up an Optirod from Charles in Wigan quite recently; got chatting and it seems we’re all quite local (I’m in Manchester). Hoping to arrange a game day with him sometime; will let you know 🙂

[Jacket]

Just sell it and buy a 416/MK18/whatever else is released in a few years time

[Davegolf]

There's not that many parts to an MWS, just silicone lube the entire thing, 75% the mags with maintenance gas as they will inevitibly bleed slowly over time and as said vac bag it. Store in a temperate location, Job done.

[Uncle Pauly]

2 hours ago, Jacket said:

Just sell it and buy a 416/MK18/whatever else is released in a few years time

That would be sensible... but it’s been through a good few skirmishes with me and I’d hate to part with it on sentimental grounds 😉 And it works flawlessly. 

 

1 hour ago, Davegolf said:

There's not that many parts to an MWS, just silicone lube the entire thing, 75% the mags with maintenance gas as they will inevitibly bleed slowly over time and as said vac bag it. Store in a temperate location, Job done.

Thanks Dave. Silicone lube ok for metal-on-metal moving parts? And I assume the vac-bagging is to control humidity/moisture?

[hitmanNo2]

FWIW, I've had other JP GBBs and mags sat for 10+ years with no special prep other than a bit of maintenance gas in mags and they've been fine.  A bit of silicone oil on the relevant parts when you need them and they're good to go.

[Davegolf]

7 hours ago, Uncle Pauly said:

Thanks Dave. Silicone lube ok for metal-on-metal moving parts? And I assume the vac-bagging is to control humidity/moisture?

 

In use silicone for metal on metal isn't good, but in storage it's fine, you're just denying moisture the opportunity to sit on the surface.

 

If you really wanted to go to town cover all the metal in gun oil, it has anti corrosive properties.

And it smells awesome!

 

Again vac'ing means less air - less moisture.

 

 

[Wo1f]

16 hours ago, Uncle Pauly said:

Cheers guys!

 

@Wo1f ...can you point me in the direction of where the seals are that need lubing? (my knowledge of MWS internals is limited to basic field strip and clean).

 

Anywhere other than as shown in my original post above? Thanks.

 

PS: off topic but I picked up an Optirod from Charles in Wigan quite recently; got chatting and it seems we’re all quite local (I’m in Manchester). Hoping to arrange a game day with him sometime; will let you know 🙂

just give anything plastic/rubber besides the hop rubber obviously.

 

Charles is a great guy. Very knowledgeable

[Uncle Pauly]

15 hours ago, hitmanNo2 said:

FWIW, I've had other JP GBBs and mags sat for 10+ years with no special prep other than a bit of maintenance gas in mags and they've been fine.

That’s reassuring to know, thanks!

 

8 hours ago, Davegolf said:

In use silicone for metal on metal isn't good, but in storage it's fine, you're just denying moisture the opportunity to sit on the surface.

Thanks Dave. Good tip about the gun oil. Going to bag myself a can of Huile.

 

2 hours ago, Wo1f said:

just give anything plastic/rubber besides the hop rubber obviously.

Cheers Wo1f, will do 👍

[Uncle Pauly]

Sorry guys, one last question about GBB maintenance and then I’ll leave you all in peace!

 

When prepping Marui MWS magazines for long-term storage, do I need to do anything about the exit valve as shown in the image below? (or exhaust / output / release valve, whatever it’s called).

 

The other two valves on MWS mags are relatively easy to lube because they’re either a) accessible externally or b) hopefully kept in good condition using Maintenance Gas. But these little suckers on the side seem impossible to access without taking the mags apart… so I assume I should just leave them well alone. Yay or nay?

[Davegolf]

If they don't leak they're fine.

[Immortal]

The best way to store it all is in my kit bag...

[Uncle Pauly]

1 hour ago, Davegolf said:

If they don't leak they're fine.

Easy peasy. Thanks Dave.
 

1 hour ago, Immortal said:

The best way to store it all is in my kit bag...

 

Hah! 😁

 

[Pigeon_Haris]

I originally made a topic on this but it died an early death

 

As I had an ever growing collection of GBB's that I knew I couldn't field all at once, I wanted to retire some for another day

 

I decided to take into my own hands, experiment and see what worked best:

 

Let me state beforehand, this effort in this process is worth it if you are looking to put your gun away for months or possibly even years.

 

I did the following:

• Completely clean the gun out with a quality solvent (blasting it out with wurth's carb cleaner)
• Then wipe all the gun inside and out with a (preferably hot) wet cloth
• Then finally, wipe all the moisture away with a dry cloth so it is absolutely bone dry 

Optionally Using Cotton Buds to wipe any hidden or hard to access crevices (you won't believe some of the dirt hiding in your gun even after a thorough clean)

 

It's a bit overkill but I wanted to make sure any grime or dirt wasn't causing any accelerated breakdown (because remember these guns arent constructed to a fraction of what real steel guns are, especially WE stuff)

• Now apply silicon only to sealing parts (O rings on the nozzle mainly, and the sealing cup area such as the MWS bolt)
• Put a drop of silicon oil into the inlet valve then gas the mag for a few seconds (propane was used exclusively) optionally add a drop of silicon to the gas router and outlet valve

Now it's time to put them into hibernation:

• The were stored in the attic, where the most extreme temperature and conditions changes were (through almost 0 degrees to almost 30c in the summer)
• The guns were stored on a Mat and covered with a Plastic sheet. (I had around 3 different GBBRs being stored along with their magazines [MWS/WE AK/WE G36])

Almost an entire year later, there is nothing to report, not a single mag leak, or any rusting, breakdown or wear on the guns internally or externally.

They have been hit the hardest with the recent weather especially which I thought was sure to finally break one of the mags.

 

The only caveat to this is I haven't test fired the mags to see if they will deliver gas and refill cleanly (meaning the seals properly held up and weren't just pressurised)

 

But in all, it's a thorough and surefire way to put your guns into long term hibernation

as for aegs? Take the battery out and throw it in a cupboard. But wheres the fun in that? 😁

[Uncle Pauly]

^ Great post and thanks for sharing your own experience of GBB storage 👍

 

I’ve now stashed mine away using pretty much the exact same process you describe. Reassuring to hear that yours have been fine kept in an attic. That’s really good to know.

 

Cheers!