Stand it up or hang on a wall

[PHC.32]

I have heard that because muzzle loader barrels are made of relatively softer steel than modern rifles they tend to bend a tiny but significant amount even if just left standing In a corner for a long time and that hanging them in a wall rack is even worse.  I would appreciate your thoughts on this as my gun rack is made on to the wall and is the width of two 16"studs or 32" from peg to peg and I thought it might make for to much downward pressure in the middle of the barrel.

[smokinbuck]

I have a combination of both wall and flor racks. I've never heard of what you are saying and certainly never experienced it in over 40 years of shooting and displaying.
Marks

[Scott Bumpus]

I have bent barrels on purpose to regulate the point of impact.  You would be amazed at the force needed to bend a barrel, as in all 250 pounds of me leaning hard into it.  It aint gonna bend from leaning in a corner or hanging on a wall. 

[Standing Bear]

Nope. Not a problem. Never heard of such Even with the original wrought iron barrels that were softer than barrels of modern steel

[alyce-james]

PHC.32; Sir, I've never been part of a conversation on the bending of a muzzle loader barrel by storage only. I have been storing my flintlock rifles, many, over the 35 years. My best shooters a.40 Cal and a .50 Cal made in 1976 - 1977. However when shooting over "x" sticks, I use the same hold as I do in off hand shooting. I do not mount the barrel muzzle on the "x" sticks. Have a great day. AJ.

[Daryl]

Self-bows, that is bows made from a single piece of wood, can take a 'set' if left leaning in a corner for a long period of time - one such was found in a cave in Texas- though to be about 150 years there - had a whopper of a bend on the lower limb that contacted the floor of the cave, the upper was straight with a small amount of normal string-follow. I do not for a second believe a rifle or smoothbore barrel will take a set if leaning against an object like the corner.

[EC121]

I remember hearing that many years ago when I started shooting BP.  I never put much stock in it.  Guns were supposed to be stored vertically not horizontally.  If the metal was that soft, the gun shouldn't be shot.

[WadePatton]

I have heard ...

Welcome to the forum and do please do bring all your "I have heard" myths here to be busted.  Of course there are some areas of gray and "two sides" of the theory, BUT A VAST number of "things one hears" with regard to black powder weapons and shooting are simply wrong.  

To stretch/bend the metal, forces must approach yield strength.  12L14 is around 60,000psi, 4140 is the same according to AZO Materials.  

Motor vehicles would need to be constantly re-fitted with new springs if your "theory of bending" applied to steel.  Matter-O-Fact conventional springs just wouldn't work for any length of time-instead of the bazillions of cycles they actually do.

Don't be afraid to ask, but do know that some searches can find you the "hot button" stuff that we've gone over before. This might save some "exposure" and give service to great posts of the pasts.  

Enjoy.

And the boys aren't foolin' when they say that they sometimes have to bend a bbl to achieve regulation.  That's a fact Jack.

[hanshi]

I've never heard anything like that.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I store all my longarms in a rack vertically, leaning against a wall.  But my muzzles are all down, not up.  And every gun has a dark spot beneath the muzzle where oil has eventually run out of the muzzle onto the bottom board.  That oil would be in the stock, if the gun were stored muzzle-up.  And my bores get only a molecular coating after cleaning.  The oil is accumulative.

[PHC.32]

Well thanks for the replys.  I to had never heard of such a thing and I have fooled with firearms for about half a century now in many different disciplines but being new to serious black powder shooting and I had heard this from someone who has been in it for a while, I thought I'd ask.

[LH]

somebody ought to start a "myths and wivestales" thread.  Lord knows there's plenty of them.  I had not heard this sagging barrel one before either though.  I might have missed it while I was washing the starch out of my patch cloth though.   

[mountainman70]

somebody ought to start a "myths and wivestales" thread.  Lord knows there's plenty of them.  I had not heard this sagging barrel one before either though.  I might have missed it while I was washing the starch out of my patch cloth though.   

That sounds like a great idea----Wade,this orta be right up our collective "alleys"     I could start off with my "Red Berries"foolishness.Talk about a HotButton.Thawin out some up here.best regards,Dave F

[Daryl]

somebody ought to start a "myths and wivestales" thread.  Lord knows there's plenty of them.  I had not heard this sagging barrel one before either though.  I might have missed it while I was washing the starch out of my patch cloth though.   

All you have to do is read some of the black powder Digests.

[moleeyes36]

somebody ought to start a "myths and wivestales" thread.  Lord knows there's plenty of them.  I had not heard this sagging barrel one before either though.  I might have missed it while I was washing the starch out of my patch cloth though.   

I guess anything that's been around for a thousand years like black powder is bound to have collected some really amazing "Urban Legends" over the years.

[Dphariss]

I have heard that because muzzle loader barrels are made of relatively softer steel than modern rifles they tend to bend a tiny but significant amount even if just left standing In a corner for a long time and that hanging them in a wall rack is even worse.  I would appreciate your thoughts on this as my gun rack is made on to the wall and is the width of two 16"studs or 32" from peg to peg and I thought it might make for to much downward pressure in the middle of the barrel.

I would not be concerned.
 
Dan

[Dphariss]

I store all my longarms in a rack vertically, leaning against a wall.  But my muzzles are all down, not up.  And every gun has a dark spot beneath the muzzle where oil has eventually run out of the muzzle onto the bottom board.  That oil would be in the stock, if the gun were stored muzzle-up.  And my bores get only a molecular coating after cleaning.  The oil is accumulative.

Its amazing how much can come out of a barrel wiped with a slightly oily patch. I never stand one muzzle up unless its been muzzle down at least overnight.

Dan

[Daryl]

Since I've started storing my rifles muzzle-down, as Taylor noted above, I've never had problems with an oil-filled breech. That used to happen, especially with patent breeches, when they were cleaned, oiled and stored butt down.

[hanshi]

Mine are stored on a wall gun rack, lock side toward the room and upright.  This makes the barrels angle downward so nothing can collect in the breech.  This is an example of how they are stored; although no longer in this specific location.

[Natureboy]

 
What a beautiful collection!  Make sure to use them all often, to prevent bees or spiders from taking up residence in the barrels.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

they bend in half even worse on HOT days! Its a good idea to rotate them every 6 months so any slight bends will straighten out and keep it straight.




 

[hanshi]

 
What a beautiful collection!  Make sure to use them all often, to prevent bees or spiders from taking up residence in the barrels.

Oh, yes!  They all get exercised  although some less frequently than others.