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Storing Guns - Cocked or uncocked?

Elmo

By Elmo,
in Guns and Rifles and Discussions

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Elmo Rookie

Elmo

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Most guns, you cannot engage the safety without cocking the bolt back first. So do you cock the bolt and engage the safety or do you "fire" the gun and then store it with the safety off? I heard that leaving the gun unfired might weaken the spring. True or not true?

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Elmo Rookie

Elmo

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fired, safety on...

Most guns won't allow you to do that. Take a typical bolt action rifle. Right after to fire the gun, you can't put the safety on. You have to pull back the bolt (which cocks the firing pin) before you can put the safety on. If you have the safety on, it probably means your firing pin has been pulled back.

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Ford Newbie

Ford

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Most guns, you cannot engage the safety without cocking the bolt back first. So do you cock the bolt and engage the safety or do you "fire" the gun and then store it with the safety off? I heard that leaving the gun unfired might weaken the spring. True or not true?

Are you talking bolt action?

If so, yeah I dry fire it, but I usually take the bolt out for storage.

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Ford Newbie

Ford

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Most guns won't allow you to do that. Take a typical bolt action rifle. Right after to fire the gun, you can't put the safety on. You have to pull back the bolt (which cocks the firing pin) before you can put the safety on. If you have the safety on, it probably means your firing pin has been pulled back.

OK, yeah, I see now you meant bolt. I like mine stored fired. But only because that was what I have always heard. Better safe than sorry. (In reality might not matter much, do not know)

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Elmo Rookie

Elmo

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OK, yeah, I see now you meant bolt. I like mine stored fired. But only because that was what I have always heard. Better safe than sorry. (In reality might not matter much, do not know)

Even semi-autos. My Ruger 10/22, after you fire, you can't put the safety on. I have to slide the bolt at least half way back (and you'll hear the firing pin cock) before I can engage the safety.

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Dad 6424 Newbie

Dad 6424

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In my house all guns are stored as though they are loaded and ready to fire even if the gun looks empty all my family knows it as loaded and then theres no guessing games I store some loaded some unloaded and my family knows what ones to grab if some one is to break in never have a miss fire on any of them in many years

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Single_shot Newbie

Single_shot

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I usually just dry fire and store unloaded.My AMD65 is stored with a full magazine attached with the safe off,all I have to do is pull the charger back and let it go.2 other mags are loaded and placed so I can grab them quick if need be.I don't know about leaving clips/magazines loaded long term and the effect it may have on them,but with AK mags there is no problem.Some have been stored loaded for decades with no problems with function when used.

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josephmrtn Enthusiast

josephmrtn

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Most guns won't allow you to do that. Take a typical bolt action rifle. Right after to fire the gun, you can't put the safety on. You have to pull back the bolt (which cocks the firing pin) before you can put the safety on. If you have the safety on, it probably means your firing pin has been pulled back.

ok i might be wrong but i do know i always relive the pressure on the spring, for some reason i thought my shotgun let me set the saftey too...

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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I try an always store mine uncocked but I would almost guarantee you'll never find a problem with guns not stored that way.

I know of at least 60-70 guns in one guys home that have never been stored uncocked. Many are 40-75 years old. VERY few people have ever even heard of this.

Those guys probably won't post on this thread........(kind of like sunrise/sunset shooting hours)

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Dinsdale Community Regular

Dinsdale

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I think alot of this is based in suspect metallurgy of older guns.

I have a few "vintage" guns and they get snap caps, I don't trust dry firing them for tension release.....and don't want them stored compressed.

On new stuff I don't care if I dry fire practice with them and store them anyway they happen to get put away. Some will drop a firing pin when closing the bolt with trigger depressed, some won't.

On a rimfire a plasic hollow wall anchor works good for a snap cap if one is worried the striker will peen a chamber edge on a dry fire.

The 3 regular centerfires I use most don't ever have a compressed spring until put in a ready to fire mode. They have a cocking/decocking style bolt that only compresses the firing pin spring while engaged and ready to fire; and then released when on "safe".

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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The only that I have owned that are stored uncocked are the ones with a visible hammer or cocking piece.

I had a problem once with a weak firing pin spring..However, that was with a Ruger M77 in 25-06 that I had bought brand new and had less than 200 rounds through, so it had nothing to do with storing the gun cocked for years and years.

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Doc Experienced

Doc

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To be honest with you, I have never really even thought a whole lot about it. My guns are usually stored with the action open, i.e. bolt open, pump slide slid back, etc. My experience with designing mechanisms that use springs is that being stored in a loaded position does not effect their life if the initial material selection, design criteria and heat treatment is proper. They are designed to be under load, and they do not rot, or weaken with age unless they were not designed properly to start with. Springs react to heat, excessive fatigue through unplanned cycling, corrosion, and other things that attack metals, but unless you have exceeded the elastic limits of the material, they can stay in a loaded condition forever without ever changing their properties.

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