I have to admit that I have been a little obsessed with finding a decent option for burying, sinking or otherwise hiding a firearm and other preps since I first saw Mossberg’s Just In Case line of products a number of years ago.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, the line includes a Mossberg 500 shotgun in a pistol grip configuration, a highly durable waterproof tube and depending on the version a survival kit, multi-tool, etc. For some reason I just fell in love with the idea of being able to tie a concrete block to a tube and toss it into a pond to hide it, or bury it somewhere up in the woods.
I can add my own survival kit and tools instead of relying on what I am sure is cheap Chinese made junk and I already own a number of shotguns and have never been a fan of the 500’s so I was more interested in the tube itself. Unfortunately, Mossberg doesn’t sell the tube by itself nor have I been able to discern the manufacturer.
In the few years since the JIC was introduced I’ve read a fair number of articles, reviews and opinion pieces on the Interwebs concerned with burying firearms or other supplies. People seem to have very differing opinions on all aspects of the subject, ranging from whether it will ever be necessary or even prudent to whether there is any way to successfully store a firearm in the ground for any period of time.
In my mind, the question was answered in January 2008 when an author for Backwoods Home magazine wrote an article describing his 15 year experiment burying and finding a Ruger Mini-14 The author used grease, mylar bags and PVC pipe to successfully bury, store and retrieve a rifle, ammunition and some tools in a wooded area for 15 years.
Some take-aways from this article
- Preparation is key. Be sure to properly prep and seal the contents and container against the elements.
- Find at least three immovable landmarks and measure from them to your burial location.
- Landscapes change over time and memories become distorted. Take non-descript pictures if possible before you dig
- Scout out your location before hand. Be familiar with the area you are planning to use. Know when people are there and when
In addition to PVC piping there are now a number of companies providing burial tubes and other products of a similar nature to preppers. The folk at PolyFarm of Idaho were kind enough to provide us with a sample of one of their products which we will review and test in a follow up post.
Our plan is to review the products offered by PolyFarm; then in a subsequent post start a one month side by side burial test to compare the PolyFarm MonoVault to the cheaper PVC alternative. We will also plan to discuss the methods we used to triangulate the location and some methods to help disguise the location from metal detectors or other detection techniques.
Stay tuned!
Looking forward to the upcoming burial posts!
One question though—what are your qualms with the 500? I've been looking at it or the Rem 870.
Both the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500 are fine shotguns. Either will serve you well. I have found that I like the action on the 870 over the 500.
Another consideration are the toys available to dress up your weapon. There are numerous accessories available for either weapon but again, I like some of the Knox products available for the 870, specifically their adjustable stock. Wilson Combat produces some great 870 products like a triple rail forearm replacement.
My 870 has both plus tritium ghost sites, a 2 round extension tube and a lengthened forcing cone. Overall I think the 870 is a slightly better weapon. On the plus side for the 500 is that it is very cheap. If you are looking for a cheap weapon to bury, it fits the bill nicely.
I read an article on caching a weapon somewhere..the guy had some pretty good ideas..like the pvc and also…to bury the item one thousand feet away from your home ..in case of a search for the weapon comes about by the soon to be police state..burying it that distance away makes for a huge search area for those wanting to find it..also..he said to bury nuts and bolts ..this would give fake readings which they decide might need to be investigated ..the more they have to dig up …the sooner they give up..1 thousand feet is a minimum distance..if possible..further away is better as it expands the search more in every direction ..the guy had a fomula for distance to item and sq ft need to be covered to find it by metal detectors
I read an article on caching a weapon somewhere..the guy had some pretty good ideas..like the pvc and also…to bury the item one thousand feet away from your home ..in case of a search for the weapon comes about by the soon to be police state..burying it that distance away makes for a huge search area for those wanting to find it..also..he said to bury nuts and bolts ..this would give fake readings which they decide might need to be investigated ..the more they have to dig up …the sooner they give up..1 thousand feet is a minimum distance..if possible..further away is better as it expands the search more in every direction ..the guy had a fomula for distance to item and sq ft need to be covered to find it by metal detectors
The best weapon to have in a survival situation is a 22 – rifle or pistol, your choice. You can kill just about anything with it. Bullets are cheap and easy to store. You can buy thousands of rounds and not break the bank. That Mossburg is a decent weapon for what its made for. Anyway, check out this new Gel I saw while on vacation in Hawaii. The government uses it to decontaminate nuke sites but anyone can buy it. It's already won some awards, it's called DeconGel.
I have been a prepper for many years now, learning many times from trial and error.
Other times, I have learned from other preppers errors which has saved me thousands of dollars in goods I may have otherwise lost due to inexperience.
Burial cashe' of any type requires air and water tight containers that have not readily been available on the market.
I was fortunate some years back, in that I was able to acquire some transport containers via mil-surplus that used to house missile guides components.
They were perfect for weapons as the boxes measured 4'x1 1/2'x1 1/2'.
I tried two different locations looking for degradation of the containers, to get an idea of how many years they could or would be viable.
One was ideal, high, dry, constant soil temp with low soil acidity levels, and the other in a low, consistently moist highly alkaloid area.
After two years of exposure, the first container condition was just like I dropped it a week or so before.
The second container only had mild surface rust, and minor paint separation around scratched areas.
Failure of this can would most likely be in 25-30 years.
Well past my life spans remaining years.
The point was to determine if heirloom storage were possible, or even feasible.
The answer is a resounding yes.
We can save for our children future, and if packed and placed carefully, the contents can be viable for many decades.