# Anyone ever leave a bullet in the chamber by accident?



## Sebastian C

Sorta new to guns. Thought it was empty but it wasn't. Safety was on, but still sorta freaked out cuz I was putting it away with my kids standing right next to me. I try to be safe but I didn't like that. Figure thats about when it can go off unexpectedly.

Any experiences or advice? Trying to avoid accidents. Thanks


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## TnAndy

Mine always have a round chambered unless removed for cleaning. One should treat any firearm as if that is the case until you have personally cleared it.


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## Sebastian C

Hmmm, yeah I guess that a lot of folks leave them ready to go, In case there's a situation. I'd like to do that but can really only relax if it's locked up unloaded. Get worried since I have little kids. It's totally correct to point out "what good is the thing if it's locked in a closet", but that's how we do it. 

Suppose that i was being careful, safety was on and I don't point it at anything I'm not trying to kill (just like they taught in boy scouts). But it still surprised me wiping it down with oil and finding a bullet in there with my kid standing next to me.

Anyways, thanks for putting it in perspective a little.


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## Bearfootfarm

Follow those rules and you won't have problems.
*Check and double check* the chambers when handling "empty" guns.


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## RSwink

I never consider it unloaded until I see it is unloaded. Show me the chamber or I will consider it loaded. I taught my kids from the time they could crawl to never touch a weapon, and that was very strictly enforced until they got "introduced" to a BB gun. After that the rule was only with your mother or I. After 22LR was in the mix did I open it to other family members. After .410 we opened it up to outside of family. Now 2 out of 3 have their own kiddos to teach and are training the next generation. 

Now, there was a time in my son's early teens when the guns in the closet were without firing pins and the guns in the lock box were loaded.


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## farmrbrown

Once.


Showing off one of my dad's rifles to a friend after school, a .22. 
Dad had been dead about 5 years, so of course it couldn't be loaded. 
Yeah right.
Fortunately when he pulled the trigger it only put a little hole in the ceiling.
Read Bearfoot's post.
THOSE ARE THE RULES!


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## StarSchoolFarm

The first step whenever handling a firearm is you, personally, clear & safe it… no one tells you it’s clear & safe, you clear & safe it yourself.

Always clear & safe.

If not, Darwinism happens…


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## Shrek

My semi automatics always have a round in the pipe with the safety on and I add one to the magazine to be fully loaded and ready to simply push the safety off and be hot to go. I have always lived in a house with all firearms loaded and ready for use regardless if on my person or in the gun safe.

Only time my weapons are unloaded is during cleaning and then they are reloaded following the cleaning.


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## Sebastian C

Thanks BFF, good reminder. Farmrbrown, that's the type of nonsense im trying to avoid happening with my kid standing next to me. THAT kind of story is why I've been having a little anxiety attack since this afternoon.

I didn't grow up with guns. Got exposed to them a little along the way and I know the rules, but still far from reflexes with the safe procedures. Thanks everyone for the different perspectives and advice.


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## Evons hubby

I've never accidentally left a round chambered. I do it on purpose. My guns are always ready to rock n roll. The only time one is empty is while I'm cleaning it, and have another handy loaded n ready. Kids were taught early on how to handle them safely. They are not toys, they are tools!


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## farmrbrown

Yvonne's hubby said:


> I've never accidentally left a round chambered. I do it on purpose. My guns are always ready to rock n roll. The only time one is empty is while I'm cleaning it, and have another handy loaded n ready. Kids were taught early on how to handle them safely. They are not toys, they are tools!


Same here........although the OP _*did ask*_ the question, lol.
In retrospect, I guess I took the blame for forgetting my dad's stern words - but it wasn't me that "accidentally" left one in the rifle, it must have been him. No one had touched it for over 5 years.
And it wasn't by accident, he viewed firearms as expensive hammers if they didn't have ammo in them.

He just didn't know he was gonna die that day and expected me to have more sense, cuz I should have know better.
There have been countless times over the years when I realized how darn right he was about everything he tried to teach me.
I wish he could have heard me say that at least once, it's every good parent's just reward.

So to correct myself, I never have, but for God's sake be careful and heed the wise advice about firearm safety, y'all.


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## TnAndy

farmrbrown said:


> Once.
> 
> 
> Showing off one of my dad's rifles to a friend after school, a .22.
> Dad had been dead about 5 years, so of course it couldn't be loaded.
> Yeah right.
> Fortunately when he pulled the trigger it only put a little hole in the ceiling.
> Read Bearfoot's post.
> THOSE ARE THE RULES!



