Log In
Members
Home
Add Reply
Add Topic
November 7, 2015
Offline
I generally unload a lever gun through the loading gate when possible. A bit tricky and sometimes hard on the fingers but with practice I find it easier than running them through the action. After the tube is empty I’ll clear the chamber and work the action a few times just to be sure. I unload hunting rifles before getting into a vehicle, when actually hunting I’ll use the half-cock safety when a round is in the chamber. I don’t keep a loaded rifle around unless the coyotes are being a nuisance. Safe bet any shotgun found outside a safe and all but display handguns are loaded. Shotguns have the hammer down on an empty chamber. All are treated as loaded and given the respect due a loaded firearm. Firearm safety is a lot easier if you practice it EVERY time you handle a firearm.
To each his own, just be safe!
Mike
Today not many of our kids are trained on firearm safety. They didn’t grow up with dad teaching them proper gun handling.
Wisconsin has a law with teeth when it comes to children. “If you leave a loaded firearm within the reach or easy access of a child you may be fined or imprisoned or both if the child improperly dis charges, possesses or exhibits the firearm” This statement has to be given to the buyer of any firearm. I assume it’s not the only state with a law like this. We also can’t carry a loaded firearm in a vehicle unless it’s a pistol with a concealed carry permit.
The key word is “leave”, so carry is not the problem as far as the law. As far as accidental discharge, the bullet goes where pointed.T/R
clarence said
1892takedown said
As far as unloading, I never go so far as to empty the magazine, just bring the bolt back far enough to extract the round, then close the lever, and run the round back into the loading gate/magazine.
Doing this would be even simpler if these models were equipped with magazine cut-offs, as is common on bolt-action military rifles. Browning designed one for his great Auto-5, a feature I’ve used when I wanted two quick choices of shot size.
If I thought a gun was “unsafe” with a full mag (I don’t), I’d go shopping for a single-shot.
This reminds me of the thoughtful design of the M1897 Winchester. My Dad’s first deer rifle (that he bought with his own money) was of course the ’86 .33 WCF I’ve often referenced. His first shotgun was a M1897 Winchester. I recall at a very young age being impressed how you could unload all the shells in the magazine tube just by pressing two buttons. You have to press them at the same time but I recall getting the hang of it when I was quite young. Interesting how so few shotguns incorporated a feature like that. Winchester didn’t carry if forward with the Model 12 or Model 42.
TR said
Wisconsin has a law with teeth when it comes to children. “If you leave a loaded firearm within the reach or easy access of a child you may be fined or imprisoned or both if the child improperly dis charges, possesses or exhibits the firearm” This statement has to be given to the buyer of any firearm. I assume it’s not the only state with a law like this.
That, actually, is a valid example of a true “common sense” gun law, as opposed to the spurious “common sense” laws the gun-haters are always raving (& lying) about, deliberately intended to cripple exercise of the 2A.
1892takedown said
After thinking about this thread a while, I recall several hunters (and maybe a gun writer or two) mentioning the ’94 carbine (half-cock safety) being, “the most dangerous gun in the woods.” steve004 said
Steve, Ive heard the same stories since I was a kid. Maybe there were more folks hunting with them back in the day, being absent minded dropping them on the ground or from a tree stands and shooting themselves or someone else, who knows.
IMHO, the most dangerous while unloading is by far the 1892 when you discover they have a worn out hammer face where the bolt rides over the hammer and doesnt push the hammer back far enough to engage the trigger sear, allowing the hammer to fall upon closing the bolt.
As far as the 1894 is concerned, I carry my carbine just about everywhere I go and have done so over the past 15 years. Its my go-to for protection and hunting and is always in the truck (unless Im carrying concealed). Almost always carry it with an open chamber. About the only time I use the half-cock safety is when there is a round chambered and Im hunting. As far as unloading, I never go so far as to empty the magazine, just bring the bolt back far enough to extract the round, then close the lever, and run the round back into the loading gate/magazine.
My dad had a gun store and was a collector, and I started shooting at an early age, so guns and gun safety have been ingrained from an early age. They were always in the house, same as now with my kids. Both of them were shooting guns by age 5, both killed their first deer by 7, and they continue to shoot and hunt. So, guns have always been in the house and they were taught they should always be considered as loaded, whether loaded or not. Never had an issue with kids and curiosity about guns because those curiosities were satisfied at an early age. Its like kids and matches, give them a box of a thousand and watch them burn through them, more than likely (hopefully) their curiosity is satisfied and they move on to something else. JMHO.
CH
Interesting thoughts on the M1892. I think our discussion thus far about rifle designs and the corresponding safety implications failed to factor in that many rifles are not in the same functional condition they were in when they left the factory. 100+ years of use and wear can have a strong impact. In the case of a first year production Model 1873 – 150 years!
1 Guest(s)
