HD AR: How do you "store it"

[BoppaBear]

This is for the "bump in the night" rifle. The one that you grab first. Was reading another thread that got me wondering.

Do you keep a mag in it, without a round chambered (bolt forward)? Do you keep a mag in it, with a round chambered as you would a HD pistol or shotgun? Or, do you keep it bolt forward, with a ready mag near by?

Just curious as to what others do.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jay Cunningham]

I keep it cocked, on safe, mag in, no round in chamber.

[JDM]

I keep it cocked, on safe, mag in, no round in chamber.

This + Aimpoint on.

[Jay Cunningham]

This + Aimpoint on.

Agree.

[BoppaBear]

I do the same as far as condition and Aimpoint. It's nice to be able to leave it on all the time. I switch batteries annually, but that's just to be safe.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jay Cunningham]

I also think sling is legitimately optional for the HD scenario. I've gone back and forth on it, though.

[JDM]

I also think sling is legitimately optional for the HD scenario. I've gone back and forth on it, though.

I like the idea of a sling-less HD piece. Fewer things to get tangled up in at 0200 the better, IMO.

To this end, I have two different, but identical Magpull MOE stocks. One has my VTAC sling on it, and the other doesn't. When I go to the range, the sling goes on, and when I get home it comes off.

The front of the sling is on a quick release attachment.

[Jay Cunningham]

I'm a huge fan of QD attachments front and back. Never had one let go on me.

[Josh Runkle]

I keep it cocked, on safe, mag in, no round in chamber.

I keep it the same way, but red dot turned off, sling off, suppressor on, 28 rds.

Here's my thinking on red dot: if it is immediate enough that you don't have enough time to turn on the apparatus, they're close enough that you can still ghost through the red dot without any sights. Try shooting at 10 yards with the red dot off and shooting where you "think" the dot is. You'll be amazed at how good your shots are. So, I figure, keeping the red dot off protects it from battery failure or even something extremist like an EMP.

[Jay Cunningham]

I treat Aimpoints like I treat a digital watch; I don't take the battery out whenever I'm not checking the time.

[Chuck Haggard]

My house AR is also my patrol rifle. It stays full mag, Aimpoint on, chamber empty, safety on.

[Little Creek]

I would like to hear everyones thoughts on "weapon lights" for their HD carbines. Make, model, mount, lumens, etc. Thanks in advance.

[Jay Cunningham]

I have a SF Mini Scout light on mine.

[rob_s]

I would like to hear everyones thoughts on "weapon lights" for their HD carbines. Make, model, mount, lumens, etc. Thanks in advance.

SUREFIRE X300 at 12 o'clock

As to the original question, mag in, another mag in Redimag, chamber empty, bolt forward, Aimpoint on, sling off, no irons.

I had some interesting experiences during a range trip earlier this year where our group was encouraged to arrive and shoot the drills, pistol and carbine, in the exact conditions they would normally be in. So everyone arrived and shot the first pistol drill from their concealment holster and with their carry ammo, and then we went to carbines (some patrol, some HD) and shot them exactly as they would sit in the safe/closet/rack. The Aimpoint on my HD gun started turning on and off under recoil. Dot was there when I started, fired the first shot and it shut off, and thereafter the dot was only visible in recoil. Finished the drill simply indexing through the tube and got all A-zone hits out to 25 yards. Lowered my confidence in Aimpoints in general (no way to function test for that issue without shooting the gun) but boosted my confidence in my ability to deal with a failure inside the house.

[BoppaBear]

I keep a sling on my gun, but it's attached w QD swivels and the sling can get dumped easily.

For my light setup, I have a SF EB1 Back-up (click switch tail cap) in a VTAC mount at 3 o'clock. This puts the light at 1 o'clock right next to my BUIS.