Similar experience about age 12 in Boy Scouts. One of the boys brought a .22 to the meeting to be used in a firearms safety demo. Don't recall the brand, (Marlin maybe), but it one with the tubular magazine that loaded by pulling a long, spring assist rod out of the butt stock, fill with rounds, insert the rod back in. Pull a lever on the side to load the first round, then it fed semi-auto from there.

After the meeting in the parking lot, we were passing it around, aimed skyward, and pulling the lever, then dry firing, when all of a sudden what must have been the the last round that hadn't fed from the tube (weak spring, or just jammed in the tube) DID feed and we got a live fire into the air ! 

THAT did more to teach safety to a bunch of sheepish faced kids than any talk I ever heard.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

always treat as loaded.

yes I have done it unintentionally when hunting , we are required to unload before getting in a vehicle, you can not trust extractors to always grab the round out .

like the above story , my uncle was cleaning a tube feed 22lr on my grandmothers couch when I was young about 4 or 5 he had shot till he ran out of ammo , come home cleaned the gun , then racked the bolt 3 times and then he pulled the trigger. the bullet went between my dad and I into grandmas player piano leg , it exited the 2.25 inches of hard maple and dropped into the box of rolls of music for the piano to not be found for years.


always always treat as loaded.

what we use at 4-H shooting sports to easily quickly identify a clear gun is a CBI Clear Barrel Indicator which is for our purposes a brightly colored usually blaze orange string trimmer line. before we go down range to check targets everyone must be action open , magazine out , safety on , CBI in and gun in the rack , on the shooting mat or table no one touching it.

with the CBI I can easily walk down the line making sure all are clear with a great visual confirmation that I can see about 6 inches of bright orange string trimmer line 6 inches out the muzzle and 6 inches out the action.

when using pellet guns we use the same string trimmer line and if they have a weak report they run the CBI to make sure a pellet isn't stuck in their barrel.

we still have a leader watch the line while the rest go down to set or check targets.


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## Chuck R.

Accident..no, by design yes.

Like the other's said, knowing and living by the 4 rules prevents carelessness from becoming catastrophic. 1 & 2 while prevent any serious consequences even if there's a mechanical issue that caused the discharge. 

To prevent something feeding after the weapon was through to be clear, in matches, that the last step before leaving the range is clearing the weapon under the supervision of the RO/SO. In IDPA (3Gun uses the same commands basically, CAS was similar) The last commands are:

Unload and show clear (drop magazine, rack and lock slide/bolt back, or open cylinder)
"Slide" (meaning drop the slide or close the cylinder)
"Hammer" Meaning to dryfire the weapon down range
Finally "Holster" for a handgun or remove for a long gun (usually no slings are used).


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

we teach the rules in slightly different words and a touch different order. WI hunters education uses TAB-K so we keep using it to keep it the same for the kids.

T- treat every gun as loaded 
A- alwasy keep your muzzle in a safe direction 
B- be sure of your target and what is Beyond 
K- Keep you finger out of the trigger guard till ready to shoot.

whichever way is easier for you to remember.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

Chuck R. said:


> Unload and show clear (drop magazine, rack and lock slide/bolt back, or open cylinder)
> "Slide" (meaning drop the slide or close the cylinder)
> "Hammer" Meaning to dryfire the weapon down range
> Finally "Holster" for a handgun or remove for a long gun (usually no slings are used).


we use the same for action pistol 

in any gun that is safe to drop the hammer on an empty chamber and you have a safe place to do it is a good idea If say you have a 22 that it is not safe to dry fire don't bring to shoots that require you to dry fire and the CBI would be an alternative not approved for use at shoots that require hammer drop but an alternative for others and home.

for long guns we case after clearing , but we don't do a lot with long guns usually pistol caliber carbines if we do just because of our range limitations.

we also run a safety table , the only place your gun can come out of it's holster when not on the hot range , it is a table set up against a concrete wall you draw point into the wall and case or work on it , NO AMMUNITION may be present at the safety table.


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## Wolf mom

StarSchoolFarm said:


> The first step whenever handling a firearm is you, personally, clear & safe it… no one tells you it’s clear & safe, you clear & safe it yourself.
> 
> Always clear & safe.
> 
> If not, Darwinism happens…


yeah - and never believe your husband when he tells you it's clear - even though he IS your husband. I shot out a window believing him.


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## Nimrod

I always personally check that a weapon is empty in both the chamber and the magazine. For short term setting it down, like taking a break while hunting, open the action before setting it down. A gun can't fire while the action is open. For long term storage make certain the gun is empty in both chamber and magazine, chamber a snap cap (dummy round usually florescent orange) and fire the gun. Dry firing without the snap cap may damage the firing pin. The firing pin spring is not compressed which is easier on it.

