Why I Don't Use a Safety on my Bolt Guns...

Superbrad said:
Fair bud..... I guess the point I was trying to make is that having a live round in the chamber and no safety on is a no-no in my books....
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I should’ve quoted it so it looked more like the author’s words and I agree with you, as well as if it has an empty chamber while I’m hunting. That’s just as pointless, I’ll unload if I need to climb over or under something but it’s loaded if it’s in my hands from the moment I leave the truck till I get back to the truck. If I need to set it aside momentarily to grab something from my pack I’ll open the bolt.
 
A friend of mine was on a side hill and went to move a few steps, slipped, fell, the gun left his hands... and when it hit the ground it fired a round through his arm... the safety was not engaged. Luckily it was a .22 and his arm and he recovered... but it could have been his head just as easily.

If there is a round in the chamber and the bolt is closed and the safety is not engaged... I do not move. I am about to aim and fire... If I go to move - first the bolt handle will be lifted or the safety will be engaged.
 
Superbrad said:
I wager you have never flushed and shot a grouse before..... If you have, and were observing your own third rule, then my hat goes off to you....
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Yeah, as someone that does quite a bit of waterfowling reading that article was, well, frankly it was ridiculous. It's odd to me that people keep trying to reinvent the 4 rules.
 
Theres people out there who dont wear seat belts either.

Accidents happen. No deer is worth shooting someone, or myself.

Frankly, the author of the article sounds like an arrogant dink and I wouldnt hunt with him or want to be around him
 
You should never turn the key in the ignition with the engine running, but I've done it a couple of times.
Juster's fifth law: "Nobody remembers the 2000 times you didn't shoot yourself in the crotch".
 
guntech said:
A friend of mine was on a side hill and went to move a few steps, slipped, fell, the gun left his hands... and when it hit the ground it fired a round through his arm... the safety was not engaged. Luckily it was a .22 and his arm and he recovered... but it could have been his head just as easily.

If there is a round in the chamber and the bolt is closed and the safety is not engaged... I do not move. I am about to aim and fire... If I go to move - first the bolt handle will be lifted or the safety will be engaged.
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Young hunter I know shot himself in the guts with a 16g slung over his shoulder when it caught on some branches and fell off his shoulder. Safety wasn't on, and he survived...barely, but he carried his guts back in his hands for 300m to the house.
Accidents happen a lot.
 
There are far too many hunting situations in different locations to lay down a blanket statement as in that article. Gun writers write stuff. Not every one will agree and I sometimes think that is the point.

I have hunted out west in the Yukon a couple times with a host who required an empty chamber. It was a call, spot & stalk type hunt so this worked very well. I liked it.

Here in the east, the hunting is very different, esp still hunting deer and upland game. These two situations require a very fast reaction time and thus a chambered round whilst hunting.
 
Superbrad said:
This..... Hunting without your safety on is irresponsible.... Even if you are hunting alone....

You can be as "vigilant" as you want..... It won't keep you from accidentally losing your footing etc...

Relying only on a safety (mechanical defence) is not good... not using it at all is even worse....

I was in the forces as well Kurgan, did you walk around with the safety disengaged on your c7?.... If so, I would love to know what cracker jack prize level regiment you were in that would allow that behaviour....
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Agree 100%
 
At work and hunting:

-round in the chamber
-safety on/gun decocked
-finger away from the trigger

Worked for the last 17 years on flat range as well as all over the place. Mechanical safety shouldn't be relied on as a first line of safety but as part of a layer of measures
 
On many guns having a round in the chamber with the bolt closed is dangerous as a sharp blow can let the firing hit the primer. This is because some safeties block the trigger and not the firing pin.
 
guntech said:
A friend of mine was on a side hill and went to move a few steps, slipped, fell, the gun left his hands... and when it hit the ground it fired a round through his arm... the safety was not engaged. Luckily it was a .22 and his arm and he recovered... but it could have been his head just as easily.

If there is a round in the chamber and the bolt is closed and the safety is not engaged... I do not move. I am about to aim and fire... If I go to move - first the bolt handle will be lifted or the safety will be engaged.
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Almost the exact same thing happpened to a friend of mine at the time
Must be 45 years ago. We were hunting rabbits with 22's he fell on a bank into a brook and no safety on and shot himself in the arm also
At first I was laughing at him until I heard the bang :(
He was lucky also
Cheers
 
DOUGLAS D said:
I’m adamant about checking to make sure guns are unloaded, and every time I see or pick up a rifle with the safety on, it just screams to me that it is cocked and there might be a round in the chamber. Personally, every time I unload a rifle, I either leave the action open or I dry fire to undock it. With just a look, you can tell whether most bolt actions are cocked or not. Many cannot be put on safe without being cocked, and some actions cannot be opened to check whether there's a round in the action when they're in the “safe” positio

So if I read this correctly.........If you hand this fellow a rifle with the safety on he will dry fire it to "undock" it.????......because it's just screams at him that there's a round in the chamber.
Sweet baby jeebers.:sok2
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Nope, those were two separate thoughts. You read it incorrectly.
 
SuperCub said:
There are far too many hunting situations in different locations to lay down a blanket statement as in that article. Gun writers write stuff. Not every one will agree and I sometimes think that is the point.

I have hunted out west in the Yukon a couple times with a host who required an empty chamber. It was a call, spot & stalk type hunt so this worked very well. I liked it.

Here in the east, the hunting is very different, esp still hunting deer and upland game. These two situations require a very fast reaction time and thus a chambered round whilst hunting.
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My issue is his condescending holier then thou attitude with which he writes. On top of the actual opinion on safeties
 
The guy states "Real safety comes from practice (both the verb and the noun), not the object." He is wrong. An object can be made totally safe or safer. This guy is a simpleton.

With his logic cars wouldn't have seatbelts. Saws wouldn't have blade guards, etc. The author's inability to understand that safe practices go hand in hand with safety systems on equipment is really frightening. Accidents happen despite safe practices. I would NOT hunt with (or work with) this dude considering his astounding lack of judgement.

Stupid of outdoor life to even publish that.
 
Both safeties and empty chambers have their place.

IMO safeties are more suitable for solo and sedentary hunting styles.

You won't find me on a mountainside in a group with loaded chambers and safeties on (or off).
 
MiG25 said:
Both safeties and empty chambers have their place.

IMO safeties are more suitable for solo and sedentary hunting styles.

You won't find me on a mountainside in a group with loaded chambers and safeties on (or off).
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I agree, if I'm solo I usually have a round chambered with the safety on. If I'm hunting with a partner I won't chamber a round till it's needed.
 
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