doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com am I doing this right

For storage, be it short or long term, after a thorough cleaning I reassemble the shotgun (SxS), insert snap caps into the chambers and pull the triggers. Then I remove the forend and take off the barrels (removing the snap caps) then putting the shotgun into it's fitted case. Am I doing this properly?? Thank you all for your opinions and advice.

Vern

Yes - if easing springs is the goal, but there is a suggestion that it's cycling springs, rather than keeping them under tension which weakens them over time; then again, I've got mainsprings in guns which I suspect are approaching 200 years old which remain tensioned even when eased, and they still move hammers well enough to go bang...

An easy alternative is to hold a block of hardwood flat against the breech face to cushion the firing pins.

Yes. Sounds right to me. Depending on the design of the ejector mechanism, the ejector springs will be the only thing that has tension on them. Your mainsprings in the action will be at rest, that arguably is a good thing.
Some people will say never to leave a gun stored in a case. If there is any moisture at all in the case, it could mean a disaster. Better to store the gun in a cabinet or safe. I tend to agree, but many vintage guns have been stored their entire "lives" in cases and have survived just fine. Food for thought.

You better not try that with an LC Smith or you will never get the forend back on without cocking the hammers which if you don't know how can ruin your day and scuff up your gun.

Unless your gun cocks on opening. In that case a horn block was used to strike the hammers on after the barrels were removed.

Personally, I do not fire off the gun before disassembly. I have not seen any evidence that it helps. It also makes the gun harder to re-assemble as you have to cock the locks and ejectors as you do so, or before you can.

Also, I do not store guns in the case. The case is intended for transportation, not long-term storage.

The case lining can hold damp, which will rust the metal over time.

I store guns muzzle-down in a gun safe, all together. Fire off the locks with snap caps if you like and leave them in.

I agree...snap caps are not needed here, not even a horn block. For years, I have used a wooden or plastic screw driver handle pressed against the breech face, then I reassemble and store the gun with springs relieved. No big issue about cocking; this is done when I open the gun again (which I don't until I'm going out to shoot it).

I have kept guns in cases on the shelves of a humidity controlled (goldenrod) safe, I usually crack the lid. Any humidity will quickly leave the case, no problems to date.

My Simson BLE will not go back together if the triggers are pulled while disassembled, b/c of the cocking hooks. Also, opening the gun after pulling the triggers recocks the hammersprings, defeating the purpose of the exercise. Re-cocking the hooks is a beast of a job, requiring a screwdriver to push them to the cocked position. If the driver slips, it's a great way to wickedly cut one's finger - the ends of the hooks are beastly sharp. I know. I did it once and it took a month to heal.

I think storing the gun assembled with snap caps in and triggers pulled is probably "best", if dropping the hammers to relax the springs is your intent. For this purpose I would advise in favor of plastic snap caps (and definitely not old shells as snap caps) so as to avoid even the possibility of a reaction between aluminum caps and steel barrels (aluminum and steel will set up an electrolytic reaction if there's any moisture) or, worse, steel on steel possibly rusting together if there's any moisture.

Botttom line here is you simply cannot write a simple single set of directions that is applicable to all makes & models of double guns, they have different features. Some guns can be dissembled & reassembled with the hammers either cocked or uncocked, others can't. Many guns can have their hammers lowered in the process of closing them, others can't. However after lowering the hammers by either method, "Most" guns will allow removal of the bbls after taking off the forend without cocking the hammers, maybe a few won't but they are I think in the minority.