Can WW2 last 30 years unattended ?

This question is for a story I'm writing , I hope some experts here can clear it out for me .

Suppose a ww2 SMG and some granades were left "as is" for 20-30 years in a cold and dry place underground .

Would they still work ?
Would they still be useable with only minimal care ?
Would they rust beyond use ?


Thanks for your help .

 

If the place was truly dry and the air wasn't humid, IMPO the weapons should be usable provided that they were well-oiled when left ( or, better still, greased or 'cosmolened').

It would be important that the guns were neither loaded or cocked as this would weaken the magazine and recoil springs. I should think that the grenades would be OK, albeit a little unreliable as to their operation.....

 

The temperature really doesn't matter, so long as the air is totally devoid of moisture; the humidity would have to be constantly near zero for rust to be significantly inhibited. A good coat of oil or grease would help, but if the coating is normal gun lubricant, the oil might be transformed into a gummy substance that would have to be cleaned off for proper functioning. "Cosmolene" or some other type of preserving grease would, of course, need to be removed before firing.

I used to think that keeping magazines loaded over a long period would damage the spring and lead to failure to properly feed the rounds, but a few years ago I had occasion to fire a friend's M-! Carbine using a 15-round magazine that had been fully loaded for at least 28 years. The magazine functioned perfectly and the spring seemed to retain it's full strength. I subsequently read an article in the "American Rifleman" about magazine springs, that stated that it wasn't necessarily true that keeping springs under full compression caused them to lose their power. The article stated that magazine springs more often wore out faster due to constant use, than any other factor, and that some magazine springs had been documented to retain their elasticity after decades under full compression.

I really don't know about grenades, but I wouldn't be willing to bet they wouldn't work after 30 years inactivity. I know rifle ammunition can last a lot longer than that if stored in a very dry environment. Another friend of mine recently bought some military surplus .303 ammo which was manufactured in India circa 1912. After firing over 600 rounds, he has had just one misfire.

 

Thank you for the information , its been most helpful .

 

Most likely yes.