How do YOU store your ARs?

[taliv]

Why not store with bolt open, on a full mag? Serious question... (New AR15 owner here...)

there are a few AR15 safety gotchas that aren't obvious. remove the magazine from your rifle and verify the chamber is empty. lock the bolt to the rear. point the muzzle up and make sure 'up' is a safe direction. hold the rifle muzzle up about 3-6" off the ground. let go.

now, imagine if you'd had a loaded magazine inserted. normally not a huge deal, but combine it with any one of a number of other unlikely events and you could have an unfortunate ND with what you thought was a rifle in a 'safe' condition

 

[herrwalther]

Always store my ARs the same way. Muzzle up, magazine out, chamber empty, bolt closed, dust cover closed, safety on semi, and trigger pulled. I worked under a retired Marine gunny armorer and picked up his habit of dropping the hammer to relieve the springs in the lower receiver for long term storage. Whether it actually does or not, old habits die hard.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I leave my duty gun in an armory at the end of every shift. I leave the bolt back and cover open . That way, I can grab it at the beginning of my shift with one hand and inspect it for being unloaded.

 

[CapnMac]

In safe, muzzle up, no magazine (spot in safe will not allow a mag), bolt & DC closed, hammer down.

If needs must, there is a magazine (20 rd) of Nosler 65ge varmint on the near-by adjacent shelf. Which is on the opposite side to the 30 round mag M-198 55gr ball (if needs really must--thus the dissimilar mag shapes, for tactile recognition).

 

[briansmithwins]

Personally, I think the critical thing is to be consistent. It doesn't really matter that much if you store rifles muzzle up or down, with loaded magazine or not, or with the hammer down or not, as long as everything is done the same way all the time, without variation.

BSW

 

[taliv]

why would it need to be consistent?

 

[briansmithwins]

why would it need to be consistent?

1) Safety. All the rifles in my safe are stored the same way. There is no 'It ain't loaded. BS because they are all loaded. If they were stored unloaded, they would all be unloaded, so there wouldn't be any chance of needing a loaded firearm and getting a empty one.

2) Good habits will save you butt. Having ritualistic actions* around firearms means you always do the same thing, no matter if you're tired, wet, sleepy, or sick. The guns are always the way you expect the to be, no matter if you're heading to the range or grabbing something because it's o'dark thirty and glass is breaking downstairs.

3) If everything is always done the same way people that live with you know what to expect. Wives, kids, close friends** don't have to guess what condition a gun is in if they need a gun.

BSW

*Assuming you have good habits.

**As in 'help you bury a body'.

 

[FAS1]

The same way I store my HD shotgun that also has a combo pistol grip/butt stock. Muzzle down with grip toward me so I can grab it by the pistol grip if needed.

 

[Eb1]

I generally keep NRA flags in the bolt/chamber to show they are safe and will not fire when they are in the safe. If out of the safe they are carried that way when traveling. On the range when a cease fire is called, flag goes in the bolt/chamber. The range master knows it is clear.

Now the one under the bed has a full mag with the bolt closed, and the safety on. I wipe it down once a month. Never any issues, and I check the Aimpoint battery frequently, bur the sights are co-witnessed so if the battery fails I can still use the peep sight.

 

[jmorris]

I go with stock down storage until there is no more room then fill in the little gaps with muzzles before buying anther gun safe.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

All of my AR's are stored muzzle up. My "AR safe" is a rifle or two away from hanging a "no vacancy" sign on the door. I have a few SBR's but my NFA stuff is in a different safe. You guys got me thinking that maybe I should alternate between muzzle up and muzzle down to conserve some room. I'm currently in the process of having a new house built. At that point my safe problems will be over but until then I think I'm gonna try alternating muzzle direction.

 

[Zerodefect]

Muzzle up. Empty, hammer down, safety off, no magazine. Rather dry.

One or two of them is Muzzle up, muzzle e taped, bolt closed, hammer down, safety off, full magazine. Ready to go. I check to make sure grease is where it's supposed to be only, every other week or so, as needed. My current lubes don't seem to get to the ammo.

If you put a live round into every weapon in my safe without me knowing. It would make no difference. None at all. Consistency isn't in how you store weapons, it's in how you pick them up. Nothing wrong with everything in the safe being in the same condition though.

I chamber check every weapon I touch. All the time. Doesn't matter if you hand it to me, if it's on my belt, or if it's sitting on the shelf at your LGS. Hand me a gun and say "hot gun" or "empty", and I'll still press check.

Chamber check, every time.

 

[benEzra]

My AR is my only HD long gun, so it is stored in the safe with the magazine inserted, chamber loaded, safety on, dust cover closed.

I run my AR rather "wet" with oil, so I prefer to store it muzzle up to keep oil out of the chamber. Stored muzzle up, any oil that seeps over time will drain into the buffer tube (which needs lubrication anyway), rather than into the chamber where it might potentially contaminate the primer of the chambered round. It is a fairly shallow safe, so I don't muzzle myself getting it out.

 

[Fossil4Life]

I'm hesitant to leave my AR with the bolt closed. What is the reasoning for this other than it releases the tension on the buffer spring?

 

[Dr.Rob]

2 of them Muzzle down, door open, hammer down, bolt closed on an empty chamber. (This is because they are in my smaller safe and it's a space saving measure as both have optics.)

There's a 20 rd mag loaded in the safe. My Colt 6920 would be my go-to rifle.

My dedicated .22 is stored muzzle up in my larger safe. Again bolt closed, hammer down, door open, and empty chamber.

A closed bolt helps keep any stray lube out of the bore,

I never really use the 'door' on any of them, I just leave it open.

 

[sealer]

just like all my other guns
dennis

 

[bikemutt]

I keep my AR lowers in one safe, the uppers in another. I have just a few lowers and many uppers, never know what I may feel like shooting any given day

 

[Zach S]

I'm hesitant to leave my AR with the bolt closed. What is the reasoning for this other than it releases the tension on the buffer spring?

None, directly or indirectly... Directly, obviously, it releases tension on the buffer spring.

Indirectly, with the bolt locked back, all it takes it a sharp jolt to close it. If you have a magazine inserted, it would chamber a round. I wouldn't go that route...

One could say that it would be quicker to deploy, since you just have to insert a mag and hit the bolt release. But you also have to be sure the safety is off, which should be habit anyway. However, with mine in condition three, all I have to do is pick it up and rack it. I dont have to worry about the safety, since it won't engage with the hammer down. But I still swipe it out of habit.

Why are you hesitant to leave it with the bolt closed?