The light setup is basically the same thing as the SF Mini L4, sans being the VTAC SF light w VTAC markings, and my EB1 is 200 lumens.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LSP972]

My "normal" HD shoulder weapon is a shotgun. But during power outages, hurricanes, native unrest (coming soon to a neighborhood near you if GZ is acquitted), etc. I break out a carbine.

Stock Colt 6720, Colt 20 round aluminum magazine (with a six-pack of aluminum 30 rounders handy), AimPoint H-1 "on", with the bra removed, el cheapo Command Arms V-thingie that bolts to the upper handguard and allows attaching a TLR-1 at ten or two o'clock (ten for me), and some sort of 'gunfighter' sling/VTAC clone/etc. that was recommended to me by an acquaintance. To be honest, the old issue one piece thin nylon strap with a plain buckle at each end works as well, for my needs (old retired fart defending the homestead). My days of "operating" are long over.

And, oh... definitely have a round chambered. If I'm concerned enough to get the thing out of the safe, I'm concerned enough to keep it within arm's reach (or slung), and ready. IOW, it doesn't get stood in a corner and left there.

.

[LSP972]

Here's that "V-thingie". Probably not approved by the Sheepdog Operators who insist on the latest/greatest everything... but you know what?

It works just fine.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/caa-triple-rail-mount-for-ar15-m16-m4-handguard.html

.

[ToddG]

Covered in dust, locked in a safe, behind a locked door, in a closet, in the basement, unloaded.

:cool:

[NETim]

Here's that "V-thingie". Probably not approved by the Sheepdog Operators who insist on the latest/greatest everything... but you know what?

It works just fine.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/caa-triple-rail-mount-for-ar15-m16-m4-handguard.html

.

I've got one of those on my "old" AR. A TLR 2 is clamped to it. Works great. Puts the thumbswitch right where I like it.

[TGS]

AR15 with a loaded mag, chamber empty, safety on, Burris MTAC at no magnification, turned off. I keep the sling off the rifle, I see no point for a sling on a bump in the night rifle.

[2alpha-down0]

Chambered, safety on. Aimpoint on and sling attached.

[EricP]

Same as everybody else, mag in, Aimpoint and safety on, and chamber empty.

As far as the light goes, Surefire Fury in a Thorntail mount.

[shootist26]

AR:
20 round mag Speer Gold Dot, unchambered, cocked, safety on

870:
5 rounds Federal Flite Control #1 buck, unchambered, uncocked, safety on

Beretta 92G (nightstand):
16 rounds Ranger-T, TLR1, chambered

[Jay Cunningham]

I forgot to say 20 round Lancer AWF mag with 75 gr. TAP.

[JDM]

I forgot to say 20 round Lancer AWF mag with 75 gr. TAP.

Do you load your 20rd mags to 18?

[Jay Cunningham]

If using NHMTGs I usually do, but I load the Lancer into gun to 20.

[Chuck Haggard]

30 round windowed P-Mag

The bottom 28 rounds are 62gr Federal tac bonded. The top two rounds in the mag are issued Hornady 60gr 5.56 that is a special contract loading for our highway patrol guys.

Both rounds shoot to the same POA=POI out to the 100. I keep the cheap and easy to replace stuff as the first two rounds because I chamber/unload rather often. Buying that much tac bonded out of pocket would suck.

Once I cycle out the Federal stuff at the end of the year I have 120 rounds of 64gr Gold Dot that I just picked up to replace it.

[Byron]

I keep it the same way, but red dot turned off...
I figure, keeping the red dot off protects it from battery failure or even something extremist like an EMP.
I'm not sure if you're serious or kidding about the EMP, but that's one of those discussion topics that became really popular on the 'net after one of the CoD games featured such a scenario (i.e. an EMP was detonated, knocking out the protagonist's RDS). I read those threads out of morbid curiosity... and because I enjoy watching people of various levels of scientific knowledge engage in discussion.

Anyway, the consensus that I noted was that it just ain't gonna happen. There were a multitude of reasons why, including the size of the components, the shielding effect of the body of the optic, etc.

