Robert,

I was the conservator of Metals & Arms at Colonial Williamsburg for over ten
years and have seen and treated a couple of hundred historic firearms in my
career (when I became the head of Objects conservation at The Rocky Mountain
Conservation Center I jumped into several 19th century arms conservation
projects). I am now in Los Angeles and happily esconsced with everything from modern
art, sculptures, and architectural projects.

I would recommend that you read the Conservograms that are published by the
National Park Service - they are probably the best published resource on the
basic care of all sorts of collections items. The Conservogram URL is:

http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/cons_toc.html

Anything beyond what they describe would require an examination by a
conservator experienced in historic arms conservation to evaluate specific condition
and preservation issues. If the arms collection is large it is often valuable
to get a conservator to do a condition survey of the collection so that
preservation priorities can be specified and a program to address those needs can be
put in place. As many people on this list know - if you are a non-profit
institution then there are grant funds available for such survey and assessment
projects.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California

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