Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR Safety on or Safety off for storage?

I used to drop the hammer on an empty chamber when storing or otherwise handling an unloaded AR.

Years back ringworm called me out for not having the selector in the safe position in a hunting photo.

This caused me to reevaluate my gun handling and now I never drop the hammer and always engage the safety.

I think is a better way to safely handle the AR platform.

Over on AR15.com we have had a few spirited discussion.

Thoughts?

always have saftey off unless there is one in the pipe

Rule # 1 says we should treat all guns as if loaded.

Just sayin.

Stick an ECI in it & call it good. There is no question of the gun's condition with an ECI.

I'm philosophically against habitually dropping the hammer on an "empty" weapon, other than purposely dry firing. Too much of a chance that one time it will be loaded.

We point the tubes in the correct direction. Have zero idea what I'd find in the house or safes. I assume all are loaded and ready to fire.

More than likely safety on but I just have no clue.

Safe handling negates the rest of the issues and always has.

My nephew just griped at me for Glock 20 wife and I are shooting pigs and deer with the last few years... no safety ya know... I says what about your smith 38, your smith 357, your 329PD..... Some folks take longer to learn than others. I figure he'll be fine by 40...

For some reason though on bolts, I pull the round when done in the stand, or etc... and close the bolt dropping the pin and have an empty chamber. Not sure why I'm habituated to that with bolt guns. I tend to leave all ARs not in the safe loaded to the gills.

I store them unloaded and safety on.

All my guns are stored empty and safety on, except my CCW, and my home defense shotgun (loaded buck, slug, buck, slug, buck....)

I've never owned an AR. All my guns I drop the hammer at the last safe place I'm at before storing.

Thats how i do it. Just what i was taught. Grandad thought it would fatigue the spring. However, some say it doesn't hurt them at all. Growing up with a cock on closing sporterized m1917 with a heavy spring, made me think grandad was probably right with that one. I wont argue one way or the other and feel it should be left up to the individual.

Safety on, they're all stored/put up loaded, my AR's are farm/truck and house guns.

Chamber empty, magazine full, hammer down, safety off (it has to be because the safety won't engage if the hammer is down) dust cover closed. No fumbling with trying to acquire the safety and turn it off after charging the chamber.

Run the charging handle and you're ready to engage. If the threat is not imminent, engage the safety.

For those who say that they can disengage the safety as fast as the above-mentioned practice. Try doing it while someone is shooting at you. It does make a difference.

It's the way I was taught to fight with the Remington 870 and the AR-15/M-16. It works.

Ed

I've always kept my AR's stored with safety on but empty chamber.

I did start rethinking a few things after watching the Frank Proctor video on mag reloads you posted though. (Safety on when you come off target for whatever reason.)

Empty chamber,hammer uncocked...so selector is defaulted to where it MUST be...............

if the safety is on my gun, this means it has a round in the chamber, if the safety is off this means I have dropped the hammer on an empty chamber. Many of mine have the safety on and a round in the chamber, magazine in the box all the time, so by feel I know the status of the gun, all this safety on empty chamber is silly to me and I am not going to try and relearn something I have been doing by instinct for 30 or more years. If the trigger is back, safety on, there is a round in the chamber.

Good post.

When I touch a rifle,I immediately look to roll a safety and if the selector moves...I'm wary.

If the selector doesn't move,"intentions" are moot and mechanics etched.

Hint...................

Current best practices in the US military have changed.

The Marine Corps has enshrined the use of the safety into Rule #4 and the most recent version of the Army's TC 3-22.9 requires the safety to be engaged unless actually firing.

No, it does not. Being shot at is nothing but an emotional response. Using the safety is nothing but a habitual action. Someone that believes it takes longer to flip the safety than it does to bring the rifle up to aim at a target does not have the skill level to be talking about either.

Gunhandling is not about what happens when we are present and in the moment. It is for when we are thinking of everything else besides the gun. If you are ever going to use the safety, use it every time that you are not aimed at a target, finger on trigger. Cheek comes off of the stock- finger straight, safety on.

this

that is why I consistently do the same thing and will never change. I am not going to start leaving my hammer back on an empty chamber because someone says "this is the new best way keep your safety on and your nickers dry" forget it. Feel free to post the bestest post in the whole world and laud each other over its wondercality. safety off nothing in the chamber, safety on the gun is ready to fire.