[mrnoyb]

My nightstand personal defense pistol is a Beretta 92FS which is loaded, safety on.

The Safety & Instruction Manual included with my new PPS M2 LE doesn't indicate in which state the pistol should be stored, either cocked or uncocked.

My preference is to uncock the firearm when in storage.

Please share any thoughts you may have regarding this question. Thanks in advance for the feedback.

PS. My PPS M2 was not included in the recall and after a 1000 rounds so far no peening. <:O))

 

[chandler5566]

The Safety & Instruction Manual included with my new PPS M2 LE doesn't indicate in which state the pistol should be stored, either cocked or uncocked.

The Beretta is a hammer fired pistol.....the PPS is striker fired so there's no "cocked" or "uncocked" position. The round is either in the chamber and ready to be fired or there's no round in which case it is essentially in a "safe" condition. You must rack the slide to chamber a round to be fired.

 

[Thunderbirdsport302]

Well, MY PPS is a Classic.

It sits on my nightstand or in the safe with a round chambered but decocked.

When I'm carrying, it's cocked and and ready to fire.

Of course the M2 has no means to decock the striker with a chambered round, and I haven't spent time with one to see if it can be done as with the PPQ.

 

[muckaleewarrior71]

When it’s my carry gun, I keep it chambered and ready to go in a kydex holster on me or bedside.

 

[mrnoyb]

If the pistol is unloaded, there's no reason to have the striker cocked. I'm correctly storing the pistol uncocked.

Thanks.

 

[Scouts10]

While in "STORAGE" condition . . . . empty chamber, decocked.

While in "READY" condition . . . . . . loaded chamber, cocked & in holster.
( ready for travel, usage )

 

[leadcounsel]

Well, MY PPS is a Classic.

It sits on my nightstand or in the safe with a round chambered but decocked.

When I'm carrying, it's cocked and and ready to fire.

Of course the M2 has no means to decock the striker with a chambered round, and I haven't spent time with one to see if it can be done as with the PPQ.

Um, not possible for the PPS to be "round chambered but decocked."

To answer the OP, my secondary carry gun PPS is generally chambered/cocked. When not on carry duty, it is unloaded and decocked to relieve any possible spring tension.

 

[Kar98]

Chamber a round, take off backstrap, ta da, PPS is decocked. Put backstrap back on.

 

[congaree]

Chamber a round, take off backstrap, ta da, PPS is decocked. Put backstrap back on.

LOL...PPS M1 only.

 

[Redcat94]

I try to store all of my firearms decocked but sometimes I forget to do so on the striker fired pistols.

 

[Thunderbirdsport302]

Um, not possible for the PPS to be "round chambered but decocked."

To answer the OP, my secondary carry gun PPS is generally chambered/cocked. When not on carry duty, it is unloaded and decocked to relieve any possible spring tension.

Re-read my post, specifically the very first sentence..

 

[MarkS20]

All stored decocked.

-- Mark

 

[ggreeson]

When actually stored, my guns are in their boxes, unloaded and trigger pulled to release tension. I have some "stand-by" guns for carry in my safe door pockets which are loaded but not chambered. My carry and home defense guns are cocked and locked and with safety on if there is one. When I have company w/kids I put my home defense gun in the safe.

 

[wrangler5]

If the concern about storing a gun cocked or uncocked is over hammer/striker spring life, extensive discussions on many forums about storing magazines loaded or unloaded has produced a consensus that a properly designed and manufactured spring will last just as long whether it's stored compressed or uncompressed. This is based on input from a variety of metallurgists and engineers. (It is always in the context of coil springs - I don't know if the same principles apply to leaf springs, but I don't think there are any of those involved in the cocked/uncocked mechanics of a PPS.)

What wears out springs is usage. So, for example, while the high-volume pistol competitor may "wear out" his magazine springs in a season of shooting, the fully loaded 1911 magazine put in a drawer after WWI and discovered 75 years later works just fine.

Presumably PPS springs WILL lose some strength if the gun is shot enough, but storing it cocked or uncocked shouldn't have any effect on when that would happen.

 

[xl_target]

If the concern about storing a gun cocked or uncocked is over hammer/striker spring life, extensive discussions on many forums about storing magazines loaded or unloaded has produced a consensus that a properly designed and manufactured spring will last just as long whether it's stored compressed or uncompressed. This is based on input from a variety of metallurgists and engineers. (It is always in the context of coil springs - I don't know if the same principles apply to leaf springs, but I don't think there are any of those involved in the cocked/uncocked mechanics of a PPS.)

What wears out springs is usage. So, for example, while the high-volume pistol competitor may "wear out" his magazine springs in a season of shooting, the fully loaded 1911 magazine put in a drawer after WWI and discovered 75 years later works just fine.

Presumably PPS springs WILL lose some strength if the gun is shot enough, but storing it cocked or uncocked shouldn't have any effect on when that would happen.

^This.



I don't know where the idea came from, that would require that all tension be removed from a spring to make it last longer.
The constant cocking and "decocking" every time the handgun is taken out of storage or stored is going to cause more wear on your striker spring than just keeping it constantly cocked.

 

[Thunderbirdsport302]

It's a well known fact that springs kept in a constant state of compression do not wear as fast as ones cycled frequently.

BTW, the striker spring is compressed whether the PPS is cocked or not. It's just compressed a little more, cocked. How far does that striker move rearward when cocked, anyway?

(not very much, certainly not enough to keep ME up at night, praying to the striker spring gods..)

 

[shawn]

If it is not on my person, then:

If ready for immediate use, then fully loaded and in a quick access safe.

If not ready for immediate use, then unloaded, decocked, and in a safe.

If it is on my person, then fully loaded and in a holster that covers the trigger guard.

 

[leadcounsel]

I'm not a metallurgist, but have enough real world experience with guns and parts involving springs to share the obvious observations.

1. Gun makers like Glock, who have notoriously stiff mag springs, suggest loading the mag and letting it sit for a few days to "soften" the springs. Obviously compression does soften springs.

2. I have fired Glocks with long-term loaded magazines and the springs are obviously softer over long-term compression.

3. Paul Harrel has a YT video of several examples of long-term (decades) stored loaded guns which had noted degradation in spring strength.

In my personal view based on observations, yes, use softens springs. However long term compression (whether it's cars, or guns) of springs does in fact weaken them. And all springs are not equal. I've seen cars/trucks that sat with an overload of weight that ruined their shocks and suspension springs.

In my practice, I tend to store down-loaded mags with the intent to shoot the ammo on a semi-regular basis and rotate it. Maybe 5 years max for a stored loaded mag, before cycling it. I wouldn't store loaded or compressed springs much beyond that, and certainly not a decade or more.

I keep the majority of my guns stored without any spring compress on hammers or strikers. Only the immediate carry/HD guns are loaded and cocked. I see no reason to tempt fate and ruin good springs when not necessary.

 

[surrealone]

Break in and you just might find out...

 

[shawn]

There is "best practice," which is to rotate ammo every so often.

Then there is "will it work even if...."

In the late 1970s, I fully loaded several Colt 1911 mags with 7 rounds of 230 grain .45 ACP hardball, and I put them away. Somehow, they got overlooked in a storage drawer, and the other day (40 years later), I discovered them, together with the note saying when they were loaded (so I would know when to rotate them).

I took them to the range and every one of them worked perfectly.

Is it the best practice? No. Will a well made gun magazine work despite long term storage? Yes.