storing shotguns???

[clayman]

Cosmetic display to sell guns and appropriate storage to preserve them are two different things.

[Choked]

I store both of my guns stock down. Nothing to do with oil etc, it's so that I don't damage the barrels - my stock has a rubber recoil pad which protects it from the bottom of the cabinet.

[Big_Sam]

I store barrels down.

 

It seems an awful hassle to store it barrels up. You would have to lift it out the cabinet by the barrel, turn it round, then break it open.

 

By storing barrels down, I can lift it out the cabinet and break it open with one hand to remove the snap caps. One of my firing pin sears broke, so I now use snaps in it. (dry firing killed it)

[MC]

Cosmetic display to sell guns and appropriate storage to preserve them are two different things.

 

 

The old classic,

 

Don't do as I do, Do as I say.

 

Do you never have a gun longer than a few hours then? Or are you guns that are for sale not oiled?

 

Or even, Why do you put so much oil in the barrels anyway?

[clayman]

New guns are usually displayed stock down in racks / display cabinets, or horizontal / angled on the wall. The manufacturers oil is most unlikely to move to soak the wood. Most new guns coming in have a protective coating in the barrels of a light grease, and sometimes this extends to the whole action. This rods out / removes as a brown colour on a woolie / rag, and can cause some to think they have just bought new rusty barrels!

 

One would expect most gun sellers to clean and check a 2nd/h gun over for sale, so any excesses would be wiped away, and if any oil is added it would be correct volumes of gun oil. Under such circumstances, for the period a gun is on display stock down, it seems unlikely it will ever have excess oil penetrating the wood.

 

Those guns that have soaked stock necks are likely to have had it caused by the excess use of light oils, coupled with stock down storage. So the real culprit of the tale is the user not following recommended cleaning and oiling procedures and flooding their gun with light oils. WD-40 is also a culprit, as it often used as a lubricant but as it is lighter than dedicated gun oils it soon runs off or dries up in use, and the gun becomes "addicted" to it. Constant and excess replacement of sprayed on WD could easily cause oil penetration problems to an oiled stock. WD has its uses as a water dispersant, but should always be used on outer areas as a protective film, and not used in the action where it dissolves out the manufacturers and gunsmiths high viscosity gun oils that remain effective much longer before they need replacing. ( WD-40 stands for Water Dispersant formula 40, it was developed to dispel water not lubricate, and although supposedly its contents are a big secret its basically mainly just a light oil similar to 28sec heating / light diesel oil)

 

As a dealer, the cosmetics of display come first as I want to shift guns. My guns are stock down or horizontal in my racks at the Game Fairs, but I store them barrels down when in secure cabinet storage. Its convention and habit, more than there is clear over-riding good reason for doing this, although I must agree with the comment about turning guns over and lifting them in and out. Barrels down are much easier to put in and out, move to a slip, open and check, and less likely to get clumped and bruised against the cabinet door as they are inverted which you need to do twice, once in and once out, if you store stock down.

Edited November 23, 2008 by clayman

[TheHunter]

I agree, if you are putting on so much oil that it runs, you are doing it wrong. It should be wiped on not poured on.

 

Barrels UP for ever

[commonkeeper]

shotrguns barrle bdown because of the oil

rifles barrle up cause of the zero

my ways have never failed me so i stick to them

 

 

personal preference

 

 

commonkeeper

[MC]

I find it difficult to believe the ammount of people who oil the insides of the shotgun barrels.

 

If a gun is being used more than once a year then there is no need. Unless of course you gun safe is bolted the the outside wall of a houseboat which I doubt that it is

[Highlander]

Buy a Beretta Xtrema, plastic, chrome barrels etc etc and never show it any oil just mud, salt water, general crud etc...it'll be fine!

[Dunkield]

I would be worried about what a wad would do in barrels that oily, the chances of it getting stuck in the barrel and the next shot hitting it don't bear thinking about.

 

FWIW I shoot shotguns a dozen times a year tops these days, and have never oiled my barrels, my 687 is probably 20 years old now and hasn't rusted.

[MC]

Buy a Beretta Xtrema, plastic, chrome barrels etc etc and never show it any oil just mud, salt water, general crud etc...it'll be fine!

 

 

Or,

 

Even leave it overnight in a saltwater creek while you go and and warm up. Go back the next day and pick it up of the mud. Still no signs of rust

[Browning GTS]

That's fair enough, but I'm pretty sure a majority of us own a shotgun that's going to be more than 40 years old, and secondly All I'm trying to say, is, is it really all that much of a problem to store your gun upside down anyways?

 

 

All my s/s`s are at least 35 years old. I always store mine barrels down because even a small amount of oil over time will work it way down, it is not just oil in the barrels but any you put on the opening joint, barrel lumps as well.

[Tobyb525]

Barrels down.

Why take the risk, even if its a smal one?