Lets watch those muzzles!

[Pheroze]

One of my other pet peeves is the once a year hunter sight in crowd shooters, who have a nasty habit of opening their hard side rifle cases while it lies sideways on the bench. Which means its muzzle is pointing at someone on the line. I have barked at more than a few guys for that. It's something most don't even think about. In their mind the rifle is not loaded so no danger right? In my mind no gun is not loaded, they all are.

At the range I frequent that will get you sent home promptly. They are quite aggressive about sweeping the line.

I feel a lot of respect towards a fellow hunter who displays good gun etiquette.

One thing I thought about when I was in South Africa was the temptation to handle the gun like I had seen them do (over the shoulder carry etc.) But I think it's best to stick strictly to the habits I developed at home. I hated crawling, and we seemed to do a lot of that. I found handling my gun safely was a huge challenge in a crawl. I never did feel comfortable with it.

 

[BRICKBURN]

The gun store I frequent has a large glass jar on the counter with live rounds from people bringing in firearms that that were sure were unloaded

You guys are scaring me even more.

 

[sestoppelman]

Its amazing how many people take things for granted. I get a little miffed when you tell someone to watch their muzzle and they say something brilliant like, "why, its not loaded". GRRRRR!!!!!!! Its the unloaded guns that people get shot with. My brother was talking about guns to his daughters one day. He had a S&W .357 in his hand, showing the kids. He showed me it was unloaded, closed it, then handed it to me. I opened it and confirmed it was unloaded. The look on the kids face was priceless. Why did I check it when I knew it was not loaded? Because its up to whomever has the gun in THEIR hands to confirm it.

 

[perttime]

Co-worker of mine bought a percussion muzzleloader out of the bargain barrel in a local gun shop and promptly went home and put a cap on it and pulled the trigger. Fortunately it was pointing up and the ball wound up in the attic rafters. I guess you'd call this double stupid. Yes, like computers, autos, rotating machinery and power tools, some people should be kept as far away from firearms as possible.

Black powder loads can get nasty over time too. I heard about a case where a muzzle loader gun had been on a wall for at least some decades. Somebody went and fired it, and the whole thing DETONATED. Apparently, the load left in the gun had turned into a single lump, with the changes in humidity and temperature.

 

[Hank2211]

I like to think - as I guess most of us do - that I’m pretty aware of gun safety. ‘Every gun is always loaded’ and “control your muzzle” etc. I often ask my PH about accidental discharges - most have hair-raising stories to tell, usually about people who claimed to be well-versed in gun safety!

Having said that, I don’t walk around with an open bolt if the gun is unloaded. I can’t think of a better way to break a rifle than to have a bolt hanging open, moving back and forth on its own, ready to catch on things, pick up dirt and dust, etc. What I do when I’m finished shooting and it’s time to take pictures or pose the animal is to open the bolt, check the gun is unloaded, and then audibly close the bolt and release the spring. Everyone nearby - which is usually everyone - can hear what’s happened and knows the gun is unloaded. Same before I put it on the rack on the truck. Same when I take the gun off the rack. And so on. But the bolt will always be closed.

Different rules will always apply at a range, if only because others aren’t generally close enough to you to know what you’ve done or are doing.

As for carry, we’ve beaten this horse more than a few times. Some will never accept the “African” carry, while others will. I’m one of those who does, provided the muzzle is controlled. Miles of walking with a rifle over your shoulder gets hard on the shoulder(s); the African carry provides another option. If your PH is OK with it, you shouldn’t be put off by others who know they are right.

 

[Pheroze]

Some will never accept the “African” carry, while others will. I’m one of those who does, provided the muzzle is controlled. Miles of walking with a rifle over your shoulder gets hard on the shoulder(s); the African carry provides another option. If your PH is OK with it, you shouldn’t be put off by others who know they are right.

When I mentioned I avoided the local techniques my point was I thought it prudent to do whatever I usually did because of muscle memory. I figure I increase my chances of being "that guy" if I deviated from my standard gun safety habits.

I also always close my bolt as you mention. I am very paranoid of something falling in. But, everytime the gun is touched the chamber is checked.

