Experience Keeping Weapons in Armory

[TAK]

Has anyone ever kept a personal weapon in a unit armory? I am currently near my parents, where I keep all my guns, but I may be moved far enough away that I wouldn't be able to store stuff there I wanted to use. So one of my options at this point is keep them on base but I wanted to know if anyone had any experience or insight into this. I don't think its a good idea but hopefully someone has first hand experience.

[spareparts]

Armorers mess with stuff and there's no accountability if someone decides to play with your toys. I heard horror stories about the armorers abusing personal weapons and then saying that it was checked in that way. YMMV

[oldsmoboat]

Plus it can be a pain to take out when you want if the armorer isn't on duty.

[Solidux]

NEVER store your personal weapon in the unit armory.

90% of armorers I know have no experience outside cleaning an M16, and these kids WILL play with yours if its nice and shiny.

I made the mistake of leaving my nice sling and rail system. on my 240B, never saw it again.

[Uriah02]

You'd be better off keeping your weapons at your home of record or finding a good friend who lives off post/base housing.

[McLarenRoss]

You'd be better off keeping your weapons at your home of record or finding a good friend who lives off post/base housing.

This is what a few of my friends here are doing, I keep them at my house or them. Also the local gun shop here offers secure gun storage for those who live in the barracks and dont want their weapons in the armory.

[haole_50]

I used our armory in Germany when I picked up a new S&W 38 spec. After using it, cleaned sterile and wrapped and packed. Next time picking up it had prints all over. Our brigade commander liked it and handled it, until I "ordered a cease and desist" on him. Fortunately, he was a soldier general with his troops. He never bothered it again.

[Petro6golf]

Dont do it!!! I had a tippman A5 that was constantly played with, broken then stolen while I was in Iraq

[taladeganite]

My armory had a few personal weapons that were constantly handled. We were an unusually large Battalion with 300+ M16a2's, with a total of about 6 company's (AFAIK) with 8 armorers/custodians. EVERYBODY had access to them. so.. I don't recommend it.

[HskrVern]

Remember that if you do check it in at the armory that it can be confiscated and destroyed if you get into trouble for any reason by your CO. IMHO your CoC and your firearms never need to meet or know about each other.

[Clownpuncher]

It's like the old drug commercials..... just say no.

[TXDARKHORSE361]

I do not have any experience with storing personally owned firearms in the armory but I do have experience working in one and even though nobody ever brought anything to us to store I would say it's a bad idea. First the amount of paperwork that is technically required is just ridiculous and has to go all the way up to your BC for final approval. Although I personally would never go as far as messing with something without the owners approval there are some people who work in armories that have no business being around weapons let alone being in charge of the issues and accountability. The best thing is what has already been said, if you live in the barracks a lot of ranges have lockers you can rent or keep them at a friends house who doesn't live in the barracks.

[edward]

What this guy said ^^^^^^^

[Sniper3142]

I actually did store several personal weapons in the base armory back in the day (199_).

There was a lot of paperwork required in the beginning to get permission. If I remember correctly, I had to leave the cases unlocked (which I wasn't happy about ).

Luckily, I knew almost all of the armorers and no one messed with my firearms. You'll also have to get seperate permission from the Military Police if you'll want to take & keep your firearms out over the weekend (when the armory isn't normally open). I would check my weapons out Friday from the regular armory and at the end of that day, bring them to the main MP armory (they had a seperate one that was open 24/7) and store them there until Monday. The MPs only needed to see what I was storing the first time; after that I could keep the cases closed and locked.

I did this for a couple of months and it worked out okay for me but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone these days.

The much better suggestion is to get a Storage Place or locker off base.