Thread: Calibre and Barrel Length Decision......

Originally Posted by JWB

It seems as though you have acquired a couple of bad habits and haven't thought through what is actually going on. Firstly, calling a trigger blocking lever a safety is where the head problem starts. A mechanical device is not a safety. If you think that a firearm is safe after engaging a mechanical block then you trust that it won't fire and will end up pointing it in all sorts of unlikely directions. The only safe rifle is an empty one that you treat as loaded at all times. The safety for a firearm is what is happening between a shooters ears.
A primer is a delicate explosive device, designed to be detonated by having the compound crushed between the anvil and the cup by the impact of the firing pin. A de-cocked firing pin spring is always under compression. De-cock your bolt when it's out of your rifle, then try pushing the firing pin back flush with the bolt face if you doubt this.
It is the inertia of the firing pin assembly that could allow it to travel away from the primer under the impact of a fall or being dropped, and return under spring pressure with enough force to set off the primer. Some firearm designs have a floating firing pin, some times held away from the primer by a light spring. These floating pins are in turn hit by a hammer which energises them. Your Tikka in not made this way. When you close your de-cocked bolt on a live round your firing pin is sitting on a live primer, under pressure, waiting for a jolt or knock to energise it.
Firearms safety is about good habits.

Seems to me you comment is full of contradiction.
Mechanical safety's DO work. Try and fire my T3 with the safety engaged. I have known shooters to nearly straighten their trigger trying to shoot game with the safety on. Americans firearm manufacturers condone their safety devices and in the liability capital of the world, they would be stupid to make one that doesn't work. The only reason it will not work is if it is not engaged.
I am VERY conscious of where I point a firearm - loaded or not, and having (and using) a safety has not and does not alter that fact.
If it is not possible to push the firing pin back when a rifle is decocked, how is the inertia from a fall going to push it back enough to detonate the primer???
You are correct. Firearms safety is about good habits, not misguided paranoia.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Seems to me you comment is full of contradiction.
Mechanical safety's DO work. Try and fire my T3 with the safety engaged. I have known shooters to nearly straighten their trigger trying to shoot game with the safety on. Americans firearm manufacturers condone their safety devices and in the liability capital of the world, they would be stupid to make one that doesn't work. The only reason it will not work is if it is not engaged.
I am VERY conscious of where I point a firearm - loaded or not, and having (and using) a safety has not and does not alter that fact.
If it is not possible to push the firing pin back when a rifle is decocked, how is the inertia from a fall going to push it back enough to detonate the primer???
You are correct. Firearms safety is about good habits, not misguided paranoia.

Mechanical locks work when they leave the factory. They will work until they don't work. Murphy is a bastard! Take risks with your own safety by all means, but be considerate when among others.

Originally Posted by JWB

Mechanical locks work when they leave the factory. They will work until they don't work. Murphy is a bastard! Take risks with your own safety by all means, but be considerate when among others.

Thanks, I will. As I said in a previous post, when hunting with others I always have an empty chamber until I am ready to fire. This is not because I feel how I normally hunt is unsafe, rather it is for the other persons peace of mind. I would expect the same in return.