I agree with the OP. Kids are not mature enough to be around loaded guns. Also, thanks to the anti-gun sentiment, you can be charged with child endangerment if there is a loaded gun in the house and there are ever kids present.


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## oldasrocks

Been there, done that as a hole in my kitchen ceiling will attest to.


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## Ryan.

I have a few guns in the house most of them are unloaded, but with the magazines loaded next to them on the nightstand. I do keep my one shotgun always loaded, but the hammer is not cocked back since its a single shot. Keep it upright in the corner of the room never on the shelf if it is loaded. 

Treat every gun as if its loaded though.


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## weaselfire

Use a chamber flag when storing. You can't insert the flag if a round is in the chamber and you can't chamber a round if the flag is in place. Never THINK a firearm is empty, VERIFY the firearm is empty.

Jeff


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## Fishindude

If you handle firearms a lot I think most would be lying if they said they had not done this once or more. Kind of scared me a couple times when I found one I'd been hunting with still chambered up, because I think an accident is way more likely than an emergency protection situation. Safe gun handling practices have always prevented accidents for me, so loaded or not I treat them as such.

I only keep a few guns intentionally loaded; a couple different personal protection pistols and a couple different rifles I keep handy for varmints, everything else is cleaned and unloaded in safe storage.

I've really never lived in great fear of being attacked, a home invasion, etc. Most of the stuff I do keep loaded only have ammo in the magazine, not the chamber, always figured I could get a round cycled in pretty quick in an emergency.


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## shaky6

There is no such thing as an "accident" in the gun world. Everything is either intentional or negligence. Either way, you're responsible.


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## DisasterCupcake

Never. 

I grew up around guns, and a super safety conscious dad. We also cleaned our guns after every shooting session. A good habit to get into. Plus, I like my revolver for conceal carry and everyday use; simple and effective.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

shaky6 said:


> There is no such thing as an "accident" in the gun world. Everything is either intentional or negligence. Either way, you're responsible.


why we don't call it an accident we call it ND Negligent Discharge.

as scary as they are they are every educational as one of the above posters mentioned from a boy scout meeting where they had a ND with the gun they had all been handling for a safety demo.


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## Danaus29

I've never thought a loaded gun wasn't. A couple of times I have thought an unloaded gun was loaded. I grew up around guns and the mantra "treat every gun as if it is loaded" was drilled into my head from the time I could walk. Even now I check the chamber and magazine when handling any firearm. The gun shop guy laughs at me because I never believe him until I look. It's like leaving your car in park (while running) until you are ready to move it.

The couple of times I thought the gun was loaded but really wasn't was when we had a bad raccoon problem. I had loaded the .22 but hubby had removed the ammo when I wasn't looking.


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## ridgerunner1965

we never had any real gun safety training when I was a kid. I had seen my dad kill animals up to 1000lbs with a 22 rifle. I guess he thought that was self explanatory. I shot with my dad and gpa all the time. it was just common sense really. don't point guns at things you don't want to kill. it was a differnet time.

when my son was small I drilled him on gun safety.he was good. but his cousin who had no gun safety training actually shot himself in the finger. it was a different time.

nowadays when the gkids come over all guns are locked up. its a different time now.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

ridgerunner1965 said:


> we never had any real gun safety training when I was a kid. I had seen my dad kill animals up to 1000lbs with a 22 rifle. I guess he thought that was self explanatory. I shot with my dad and gpa all the time. it was just common sense really. don't point guns at things you don't want to kill. it was a differnet time.
> 
> when my son was small I drilled him on gun safety.he was good. but his cousin who had no gun safety training actually shot himself in the finger. it was a different time.
> 
> nowadays when the gkids come over all guns are locked up. its a different time now.


the times may be different but that seems no excuse to hide your guns away and leave a generation to Ignorance.
break out the guns teach the lessons , even if you must first research and learn the best way to teach them.


every kid or grandkid we don't teach is just another ignorant vote against us.


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## JJ Grandits

All my firearms are unloaded if they are not in my possession.

Have never "accidently" left a round in the chamber and I make damn sure that it never happens.

Everytime I read a story about some idiot who killed one of his children because "They did not know it was loaded" I cringe.

This is so far beyond stupid.

They are unloaded and checked several times after use, again before cleaning, and then again before storage and everytime they are handled.

When I teach hunter training I explain that all I ever load is three rounds no matter what gun I am using.

Safe gun handling requires that you frequently unload and reload your firearm in the course of the day.

