Cocked or uncocked bolt storage
 

In my brain I would think that for storage one should store the bolt of your rifle in the fired position to relieve the pressure from the firing pin. How do you store your bolt cocked or uncocked? I would have to manually decock my rifles to store this way and am wondering if I should do this season to season. Day to day. Your thoughts are appreciated

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All my rifles are stored uncocked
Cat

I just noticed the topic header spelling. ... Sorry for the misspell. Meant to say cocked or uncocked

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Uncocked. Always.

Thanks cat. I will do that as well.

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A spring does not get weak from being kept compressed but from cycling.
The amount of cycles that a gun spring goes through is relatively small compared to, say a car spring.
No harm in un-cocking but you wouldn't cause any harm by leaving it cocked either.

I don't store mine cocked because of safety procedure , nothing to do with springs
Cat

I highly recommend that firing pin springs be stored with the least amount of compression on them as you can get.
If you can accurately measure spring pressure you will find over time (years) that springs will loose lbs of resistance. Maybe not enough to cause misfires.
I have change out springs that have been compressed or shortened by as much as 3/16" in a two year time frame.
I believe you will find that most steels used in the firearms industry will take a set if left in a bent or compressed state.

this. it is well documented that it is exactly this.

So what was the upside of storing them compressed or cocked again?

sometimes you're not in an area where it is acceptable to pull the trigger on a rifle.

myself, i don't like pulling the trigger on a rifle unless it's a place and direction where it's safe to shoot. sometimes people get too complacent with firearms safety.

Care to elaborate on this one? How is uncocking make it safer?

Just curios as the the reasoning behind it. If I'm overlooking something perhaps it is time I change my storage habits.

I said " safety procedure" notbthat it makes the gun safer.
That is, if the firearm is not being shot it is open or at the very least uncocked .
Most bolt actions can visibly be seen as cocked or uncocked as can hammer guns
If the firearm is cocjed it normally has a round in it.
This is the reason many disciplines require open actions when not actually being shot , some require chamber flags, etc.
Cat

I store mine bolts, mags out -- stored separately
slides and cylinders out-- stored separately
Hammers down
I'm uncocked as possible

Ahhh makes sense. Guess all I really need is a reading comprehension lesson.

So just in case there is a live round in the chamber you leave the rifle cocked. Super.

Do you de- cock your bolts when you take them out?
Cat

if you can't shoot where your rifle is pointed when you want to decock your rifle don't touch the trigger. if my spring fatigues because of this then i'll replace it.

i know of a guy that put a bullet through his friends truck because he was decocking his "unloaded" rifle. way safer :thinking-006:

So what do you do with this loaded cocked rifle? I'm pretty darn certain I'm safer looking at the magazine and chamber and then pulling the trigger. There is always dirt to point a muzzle at.

i don't have any dirt in my house

So change it.

Now that you mention it they are cocked, I've heard both sides of this for years I have a couple that have been stored cocked for 40 years they still work.

The next argument will be does the spring in a magazine get weak if left loaded ?

[emoji122]

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I know those Remington pump and semi mags sure can get messed up on if they are left loaded.
Cat

Why are you loading rifles in your house?

I asked an engineer once about this his answer was cycling the spring will cause failure before leaving it compressed will. The majority of springs in use in valves, switch's, PSV's are under tension in normal operation. I have read that some pistol magazines and shotgun will lose tension if stored loaded. I know on my uncles farm he had mags beside the back door 24/7 loaded for the M1 carbine and the Lee Enfield they both were always working.

Another entertaining thread. :)

Yes, I store mine decocked. Not worried about springs, but why leave a firearm cocked, simple enough to decock them, for simple safety procedure as Cat pointed out. Anyone who fires a live round while decocking his firearm maybe needs to learn to check his firearm properly, magazine and chamber....or should take up a different hobby.

Who says it was loaded? You're really not picking this up are you? It doesn't matter if it's loaded or not don't pull the trigger if it's not safe to shoot.

You need a new hobby.

The real question was related to *bolt* storage in the cocked or uncocked position. My bolt actions allow me to close the bolt while depressing the trigger, putting the rifle (bolt in) in a decocked position. But the bolt has to stay in the rifle while being stored. I typically pull the bolts for added security in the house and the only way to uncock the bolts are to manually decock them. Was just wondering how others do it.

Interesting that the cycling of the action would cause more spring wear.



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