Store Them Up or Down?
When storing long guns should they be stored muzzle up or muzzle down? Also, should the stock bolt on shotguns be loosened to relieve pressure at the stock/receiver interface to minimize potential cracks in the stock?
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The Brits advise is to store high grade fireams with the muzzle down so oil will not seep into the wood. It is not advisable to loosen stock bolts. Stocks do not crack from being tight, they crack from shooting when loose. 0 -
Barrel down is correct. 0 -
Be that as it may, 99.9999% of all the long guns I have ever seen were muzzle up. 0 -
I store my O/U and SxS broken down laying flat in an open top box with a bottom made of dry wood slats. Other long guns are stored barrel end down on dry wood slats in the safe. Revolvers are stored barrel down in a rack that has dowels that fit loosely into the muzzle to hold it in place. I am not worried about the wood dowels affecting the crown. There may be better ways for storing, this is the way I was taught. 0 -
Mine are always stored with the barrels down.... 0 -
Probably barrel DOWN is better, as it lets anything in the barrel or action drip out. (EG if moisture were to condense inside the barrel).
It also makes it a bit easier to get the gun out without putting your corrosive fingerprints on the nice blued barrel.
In practice, most people store guns barrel up with no problems, though.
As to shotguns, there is no reason a gun just sitting in a rack should have its stock crack.
You might consider loosening the stock/receiver bolt *IF* you were expecting massive fluctuations in temperature and humidity, but realistically, if that were the case, you probably shouldn't be storing your guns there to begin with.0 -
Many old guns show darkness below the receivers, the result of oil seepage from their barrels and receivers. 0 -
I have a few guns that I stored standing up, and the recoil pad has a flat spot now. but this is after 30 years. 0 -
In many ways it all depends on where you live and are storing the long guns. If you live in a costal or otherwise heavy humidity climate, well you will have to be much more pro active then if you live in the dry low humidity west. Maybe you should be asking more about how to store long guns in your particulat climate, you would probably get info of more use to you then this general question. I live in the dry west and have no problems storing muzzle up. Just remember to cover the scope lenses with some kind of cap.... 0 -
Barrel down seems to be the preferred way, but I know many shooters that do barrel up without problems. I prefer barrel down. 0 -
I've bought numerous older rifles that have been stored muzzle up and have ruined pads. If storing muzzle down make sure there is a good pad for the crown. Now most of my long guns except the ones on call are stored horizontally. One AR I keep ready to go has a bipod on it which keeps the muzzle about 1" off the floor when standing muzzle down. Guns with solid or metal butts won't make much diff as long they are not overlubed. A customer brought in a Winchester Model 12 which had stood in a closet for at least 15 years butt down w/o issues. 0
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