As for battery life, take heed of nyeti's comment in the Aimpoint Recommendations (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?6413-Aimpoint-Recommendations) thread:

“Turning the sight off”-DO NOT TURN THEM off on a working gun. Because of the way LED’s work, the batteries will last longer if the sight is simply left on. It takes more power to turn the sight on and off than to simply leave them on. For those really concerned about maximizing battery life, just turn the sight to its lowest setting but not off.

[Jay Cunningham]

It also wears out the switch for no good reason.

[David Armstrong]

Uncocked, bolt forward, safety off, 20-rd magazine in the well downloaded to 18 rounds, no light, iron sights, 2-point military sling. At least that was it when I kept the AR as a house gun. Now I've gone to an M1 Carbine in much the same condition, bolt forward, uncocked, safety off, but with a 15 round mag.

[Steady Up]

I keep my AR loaded (20 round mag, loaded to capacity), bolt forward, empty chamber, safety in "on" position. My Aimpoint doesn't get turned off on my HD carbine.

[SJC3081]

Round in chamber, 28 rounds in mag, safety on, no sling,M4s on and with a Surefire 500-A.

[Little Creek]

Round in chamber, 28 rounds in mag, safety on, no sling,M4s on and with a Surefire 500-A.

Has anyone had a problem seating PMAG30 Gen 2 or Gen 3 magazines with 30 rounds loaded under a closed bolt? Or a PMAG 20 Gen 3 loaded with 20 for that matter?

[Jay Cunningham]

Has anyone had a problem seating PMAG30 Gen 2 or Gen 3 magazines with 30 rounds loaded under a closed bolt? Or a PMAG 20 Gen 3 loaded with 20 for that matter?

I think you need to put it in context: there's a big difference between seating it on a closed bolt on a tac reload vs. administrative handling of the gun when you have all the time in the world. If I was standing online in some damn carbine class I would have them downloaded. If I'm standing in my bedroom making it ready for a bump in the night, I'll load to 20 and evaluate if I've got enough room for a good lock into the gun. That's just me.

[philpac33]

Bolt forward, chamber empty, safety on, 30 rounds of 64gr Speer Gold Dots in a Gen3 PMAG seated, sling on QD, dot lit up.

Light is an Inforce/HSP WML, mounted at 12:00.

[tesseract]

Colt 6920 by the bed, Aimpoint on, safety on, pmag 30, round in chamber. My light is currently a cheap Streamlight in a cheap Viking Tactics mount... I blew all my money on the rifle and optic... ;)

Why so many empty chambers?

[Chuck Haggard]

Why so many empty chambers?

I'm required to carry the gun in the car that way at work, so for me it is commonality of training.

[JDM]

Why so many empty chambers?

A gun with an uncovered trigger guard and a cartridge in the chamber falls outside of my realm of comfort, unless it is within my immediate control (retained upon my person).

I don't walk around my house with an AR slung.

[Cookie Monster]

Why so many empty chambers?[/QUOTE]



I don't know, it is the lack of drop safeties on AR's? Do they have a drop safety?

My HD longguns are lever actions so I roll with an empty chamber. More for the reason that BOM posted.

C. Monster

[Jay Cunningham]

They don't have drop safties but they would need to fall pretty far onto a hard surface to go off.

[Sparks2112]

Why so many empty chambers?

I personally don't want to have to throw a round that cost me $1.50 into the practice pile if I need to unchamber it, so I leave it mag seated, optic on, safety on, chamber empty.

[TGS]

I personally don't want to have to throw a round that cost me $1.50 into the practice pile if I need to unchamber it, so I leave it mag seated, optic on, safety on, chamber empty.

This.

[David Armstrong]

Colt 6920 by the bed, Aimpoint on, safety on, pmag 30, round in chamber. My light is currently a cheap Streamlight in a cheap Viking Tactics mount... I blew all my money on the rifle and optic... ;)

Why so many empty chambers?
A little bit safer should prying hands get to it by error; I'm used to C3 for long guns due to LE and military training background; don't see any real downside to it.

[Tamara]

Why so many empty chambers?

Varying amounts of the above reasons. Plus the fact that my AR is a only going to wind up used in a certain number of situations, all of which are predicated on me having time to go fetch a gun, like "There are overturned, burning cop cars down the street (again)" or "Somebody's been trying to kick in the security door and won't go away," and suchlike. Anything in the zomgneedagunrightnow category is going to be answered with a pistol.

[Rich]

When Charlie hit Punta Gorda , FL I lean up my carbine against my bed.
20rd mag with 1 in chamber and safety and ML2 on.
Power was out for a couple weeks!

Now my carbine is stored in plastic case along with loaded mags. empty chambers aimpoint off and under bed.


Remember to crank up the aimpoint at nighttime.

You don't want a washout

[bzdog]

Varying amounts of the above reasons. Plus the fact that my AR is a only going to wind up used in a certain number of situations, all of which are predicated on me having time to go fetch a gun, like "There are overturned, burning cop cars down the street (again)" or "Somebody's been trying to kick in the security door and won't go away," and suchlike. Anything in the zomgneedagunrightnow category is going to be answered with a pistol.

Yup. In addition, consider if your house burns down and the ammunition goes off. If chambered, you send that projectile... somewhere, at full speed. Unchambered, the ammunition going off should offer fairly low risk.

-john

[Little Creek]

Why so many empty chambers?

I spent over 25 years working for an LE agency that had a long gun condition they called "gun box condition". This was "off cock, off safe, bolt forward, chamber empty, magazine full". Did not matter if it was a SMG, 870, M4, UZI, or MP5. Did not matter if the weapon was in a soft case, hard case, in your hand, etc. Just chamber a round and you are ready to work. As long as you do not chamber a round you are as safe as you are trained to be. Not sayin it is the best way, just sayin.

[BWT]

I'd say the unchambering of ammo. Read DocGKR's findings on rechambering ammo.

It's startling, and you don't want to take chances with the first round out your weapon for self-defense.

It's also the valid point presented by Sparks, Are you going to handle a loaded firearm and get used to walking around with it?

What happens when you want to dry fire it, or practice any kind of drills, or heck, even go shoot it at the practice range.

You shouldn't re-chamber a round for self-defense.

Between wanting to handle the gun again. How quick it is to charge, etc. I'd say don't chamber it for storage. If you think someone's in your house, or like me about 3-4 months ago, you hear the sonic crack of rifle bullets coming nearby your neighborhood (I live near the country, but not *that* near to the country that gun fire is permitted). You may not want to wait until you I.D. a threat to then make your weapon ready.

But as far as storage purposes, empty chamber, I leave the hammer cocked, loaded magazine because I want to leave the safety on.

ETA: Not to say I'm paranoid, but, it was around 8-9 o'clock at night. I heard the first one and thought "...I must've been imagining it." Second one I thought, well, I'm not going to get out in my car and go look for who's shooting a rifle nearby. Because that's an awful idea. I'm also not going to wait until one of those hits the house to have a firearm nearby to try to handle whatever's going on if it comes our way. Walked to the safe, chambered a round in my Arsenal AK (I had been shooting my AR-15 with Wolf and hadn't cleaned it and thought, you know, I don't want to get a stuck brass case in a shooting) set it down near where the family was. It wasn't a rapid fire style thing, probably just somebody touching off a few rounds, but, we don't normally hear gun fire, but we still have cattle across the street. So, it's a coin-flip of "That's definitely gun fire and not too far away... but it doesn't sound aggressive, it may just be an idiot in the woods."

But it was enough to get my attention. Looking back I don't know if I should've called the Police or not. I have in the past for suspicious things such as door to door salesmen coming to our house, acting sketchy and watching them go to other houses in the neighborhood... and proceed to slip around behind the house in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday with not many residents home. I just elected not to that night.

[hossb7]

I keep it the same way, but red dot turned off, sling off, suppressor on, 28 rds.

Here's my thinking on red dot: if it is immediate enough that you don't have enough time to turn on the apparatus, they're close enough that you can still ghost through the red dot without any sights. Try shooting at 10 yards with the red dot off and shooting where you "think" the dot is. You'll be amazed at how good your shots are. So, I figure, keeping the red dot off protects it from battery failure or even something extremist like an EMP.

With an optic like Aimpoint you're measuring battery life in YEARS. worrying about it failing isn't a problem (change it on your birthday to be safe); this combined with quality batteries and you should have your bases covered. Also, leaving the dot off to protect it from something like EMP (very rare) instead of leaving it on to assist with a home invasion/self defense shooting (rare, but less rare than EMP) is IMHO silly. I don't mean this in an offensive way, I just have trouble following your logic.

[Clyde from Carolina]

I tend to leave my long arms condition three due to the reasons already cited by Sparks, David, and Tamara. Pistol is for quick work at home (for me) as long arm isn't my primary as it would be in a military role.

This also helps with training commonality as I can tell my wife, "with the long gun, it will always be chamber empty, safety off, so rack it and go..." with not so much need to reinforce the safety locations of the various M1 Carbines or ARs or shotguns that might be around the home or used for home defense. I like to keep it as simple as possible.

[Slavex]

You sound just like a Canadian dude, welcome.....


Covered in dust, locked in a safe, behind a locked door, in a closet, in the basement, unloaded.

:cool:

[fn/form]

No freshly oiled barrels at bedside, even if it's got a sealed boolit. Firearm was PM'd and then sighting confirmed at range after cleaning. If it's doing bedside duty, it's chambered. Pistol or rifle.

Chambered, 29rds in mag, quick blip of light from Inforce WML, sling against side of rifle via rubber band. Irons up or T1 on, muzzle up and any oil runs into the receiver extension. heh.

A few go-to guns in the safe are stored cruiser ready.

Now I lay me down to sleep...

[Tamara]

No freshly oiled barrels...

Freshly whated whats now? :confused:

:p

[Odin Bravo One]

Covered in dust, locked in a safe, behind a locked door, in a closet, in the basement, unloaded.

:cool:

Yea, me too. Though I do shoot them enough to let them get covered in too much dust.

Locked in a safe, downstairs, next to midgets play pen, unloaded. I have a pistol for HD, and confident enough that it will do what I need it to in the unlikely event I need to use it. I pretty much leave the AR's for hunting.

[ASH556]

I'm curious as to why you guys are all running it hammer cocked and on-safe with an empty chamber? Why not keep it hammer down?

For what it's worth, here's my HD AR: DD MK18, Aimpoint T1, Surefire 6PX in Gear Sector mount. 28 rds of 55gr 5.56 Gold Dots in the magwell, another 28 of the same coupled to it (since I'm not likely to put on pants, a belt, and a mag pouch if things are that dire). Generally I agree with most that mag couplers are less than ideal, but in this scenario, I believe it makes sense. Empty chamber, hammer down.


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3811/9504241845_2dfb928af0_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87859750@N03/9504241845/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87859750@N03/9504241845/) by ASH556 (http://www.flickr.com/people/87859750@N03/), on Flickr

[tremiles]

In my case, it provides an extra layer of safety if someone other than me picks up the rifle, chambers a round and pulls the trigger. Since reciprocations are what wear out spring and not stored compression, there's no lose FOR ME in keeping the hammer cocked (required to engage the safety on an AR).

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[TGS]

Because there is no reason to lower the hammer.

Actually, lowering the hammer just adds an additional step which makes an ND possible: pulling the trigger. Given that, I see more of a reason to leave it safety on than lowering the hammer.