If you can't count to three you should take up golf.

If I ever need more than three rounds to bring down game it's time to hit the fairways.

Saw a guy once hunting deer in the swamps.

He had two bandalero's of slugs draped crisscross across his chest.

I was going to ask him if he saw anything but then figured why bother.


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## ridgerunner1965

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> the times may be different but that seems no excuse to hide your guns away and leave a generation to Ignorance.
> break out the guns teach the lessons , even if you must first research and learn the best way to teach them.
> 
> 
> every kid or grandkid we don't teach is just another ignorant vote against us.



oh I do agree. and when they get a bit older they will be taught. but for now I don't take any chances.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

ridgerunner1965 said:


> oh I do agree. and when they get a bit older they will be taught. but for now I don't take any chances.


around 5-7 is a good time to start with a Red Ryder or something similar and their size , keep targets simple and distance short 15-20 feet and only paper targets , remember the safety glasses 
don't treat the RR like a toy but a real gun with all the safety rules and keep it short and sweet they don't have a long attention span at that age , best if they can arrive to a set up range and you can spend their attention span on safety rules and shooting as they get older they help with more range prep , hanging targets , clean up till they are doing all of it 

we used the no taboo method , they could ask to see a gun any time and we would go get it and make sure it was clear and have them handle it in a safe direction. when handling a gun is common place with good supervision and not something to run off and hide , then they were much less likely to go try and touch when they shouldn't. feel free to still keep them locked up.


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## farmrbrown

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> around 5-7 is a good time to start with a Red Ryder or something similar and their size , keep targets simple and distance short 15-20 feet and only paper targets , remember the safety glasses
> don't treat the RR like a toy but a real gun with all the safety rules and keep it short and sweet they don't have a long attention span at that age , best if they can arrive to a set up range and you can spend their attention span on safety rules and shooting as they get older they help with more range prep , hanging targets , clean up till they are doing all of it
> 
> we used the no taboo method , they could ask to see a gun any time and we would go get it and make sure it was clear and have them handle it in a safe direction. when handling a gun is common place with good supervision and not something to run off and hide , then they were much less likely to go try and touch when they shouldn't. feel free to still keep them locked up.


That's exactly how it should be, but unfortunately I also agree that times have changed and not for the better.
I picture parents nowadays searching thru their smarty phones for a video to tell them what to do instead of having that knowledge already imprinted in their brains.
Know what I mean?


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## JJ Grandits

starting when they were about 5 after every holloween when the pumpkins start to get soft we hauled them out to the back field and all the kids got to blow their up with a shotgun. 

Besides being fun it also taught them that this is not a toy.

Part of gun safety with kids is to start at an early age and then destroy the mystery of the gun.

Most kids who get hurt with guns are not familiar with guns.


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## nchobbyfarm

Always treat all guns as loaded. Before his passing, my father was the most trusted person about firearms I have ever known. But he taught me to even check and clear any gun even he handed me. 

Always point any gun in a safe direction at all times including while cleaning unless it is disassembled.

Making sure I said Always!

Happy shooting!


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## MichaelZ

Even a gun that is unloaded can have a shell stuck. Had it happen to me with a pump action shotgun. But, assuming every gun is loaded, it was pointed in a safe direction when I test fired it, surprising the heck out of me when it went off!


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## StarSchoolFarm

MichaelZ said:


> Even a gun that is unloaded can have a shell stuck. Had it happen to me with a pump action shotgun. But, assuming every gun is loaded, it was pointed in a safe direction when I test fired it, surprising the heck out of me when it went off!


That means the firearm wasn’t clear & safe…Darwinism at its finest…ALWAYS CHECK THE TUBE. (barrel if you will)


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

StarSchoolFarm said:


> That means the firearm wasn’t clear & safe…Darwinism at its finest…ALWAYS CHECK THE TUBE. (barrel if you will)


Darwinism at it's finest is assuming a gun is ever unloaded or trusting mechanical devices. they all fail sometimes , trust no one.

you want a gun safe to work on take the bolt out make it inoperable , it doesn't mean that when you put the bolt in and cycle it 3 times that last round that was stuck up in the tube doesn't dislodge and come down enter the chamber.

some mechanisms have less risk , tube feeds tend to be the ones that catch people.


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## Sebastian C

weaselfire said:


> Use a chamber flag when storing. You can't insert the flag if a round is in the chamber and you can't chamber a round if the flag is in place. Never THINK a firearm is empty, VERIFY the firearm is empty.
> 
> Jeff


This sounds good, the lock bracket I have sticks a metal tab in the open chamber. I don't keep the lock on there so it's "locked up" as much as just clearly unloaded and safe. 

