Weapon safety

R

Ronin75

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
687
Reaction score
115
I recently read an article regarding a hunting accident which resulted in a hunting partner getting shot in the leg. The injured hunter bleed to death before medical aid was on scene. Apparently his hunting partner was removing a rifle from its case when the gun discharged hitting his friends leg.
My question is this, while shooting an animal you have worked the bolt as part of the follow through sequence. However a second shot is not necessary. The weapon you are carrying has a hinged floor plate.
What is your unloading sequence.
1. Safety on , bolt to the rear ejecting the unfired cartridge, open the floor plate to empty the magazine.
Or
2. Safety on, open the floor plate to empty the magazine, then bolt to the rear to eject the unfired case.

Thanks for your input.
 
Some triggers will not allow to go on safe if not cocked, so do below regardless and usually in the fire position if I have just shot and not reloaded.
Ensure muzzle is not pointing at my friends.
Ensure safety is on if round in chamber.
Lift bolt
Pull bolt to rear eject empty case or if rechambered for a follow up shot, eject live round
Drop floor plate

Clear the gun. The fact he was removing the loaded rifle from a case and shot him, shows he has no business owning the firearm.

On a bolt gun, clear chamber first, then the floor plate. On a semi-auto, remove the source of ammunition, then clear the chamber.
 
Last edited:
I try and avoid unsafe people (there are plenty of them). I also keep a trauma kit with me hunting (which inckudes a tourniquet).

Why would anyone keep a rifle loaded in the case with the safety off? Death is a high price to pay for someone else's negligence.
 
The person who shot him knew the rifle was loaded or was impaired in some way. Firstly, never store a loaded gun (round in chamber) while traveling and most importantly never ever point a loaded gun in the direction of anything you don't intend on killing!

The DA should charge the shooter with negligent homicide for three reasons: Loaded gun while traveling and pulled the gun from the "case" with finger in the trigger guard while gun was pointed in victims direction. If that's not negligence I don't know what is.

I'm confused about the question of unloading a rifle since most who hunt know unloading and loading is done multiple times a day on some days. Again the most important thing to remember while handling a loaded gun:
Never ever point a loaded gun in the direction of anything you don't intend on killing!
 
Had a friend borrow a rifle from a "friend" to take with our hunting group on an elk hunt.

After setting up camp, we all went down to a big draw to shoot our rifles at 200 yards to check our zeros.

Well I noticed my friend was fiddling with the borrowed rifle. He finally said, "this safety won't work. I was trying to test the trigger and it won't work.

Well, I checked the rifle and found that the trigger was set so light that if you closed the bolt in typical hunting fashion, the trigger was breaking when you closed the bolt! I told him to close the bolt very slowly then barrel touch the trigger.

When the trigger broke feather light, it scared the heck out of him.

Then he told me his "friend" told home the 300 RUM was his competition long range rifle.

I took the bolt out and told my friend I'd be right back.

I took the bolt to my tent and hid it in one of my bags.

Then took my spare 308 with a 3.5 lb trigger back and told him to use that for the hunt. He asked what I did with the bolt and I said I'd give it back when we got back home.

Suppose that that rifle had been chambered when he was fiddling with it?

If a rifle can kill an animal, it can certainly kill a human

Why on earth's sake would we ever take them for granted?

When you are tempted to leave a round in the chamber, ask yourself if you'd feel safe if the rifle was pointed at you, or your friend, or your child, or your wife.

A pet peave of mine is when hunters boast of their 1 lb trigger on their big game rifle, that they've only been practicing with on the bench. If you can't shoot with a 3-3.5 lb hunting trigger, don't go modifying the trigger so you can shoot type groups on the bench. Just practice more. Practice pulling up quick on target at 100 yds and scare the heck out of yourself when you can't control that 1 pound trigger.

Don't let the thrill of the hunt make you lose your senses either.

Every chance you get talk about firearm safety with you buddies and family.

It could save a life.

Let's pray for the folks that lost their love ones.
 
Ronin75 said:
Weapon safety is never too basic
Click to expand...
Agreed, in fact I would say gun safety is always basic, grounded on common sense, and the only safety factor when handling\unloading a rifle is keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction while accomplishing the task. You can then unload safely however suits you best the sequence is of no consequence.
 
I was one that really enjoyed hunting with a group of friends for over 20+ years at the same older farm house and private land and lost of nice BUCKS.
There are so many unsafe hunters out there. There is the NEW to hunting and firearms. then the "OLDER" that think they know everything.
I was on a Hunt with (8-10) hunters every year for years to our leased 2,000 acre hunting area in NY. Everyone was in their late 50s to 70s years old. I was in the back seat of a truck getting ready to be dropped off by my stand area and the front passenger was getting out and his 30.06 discharged to the left and through the drivers floor and through the front wheel. This was actually the second time the almost same incident happened 3 years apart by a different hunter.. That was the last time I hunted with the group and it was sad because we all had a great time for a week and meeting up with everyone. My life and didn't want to be around another incident.
Since then it is mostly Jill and I hunting together and only trusted friends will I take with me anymore and even when asked to go on even a Dove Hunt I decline. some Dove hunts are even worse!
 
I got rid of all my rifles with floor plates, as they just did not seem to be reliable enough. I won't own a rifle, for any purpose, that does not have a detachable magazine.
 
Last edited:
I have a personal contact with story and people in above accidental death. It is a tragic story of that momentary lapse of reason. For some reason the person had his loaded rifle in the cabin before heading out at 5am. It appears that the rifle went off when being picked up and the person killed was in line with barrel. The bullet hit him in the femur area. No chance to live. Wish I could give more details. When all details do come out, people will understand how tragic this was.

Simply It is a tragic story involving stupidity with firearms that should have never happened!

In fact, I have reminded several of my friends before hunting season about what happened to score importance of gun safety
 
Some bolt rifles will not operate if the safety is on. That being said, as a hunter safety instructor we stress that a firearm safety is a mechanical device that is prone to failure. This along with other safety aspects like keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.
And BTW we do not call these accidents but incidents because they could have all been avoided if safety was the main concern. Each incident was found to be carelessness.
 

Similar threads

A
Weapon Choice....Advice please
Replies
8
Views
2K
cjmousseau
C
H
Reloading Safety
5 6 7
Replies
87
Views
8K
skipglo
skipglo
I
**Reloading Safety Reminder**
2
Replies
24
Views
4K
Brent
B
G
Is it safe to dry fire weapon?
2
Replies
14
Views
4K
Chas1
C
R
Never use a SAFETY
6 7 8
Replies
98
Views
18K
gohring3006
gohring3006

Recent Posts

Back
Top