Storing empty guns?

[LowAndLeft]

No mag obviously...Slide open and locked, slide forward/in place, trigger decocked, etc.? What's best for safety and parts' wear? New guy wants to know, thanks!

[Duelist]

No mag obviously...Slide open and locked, slide forward/in place, trigger decocked, etc.? What's best for safety and parts' wear? New guy wants to know, thanks!

All springs at rest. I keep a magazine in empty pistols, and in the empty bolt actions, but not in the empty ARs.

[Navin Johnson]

Properly manufactured springs operating within their design parameter’s wear out from cycles.

[Clusterfrack]

No mag obviously...Slide open and locked, slide forward/in place, trigger decocked, etc.? What's best for safety and parts' wear? New guy wants to know, thanks!

I don't think it matters with respect to parts wear. Closed actions stay oiled longer. A warm, dry safe is best for preventing corrosion.

But, the safety concern is much more important. I keep loaded guns easily identified, and physically separate from guns I dryfire regularly with. Obviously check any gun to confirm loaded/unloaded every time you handle it. But I like layered safety procedures, and keeping my guns organized in storage adds a layer.

[JCN]

I don't think it matters with respect to parts wear. Closed actions stay oiled longer. A warm, dry safe is best for preventing corrosion.

But, the safety concern is much more important. I keep loaded guns easily identified, and physically separate from guns I dryfire regularly with. Obviously check any gun to confirm loaded/unloaded every time you handle it. But I like layered safety procedures, and keeping my guns organized in storage adds a layer.

I like the Zerust bags. Easy to put gun in bag in safe.

[MickAK]

Not sure I understand the question.

Safety wise keep loaded guns separate from stored empty guns. Safes are a relatively small percentage of the costs of firearms ownership. It's not really something to economize on. Perfectly serviceable safes are very affordable. Quick access safes aren't going to be as secure as storage safes, just the nature of the beast. If you don't need quick access unload it, clear it, look away, clear it and store it. Quick access safes are just better holsters with the corresponding level of responsibility. I don't care what the advertising says.

Parts wear wise there can be very slight differences but It's unlikely to be noticed unless you're arguing on an internet forum. Clean and meticulously oiled guns properly stored aren't likely to notice even in harsh environments. If storing a gun in a certain condition would harm it I'd be really worried about using it.

[TGS]

I don't think it matters with respect to parts wear. Closed actions stay oiled longer. A warm, dry safe is best for preventing corrosion.

Just because I have the habit of letting my house cool to the 50s for days on end if I'm not around....

...why warm? What is the difference between cold and warm? I assumed that humidity was mostly independent of temperature, which is the factor that mattered. I never thought temperature itself had any role.

Not that my guns seem any worse thus far, just curious for the sake of learning.

[Darth_Uno]

Just because I have the habit of letting my house cool to the 50s for days on end if I'm not around....

...why warm? What is the difference between cold and warm? I assumed that humidity was mostly independent of temperature, which is the factor that mattered. I never thought temperature itself had any role.

Not that my guns seem any worse thus far, just curious for the sake of learning.

Humidity and condensation from rapid temperature changes are a much bigger factor than the temperatures themselves.

To answer OP I just store everything with closed chamber, no mag, hammer down/trigger pulled. I actually have a gun room. As a general rule if it's anywhere but the gun room it's safe to say it's loaded. If it is in the gun room it shouldn't be loaded; but I'm not an idiot and still treat them like they might be.

[Clusterfrack]

Just because I have the habit of letting my house cool to the 50s for days on end if I'm not around....

...why warm? What is the difference between cold and warm? I assumed that humidity was mostly independent of temperature, which is the factor that mattered. I never thought temperature itself had any role.

Not that my guns seem any worse thus far, just curious for the sake of learning.

Physics. Warm air can hold more water at a given relative humidity. If you take 50F air at 90%RH and warm it to 70F, the RH will be much lower. (The saturation deficit increases with temperature. )

So, it’s best to have your storage container warmer than the surrounding air.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20221208/85feef18643ee8750bcf771b9d8953fc.jpg

[MickAK]

So, it’s best to have your storage container warmer than the surrounding air.

Best but not always the easiest option.

Insulating the gear in the storage container is the easiest way, which as is simple as keeping them in their cases if you have the space. Not everyone does. Oiled guns in cases/bags could care less about temperature swings.

It doesn't take much auxillary heat to keep the space warmer but it can be a pain to setup. Still, if you lack the space to keep guns in cases/bags a little drilling can save a lot of grief.

[4RNR]

Just because I have the habit of letting my house cool to the 50s for days on end if I'm not around....

...why warm? What is the difference between cold and warm? I assumed that humidity was mostly independent of temperature, which is the factor that mattered. I never thought temperature itself had any role.