I don't think keeping the gun taboo and locked away would work with my kids, they're like a troupe of monkeys only worse. I couldn't possibly hide the keys adequately from them, and the seven year old would just get the angle grinder anyway. I teach them the things dangerous and it's locked up to prevent accidents, don't touch it! So far they listen to me. We slaughter animals here so they know what "dead, like the pig" means. It's good for little kids to have that point of reference.


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## Danaus29

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> Darwinism at it's finest is assuming a gun is ever unloaded or trusting mechanical devices. they all fail sometimes , trust no one.
> 
> some mechanisms have less risk , tube feeds tend to be the ones that catch people.


It's pretty hard to forget you have a round left in the cylinder in a revolver. My Henry is tube fed. While it is a nice rifle I still prefer the loading mechanism on my Ruger 10/.22.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

Danaus29 said:


> It's pretty hard to forget you have a round left in the cylinder in a revolver. My Henry is tube fed. While it is a nice rifle I still prefer the loading mechanism on my Ruger 10/.22.


Be that as it may that a revolver is less likely , trusting it is never a good idea.

you should cringe at the idea of pointing a gun at a person you do not intend to shoot. not just I am supposed to cringe but that your muscle memory will not naturally point at a friendly.

you build the muscle memory of good muzzle control and never pointing at friendlies and you find yourself naturally never taking the chance unloaded or not.

when giving instruction I have a bright green inert training pistol and a rifle stock with no action this way students can gather all around and see every angle , this is especially helpful when teaching grip and shooting positions with a sling.


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## Danaus29

Number 2 rule of gun safety, never point the barrel at anything you don't intend to shoot. Gives me the willies when I'm at a gun store or show and someone is carelessly waving a gun around or sighting it low over a crowd of customers. Walked out of a store once when the sales clerk did that, after making a loud snide comment about being unprofessional.

I never trust that the chamber is empty. Like was said in another thread, even if God gave me a gun and said it was unloaded I still wouldn't trust it. Of course I'm a bit cynical. I figure He would smack me in the head and say, "What is the number ONE rule of gun safety?!!!!" Never trust that a gun is unloaded.

A person got shot at a gun show a couple years back. Brought it in to sell and told the people at the inspection table "of course it's unloaded" and instead of opening the action he pulled the trigger. Of course it was loaded or it wouldn't have made the news. And of course he shot someone, but they were not seriously injured.


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## MichaelZ

StarSchoolFarm said:


> That means the firearm wasn’t clear & safe…Darwinism at its finest…ALWAYS CHECK THE TUBE. (barrel if you will)


No need for the insult. Because I assume all guns are loaded, all ended well. That was my point.


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## JJ Grandits

In hunter training I aways use the lines,
" From this day forward, for the rest of your lives, even in a gun store, every single firearm you see or handle is loaded with a broken safety and a hair trigger. Always treat it that way. You are responsible".

Just hope it works.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

JJ Grandits said:


> In hunter training I aways use the lines,
> " From this day forward, for the rest of your lives, even in a gun store, every single firearm you see or handle is loaded with a broken safety and a hair trigger. Always treat it that way. You are responsible".
> 
> Just hope it works.


that should give the kids excellent perspective.

would you mind If I borrow that?

I know at the hunter ed I took many years ago several of my instructors were machinists one made a cutaway action so that you could see the parts how they worked when he takes a pencil tip and points to the safety notch I think it was on a 30-30 lever gun and says , do you really want to trust , your , your friends , your dads or your grandpas life with that little notch?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

yesterday I was talking with a hunters ed instructor. he was telling us about another of the instructors he works with who took a boy our turkey hunting.

they sit down for their first call and the boy loads up Boom as he closes the action.

instructor says you know better than to have your finger on the trigger. 
boy says I didn't honest I didn't.

instructor loads gun safety on finger off trigger exactly the same thing happens boom as the action is closed.

gun was brand new had never been fired broken strait from the factory. 

the gun was in a safe direction when they loaded it int he woods.


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## JJ Grandits

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> that should give the kids excellent perspective.
> 
> would you mind If I borrow that?
> 
> I know at the hunter ed I took many years ago several of my instructors were machinists one made a cutaway action so that you could see the parts how they worked when he takes a pencil tip and points to the safety notch I think it was on a 30-30 lever gun and says , do you really want to trust , your , your friends , your dads or your grandpas life with that little notch?


Go for the quote. It reinforces the idea that ALL guns are loaded.

