Moa, you should politely suggest your acquaintance invest in either an R8 or R93.
They’re reasoning is foolish and flawed with a 700.
Moa, you should politely suggest your acquaintance invest in either an R8 or R93.
They’re reasoning is foolish and flawed with a 700.
*Their
over my hunting career i can recall two people who did precisely what you detailed-
one a f..g ignoramus who upon exiting some scrub we'd been told to enter line abreast(military style and keep each other in sight for safety) tho ught it ok to zoom ahead and we are confronted with a loaded .22 pointed at us .the guy heading the shoot said nowwt,, took the rifle off idiot turfed the bolt as far as he could into the open paddock ,told re st of us UNLOAD shoots over!!c..t hooks whined about having to retrieve bolt,but we all ignored him .he later rang me wanting a second chance my response response FuckOff
same wanker again badgered another mate of mine into letting him join a spotlighting trip on possums. we had a rule -designated shooter fires 1st shot -if animal wounded or miss ed we all fire one shot in battery. Arsehole big noting jumps the gun shoots a possum in the spine then giggles like a schoolgirl as it writhes and drags itself up the road"only a bloody possum".I was that fucking wild I roared at the driver to stop hit the road running and delivered the euthaniser as the poor bloody animal tried to drag himself up the bank! I very nearly wrapped that bloody animal round his poxy wee face.
Somehow word of his antics reached one of the local boys in blue and strangely he sold his.22 after that-no one would shoot with him -he couldnt understand why!!!!!!!!!
A while ago i took a guy out after geese-he claimed hed done this tons of times .Nup twice i turned hes behind me with you guessed it me looking at the business end of his gun, which he freely admitted had one up the spout .I was so fucked off after telling him the best embalmers in the fucking world couldnt make me any unuglier than I was ,so he had a snowballs chance in hell wi th a 12guage cartridge, and his firearm safety skills were as welcome as a baby nap full of shit ,so trip over .He whined to a mate of mine who said youre bloody lucky he didnt shove it up your arse cause he does things like that as a nurse! Nope later he did apologise but i told him once was too much full stop!
Rule number three!
It takes 43 muscle's to frown and 17 to smile, but only 3 for proper trigger pull.
What more do we need? If we are above ground and breathing the rest is up to us!
Rule 1: Treat every firearm as loaded
Rule 2: Always point firearms in a safe direction
Rule 3: Load a firearm only when ready to fire
Rule 4: Identify your target beyond all doubt
Rule 5: Check your firing zone
Rule 6: Store firearms and ammunition safely
Rule 7: Avoid alcohol and drugs when handling firearms
when I was doing Firearm safety talks I always demonstrated the "wave the barrel past my guts again and I will put it up your fundamental orifice " most seem to get it surprisingly -personally I dont trust any safety that simply blocks trigger -the old block the firing pin ones (pre 64 winchester) much better but still only a safety -I use half cock when ready to shoot -but I hunt carrying my rifle ready to put up -generally only ever use sling on horse or quad - I used for years a 742 woodmaster Rem semi auto and several times have picked it up after dealing to a deer and bloody safety off lol and thats using it every day
an old friend had bad habit of carrying 270 with it fully cocked over shoulder hanging onto end of barrel - slipped in creek crossing - butt hit ground - blew out most of shoulder joint -he lived and was shearing several years later -just looked a bit lopsided across shoulders -used to amuse us by saying fucken useless .270 just wounds
with the shottie i always carried like i carried my SLR in my TF army days.although left handed its no sweat to bring it to the shoulder . if we walking a fair distance the u/o can be broken/mt and carried over my shoulder,normally if theres no targets around or signs of activity.the s/a Ive done it very occasionally but its not 100%comfortable and little more bulky so its usually the sling.,altho Iget annoyed with it slipping off my shoulder.spatial awareness and awarenss of partners and firing fields is bloody vital here too!
