Gun storage
I have recently retired. Plan on spending my winters in Florida. My guns will be staying in upstate NY in my gun safe. Will I have a problem with my guns being stored in the unheated safe for the winter? There will be no heat in the house. Would appreciate any input.
SS
SS
0
-
What is the best thing to apply to your guns that are going to be stored in a safe for awhile and not be used? I was thining of using Rem oil? But was wondering if something works better. YOU GUYS ARE HITTING THIS RIGHT ON THE HEAD. SOME OF THESE GUNS WILL ONLY GET WIPED DOWN ONCE A YEAR. I HAVE A FAIRLY LARGE COLLECTION AND WOULD LIKE TO THINK TWICE A YEAR. BUT TO BE REALISTIC. SOME MAY SEE ONCE A YEAR. SO I'M LOOKING FOR THE BEST.
Thanks0 -
Get SNAP CAPS for your guns they make them for rimfire firearms .Centerfire Pistols and Rifles. as well as Shot Guns. 0 -
+1 on snap caps. Really odd caliber that you cannot find a snap cap? Take a fired case, de-prime it, fill the primer pocket full of the clear caulking compound (whose name escapes me at moment- low blood sugar). Let cure for a few days. Trim any excess. Not as durable as a snap cap, but will do for a few hits. 0 -
Quality springs wear out from repeated cycles of compression-decompression , not from remaining compressed despite urban legend.
One bad thing with dry firing rimfires is you can end up peening the mouth around the chamber and then your rim of the case will not have a solid base under it when the firing pin strikes.
On many bolt action guns you can GENTLY release the firing pin by opening the bolt and then holding the trigger back while gently closing the bolt.0 -
So should I keep my firing pins compressed during storage, or relase pin by slowing locking the bolt while holding the trigger ( just tried, this works on all my rifles minus my shotguns and .22 marlin rimfire)or should i go with snap caps. Id much rather not purchase anything ha ha. 0 -
Yes , I understand not wanting to part with cash. Instead of buying snappers for the .22 marlin , use an empty fired 22 case.
For your scatterguns use snap caps either homemade or store bought.
If it is going to make you lose sleep at night because your springs are compressed then lower the firing pins. Alot of people even store their firearmes with the actions open and in most cases that means the pin is cocked. Many do this for "safety" reasons and many just do it to promote air circulation through the bore.0 -
Keep your firearms hammer down. Like HunterX said, cycling the spring is what causes it to weaken. 0 -
I don't think its strictly necessary to let down the firing pin for storage, but still like to do it.
Its just psychological. I feel the gun is "safer" if its uncocked.
That's even though I *know* it isn't really true. An unloaded gun in a locked container is about as safe as its going to get. If safety were really a prime concern, then the best storage method would be with the gun LOCKED with the action open, or even better, completely disassembled!
Also, with rimfires in particular, if the gun is decocked, you (or someone else) can't accidentally dry fire it, so that doesn't hurt.
The problem with the rimfire "snap caps" is that they're just plastic shells, and they wear out fairly quickly after a limited number of dry-fires. So I just use spent .22 shells instead, rotating them if I want to dry fire more then once (so the firing pin doesn't hit the same place more than once in a row).
With a few notable exceptions, the vast majority of centerfire guns usually are not harmed by dry firing, particularly in limited amounts. So I don't worry too much about doing this.
If you gun has a manual hammer (like most revolvers and many automatics) you can lower it while pulling the trigger to let down the firing pin/decock without a real hard firing pin hit.
If I wanted to really sit there dry firing for hours on end with hundreds or thousands of dry fires, then I would use a snap cap.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments