what way do you store your firearm

yog1

when putting your firearm into the safe what way up do you put it, i used to put them all in barrel down stock up, but after a while i started to worry about the crown of the rifles, noticed the crown of the tikka was getting a darker colour than the rest of it, its a stainless barrel, not so worry'd about the shotguns

Liam_D

Butt down muzzle up, that's the way I like to...... Store my guns

Cass

I currently have the shotgun stored barrels down as i haven't used it in some time. I have 2 clean rags folded over and under the barrels to absorb any residual oil and i change this weekly, just in case.

The rifles i always store barrel up. They are never in the safe for more than a few days when i have them out and use them. If i am going to store them for a while i still store them barrel up. I make sure there is no oil in the barrels and i make a "roll" of a clean piece of rag and place it in the chamber tight up to the breach so as to collect or mop up any residual oil i may have left behind.

Again i rarely do this as no rifle is ever unused for more than a couple of days at a time.

The handgun is spilt up and stored seperately. It is cleaned to perfection and wrapped in a clean rag and placed in pistol box then into safe. The barrel is also cleaned thoroughly and dryed well. Then wrapped and stored in another safe. Its very small compared to the rifle and shotgun so making sure there is no residual oil is easy to do.

tfox

yog1 wrote: »

when putting your firearm into the safe what way up do you put it, i used to put them all in barrel down stock up, but after a while i started to worry about the crown of the rifles, noticed the crown of the tikka was getting a darker colour than the rest of it, its a stainless barrel, not so worry'd about the shotguns

Why did you store them that way in the first place ...? Never heard of anyone keeping them like that ? Only spot for my cabinet is bolted to the floor so mine go in horizontal, actually much easier to fit them all in that way, but had to make up a wooden rest with leather padding for the stocks to sit in.

yog1

tfox wrote: »

Why did you store them that way in the first place ...? Never heard of anyone keeping them like that ? Only spot for my cabinet is bolted to the floor so mine go in horizontal, actually much easier to fit them all in that way, but had to make up a wooden rest with leather padding for the stocks to sit in.

90%of the people i know have there's stored with the stock down and barrels up, but then again 90% of the people i know say that is "recommended" to store them barrel down so that IF there were any fluids left they would run away from the mechanism,
another possible factor is that most of those 90% are shotgun users and have little experience of rifles,

its also worth noting that these rifles are brand new and the oldest was brought home in may, and the youngest was brought home in sept, i just hope that in this short time no damage was done,

yog1

ezridax wrote: »

I currently have the shotgun stored barrels down as i haven't used it in some time. I have 2 clean rags folded over and under the barrels to absorb any residual oil and i change this weekly, just in case.

The rifles i always store barrel up. They are never in the safe for more than a few days when i have them out and use them. If i am going to store them for a while i still store them barrel up. I make sure there is no oil in the barrels and i make a "roll" of a clean piece of rag and place it in the chamber tight up to the breach so as to collect or mop up any residual oil i may have left behind.

this probably is the best solution i have been told,
here's a real newbe question, is it as important to clean a rim fire as often as you's clean a center fire, and where would you find a bore guide for a cz 452, in the north preferably, try'd tannyoky but they didn't have anything that fitted, must try mccloy,s and yer man from young guns

Tackleberrywho

Sore my firearms upwards.
The bottom of my cabinet has soft rubbery type material either way.

I wrap an old bed sheet around teh barrel of my shotty if leaving for a while.
This by the way is the bed sheet I lay down when I lay her out to clean so it is well oiled.

I don't leave any off my firearms in a cabinet long anyway so I will always have them out every few days or so.

IMvHO the best thing is a good cleaning before putting in.
The Remington spray I got off intershoot is the bees knees on my shotty, even can withstand a rain shower!

Most important part of cabinet is that it does not have temperature variations creating condensation.

I leave a thermometer in with mine and every time I open her she is the same temp.
Some guys install dehumidifiers too.

