a question on safety

Bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action, self loading rifles and other miscellaneous longarms.

Re: a question on safety

Post by Supaduke » 02 Feb 2018, 8:54 pm

It depends , if travelling with rifle sling, no round n chamber. If in the hunting grounds , chambered and safety on. Same with shotguns, open if travelling, locked and loaded in the hunting area.

Trigger discipline and muzzle awareness is the key. Safeties are just a redundancy and should never be relied on. If the person cannot be trusted with trigger discipline and muzzle awareness they can't come hunting and need more range time. If they have no experience , they start at the range.
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Re: a question on safety

Post by marksman » 02 Feb 2018, 9:28 pm

Oldbloke wrote:
juststarting wrote:You kinda looking for a universal answer. There isn't one, I don't think. If you're operating a shotty, then broken. If you're plinking with people, bolt open, lever open, etc. If you're stalking, bolt closed on loaded chamber, safety on + ultra vigilance on sweeping and safe direction, etc. If you're behind someone, bolt closed on empty chamber + safe direction. There's just no universal answer. Safety for individual scenario.

If it's a completely new person at the range. Bolt open, mag out :)


JS has summed it up. Teach them all Options. There is more than one way to skin a cat.


totally agree there is no universal answer

and the half open bolt method came from New Zealand as we got our gun laws from there's
apparently it was because of the steep hilly terrain they hunt in and a hunting party usually being in single file so only the leader hunter would have a round in the chamber with the bolt of his 303 half open, this method was designed for the cock on close rifle such as the lee enfeild, Mauser 96 and rem 788
on the cock on close rifle the bolt is cocked when it is open so you would have a cocked bolt with a round connected, if you were doing this it would be better to just have an empty chamber

I forgot to say thanks everyone for your imput :drinks: :thumbsup:
“If you do not read the newspapers you are uninformed. If you do read the newspapers you are misinformed”. Mark Twain
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Re: a question on safety

Post by Gamerancher » 04 Feb 2018, 3:05 pm

By all means teach the use and function and flaws of the safety on firearms. Then try to go through all of the different types of safety. You'll need a lot of time. :lol:
As others have said, it all depends on circumstance. As a Mauser '98 shooter you'll know that trying to manipulate a "wing" safety under a low slung scope is a P.I.T.A, bolt up on a chambered round in those for me. Actually that is my standard practice with all of my bolt actions both when hunting alone or with others with known and trusted abilities.
Mind you, I'll only have a round chambered when I'm sure of a shot being imminent. I will walk with an empty chamber the rest of the time and trust my ability to quickly chamber a round in the event of surprised game, ( or hunter ). :o . The exception being if I'm hunting with my lever-guns, I do trust the Winchester "half-cock" safety.
Hunting with a "new" bloke, I make sure they have the bolt closed on an empty chamber. I'd rather they miss a shot than shoot me.
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Re: a question on safety

Post by bigfellascott » 04 Feb 2018, 6:36 pm

I taught my kids to just load a round when ready to shoot something, keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction (ie not at people etc) and to unload if the shot doesn't present, that way they should be safe.
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Re: a question on safety

Post by Stix » 05 Feb 2018, 4:40 am

As juststarting has mentioned, there are many scenario's...so there is no blanket answer.
Yes you need to teach everyone about the safety--thats part & parcel of knowing how the firearm works.!!
I always emphasise that if there is a live round in the chamber-irrelevant of safety catch-that the firearm is NOT safe...
The man who knows everything, doesnt really know everything...he's just stopped learning...
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Re: a question on safety

Post by juststarting » 05 Feb 2018, 7:46 am

Stix wrote:I always emphasise that if there is a live round in the chamber-irrelevant of safety catch-that the firearm is NOT safe...


All firearms are always loaded.
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