Accidental discharge at the trap range

popcan

popcan

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A couple weeks ago during a trap shoot, the fellow at station 1 DROPPED his gun and it discharged, almost at the same time as the guy at #5, who was properly shooting in turn.

I guess the guy at position #1 loaded his gun (S/auto) to get ready before it was actually his turn, and somehow fumbled his firearm. No-one was hurt, the gun hit the ground pointing downrange.

What are the rules at your club, regarding when you can load your gun? And, is it strictly enforced? I know that our club rule is to keep an open/empty chamber until it is your turn to shoot. It's not really enforced.

With an over/under, lots of guys (myself included) will drop a shell in, but keep the gun open, barrell resting on a toe, or cradled in an arm. I see the semi-auto guys often have a shell sitting in the receiver, but have not let the bolt fly home. This is what I think the guy did, just before he dropped his gun. As it hit the ground, the bolt closed and the gun fired.

What are your thoughts about semi autos having a shell sitting in the receiver on the line, waiting to shoot?
Or, over/unders with a shell in the chamber, but held open?


Another good reason to use an o/u! :p
 
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"drop a shell in"..."barrel resting on a toe"... OK, its an o/u with the action open, but.....
Laddie lost control of a loaded firearm, and because it was pointed downrange no one was hurt.
Perhaps the rule should be that a cartridge should not be placed in a shotgun until it is the shooter's turn, immediately before calling "Pull".
 
Why would you bother loading it before being on the line? If people need something to do with thier hands while waiting, take up smoking, get a rossary or something. There is no need to stand around with a loaded firearm. And to be honest a half loaded firearm is probabley worse.
I agree that if it is pointed in a safe direction, it is not an issue.BUT alot of people do not have very good control of where thier muzzle is! (i.e resting on your toe!!, having a 12 bore pointed at your toe should set off alarm bells, loaded or not. Why take away your defense mechanisms by desensitising yourself)

My self, I find the act of loading immediately prior to shooting gives a bit of zen focus time brings you from, I am holding a firearm to I am going to make this firearm do what it can do.
 
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At our club the rule is open action on the line until it's your turn to fire. It's not enforced but generally practiced.

When shooting trap I have a round in the chamber with the action open and only close the gun when I hear the shooter before me call for his target.
 
" Stuff " happens ... glad the muzzle was down range. Every now and then one of the guys with the "release/release" trigger on his trap gun has a boo-boo - but the muzzle has always been in a safe direction. Unnerving (sp?) to say the least ! Glad/Proud to say our home Club has been "accident free" for 57 years running !
 
I shoot a semi auto, I put a round in the chamber, but wait until it's my turn then close the action release. That's the general accepted way at the trap club.
 
Seems more important to me that the guns work safely. In this case it sounds like the gun is not safe and should not be allowed on the range.
 
david doyle said:
BUT alot of people do not have very good control of where thier muzzle is! (i.e resting on your toe!!, having a 12 bore pointed at your toe should set off alarm bells, loaded or not. Why take away your defense mechanisms by desensitising yourself)
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No-one is resting a loaded firearm on their toe.... I'm talking about an over/under shotgun with the action open, and a shell in the chamber. The muzzle sits on your toe with the action open so it cannot fire.
 
I know it is not loaded. My point is you have a muzzle resting on your toe/ pointing at you. IMHO having a firearm pointed at you should set off alarm bells in your head. If I thought you were resting a loaded and closed gun on your toe I would'nt even have said anything because there is no help for complete idiots. (which you are not)

I just like to keep my reflex to bad things in working order.
 
david doyle said:
I know it is not loaded. My point is you have a muzzle resting on your toe/ pointing at you. IMHO having a firearm pointed at you should set off alarm bells in your head. If I thought you were resting a loaded and closed gun on your toe I would'nt even have said anything because there is no help for complete idiots. (which you are not)

I just like to keep my reflex to bad things in working order.
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If you're distressed by the prospect of seeing people with open breaking guns resting the barrel(s) on their feet, often with shells in the chamber, then it's probably best you avoid trap shooting. It's a very common practice and quite safe unless the shell suffered a spontaneous detonation or a meteor fell from the sky striking the shell exactly on the primer.

You can even buy little toe pads that attach to your laces to prevent the barrel from marking up the top of your shoe.
 
Claybuster said:
At our club the rule is open action on the line until it's your turn to fire. It's not enforced but generally practiced.

When shooting trap I have a round in the chamber with the action open and only close the gun when I hear the shooter before me call for his target.
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This is the same at my club. I do the same except I close my gun after the guy beside me has shot, put my gun up call and shoot...etc.

Jacky
 
Do you guys read, I never said there was a danger of the open shotgun spontaneously firing through some act of god. My point was having a shotgun muzzle pressed against your body is not always a good or desirable state of affairs so why would you want to get used to it?? I guess if your arms are so weak and your constitution and posture so poor that you need to escape the gripping pull of gravity by resting that over burdening 8 pounds on your toe I should just feel sorry for you and shut up.
 
Whilst I do feel that Mr. Doyle has somewhat overstated his case - I would never rest the muzzle of a firearm on my foot, or other body part. That said, I don't shoot clays nor do I know anything about the "customs" of claybustin'. That's just me.

As long as you feel safe, go for it. Safety nazis be damned.
 
I think that if you guys owned an over under, and shot a lot of trap at the range, you would find that you start doing the same thing. I can see that you can't "get it" if you haven't been there.

Like Claybuster said, it is a common practice and quite safe. It's just a comfortable way to hold the gun while waiting.
 
Claybuster and Popcan are correct, resting the muzzle of an opened over and under or break action single shot on your foot is quite common in claytarget shooting all over the world actually, (I have several pairs of shoes with little black circles on the toes) but as Popcan mentioned if you do not partake in those sports its probably something quite different than you are used to. I like it alot better than some people who do not seem to understand about muzzle contol sometimes.

Back to the original incident. I don't think in 25 years of claytarget shooting I have ever seen someone DROP a shotgun on the line loaded or not. If it was my club I might take this person aside and have a serious chat about the incident. The fact that it went off, well many firearms particulary shotguns and a lot of riles can discharge under that sort of shock.
 
In trrap, many shooters drop a shell in and keep the action open till it is their turn to shoot.
In skeet, the gun should NEVER be loaded till you are on station.
As far as break actions go, yes, it is accepted to rest an OPEN gun on your toe WORLD WIDE!

I have NEVER seen anyone do it with a semi or pump however.

My son and I never drop one into the chamber when resting the gun on our toes...
Cat
 
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