personally im not a massive fan of half cock, i understand why people do it and if im hunting with others who prefer this i will do half cock you will also find that nz is pretty much the only country where half cock is a thing, many guns such as tikkas can fire without the bolt being fully closed so in my mind half cock can create a false sense of security. to be fair however i dont do alot of bush hunting i generally night shoot so if i dont see deer i just dont have a round in the chamber, generally i believe your trigger is the ultimate safety however this is coming from shooting glocks that dont have safetys, but i still use the safety on the gun when hunting
I like the line from black hawk down when the delta guy is questioned about not having his safety on when in chow line..”here’s my safety right here”.. holding up his trigger finger..
To be a successful bush stalker, esp if you hunting alone if you dont have one up the spout you going to lose heaps of animals .
Been there, done that, so many times you run into a deer 20-60yards away, already looking at you, as soon as they hear that bolt chamber the round they gone!
I hunt with the round chambered, but genreally bolt not closed,
i have bent the mag on my 243 so the bolt will stay in its postion and its just a case of rasing the rifle and closing
the bolt as you do and squeese off. Its the rifle i take when hunting with someone else as no chance of it going off my accident.
If using the 308 etc its on half cock but the golden rule is i always treat it as loaded, always pointed in a safe direction and often i apply the safety as well as extra precaution.
Bush stalking up close is a different kind of hunting compared to something else and not being able to take a shot very quickly without noise you might as well take up bowls.
And as a note, due to the many out there doing it how many shoot themselves or someone else without being a total idoit when it comes to just carrying your firearm?....if you careful, have some brains,
theres nothing wrong with a number of ways people do it...all comes down to being aware and being careful, esp more so if hunting with someone else, as you may have to change the way you do it as
theres extra risks etc
Last edited by deer243; 13-10-2022 at 10:23 PM.
Have been following this thread with mild interest.Out of interest I have just spent the last hour playing around with three rifles: 2x winchester model 70 and one howa 1500. primed case in chamber bolt closed uncocked. all rifles dropped on floor with force butt first multiple times. Also dropped rifles on floor as can happen when you arse-up when hunting ( be honest, we've all done that at some time.) Not once did primers ( cci, federal, winchester ) ignite. Tried setting primers off by resting large phillips screwdriver against firing pin, which is recessed approx 6mm down from bolt shroud, and hitting with hand multiple times. Not once did a primer ignite. The only way I ignited a primer was by hitting firing pin with punch and hammer. I remember doing this exact test back in the late '70's due to this same to[pic of discussion.
I generally hunt solo and when doing so bush hunting where there are animals about I have used the practice of having a round chambered, bolt closed and uncocked. I also use rifle cocked and safety on when there's animals about. When hunting with others, which I generally avoid like the plague, rifle is carried empty chamber closed bolt. Like many on here, I have spent countless hours walking around with semi-auto firearms "hot" so am used to 'relying' on safeties that have been tested prior to use. I know I'll get some adverse reactions but I'm comfortable with my methods, havn't fcked-up in 50 yrs using firearms. What does make me nervous is the number of people walking around using 'half-cock' on the likes of savage,tikka and other brands which will discharge when the trigger is pulled. I've seen this first-hand and it wakes you up. Anyhow, as always point firearms in a safe direction.
Interesting that someone has now done the test, cheers for that. How do you carry a rifle 'round chambered bolt closed and uncocked' ? The bolt cocks on opening in a Mod 70 so the rifle is 'cocked' when a round is chambered. If the trigger is held back, the sear is released but the firing pin tip is resting on the primer under tension and has not completed it's full travel so is still 'cocked' I believe ? It is 'uncocked' when it has completed it's travel.
On my Mod 700 I filed a tiny slot on the apex of the cocking piece to produce a solid 'half open bolt position' and complete the last part of the stalk with a round chambered and the bolt cocked and in the half open position, but 'cupped' between thumb and forefinger.
My take home is that nothing is totally safe except a chamber checked empty with a physical and not visual check
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