Cass

yog1 wrote: »

, is it as important to clean a rim fire as often as you'd clean a center fire,

Depends on the usage. With centerfires you have copper fouling and other deposits which must be removed after use. The .22 is not as bad. A light cleaning often generally does the trick with a "serious" strip down and clean every 6 months. Honestly, i used to clean my .22lr about every 250 -500 rounds. No need to go to town on the cleaning though. The fouling of a rimfire will not be as stubborn to remove as a centrefire.

and where would you find a bore guide for a cz 452, in the north preferably, try'd tannyoky but they didn't have anything that fitted, must try mccloy,s and yer man from young guns

Try intershoot ( he is on here using the same user name as the shop name), Mourne shooting grounds in Monaghan (ask for Sean) or as you said Eunan in McCloys. They are the only 3 i know other than Cecil in Tannyoky.

michael999999

under my pillow!

Cass

michael999999 wrote: »

under my pillow!

Liam_D

yog1 wrote: »

this probably is the best solution i have been told,
here's a real newbe question, is it as important to clean a rim fire as often as you's clean a center fire, and where would you find a bore guide for a cz 452, in the north preferably, try'd tannyoky but they didn't have anything that fitted, must try mccloy,s and yer man from young guns

The only place I ever saw a bore guide for a 452 was on the eric brooks website. If it helps I cleaned mine once and it took 50 rounds to bring it back to the way it was shooting before I cleaned it so I don't plan to clean the barrel again anytime soon unless the accuracy starts dropping off

mayfly36

Hi guys. 1st post. Shotguns stored butt down, but my rilfes are stored butt up. As mentioned above this is to stop and fluids running into the trigger mechanism etc from cleaning, as i leave my mod on. Ref the above, same here my .17 needs a box or 2 to get back to the way it shot before cleaning, so now i tend to leave alone until really necessary, apart from the moderator, it gets a clean as soon as i see a built up off powder residue.

bore guide possibly here. If your worried about marking the bore when cleaning, just get 1 nylon coated rod, tannyoke guns do them, i got 1 for my annie.
http://www.thegunshop.co.uk/bore_guides.htm

Cass

Brownells do a line of bore guides for rimfires, but honestly if you have/get a rod with either a plastic/rubber coating or made from carbon fibre anything other than raw steel so it won't scratch, tear, mark or damage the breach in any way then a bore guie is unnecessary.

Cass

mayfly36 wrote: »

............. as i leave my mod on.

Welcome aboard.

Small piece of personal advice. Do NOT store your rifle in any way with the mod on. Even for a few days at a time it may/will cause pitting and damage the crown.

FISMA

Yep, I put my firearms muzzle down. I don't want any residuals creeping down into the action, bolt, pin, or whatever.

Put an inch of foam at the bottom - it works for me.

deerhunter1

yog1 wrote: »

when putting your firearm into the safe what way up do you put it, i used to put them all in barrel down stock up, but after a while i started to worry about the crown of the rifles, noticed the crown of the tikka was getting a darker colour than the rest of it, its a stainless barrel, not so worry'd about the shotguns

Long term storage barrels down,

mayfly36

ezridax wrote: »

Welcome aboard.

Small piece of personal advice. Do NOT store your rifle in any way with the mod on. Even for a few days at a time it may/will cause pitting and damage the crown.

cheers, will d.o as so many different answers from so many different people, ive only had the rifles for about 6 months, believe it or not i have stored them butt down until someone else told me butt up about 2 weeks ago, so i was doing it right after all. But will remove the mod from now on and leave the butt up. Thanks for the advise.

FISMA

michael999999 wrote: »

under my pillow!

Was just about to say: "does horizontal under my pillow count."

yog1

deerhunter1 wrote: »

Long term storage barrels down,

how long is long term, for me a firearm might not get out for a few months then they'd be out every day for a week or two then back in, depends on what the season is and how busy i am on the farm

yog1

FISMA wrote: »

Yep, I put my firearms muzzle down. I don't want any residuals creeping down into the action, bolt, pin, or whatever.

Put an inch of foam at the bottom - it works for me.

what type of foam, hard/soft ect where'd you get it

Tackleberrywho

yog1 wrote: »

how long is long term, for me a firearm might not get out for a few months then they'd be out every day for a week or two then back in, depends on what the season is and how busy i am on the farm

season to season = Long term
day to day/week = short term IMHO, reallly has more to do with storage conditions, damp atmosphere rust can appear in front of you! Dry air is best cure for no damp and or WD40 on any exposed parts

In regards to mods on or off, I have tried both, Mod off on Stell barrel, and mod on on Stainless for 3 years no with no ill effect.