Not that my guns seem any worse thus far, just curious for the sake of learning.When I turn on the heater humidity goes down. That's why I'm winter some people get dry skin. Also, if you get electric shocks from touching something....it's because humidity is too low due to heater working.

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[4RNR]

No mag obviously...Slide open and locked, slide forward/in place, trigger decocked, etc.? What's best for safety and parts' wear? New guy wants to know, thanks!You can keep the mag in the gun, slide forward. However you had it in the case when buying is fine.

Quality springs wear out from use

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[DDTSGM]

No mag obviously...Slide open and locked, slide forward/in place, trigger decocked, etc.? What's best for safety and parts' wear? New guy wants to know, thanks!

You've had some arguably good responses.

I'm going to answer with the perspective that you are a fairly new firearms owner.

As others have mentioned, springs wear out from cycles not being held in compression.

For parts wear it doesn't really matter slide locked to the rear or forward. I would base my decision on where the pistol is stored and how likely the pistol is to get dust, etc. on it during storage.

I store my pistols with the slide forward, magazine well empty or with a safe chamber flag inserted and a loaded magazine in the mag well. I don't leave loaded weapons, more correctly weapons with a round chambered OR a loaded magazine inserted and chamber flag in place, laying about unsecured. The exception to that rule are pistols carried on my person, or the pistols concealed in our bedroom, which is locked when we aren't home. I trust two GSD's to give us enough warning to eject the rapid racks if needed.

https://www.safrgun.com/

Whatever you choose, remember the first rule of firearms safety - all guns are always loaded - treat them as such until you have visually and physically confirmed otherwise.

[Tensaw]

I don't think it matters with respect to parts wear. Closed actions stay oiled longer. A warm, dry safe is best for preventing corrosion.

Funny this comes up at this time. In my fairly recent move, the safe went from my climate controlled bedroom to an unheated outbuilding. It gets quite cold in there and metal items in there sometimes develop a coat of moisture on them. I have a goldenrod(?) in the safe, but where previously I could feel the very slight warmth inside the safe when I opened it up, I no longer feel that now that the safe is in the outbuilding. The. guns used to feel very slightly warm to the touch and they no longer do. *But*, my understanding is that the military determined some time ago that all that is needed is for the inside of the safe/storage box to be ever so slightly warmer than the outside temp to ward off condensation/rust inside the safe/storage unit. This to the extent that they came up with the term "hot boxing" (or something along those lines). Am I remembering/understanding this correctly? (Apologies to CF and his sciencey piktchur.)

[RJ]

Unloaded, slide forward, trigger pressed, no mag, in a locked container indoors, wrapped in “Bore-store” soft silicone-impregnated cloth gun cases.

[psalms144.1]

Unloaded. Slide forward. I prefer mag out - just my preference. Locked in a safe or locking hardened closet.

On the issue of cased, etc, just remember that cloth and foam absorb and retain water. I don't recommend storing firearms long term in soft cases because of this.

[BN]

Store the gun complete with all parts needed to put it into service including an empty magazine.

How many times have you heard about somebody inheriting Great Grandpa's old rifle but there's no bolt or magazine. The parts got lost because they were separated.

[JAD]

I'm actually a pretty big fan of the 'all guns are always loaded' metaphysics. To me, this is a question about storage, and part of the context needs to be 'for how long.'

I store all of the guns I'm not regularly carrying or messing with off site. Many of those guns go untouched for years or decades at a time. Sometimes, I do not do a 'long term' procedure, which for me is a little different than a 'not in use right now, likely to be put back in use soon' procedure.

'At rest' procedure: mag out, chamber cleared twice, boresnaked, wiped down, light oil on vulnerable surfaces, operating parts properly lubricated. Pistols are stored in a plastic case (either OEM or MTM) with a little desiccant. Those boxes go into a locked cabinet inside a climate-controlled environment. Guns are in an 'at rest' condition mechanically, so slide forward, not cocked.

'long term' procedure: As above but the guns are pretty darn clean, and have had ballistol applied on vulnerable surfaces.

This approach has not bitten me yet.

The condensation concerns mentioned above are relevant to dewpoint. If the gun is colder than the dewpoint in the area, condensation will happen. The dewpoint, which is expressed as a temperature, moves on a two-axis graph of temperature and relative humidity (I only care about it on boats, so I only think of it at sea level). In order for condensation to happen in a gunsafe, the surrounding atmosphere would have to warm or moisten (moving the dewpoint up) faster than the temperature of the gun's metal could equalize temperature. That can be prevented by ensuring that the gun is always warmer than the storage area, which seems hard, or by keeping the area immediately around the gun dryer than usual so that the gun has more time to equalize.