 

[Rob404]

Range etiquette is something that seems to be going out the window. At the range I'm a member at I always know who the serious shooters are as opposed to the occasional shooter. We don't have a Range Officer so when a break is called it's actions opened and no F***king around with your Rifle while shooters are down range patching or replacing targets

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

We have range officers at my range. Multiple of them working on any given day, not just one. They repeat during every cease fire the expectations of no handling of firearms during the cease fire. And that unless you're going downrange to stay behind a blue line that is well behind the shooting benches.

This gets repeated verbatim each and every time the line goes cold. And just about each and every time someone just can't follow the simple instructions of don't touch your gun and/or where to stand when not downrange. I just shake my head and smile at the range officers.

This being the land of the snowbird, we get quite a few retirees working at the range. And sometimes one of these old guys is a former marine or police officer or just a grumpy old fart. Those types can be rude about it sometimes when dealing with the safety idiots, but I'll take that over being dead.

 

[Nyati]

When I transport a rifle in its hard case the bolt is always off the rifle, I have a nice cutout in the foam just for it.
One security officer in JHB airport really liked that, he told me I would be surprised at how many hunters try to travel with loaded rifles.

 

[Rob404]

My Club's pistol range is attached to the rifle range after a few heated confrontations between rifle and pistol shooters The owner finally decided to build a dedicated pistol range for those who think they have don't have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

 

[Newboomer]

That will fix your hemmorhoids.

 

[Newboomer]

When I transport a rifle in its hard case the bolt is always off the rifle, I have a nice cutout in the foam just for it.
One security officer in JHB airport really liked that, he told me I would be surprised at how many hunters try to travel with loaded rifles.

I pull my bolts and wrap them in bubble wrap in the case

 

[sestoppelman]

I like to think - as I guess most of us do - that I’m pretty aware of gun safety. ‘Every gun is always loaded’ and “control your muzzle” etc. I often ask my PH about accidental discharges - most have hair-raising stories to tell, usually about people who claimed to be well-versed in gun safety!

Having said that, I don’t walk around with an open bolt if the gun is unloaded. I can’t think of a better way to break a rifle than to have a bolt hanging open, moving back and forth on its own, ready to catch on things, pick up dirt and dust, etc. What I do when I’m finished shooting and it’s time to take pictures or pose the animal is to open the bolt, check the gun is unloaded, and then audibly close the bolt and release the spring. Everyone nearby - which is usually everyone - can hear what’s happened and knows the gun is unloaded. Same before I put it on the rack on the truck. Same when I take the gun off the rack. And so on. But the bolt will always be closed.

Different rules will always apply at a range, if only because others aren’t generally close enough to you to know what you’ve done or are doing.

As for carry, we’ve beaten this horse more than a few times. Some will never accept the “African” carry, while others will. I’m one of those who does, provided the muzzle is controlled. Miles of walking with a rifle over your shoulder gets hard on the shoulder(s); the African carry provides another option. If your PH is OK with it, you shouldn’t be put off by others who know they are right.

I use the African carry all the time over there. But you have to watch where its pointed. Are you back yet or on your way back? Look forward to your report.

 

[Hank2211]

I use the African carry all the time over there. But you have to watch where its pointed. Are you back yet or on your way back? Look forward to your report.

Back . . . Stay tuned . . . !

 

[BRICKBURN]

Back . . . Stay tuned . . . !

Man, what a shock to your body returning to this.

 

[Spooksar]

Try working in a gun store you would be surprised at how many nitwits come in to sell or have someone look at that are loaded .Icant tell you how many times this has happened to me.

I was in a local gun store and a guy pointed a rifle right at me, when I told him to not point it at people his comment was it’s not loaded. It didn’t end well for him, I’m well known in the store, a personal friend of the owner. When he heard me he came out and had a word with the idiot and his staff member that allowed it. Having taking extensive training with a handgun I’m very careful with muzzle control, and won’t put up with this BS.