I use a nice coating of remington spray oil on th esteel mod, as it is a great rust preventor.

bunny shooter

Personally, I would never go near a firearm with WD40

Cass

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

In regards to mods on or off, I have tried both, Mod off on Stell barrel, and mod on on Stainless for 3 years no with no ill effect.

Its really down to mod make up as opposed to barrel make up that effects the crown, but is it not easier to just remove it rather than take the chance it will damage the crown.

Tackleberrywho

bunny shooter wrote: »

Personally, I would never go near a firearm with WD40

Why out of interest?

Tackleberrywho

ezridax wrote: »

Its really down to mod make up as opposed to barrel make up that effects the crown, but is it not easier to just remove it rather than take the chance it will damage the crown.

I should have specified, the mod on the stainless is also stainless.
The Mod on the steel is also steel and I pay more attention to that mod for that reason, and periodically inspect.

bunny shooter

I have WD40 at home just never use it on my firearms.

Won't even use 3 in 1 on 'em :eek:

When I was younger and starting out I was always told to use oils designed for firearms and I have and do.

WD40 is great for opening stuck padlocks and driving out water but I don't think it was designed for firearms

Tackleberrywho

bunny shooter wrote: »

I have WD40 at home just never use it on my firearms.

Won't even use 3 in 1 on 'em :eek:

When I was younger and starting out I was always told to use oils designed for firearms and I have and do.

WD40 is great for opening stuck padlocks and driving out water but I don't think it was designed for firearms

Well, I have used all gun oils up and down the years. A relative used to sell them so I used to get free samples!

WD40 works well on some parts.
As previously mentioned, I also have Forrests foam, Hoppes Benchrest, Remington rust preventor spray amongst many other forms of oils and lubes.

Most gun oils if you analysed them are very simialar if not teh same to other oils.
You just have to be able to read up on them, if you ever were curious

http://www.msds.com/

It has every chemical listed and its composition, side effects etc.
A lot of Oils out there may just have an additive in them, that one can add themselves.

FISMA

Out one night with the Uncle, who walked land he hadn't been on, probably in ten years or so.

Well, it got dark and no-one had a light - epic fail, never again.

Anyhow, they've now put in drains. Some drains almost more canal like than anything. I'm younger and can swim, so of course, I take the lead.

Eventually, I wind up waste deep in water. No big deal, my choice as I could see that this small sacrifice was getting me out of the bog sooner than later.

The only problem was the 10ft high ditch I had to climb. The plants, I figured would help me pull myself up.

I get over, and throw the empty shotgun up to the top, gingerly and it stays. I reach up grab some rushes and shotgun falls into water - epic fail #2.

I grab it, curse, drain it, curse some more, look at it and then double curse.

Anyhow, when I get home it gets the hose first and then a can of WD40 and I mean a can. However, everything gets stripped after. The WD40 lives up to its name by making sure all of the Water is Displaced. I dry it out, shoot Rem Oil over everything and some Hoppes #9 on other parts. To this day, she hasn't a spot of rust on her, inside or out.

I also would not hesitate to put some on a rag and wipe down a shooter/field gun to keep the outside lubed.

However, if I had a Merkel, Fox, or some other nice field gun, I may do a bit more research.

As for foam, nothing special, just soft stuff. The same stuff that comes with the firearm cases. Sometimes it comes as packaging in stuff that you get mailed.

bunny shooter

Tac,

I deal with MSDS in my workplace

I reckon it is hard to teach this old dog new tricks

I had a shotgun in a drain too. I applied the same remedy as above without the WD40 and had the same outcome

yog1

FISMA wrote: »

Anyhow, when I get home it gets the hose first and then a can of WD40 and I mean a can. However, everything gets stripped after. The WD40 lives up to its name by making sure all of the Water is Displaced. I dry it out, shoot Rem Oil over everything and some Hoppes #9 on other parts. To this day, she hasn't a spot of rust on her, inside or out.

