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Posted: 12/22/2008 10:42:10 PM EDT
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I just got an AR and the manual recommends leaving the bolt locked back for periods of storage. Doesn't this stress the springs? Is this how you guys store your ARs?
Sorry for the noobie question but it goes against my common sense. |
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+2
I also have a Golden Rod dehumidifier in my gun room, had one in my gun closet when I lived in an apartment. My spare barrels are vacuum sealed with dessicant packets. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Bolt closed, hammer down on empty chamber. Ditto Ditto ditto. Mine are stored in safes (yes, plural) with golden rod dehumidifiers. The OP's post would be a good starting point on spring fatigue as this is pretty much what the question was hinting at. This would be a great opportunity for someone who knows about springs to chime in. I'm not an expert and can only repeat what I've heard about springs. Some springs do set, some springs don't. All will lose tension over time and some can break. I've had hammer springs break at the legs but I've never seen a broken trigger spring. I've seen weak and short buffer tube springs. We even had measurement for the recoil spring but I don't recall the dictated length. If it wasn't the correct length it was considered in need of replacement. Anyway, our arms room SOP was always bolt closed, hammer down. This relieved the stress and relaxed the springs. |
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Prevailing wisdom here has been that compression cycles wear out springs, not being kept compressed, assuming the compression doesn't exceed the spring's tolerance.
Now I know that seems counter-intuitive, but it sure makes life simpler as regards loaded magazines. Saw an ad in Shotgun News where a spring air pellet gunner popped away a round because he didn't want to leave his mainspring compressed too long. Likewise I've heard of competitiors emptying their mags between stages. People do fret about this. Moon |
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Quoted:
Prevailing wisdom here has been that compression cycles wear out springs, not being kept compressed, assuming the compression doesn't exceed the spring's tolerance. Moon Exactly. While leaving a spring 'stressed' won't hurt it as much over time as 'cycling' it will, I sure as hell can't see any advantage in doing it .... if you have a choice. |
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