Thread: Loaded Rifle

A forum member had his loaded .270 slung on his shoulder. It slipped and span around. He grabbed it, pulled the trigger by mistake and it went off. I was walking behind him at the time. Felt the pressure wave on my right arm.

Originally Posted by MB

A forum member had his loaded .270 slung on his shoulder. It slipped and span around. He grabbed it, pulled the trigger by mistake and it went off. I was walking behind him at the time. Felt the pressure wave on my right arm.

so closed bolt and no safety applied.......yip I will stick to semi open/closed bolt thankyou very much.....yes I know its cause Im an old fuddy duddy who learnt with SMLE...BUT Im happy with that...unintentional discharges are not fun...Ive had .12ga load of BBs hit spanyard 6'' behind my knee..... the fella concerned learnt lesson and got one hell of a bollocking.... he is super careful now... that was case of being unfamiliar with gun....tootooing while walking.
I remember the 30/30 hanging up a round in mag...I twigged as only 4 cartridges handed to me not 5...
I have in past been guilty of getting home and rifle still had rounds in mag....
shitty wet days and tired after big carry were to blame,just got in wagon and headed homewards....
those days are gone now rifle is seperated for trip home....good in that respect I guess.

Years back a ratbag relative of our shepherd got sent down for a sort-out from Auckland. He ran away, broke into our house while we were on holiday and loaded up one of our cars with blankets, alcohol and a single shot 22 rifle. He then crashed the car into the picnic table because he couldn't drive (I think he was 14 or 15 years old). The shepherd saw the car had moved and thought we were home early, but he caught the kid and handed him over to the police. Apparently he managed to steal a police car in Te Awamutu and crash that too.
The gear in our car was put back where it belonged.
I think it was several weeks later I went to use the 22. I opened the bolt and a live round fell out. Thankfully it was a manual cocking rifle, but obviously no-one checked it was unloaded when they got it out of the car.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so closed bolt and no safety applied.......yip I will stick to semi open/closed bolt thankyou very much......

At the NZDA Hunter Training Course a couple of winters past I learned something moot. I too grew up on a 303 SMLE with a half open bolt. What I learned was a Mauser action can still fire on half cock. There is a simple test. With an empty chamber, muzzle safely pointed, put your Mauser on half cock and pull the trigger. Try it again and again several times on slightly different bolt positions if it does not fire at first. Cause it will eventually. Result is not only a bullet out the business end but potentially parts of a bolt decorating your face.

Their solution, when wanting to carry loaded and ready as possible but firearm unable to be discharged, is to chamber a round and open the bolt to lever fully raised ready to slide back and eject. To stop it accidentally sliding back and actually ejecting, stretch a heavy rubber band around front scope mount and back around the bolt handle so the bolt is held firmly in the closed position but with bolt handle fully raised. It cannot fire in this position until the bolt handle is locked down. When target is identified and ready to shoot simply close the bolt and fire.

With the rubber band in place I can stalk with firearm in a near ready condition, unable to be discharged in that condition, but able to be quickly and quietly made ready to fire simply by depressing the bolt handle to fully cock and lock the action. Cycling the bolt for a subsequent shot is no issue with the rubber band in place.

I have been using this system on my 98M 7x57mm Mauser since as well as for other Mauser style rifles. E.g. Ruger Ranch II 223

Of course you are still vulnerable to the bolt being closed and rifle discharged by dropping the rifle or snagging the bolt. Take care.