.

did you spray the wd 40 in round the mechanism, is it hard to strip a shotgun down to its bits to put lube ect on the right places

Tackleberrywho

bunny shooter wrote: »

Tac,

I deal with MSDS in my workplace

I reckon it is hard to teach this old dog new tricks

I had a shotgun in a drain too. I applied the same remedy as above without the WD40 and had the same outcome

Yer not that auld Bunny!
Did you ever go into a gun shop and buy GUN CLEANING BRUSHES brass etc. say €5

Go to any good eng supply sore and buy the exact same brushes for €.50 each or less?

Gun Oil generally just is an excuse to add a few shillins on.

FISMA

I fell in a drain 0nce doing my attempt at Fierljeppen as seen on TV.
However I should have chosen my stick better and ended up arse over ti*s in the foulest smelling water.

The shotty got a blowdown with an air line and a generous helping of WD40.
The only one who was not as easily fixed weas mise

T'was a long walk home in soaked clothing smelling like sh*t so I could not even ring the bro or Da to come collect me as I stank like a Puck goat!

tfox

Went up to my armpits in a pond once trying to retrieve a teal I'd shot !! VERY unnerving experience, I'm 6ft1 and my feet still couldnt touch the bottom, kinda bottomless sludge of decades of rotten leaves had to almost walk through it !! Anyway my AYA went right under the water, all got taken apart, wiped down, every nook and cranny blown out with airline, wiped again with oily rag, sprayed with WD, degreased, then oiled as per usual cleaning !! All looks works beautifully to this day anyway !!

Glanton

Store mine horizontally

bunny shooter

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Yer not that auld Bunny!
Did you ever go into a gun shop and buy GUN CLEANING BRUSHES brass etc. say €5

Go to any good eng supply sore and buy the exact same brushes for €.50 each or less?

Gun Oil generally just is an excuse to add a few shillins on

I feel that old

Yes I did I think I was paying €5 per brush :eek: but not anymore Have a new supplier

Few shillings is OK Few €'s is another story

FISMA

yog1 wrote: »

did you spray the wd 40 in round the mechanism, is it hard to strip a shotgun down to its bits to put lube ect on the right places

I was really only concerned about the trigger area. There's was some factory lube that I did not have.

As for the bolt, it got disassembled. Actually, it was this time that I figured out how to fully take down my shotgun - not just an every day clean.

WD40 is fine in the extreme case, when you know there's water in the nooks and crannies that just has to come out.

In general, I clean and spray with Rem Oil.

Keep in mind WD40 is NOT a lubricant, it is a penetrant. Rem Oil is a lubricant.

sfakiaman

yog1 wrote: »

where would you find a bore guide for a cz 452, in the north preferably, try'd tannyoky but they didn't have anything that fitted, must try mccloy,s and yer man from young guns

A 20 gauge shotgun case with the primer knocked out will do the job.

Manic Moran

All my rifles are stored either horizontally or muzzle-up. I can't recall ever seeing an arms room in either the US or Irish militaries, or a rifle club, where the rifles are stored muzzle-down.

I can't think of any mechanical reason muzzle-down is bad, it just seems to balance more easily with the muzzle up.(Especially if I'm just leaning it against the wall).

The comments about catching excess oil, though leave me bemused. I don't know what sort of cleaning regimen you guys are using that you have oil running down your rifles when you store them.

NTM

Cass

The comments about catching excess oil, though leave me bemused. I don't know what sort of cleaning regimen you guys are using that you have oil running down your rifles when you store them.

It is not like the oil is put into the rifle barrel and then thrown into the safe. Having thoroughly cleaned my firearm(s) and putting it/them away for "long term" storage i have no oil, however its a precaution. Ever heard the old saying "prevention is better than cure". I would sooner take a few extra minutes and ensure that any excess or "missed" oily spots cannot make their way into the mechanism of the firearm.

Manic Moran

ezridax wrote: »

Ever heard the old saying "prevention is better than cure". I would sooner take a few extra minutes and ensure that any excess or "missed" oily spots cannot make their way into the mechanism of the firearm.

Yes, the prevention is to not excessively oil your firearm in the first place.

NTM

Cass

Correct hence the reason i put in my first post ;

ezridax wrote:

I make sure there is no oil in the barrel(s) ...................

Any time i store any firearm away for a period of time the rag is dry and clean when i remove it. Hence no excess/any oil left in the firearm. Still i would sooner the rag absorb any that may be there rather than have is seep into the internal mechanism of the rifle/shotgun. Whats the problem with that?