 

[Gemsbok Gangsta]

Range officer: Remove bolt from rifle leave on bags or open bolt and put in rack. The muzzle is the dead end DO NOT FORGET even in the heat of the moment no excuses!!!!

One of my other pet peeves is the once a year hunter sight in crowd shooters, who have a nasty habit of opening their hard side rifle cases while it lies sideways on the bench. Which means its muzzle is pointing at someone on the line. I have barked at more than a few guys for that. It's something most don't even think about. In their mind the rifle is not loaded so no danger right? In my mind no gun is not loaded, they all are.

At our range no rifles enter unless uncased. Bolt must be open and rifle held in front with muzzle pointed up and only when range is hot. You cannot enter when we are cold.

 

[Spooksar]

Man, what a shock to your body returning to this.
View attachment 266548

You should move to Northern Alberta it’s a couple of degrees warmer -35 this morning.

 

[jduckhunter]

One of the last things that I had to do before leaving for my hunt in Alaska a few weeks ago was to send a letter to one of our club members notifying him of his removal from the club. It seems like he thought that the range rules didn't apply to him and shortly after a cease fire was called on the range he noticed that no one had gone downrange yet and proceeded to fire a shot. After several conversations with him I just couldn't get him to understand what he had done, so the board and I decided that termination of his membership was the only option. Not part of my job that I enjoy but from time to time it is necessary for the safety of the rest of us.

 

[John Camp]

I was in a local gun store and a guy pointed a rifle right at me, when I told him to not point it at people his comment was it’s not loaded. It didn’t end well for him, I’m well known in the store, a personal friend of the owner. When he heard me he came out and had a word with the idiot and his staff member that allowed it. Having taking extensive training with a handgun I’m very careful with muzzle control, and won’t put up with this BS.

I really struggle dealing with these idiots. They seem to think that knowing how to handle a gun is an innate aspect of manhood. They have no idea what they are doing but take it as the greatest of insults when you ask they follow some simple safety procedures. Sometimes I am also a guest, and I never want to step on the hosts toes. I usually just remove myself from the environment. Three years ago however, some jack-head was waving his new Glock around and two of my children were in the room. It was a small room and crowded with hunters eating barbecue before a shoot. My children were on either side of the guy, so there was no way I could quickly get them out of the room.

Now I will take a break from that story to explain why I am extreme about gun safety. When I was 14 I received a Marlin 336, 35 caliber for Christmas. I got it in November so I could hunt with it. I learned the gun inside and out. Then, one afternoon after a hunt I emptied the magazine, broke the gun down and cleaned it. I reassembled the gun. I then worked the lever and dry fired it. To my great surprise the gun went BOOM. Luckily I was outside sitting on the swing, alone, and the gun was pointing up. The gun holds six in the magazine and one in the chamber. There were 7 rounds sitting on the table in front of me. Three years later my cousin was sitting on the same swing. I was standing +-30 feet away. We were waiting on our fathers to go back in the woods for the afternoon. His Remington .243 bolt action was likewise empty. He had cycled the bolt and dry fired the gun dozens of times while waiting. Then. BOOM. The shot went somewhere near my left ear. It made an Ak-Ak-Ak sound as it past. So for me, when I say every gun is a loaded gun, I mean it.

Now back to my story of the idiot. Another man, who I had only met at a previous dove shoot, but who I have observed has excellent safety habits and situational awareness, asked the guy to put the gun away. He did not and instead mocked any concern for an unloaded gun. At this point I figured that there was a much better chance that his gun was loaded than any other person in the room. Either he was an idiot and dangerous, or he actually had bad intent. I did not believe it was the latter but also was sure that I had no obligation to confirm one way or the other. So, I decided to brain the guy and deal with any consequences afterwords. I grabbed a tactical, aluminum flashlight from the counter (not a mag-light but it was big enough to do the job). I took two steps towards the guy but before I got to him two other men were on him. One grabbed the gun and the other put the guy into a basket hold. What I did not know was that this guy had a history of mental problems/aberrant behavior and the police were already on their way. These other gentleman had a plan and were already in position. The gun was not loaded.

I really thought that after I took the guy out I would be going to jail.