Thread: How do you carry your rifle?

Originally Posted by ebf

what make & model firearm ? do you really know if it cocks when the bolt is opened or closed ?



might be safer for all involved if only you hunt when alert and able to make good decisions. same as driving really. driving when tired can have the same fatal result as driving under the influence of drink or drugs, no reason not to apply it to firearms as well... if you are so tired that you're worried about messing with the safety, I would suggest that you don't have a round chambered IMHO.

and again, with this "the safety is a mechanical thing that can fail" thing, do you guys not use the brakes on your car ? they are a mechanical thing that can fail too... makes a bit more sense to me to maintain and test your brakes BEFORE driving off, rather than slamming on brakes when you are doing 100km/h to "test" them

to me buck fever, sneaky trigger finger, muzzle direction, and brain failure are all more scary than worrying about a functioning, well-maintained, modern safety catch...

It doesnt cock when its fully open, on half cock if you pull the trigger on mine the bolt will slam down and it will go off. I have a charter field king 2000 ss 243. Yes, i agree a well maintained safety catch will do the job. I did say it depends on what safety catch your rifle has,my safety catch works well , and i use it as well as with the bolt open most of the time (lucky my one holds postion) just for piece of mind. I will say even thou it works well i wouldnt rate my safety as the best for designed due to the fact that you can catch it in thick stuff, but to be honest cant remember a time ever that i have knocked it from on to off, but i have on more than one occassion squessed the trigger on a animal and nothings happened because ive knocked the safety from off to on. These days i tend to just have the safety on all the time as well as the bolt fully open in case of a fall etc, best to be safe than sorry so every shot now its automactic to flick the safety to off just before i squeese the trigger

I think people put far more thought into this than muzzle direction, which I think is far more important. If practised it becomes second nature. Regardless of action state or safety, the muzzle should never be pointing at your mate in front.

Being around firearms too much can cause complacency too. I'll admit it that after a while you can be lulled into a false sense of security. I worked in the firearms industry for a year doing customer services - after shifting thousands of rifles/shotguns and handling hundreds of weapons i was shocked when my mate picked me up on the above point. You get so used to clearing weapons and making sure they're safe, we never had live ammo for the rifles in the warehouse. I momentarily forgot that its not enough to go through the motions - ya gotta watch that muzzle above all else

I reckon its important no matter how much you don't want to offend your mates - ALWAYS pull em up if they EVER point their rifle at you. If they stay bent out of shape then they probably have an unsafe level of arrogance and probably aren't safe to shoot with.

As for not pointing your rifle at the guy in front? I'd be more comfortable in having the hunter in the lead being the only one ready to fire. Take turns being up front. What do you guys usually do? My mates all seem to prefer shooting alone

I definitely agree that when hunting with others then the one up front is the only one with a round up the spout. I have even been in a circumstance where at the top of the hour, when I was unloading and making safe and my hunt buddy had not yet loaded, we missed an animal that was in close proximity that took of when the action was worked.

Yeah, i prefer bush stalking alone, if going with mates prefer we go totally seperate directions otherwise only the one in front has one chambered and always aware wheres the muzzles pointing

Originally Posted by deer243

Yeah, i prefer bush stalking alone, if going with mates prefer we go totally seperate directions otherwise only the one in front has one chambered and always aware wheres the muzzles pointing

Our main problem is we talk too much if hunting together.

Originally Posted by Dead is better

I reckon its important no matter how much you don't want to offend your mates - ALWAYS pull em up if they EVER point their rifle at you. If they stay bent out of shape then they probably have an unsafe level of arrogance and probably aren't safe to shoot with.

Excellent point mate

Look, just point the fucking thing in the right place and there is no problem. It's a rare day I go on point and it's a rare day my mate shoots more than me. The rifle gets loaded at the start of a trip and gets unloaded at the end. Everyone knows that. No problem.

If hunting with another hunter, and their on point I carry my firearm pointing backwards,holding the grip with my left hand and the firearm resting on my forearm when possible.

otherwise i carry it with a full mag and a empty chamber,with my AR i have it with bolt locked back and safety on.