How do you keep your AR's at home

[iakdrago]

How do you keep you AR pattern rifles at home? For me, it is my defensive carbine. I have the current luxury of not having kids, and as such keeping my pistol/carbine readily accessible. My handgun has no manual safety, always has a round in the chamber, always in a holster--whether on my belt or my nightstand. The before mentioned condition for my pistol gives me a warm fuzzy feeling of being safe to me and others, and yet readily accessible/reliable should i ever need to use it for it's intended purposes.

I keep my AR with a seated loaded magazine, and safety off. Leaving me with charging the charging handle to get it into action. That does not give me the cozy feeling of reliability--there is a chance that a round will not be chambered if the magazine is not quite seated fully. I was wondering how the rest of the world deals with this issue: giving an extra strong tap on the magazine before charging the charging handle or just keeping it with a round in the chamber, and on manual safe.

[Dave J]

My situation is different, since I have young children, and also live on a military installation with some level of access control, and a correspondingly nonexistent crime rate. But even when I was a single guy living in various civilian communities, my ARs were always cleared and in the safe. Handgun was the primary, and I'd typically have a shotgun in cruiser ready stashed in the bedroom, just in case.

My reasoning was basically that it was much more likely that I'd be burglarized while I was away, and I'd rather lose a $150 shotgun than a $1500 AR. Conversely, I have difficulty imagining a home invasion scenario that I couldn't adequately solve with a pistol and shotgun, especially keeping in mind that there's no guarantee you'll have time to access anything other than your pistol anyway. If a major riot breaks out in the streets nearby, I probably have time to upgrade my weapons posture as things develop. If I have time to access the AR, I have time to insert a mag, load/press check/etc. I suppose if I lived in a crime- and gang-ridden urban area, I might view things differently...but if I really felt an AR was required, it'd be in Condition 1 and I'd be wearing it on the sling around the house!

regards,
Dave

[JHC]

Not owning a defensive shotgun presently I keep one AR (BCM mid-length, LW barrel upper on LMT lower, DD fixed irons and TL3 light) with a magazine of 75 grain TAP seated, chamber empty. Its easy enough to confirm seated mag and forcefully charge the gun - so I don't think that's a major weakness to Condition 3 for a stashed AR.

[JHC]

My situation is different, since I have young children, and also live on a military installation with some level of access control, and a correspondingly nonexistent crime rate. But even when I was a single guy living in various civilian communities, my ARs were always cleared and in the safe. Handgun was the primary, and I'd typically have a shotgun in cruiser ready stashed in the bedroom, just in case.

My reasoning was basically that it was much more likely that I'd be burglarized while I was away, and I'd rather lose a $150 shotgun than a $1500 AR. Conversely, I have difficulty imagining a home invasion scenario that I couldn't adequately solve with a pistol and shotgun, especially keeping in mind that there's no guarantee you'll have time to access anything other than your pistol anyway. If a major riot breaks out in the streets nearby, I probably have time to upgrade my weapons posture as things develop. If I have time to access the AR, I have time to insert a mag, load/press check/etc. I suppose if I lived in a crime- and gang-ridden urban area, I might view things differently...but if I really felt an AR was required, it'd be in Condition 1 and I'd be wearing it on the sling around the house!

regards,
Dave

I think that is pretty solid reasoning too. I used to have 12 ga pump for that purpose too. But it got cannibalized to fund a very expensive 1911 along with quite a bit of the herd.

[Dave J]

After re-reading the original post, it sounds like you're asking the question more from a mechanical standpoint...so setting aside what I posted above, if I did chose to keep an AR in the role you describe, I'd prefer it to be Condition 1 (loaded/chambered/on safe), and stored in something such as an electronic lock single-gun vault with the muzzle oriented into a bullet-safe backstop. I'd agree that the risk of inducing a malfunction during loading, although slight, is real...and under extreme circumstances it's at least possible that one might shortcut the press check.
If you decide to basically stick with what you're doing, I'd leave the safety on, and just check the hammer spring as a maintenance item.

HTH, Dave

[JHC]

I choose NOT to load the magazine to full 30 round capacity to make charging slightly easier. It could be an obsolete old habit but I don't load them with more than 28 rds.

[Dave J]

I choose NOT to load the magazine to full 30 round capacity to make charging slightly easier. It could be an obsolete old habit but I don't load them with more than 28 rds.

It may be an old habit, but certainly not obsolete IMHO!

[JHC]

It may be an old habit, but certainly not obsolete IMHO!

See I wasn't sure about that. After learning in the '70's to only load 20 rounders with 18, then 28 in a 30; I've since read Pat Rogers articles that modern 30 rounders are GTG with 30 but I've never even tried to reconsider. ;)

[JSGlock34]

Whether storing in Condition One or Condition Three, I'd have the manual safety on. The safety should be coming off only when you are on target and ready to fire. There is virtually no time advantage to keeping the manual safety disengaged.

As for seating the magazine, a good 'push-pull' before putting the rifle into the rack should take care of any seating problems.

