Military Weapon Storage: Avoid Horizontal Mounts
All weapons must be stored vertically.
Barrels pointed up has been a standard since the first flintlock – and with good reason. Safety is the most obvious reason, however, in a modern armory, there are other considerations.
System flexibility: Vertical storage offers the ability to adapt to the widest variety of weapons.
Speed: If you manage an active armory where weapons are issued and returned often, vertical storage will prove the most efficient.
Accountability: Site counts and audits are also much faster with standard vertical storage.
Problems with horizontal weapon mounts.
The use of horizontal mounts in weapon racks started in around 2002 by Dasco a Canadian manufacturer, in an attempt to fit more weapons in their 48” high weapon rack. Sounds logical if your only consideration is trying to sell a 48” rack. On paper it looks good, however, in an active armory, it is very cumbersome and almost impossible for an armorer to issue and return weapons efficiently.
This sequence shows the difficulties removing weapons form horizontal mounts. What you can not see in marketing and sales photos is that it is all but impossible to remove the inner weapons.
When the rifles have slings, it creates a real challenge as things get tangled very quickly. Space has to be maintained above the lower rack in order to have room for the rifle being extracted to clear the lower rack.
In these images, the horizontal mounts are used on an open expandable weapon rack system. It is easier to show the difficulties with this type of open rack. The problems get a lot worse when mounted in enclosed weapon cabinets.
There are several types of weapon storage racks to choose from with many options. Horizontal mounts should be avoided.