Should have had one in the chamber.

marshall said:
Someone I know forgot a round in the 1100 and killed the ford roof bouncing over rough summer fallow.
There was no insurance involved in that F. up.
I always double checked my safety and fixed it if required.
Crawling thru fences with a loaded gun have killed a couple people, and also hard on good gunstocks as well.
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I remember as a kid I was hitch hiking and the fellow that gave me a lift pointed to a hole in the floor of his then new 1964 Ford. He had been bird hunting and thought it was OK to have a loaded 12 ga in the front seat.
 
Sask_Hunter said:
Good way to end up dead or with a bullet in you or in a buddy or in a family member. Always carry with a chamber empty.
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This might be an option out west where shots are often in open areas allowing the hunter time to load up, but the majority of hunts around here involve hunting bush where visibility is limited and walking around with an unloaded gun will surely result in an empty freezer. In 20+ years of hunting I can count on one hand how many times I’ve encountered game in a situation where I would have actually had the time to chamber a round and take a shot without spooking the critter.

Heck, even just having the gun slung over your shoulder means you’re missing out in shot opportunities many times. I do not use slings anymore and the gun/crossbow is loaded as soon as legally permitted and is not unloaded until I’m done hunting.


Seeing as we’re taught to treat every gun as though it is loaded, what difference does it make if you’re walking around with a round chambered or not? If you’re doing your part with firearm safety it’s irrelevant if the gun is loaded or not…
 
marshall said:
Someone I know forgot a round in the 1100 and killed the ford roof bouncing over rough summer fallow.
There was no insurance involved in that F. up.
I always double checked my safety and fixed it if required.
Crawling thru fences with a loaded gun have killed a couple people, and also hard on good gunstocks as well.
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Leant that lesson from Mummy more than seventy years ago, since she was hunting guinea fowl while on trek when the truck hit an ant eater hole and the SXS behind the seat discharged through the roof!
 
If I did not trust myself or my weapon when it is loaded in the chamber, then I would never hunt. OP, do you hunt birds with a unloaded shotgun?
 
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track said:
If I did not trust myself or my weapon when it is loaded in the chamber, then I would never hunt. OP, do you hunt birds with a unloaded shotgun?
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This lol.

Where I do a lot of my hunting, it would be a rare occasion where you would have time to load a round after seeing something and still have time to get a shot off. Control the muzzle, control your trigger.
 
Each to his own. There would be tens of thousands of dead soldiers and police officers if moving with a loaded chamber was such a hazard as people think and if you never sweep people there's no risk. No argument that an empty chamber is safer though, unless they create a false sense of confidence that a gun is safe when it isn't. You can go round and round with this sort of idea and I guess I just did.
 
I like having one in the chamber but not cocked.
I have 5 guns with exposed hammers. I like them for just this reason.

I don’t care for cocked and loaded with the safety on unless I’m just sitting.

I tried in my bolt guns to have one in the chamber, but hold the trigger down as I close the bolt slowly. Then I just lift and lower the bolt and I’m ready. But in the moment I would always cycle the bolt and chuck out a life round. Lol.
 
By myself I'm mostly chambered with the exception of exceptionally difficult terrain, climbing over thick brush, water crossing on wet rocks etc. With a group we all un-chamber as we arrive back at the truck. be religious about Muzzle Direction.. it will prevent any tragic mishap every time! Guns are like power tools, a moments inattention can bite you. In the end though it's pretty easy to be safe if you have you're head on straight.
 
Got out of my treestand one time and when I picked my gun up I placed the magazine back in it but forgot to chamber a round.

Real nice black bear bluff charged me about 3 minutes into my walk. Had the gun shouldered and still can picture the bears head in scope when I pulled the trigger only to hear CLICK.

Bear stopped at about 8 yards and veered off into the thick stuff before I could chamber then try again.

Was a good lesson because I always think about that and the gun is loaded if I'm hunting
 
Sumonda said:
By myself I'm mostly chambered with the exception of exceptionally difficult terrain, climbing over thick brush, water crossing on wet rocks etc. With a group we all un-chamber as we arrive back at the truck. be religious about Muzzle Direction.. it will prevent any tragic mishap every time! Guns are like power tools, a moments inattention can bite you. In the end though it's pretty easy to be safe if you have your head on straight.
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Guns are the original power tool and, yes, complacency kills.
 
regulate34 said:
I tried in my bolt guns to have one in the chamber, but hold the trigger down as I close the bolt slowly. Then I just lift and lower the bolt and I’m ready. But in the moment I would always cycle the bolt and chuck out a life round. Lol.
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Good way to have a negligent discharge. When you lower the bolt like that your firing pin protrudes from the bolt face and is against the primer with the vast majority of bolt guns. Doesn’t take that hard of an impact to make a round go off that way.
 
Big Bad said:
Each to his own. There would be tens of thousands of dead soldiers and police officers if moving with a loaded chamber was such a hazard as people think and if you never sweep people there's no risk. No argument that an empty chamber is safer though, unless they create a false sense of confidence that a gun is safe when it isn't. You can go round and round with this sort of idea and I guess I just did.
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You got the the right idea. Carrying the gun empty can give people the impression “well, it isn’t loaded so I can ignore gun safety” because they know it’s unloaded and can be sloppy. That’s why every gun is to be treated as if it’s loaded whether it’s full or empty and with proper gun handling it’s irrelevant if the gun is loaded or not. But I guess it comes down to the area and style of hunting.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
You got the the right idea. Carrying the gun empty can give people the impression “well, it isn’t loaded so I can ignore gun safety” because they know it’s unloaded and can be sloppy. That’s why every gun is to be treated as if it’s loaded whether it’s full or empty and with proper gun handling it’s irrelevant if the gun is loaded or not. But I guess it comes down to the area and style of hunting.
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Unless a gun is open I consider it loaded, same as on a range- muzzle control trumps all.
Cat
 
regulate34 said:
I like having one in the chamber but not cocked.
I have 5 guns with exposed hammers. I like them for just this reason.

I don’t care for cocked and loaded with the safety on unless I’m just sitting.

I tried in my bolt guns to have one in the chamber, but hold the trigger down as I close the bolt slowly. Then I just lift and lower the bolt and I’m ready. But in the moment I would always cycle the bolt and chuck out a life round. Lol.
Click to expand...

KodiakHntr said:
Good way to have a negligent discharge. When you lower the bolt like that your firing pin protrudes from the bolt face and is against the primer with the vast majority of bolt guns. Doesn’t take that hard of an impact to make a round go off that way.
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Sounds more like an unwanted discharge in the worst case if the other tenets of safety were followed.
Accidental discharge is for malfunctioning firearms otherwise being handled correctly.
Negligent discharge is for when gun safety tenets are ignored.
 
St.Cooper tells us an unloaded gun is a stick...

I trust safeties but choose them wisely.

I have a haenel kipplauff with a decocker, and a voere decocking safety for an upcoming mauser build.

I think this is the safest solution by far. Self decocking your bolt using the trigger and bolt lift is moronic.

Hope to see more designs in the future in North America with decockers. Europe as always is ahead of us in gun technology

And another quote from Jeff (PBUH), always treat all guns like they are loaded.
 
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