Weapon safety

[fta0303]

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.

If the rifle allows it, I'd pull the bolt, keep it open, and then unload through the floorplate. All the while keeping the muzzle at the nearest dirt bank. That way, your manipulations of the gun to unload the magazine are done with no round in the chamber.

Safety rule #1 is to be muzzle-aware and always keep it pointing in a safe direction. Even the safest shooter experiences an accidental discharge occasionally. My Father had a .300 Weatherby in a Mark V and it once went off while he was unloading it. Given my Father, I know he never touched the trigger. Also, there are guns that are known to discharge when the action is worked, like the Model 97 Winchester. No one was ever hurt by a muzzle pointing in a safe direction.

 

[VTbluegrass]

I used to fish with an old guy who had about 5lbs missing from his hamstring area where he took a load of #6 shot from his friend while rabbit hunting. His friend grabbed a loaded shotgun from the trunk of a car with his finger on the trigger and fired in negligently. To answer you loaded/unloaded gun question and protocol. I hunt almost exclusively with an ADL style 700. It's really simple if on stand or preparing to take a shot the rifle is chambered. When I get done hunting the rifle is unloaded and rounds are pushed down in the mag before climbing down or getting to start walking. When closing on empty chamber I hold down rounds, push bolt slightly forward over rounds in mag, verify empty chamber with pinky and close the bolt. Anytime in camp or hanging out at the vehicles parking area bolts are open so everyone can see safe condition.
I wish Marlin 336 had a magazine disconnect because it's a whole lot of shucking shells to empty once a round is in the chamber is a pain.

Another benefit of competing in shooting you go through so many reps of showing safe it can become second nature.

 

[Ronin75]

No, rule 1# is treat all firearms as if they are loaded
2# keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
3# never point your firearm at anything unless you ready to shoot if required
4# be sure of your backstop and beyond

Gunsite 1986

 

[Mr6.5]

People do stupid things and win stupid prizes. Placing a rifle with a round in the chamber in a gun bag??? Really??? Also people put WAY to much faith in safeties. I have seen it all over the years and it usually is a result of a negligent action by the user. I have a friend who likes to lock and load his rifle before getting in the deer stand, I told him one day you might trip, or drop that rifle and it go off. He said nope the safety is on, I just shake my head,

 

[Shane Lindsey]

 

[Coach Jay]

Too many people put their booger picker on the trigger waaaay too much!!!

 

[Rosebud]

All of this appears to be a case of hyper stupidity. I don't have any other words for it.

 

[nksmfamjp]

To be clear. I hunt with a lot of rifles that have hinged floor plates. I consider the correct way to unload that rifle to be pull the bolt to the rear. Push the cartridge that was in the chamber down into the magazine and hold it while guiding the bolt back forward. 3/4 of the way. Look into the chamber and confirm it is unloaded. Slide the bolt forward while holding the trigger to the rear and lowering the bolt handle. That sounds a bit complex as I write it down, but it is really a simple process. That is very difficult to screw up.

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.

You should be really be careful with this line of thinking… The weight of the trigger is not relative to the safety of the trigger. Unless you were talking about reducing the risk of somebody pulling the trigger while they are pointing the rifle at you.

I'm sorry but this was negligence and not an accident.

Anytime you talk about a gun going off and killing somebody who you are with… I mean immediately with you and in your party not over yonder… The question comes into play why were you pointing a rifle loaded or not at somebody else in your hunting party, there are no good answers to that question. Guns just need to never be pointed at your hunting partners. That is my problem with the Remmington lawsuit or other things like that is, how can a company bear 100% responsibility when the plaintiff pointed a loaded rifle at somebody. Also one must look at the four rules of gun safety, and realize that those rules are meant to overlap each other And provide double protection in some cases, but that is why you absolutely have to obey all four rules because everything human performance related is a Swiss cheese model. There is no such thing as good human performance. Humans just are not capable of that.

 

[skipglo]

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.

Don't seem Reliable enough? In what way? No-one I know has ever lost a floor plate in the field! Can't say the same for mags!
Not as convenient...sure! Not as easy to remove while the Warden is pulling in behind you.... absolutely....but unreliable...not. Just me

 

[SentientHunter]

Don't seem Reliable enough? In what way? No-one I know has ever lost a floor plate in the field! Can't say the same for mags!
Not as convenient...sure! Not as easy to remove while the Warden is pulling in behind you.... absolutely....but unreliable...not. Just me

I've had two rifles with floor plates that were always problematic in loading quickly and easily, and had feeding issues. One was a Remington 700 and one was a Bergara. I got rid of both of them. They just didn't work to my satisfaction. That's my personal preference.

 

[BRADMOTO]

If you abide by the cardinal rules of gun safety you can unload the gun however you want.

 

[BRADMOTO]

View attachment 703012

I've got the T-shirt with that pic on it!

 

[skipglo]

I've had two rifles with floor plates that were always problematic in loading quickly and easily, and had feeding issues. One was a Remington 700 and one was a Bergara. I got rid of both of them. They just didn't work to my satisfaction. That's my personal preference.

Noted!

 

[jseandsje]

To be clear. I hunt with a lot of rifles that have hinged floor plates. I consider the correct way to unload that rifle to be pull the bolt to the rear. Push the cartridge that was in the chamber down into the magazine and hold it while guiding the bolt back forward. 3/4 of the way. Look into the chamber and confirm it is unloaded. Slide the bolt forward while holding the trigger to the rear and lowering the bolt handle. That sounds a bit complex as I write it down, but it is really a simple process. That is very difficult to screw up.

You should be really be careful with this line of thinking… The weight of the trigger is not relative to the safety of the trigger. Unless you were talking about reducing the risk of somebody pulling the trigger while they are pointing the rifle at you.

Anytime you talk about a gun going off and killing somebody who you are with… I mean immediately with you and in your party not over yonder… The question comes into play why were you pointing a rifle loaded or not at somebody else in your hunting party, there are no good answers to that question. Guns just need to never be pointed at your hunting partners. That is my problem with the Remmington lawsuit or other things like that is, how can a company bear 100% responsibility when the plaintiff pointed a loaded rifle at somebody. Also one must look at the four rules of gun safety, and realize that those rules are meant to overlap each other And provide double protection in some cases, but that is why you absolutely have to obey all four rules because everything human performance related is a Swiss cheese model. There is no such thing as good human performance. Humans just are not capable of that.

I'm gonna draw to Extremes since you feel trigger pull weight has no impact on safety.

Someone has ground and polished the sear on a rifle trigger, and replaced the pull weight spring with a cut ball point pen spring to get a trigger designed originally for 3 lbs min, down to 6 ounces.

A man has a garand with a 4.5 lb trigger

Which one would you give to your grandson to use.

Get my point.