My unloaded gun is loaded. It's a mind set.

NYS provides us with an excellent powerpoint program showing the internal operations of the different types of firearms.

A rare occurance where our tax dollars did something right in this State.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

I once saw a set of Hunters’ Ed guns (lever, pump, bolt, break action, semi-auto demonstrators) that were painted orange and deactivated for use in a classroom.

The person who made them had good enough intentions; they cut the firing pins and welded shut the firing pin holes in the bolt... with a MIG welder..... without dressing down the welds.

Yeah.
That.

I confirmed with the .22 Semi-Auto before I fixed them. It was “deactivated” right into a SF machine gun.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

JJ Grandits said:


> Go for the quote. It reinforces the idea that ALL guns are loaded.
> 
> My unloaded gun is loaded. It's a mind set.
> 
> NYS provides us with an excellent powerpoint program showing the internal operations of the different types of firearms.
> 
> A rare occurance where our tax dollars did something right in this State.



there is a lot that can be done very well with video and power point. power point nor windows existed at the time I took hunters ed , it became mandatory here in 1973.


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## [email protected]

when I pick up a gun, I check it to make sure it is clear.
If my brother or his sons or my kids are there and see me do it, and I hand the gun to them, they automatically check to make sure it is clear. 
we do not hunt with anybody unless they follow our rules..
just for the record, IMHO, the worst gun for unsafety is a lever action.. 
I have witnessed several accidental firings from guys unloading them. you have to lever each round out. they do it so rapidly that once in awhile the hammer does not catch on "safety".. actually it is supposed to catch on "cocked" .. 
It slays me when guys give one of these as the beginner gun for a 12 year old deer hunter..
as I said, IMHO..


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## JJ Grandits

That is why I love my sxs's.

And lets face it, they are kind of like shooting the gun equivent of a '57 Chevy.

awesome.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

the SxS and O&U are great , but in the talk we had Saturday the Hunters ed instructor was seeing a real disregard for safe handling and loose muzzle control with the break guns at trap and sporting clays. true they can't go off when broken open but who likes staring in the muzzle of a 12ga while walking to the trap range.
loose handling with one gun makes bad muscle memory for the next.


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## muleskinner2

All of my guns are loaded, and I treat them like they are loaded. I don't have any children, and would never allow one in my house.


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## JeepHammer

Sebastian C said:


> Sorta new to guns. Thought it was empty but it wasn't. Safety was on, but still sorta freaked out cuz I was putting it away with my kids standing right next to me. I try to be safe but I didn't like that. Figure thats about when it can go off unexpectedly.
> 
> Any experiences or advice? Trying to avoid accidents. Thanks


Make it a point to remove magazine, then open chamber EVERY TIME.
I'm military trained, and when you 'Clear' any firearm, it's mag & bolt in one action every time, so it's automatic for me now.
It's just practice until it becomes habit.

Most of my firearms that a chamber flag will fit in have chamber flags.
If I don't do a full cleaning, I swab the barrel and put chamber flags in to denote it was at least swabbed (and the barrel was clear at last handling).

While I know people that insist everything be loaded all the time, I'm not one of them.

It doesn't fit my purposes or training, so I don't do it.
Everything but my daily carry is unloaded and secured when I'm not using it, since if it's not in my possession, visitors, like kids, can get ahold of them, which is bad news...
We aren't hermits, we have quite a bit of company, including kids in and out of the house, and you can't watch everyone 24/7/365...
And let's not forget adults aren't too bright after a couple drinks.

I applaud you for securing firearms with children present,
An ounce of prevention and all that!


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## Sebastian C

Thanks, like I said before I'm kinda new to guns except in summer camp when I was little, so keeping my own stuff secure and safe is a learning experience too. Luckily everything is going well, and my little kids are pretty intelligent too regarding "don't touch that it's dangerous", so hopefully we can keep the crazy stories to a minimum.

Have a good one


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## AmericanStand

Never heard of a unloaded gun.


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## RSwink

If you are were wild animals roam you would keep them loaded. Does it take much time to load, no. But, it is longer then the time it takes for them to close the distance and do what they have in mind. 

Oh, and wild animals come in 4 and 2 legged varieties.


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## JeepHammer

Sebastian C said:


> Thanks, like I said before I'm kinda new to guns except in summer camp when I was little, so keeping my own stuff secure and safe is a learning experience too. Luckily everything is going well, and my little kids are pretty intelligent too regarding "don't touch that it's dangerous", so hopefully we can keep the crazy stories to a minimum.
> 
> Have a good one


Someone else suggested the same thing,
I learned from parents/grandparents to clean immediately.
I'm a little more lazy than in my youth or military years, but I still clear everything, everytime.
Mine lay cleared and open on the cleaning table until I get to them sometimes.
If you have room, a cleaning table with jigs for things like pistols and rifles makes the job much quicker and convince is good! Some folks don't have the room to dedicate or shoot enough.