[Jay Cunningham]

949 950

[tremiles]

I also have no children and keep my AR with a loaded mag empty chamber, safety on while at home, and stowed in the safe when away. As I live in a multi unit building, the AR with fragging 75-77gr HP's is a better solution FOR ME than a shotgun.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

[JDM]

When I'm home the rifle is out of the gun safe. I keep it with a loaded magazine in the gun, empty chamber, safety on, aimpoint on.

[NETim]

I've completely given up keeping mine at home. They're prone to stray. :)

Bedside gun is kept with an empty chamber and a 30 round mag inserted.

[Jason F]

Loaded mag, empty chamber, safety on, in the safe.

But I do have small children in the house, so handguns are definitely the primary weapon for both my wife & I. A situation where it lasts long enough for me to deploy the AR? Unlikely unless Red Dawn happens out here in suburban Atlanta somewhere.

[DBLAction454]

My reasoning was basically that it was much more likely that I'd be burglarized while I was away, and I'd rather lose a $150 shotgun than a $1500 AR.

Big +1.

Rifles and high quality items stowed away in a non movable (at least for the intruders) safe.

Fighting but on a budget shotgun at the ready for home invasion.


-DBLAction454

[wJAKE19]

To the OP: why store the long gun with the safety off?

[JMS]

Called "cruiser-ready," in some circles: Ensure empty gun, disengage safety, pull the trigger on an empty chamber, no NOT cycle the bolt, insert magazine.

On most AR-pattern guns, the safety cannot be engaged when the hammer's forward (the HK416/M27 can, I'm uncertain of any others), so the weapon isn't really "hot" until the CH is cycled, and the idea is that all one has to do is yank the CH to be ready to go.

Pointing out that one must now remember to engage the safety if there's no immediate need to shoot is a valid concern. If one's kids are strong enough to pull the CH themselves, it's very little different than just leaving the thing in Condition 1.

I have no kids, so I just leave mine in Condition 1.

[Chemsoldier]

Because of the critters the AR stays in the big safe with a bag of magazines next to it.

The home defense handgun is in a heavy duty pistol box on the night stand.

If ShotLock ( http://www.shotlock.com/ ) ever makes an AR version I might get one.

[digiadaamore]

I will very soon have an ar in the house for the purpose of being the primary hd gun in the house, i am considering the choice of condition one vs cruiser ready. I am i right that an ar is not drop safe? Is condition one a liability if the rifle could be knocked over? I would prefer condition one but the drop safety issue is making me think cruiser ready is the way to go

[JMS]

It's about as likely to slam-fire if dropped or knocked over as you are to be elected Pope.

Meaning, yes, it's possible, but only on a level of likelihood that doesn't justify worry on any practical level.

[Odin Bravo One]

I will very soon have an ar in the house for the purpose of being the primary hd gun in the house, i am considering the choice of condition one vs cruiser ready. I am i right that an ar is not drop safe? Is condition one a liability if the rifle could be knocked over? I would prefer condition one but the drop safety issue is making me think cruiser ready is the way to go

I've seen Condition 1 loaded carbines launched out of helicopters, and launched from 5 story buildings. Theoretically a drop fire could happen. But if 5 stories won't do it, or 60' out of a helicopter, not likely that it falling over from the nightstand will do it either.

I just keep mine like I keep my girl..............cleared, condition 4, and locked in the safe.

[MDS]

I just keep mine like I keep my girl..............cleared, condition 4, and locked in the safe.

I'm not the tactics police or anything, but for me, in my ao and with my roe's, this would make for too much work every time I needed a sandwich... ;)

[digiadaamore]

I've seen Condition 1 loaded carbines launched out of helicopters, and launched from 5 story buildings. Theoretically a drop fire could happen. But if 5 stories won't do it, or 60' out of a helicopter, not likely that it falling over from the nightstand will do it either.

I just keep mine like I keep my girl..............cleared, condition 4, and locked in the safe.

Ah good first hand experience, how did the guns fare? Still fully functional?

[Odin Bravo One]

Yeah, I'm a big man when she isn't looking over my shoulder at what I type. And I have some breathing room between me and the dog house for awhile.

Yes, the guns survived the falls. Of course, 99% of the domestic shooting world probably would have cried due to cosmetic blemishes.

[Tamara]

No kids in the house.

Stored behind a closed door where the cats can't knock it over or anything, and "cruiser ready"*, with a full mag, empty chamber, and safety off. The single-point sling is coiled up with a rubber band and there's a second loaded mag next to the gun to be grabbed and stuffed in a pocket or waistband.

In any scenario where I have time to go get the long gun, the plan is to charge it up and either shoot the bad guy (if there is one who is an immediate threat) right then and there, or put the safety on and bunker down with the cell phone and await the cavalry.


*The "cruiser ready" part isn't because I'm a'feared of the gun going off or anything, but because the gun is handled administratively a jillion times more often than it is For Realz. That, and the carbine is not the First Line Of Defense at Roseholme Cottage. If I've got time to run get the long gun, then I've got time to juice it up. If pirates, zombies, and ninjas are spilling through broken windows all of a sudden, I'll be using the pistol on my hip, not running to fetch a rifle, Clint Smith (PBUH) to the contrary...