Awe man, that's painful to look at. Hope everything works out!

yeah mold sucks

better get some mold killer stuffs quick!

Ouch :x Anything we can do to help?

Someone else scored me a couple reusable cans of Desiccant for two of the three safes, I still have two pistol safes I need to fret over next.

can a box of baking soda help with the mold after cleaning ?

What age is that rifle?

This particular one was made in 1943.

Holy crapola Batman!

if you storing cash or any important documents, you better place them in plastic bags that have zippers ...

just in case :3

Do you use a heater rod in your safe? I've used a Golden Rod for years after having a problem in the Dallas area with humidity causing mildew and light rusting. Golden Rod and Lockdown are the brand names of two heater/dehumidifiers that work well in a safes.

I lack the funds for a couple of those, I know of them.

How about a couple lightbulbs? They use those around here to heat chicken coops...

Don't let mold beat you. Get after it fast, hard, and no mercy. It can lead to many health problems. Bleach is your best thing. Also check around, you may have some legal avenues since this is a health issue.

Oh nooo! 8O

So sorry that happened to you dude.

A dumb question because I am not as much as of an arms enthusiast as you are. Would wrapping any said weapon in a big plastic bag be feasible and or would work against mold?

You need Cosmoline.

http://www.cosmolinedirect.com/

Cosmo is a good idea for long term storage (talking years), but anything less and it becomes a hassle due to having to clean it all out before using the weapon again.

I can second that, when I got my M1 in a few years ago, it took me at least two hours with a blow dryer on high heat, may Q-tips and a rag to get it off the metal and out of the nooks and crannies of the trigger group (and it had a light coating!). Took a few more months of leaving it in my car for an hour or two at a time to get it out of the wood, then I slapped some Birchwood Casey grease on the moving parts and all is good.

extreme solutions are needed for extreme situations.

Yikes!

That looks like where I live! (NorthWest Oregon)
Cripes, but all my wood stock/nylon/fabric ANYTHING stored for more'n a couple months, is prone to this nasty situation! Thank gods for bleach, but short of burning-down my humble little barn (renter, not owner, so can't rip-open the walls during the summer, treat properly, and rebuild (if possible???)), I'm on a once-a-month-inspection (or more often), for all my hunting/shooting/camping/etc.. gear.
I lost a perfectly 'New', 5 person hexa-tent due to this nefarious demon! Had it stored in the loft in my garage. NEVER got wet (other'n the usual humidity), and even the rodents hadn't gotten to it.

But the MOLD, mahn!

CLP, bleach, steel wool an' TONS o HOPPES! lol (Gods how I luv the scent of cleaning oils an' protectorates!)

Throw some John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or related onto the TV and enjoy some nice background noises as you do the necessary maintenance!?

oh no!

Yeah, no fun. And the one shown looks perfect compared to a few that came out of the safes. One actually had mold on the metal.

are they salvageable, or easy to clean up and fix? or is it a lost cause? Hopefully not the latter, that'd be absolutely crushing if they were all totally ruined.

Nothing that a lot of cleaning can't fix. Just annoying its happening is whats pissing me off. 22 years up here and this year I get mold for the first time.

Well I hope your restoration attempts are successful

Lift your safes and set them on some 2x4 boards to keep them off the floor. Pack the safes with some desiccant packs. Spray the interior of the safe with mold killer and let it dry out. Wash it. You need to kill the spores in the wood and the wood is porous. Buy renters insurance if you don't already have it and maybe file a claim if it is bad enough. Look up renters law for your state and report your landlord. They have to fix things inside a certain time span.

They are already up on short pallets, I knew that early on when I first moved north. What mold killer you recommend? I had renters insurance, but can't afford it this past 6 months. I'm still struggling to cover last months bills.

Are you in a basement? Any mold killer should be fine. Just read the labels to make sure it is safe for the materials you'll be using it on. Renters insurance is crazy cheap. I think I pay something like $12 a month through my bank for it. If you can afford guns you can afford the insurance. It's just a good idea in case of flood, fire, or theft.

My company insists on 6 months at a time in payments, Miine was running $143 for six months due to location where I live and condition of the building. I do need to get back on that, but it was a hyper lean summer and too many major repairs all at once.

Wear a dust mask or better while you're doing it. We've been having some spectacular mold related illnesses here in Las Vegas because proper protection wasn't used.

Holy hell, man.

I got one of those electric mold reducing devices for my safe. It's just a fairly simple wire loop.

I need to invest in a couple some day when I can financially.

Not the 'blued' finish you want to find on your toys. I have a dehumidifier that runs in the basement all year and dry rods in the safes. No wonder my power bill is eating my budget.

If any help, a moisture catcher and some silica gel packs wouldn't hurt, after this TLC for the fire arms.

I wouldn't recommend chlorine bleach for cleaning the stock (it might affect the color of the wood), and it's a definite no-no on steel (it can damage the finish).

I use strictly gun oil on the stock and metal,never bleach.

Holy crap, dude.

Please tell me you at least have one or two 'rechargeable' safe dehumidifiers! We use one in our gun locker here near Portland, Oregon, and we never have mold and rarely have more than surface rust issues. The things last for months sucking up moisture, only cost about $20, and when they're spent, just plug them in and they cook off the moisture the beads have collected and they're good to go again.

Edit: These things. Exact ones my foxx and I use and they're great. (Remington Model 365 mini-dehumidifier) http://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod.....=CInNh9LIpNACFVFlfgodq5IMaA

I just had this happen to me a few days ago...

dunno if anyone else said, but one thing that can help with cleaning is a dilution of bleach in some water. at least to my knowledge.

Not the Springfield! The 1903 Springfield is probably one of the most beautiful rifles ever made. I've yet to add one to my collection, but I've wanted one since I was a kid.

Gah! Not the A3?! D:

Send your stash to Colorado STAT!!! we lack humidity here, so my safe is nice and dry, your weapons will never have to fear mold or rust again!

So is Arizona.

I guess not dry enough! I'm praying for some moisture, last we had in Denver was October 12th, .03"..... before that was a whopping .23" on the 7th. So yeah barely more than 1/4" of precipitation in a month! I'm worried about my trees next year.

Crud...I hope you can get your problem remedied.

Hate to see a beautiful piece of history ruined.

Try a different brand (type) of oil. Mold grows on a certain type of oil frequently.

Holy cow! Seeing that makes me want to cry. I wish you success in cleaning that horrible mold.

Your landlord is asking for legal problems. I do not know about where you live, but down here mold is taken very seriously in a residence.

Umh yes along with everything the above comments have said, maybe pulling every piece in your collection out and inspecting / polishing would help this situation. As well as keeping your own familiarity with their maintenance

I don't know anything about storing weapons... but this is merely a suggestion.

Where I live can get pretty damn humid and something I've come to know and love are silica packets - which you cna get for cheap on Amazon.

Even though you shouldn't *have to*, what if you were to put a few silica packets in with your guns?

If you don't already have one, put a gold rod dehumidifier in there. And I usually inspect my safe monthly anyway.

I normally would if I could afford one, I need two of those and what sucks is the price is 35% lower this weekend than normal.

Ah, well my stuff was "inherited" so I didn't really have to do any shopping. I guess just keep everything wiped down with CLP and wax in the mean time. Those GI guns saw some hard times, they'll last.

Mosin-Nagant?