Even the "Load Everything Twice" guys are right about one thing, 
You do treat every firearm like it were loaded at all times, and you teach kids to keep the muzzle in a safe direction at all times.

When there are kids around, the only thing loaded is what's in my pocket.
I don't care how many times people talk about the 'Criminal Hoards', I'm not leaving unsecured, loaded firearms around kids (or curious/drunk friends).
Just too easy to lock the safe...


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## Shrek

When I was 17 my father found my Fox B series 20 gauge double barrel on my bedroom rack empty and still field dirty after a friend and I had been dove hunting instead of cleaned , loaded and gun rack stored or open breached, cleaning oiled and vertically racked in the vertical drip storage rack he made on the side of our cleaning bench, where I should have stored it before going with my hunting partner to look at a car that was for sale.

After his lecture that all racked guns in our house were to be cleaned and loaded hot to go and any on the bench side precleaning drip rack be cleaned and loaded within 24 hours, he made me clean all my firearms and although allowing me to put them back on my bedroom rack, he grounded me from the rest of that part of dove season.

That incident not only showed me that in addition to my father requiring all firearms in the house be loaded hot to go, it taught me that he occasionally inspected my gun rack like my bedroom was a boot camp barracks.

To this day friends and relatives sometimes complain if they call me after a shooting outing interrupting my weapon cleaning and I tell them they can wait for me until after i clean my firearms and the only way I would leave them not cleaned is if ir was an emergency and even then I need time to field strip them and cleaning oil coat them to make cleaning easier when I get back to them at my cleaning bench.

Sure I could leave a dirty weapon on the bench, but spending just a few minutes to break them down and coat them with the cleaning oil mix is added reminder that my normal post use procedure was interrupted in addition to giving the weapon a head start on the cleaning.

Although the passing decades have made my open wall rack outdated due to the way many kids are reared without respect for firearms. I still keep my firearms loaded and hot in my gun safes with combination or thumbprint locks.


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## JeepHammer

In boot camp, the only time a weapon is loaded is on the firing line, and a DI/Range Officer immediately checks the weapon for clear when the firing session is over.


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## Bungiex88

Sometimes I accidentally put a gun away without one in the chamber. I hate when I do that


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## Cornhusker

I've never had an accidental discharge, but I had a negligent discharge once.
I dropped the mag out of my Glock, racked it once to make sure the chamber was empty, pulled the trigger and shot a hole in the bedroom floor.
Near as I can figure, when I dropped the mag on the bed, it bounced back up into the magwell and locked in.
(Either that or my mind was a long ways away and I put the mag back in before racking it and pulling the trigger.)
Another time I was cleaning a Taurus PT111 dropped the mag (empty), pulled the takedown pin and was jut about to pull the trigger when I remembered i hadn't actuallt checked the chamber.
Sure enough, there was a round in the chamber.
Hopefully, I'll learn from my mistakes.


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## Chuck R.

For the most part, my firearms are stored unloaded and secured. Only exceptions are my SD/HD firearms, which are also secured in quick access containers unless they're physically on me. 

One of the things driving this is the thought of coming home, interrupting some opportunistic thief and facing him now armed with my M4 carbine and all I've got is my CCW. So, if it's not in use, it's secured.

As for cleaning....some of my stuff is spotless, some get's cleaned when it needs it. Between multiple matches a month combined with practice sessions some of mine might go a couple months between cleanings. I have rifles in the rack with round counts on 3x5 cards tacked next to them to keep track.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

Chuck R. said:


> ...As for cleaning....some of my stuff is spotless, some get's cleaned when it needs it. Between multiple matches a month combined with practice sessions some of mine might go a couple months between cleanings. I have rifles in the rack with round counts on 3x5 cards tacked next to them to keep track.


Agreed. 

If I have a solid zero on a precision rifle that I expect to put the next round where I tell it to go, the last thing I’m going to do is clean it. 

My hunting rifles may go several years between cleanings. A round or two to confirm zero, and a handful of rounds on game may be all they see in a year. They literally may have a decade before a cleaning is warranted... or advisable.


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## Chuck R.

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> Agreed.
> 
> If I have a solid zero on a precision rifle that I expect to put the next round where I tell it to go, the last thing I’m going to do is clean it.
> 
> My hunting rifles may go several years between cleanings. A round or two to confirm zero, and a handful of rounds on game may be all they see in a year. They literally may have a decade before a cleaning is warranted... or advisable.


We think alike.......the rifle "tells us" when it needs to be cleaned. Just like when my match pistol "tells me" by sluggish return to battery etc. it's time to be cleaned. 

I fully subscribe to the concept of "more guns are ruined through excessive cleaning than through shooting".


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## wannabfarmer

All of my handguns are loaded with one in the chamber. All are in safes. Rifles have mags in them but nothing in the chamber.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

wannabfarmer said:


> All of my handguns are loaded with one in the chamber. All are in safes. Rifles have mags in them but nothing in the chamber.


Odd choice.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

...


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## wannabfarmer

i'll bite....how is it an odd choice? when I go out it's already loaded. maybe I should have clarified that I conceal carry everywhere and guns are only in the safe when my children are with me at home. If someone breaks in i'm not grabbing a rifle i'm grabbing the shotgun or a pistol which is ready to go. My piece of advice is whatever someone chooses ( chambered or not) be consistent so you don't come into a situation where you forget. I'm used to my guns being loaded.


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## happy hermits

I have gun two gun safes always treat my guns as if loaded. I was taught never point a gun at anyone either in the air or at the ground.


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## GTX63

wannabfarmer said: ↑
All of my handguns are loaded with one in the chamber. All are in safes. Rifles have mags in them but nothing in the chamber


GunMonkeyIntl said:


> Odd choice.


I was out working this morning and went to pick up a sheet of insulating styrofoam. As I did I saw the back half of a copperhead coiled and sleeping. Using my wife's 10/22 I realized she too keeps the chamber empty, which to me, is odd for a varmit gun.


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## wannabfarmer

I agree GTX an empty gun to me is a useless tool. Glad you are ok, those snakes can be nasty.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

wannabfarmer said:


> i'll bite....how is it an odd choice? when I go out it's already loaded. maybe I should have clarified that I conceal carry everywhere and guns are only in the safe when my children are with me at home. If someone breaks in i'm not grabbing a rifle i'm grabbing the shotgun or a pistol which is ready to go. My piece of advice is whatever someone chooses ( chambered or not) be consistent so you don't come into a situation where you forget. I'm used to my guns being loaded.


I wasn’t saying it was a bad or wrong choice, just that I found it odd. The clarification that you have loaded guns outside the safe makes more sense to me. 

The point of keeping a gun loaded is generally to have it ready at a moment’s notice. Keeping them all in a safe (as you stated) kinda defeats that. 

Generally speaking, the only guns that stay in one of my safes are the ones I’m concerned about being stolen - monetary value, sentimental value, NFA stuff not in a trust or with no practical defensive purpose, etc. All the guns I “store” are generally unloaded. Anything not in-storage is loaded and ready to go. 

Again, not saying I think your scheme is wrong. Just found it odd as it sounded exactly the opposite of mine.


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## GunMonkeyIntl

GTX63 said:


> wannabfarmer said: ↑
> All of my handguns are loaded with one in the chamber. All are in safes. Rifles have mags in them but nothing in the chamber
> 
> 
> I was out working this morning and went to pick up a sheet of insulating styrofoam. As I did I saw the back half of a copperhead coiled and sleeping. Using my wife's 10/22 I realized she too keeps the chamber empty, which to me, is odd for a varmit gun.


I’ve been getting into lever guns again, and it’s really woke me up to the brilliance of exposed hammers with half-cock notches. 

There may be a day where the lever gun is the “tactical” rig of the day, again, and I honestly don’t think we’ll be missing too much.


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## Shrek

I got a  look from a friend who was considering buying a Marlin .357 / .38 like mine and he asked me if it could handle .38 +P ammunition when I asked him to tell me if a rifle capable of firing a .357 load would handle a .38 +P load.


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## Cornhusker

If I'm carrying a gun, there's a round in the chamber, and the pistol in my pickup is chambered,
If they are in the safe, they are unloaded with a couple full mags next to them if they take a mag.
In other words, if it might be needed, it's loaded and chambered. If it's being stored, it's empty.
Maybe because I've seen too much old ammo turn green and I don't want that in my barrel.


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## wannabfarmer

I make sure to shoot and cycle all of the guns to keep comfortable with them and so ammo is rotated. I would agree if the guns aren't getting cycled or used as often keeping them stored unloaded is the way to go. I don't have a lot of guns so its easy for my to cycle through them all in an afternoon of shooting. sorry didn't mean to make it sound like I had a vault collection lol.


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