Important Safety Tips

[MikeJackmin]

The Four Rules are the gold standard for basic gun safety, but there are lots of smaller rules, some of them not obvious, that are important to learn.

For example, I learned (don't ask) never to lean a loaded semiauto rifle up against anything, even if the action is locked open. If it is bumped, it will fall, and when it falls it will probably unlock the action and chamber a round on the first bounce.

Similarly, lots of beginners don't know how vitally important it is to get your finger clear of the trigger when holstering your pistol. Glock leg is well known to us old hands (and well covered by rules 2 and 3) but its sort of a special case that deserves mention because it is such an easy mistake to make.

Other rules that come to mind are the danger of shooting at steel targets that have started to crater, the danger of having different calibers of ammo at hand while on the range, the danger of the half-cock notch, and the ever-popular "don't trust the extractor to clear your chamber" trick.

Any others?

 

[Gunpacker]

How about glock stomach by a police officer that tried to put a trigger lock on a glock? Glocks are so wonderful, making for lots of stories of how you can set off a firearm that actually has no safety.

 

[Chipperman]

Good thread idea.

Make sure the ammo you are using is proper for your firearm, and that your firearm is in good working order prior to using.

Eye and Ear protection when shooting

Make sure you fully understand the mechanics of you firearm. How does it cycle, what is the capacity, etc?

Know how to disassemble and reassemble your firearm for cleaning and maintenance.

 

[zahc]

Don't cross the streams.

 

[slopemeno]

The 12-20 burst?

 

[jashobeam]

At the indoor range

Hitting the metal target carriers can result in ricochets. At the range I frequent they do not allow head-shots on silhouettes for exactly this reason.

 

[another okie]

Do not attempt to clean your M1 Garand's chamber without holding back the bolt.

 

[Kurush]

and the ever-popular "don't trust the extractor to clear your chamber" trick.

This one bears repeating. I had to learn this the hard way about 4 months ago.

Let's just say if your Mosin-Nagant goes "click" and doesn't eject anything, it doesn't necessarily mean that it didn't feed. So don't do anything crazy like, y'know, trying to work the action again

 

[SomeKid]

Glock leg? Glock stomach? All my Glock ever does is perform perfectly.

 

[pax]

Whenever you pick up a gun, check that it is unloaded. If it passes out of your hands -- whether you set it down or hand it to someone else -- check it again when you get it back.

When checking to be sure a gun is unloaded, check the chamber by sight and feel. It is relatively easy to miss seeing a round, especially in poor lighting conditions.

When unloading a revolver, check every hole in the cylinder by sight and feel. Be sure to count each hole as you do this, to be sure none of the holes has somehow turned itself into a loaded round.

Never ever ever put your finger on the trigger unless you have first pointed the muzzle at a spot where you truly wouldn't mind a bullet going. That includes especially when you are disassembling the gun!

Remove all ammunition from the room while you're dry-firing.

When reloading after dry-firing, tell yourself out loud, "This gun is loaded. This gun is loaded. This gun is loaded."

When you're done dry-firing, put your gun away and don't touch it for at least an hour.

If a piece of brass goes down your shirt while you are shooting, put the gun down before you start the hot-brass dance.

Never try to adjust your ear muffs while holding a firearm. Put the gun down first.

pax

 

[sm]

Don't use a horse named Buford

Make damn sure the horse is in fact NOT Gun Report sensitive. Do NOT under any circumstance accept a head nod and grin as being affirmative the horse is not skittish with gun fire.

Quickly get a Really Really tight grip on them reins with weak hand. Forget about throwing lever to eject just fired 170 grainer...It will still be there, no way you can chamber a live round, and having strong hand on the Receiver means finger is out of trigger guard...

Just hold on, do your best "head 'em off at the Fort" Ride.

Umm...tennis shoes obvioulsy do not mean squat to a horse, too long of reins don't help either.

Do cuss out the owner of horse...after he has retrieved the Doe you shot.

Buford...I shoulda known better...I should have listened to my gut...

Didn't fall off, did not lose my Model 94. NO...I was a little too busy to see if I could scabbard one on the run...never crossed my mind at the time...

sigh...what a ride!

 

[Justin]

Don't cross the streams.

Or look into the trap.

 

[chetth]

When reloading after dry-firing, tell yourself...

Remove all ammunition from the room while you're dry-firing.

When reloading after dry-firing, tell yourself out loud, "This gun is loaded. This gun is loaded. This gun is loaded."

pax

Dryfiring, doorbell rings, slap in a mag to go answer it, come back, dryfi-BOOM

Yup

 

[mbs357]

I make it a habit to check a gun every time it comes into my hands.
Some one picks up a gun, checks the chamber, hands it to me, I check the chamber.
I'm a little more lax on it with other people's guns because I don't know how they feel about dry firing and such.

 

[Souris]

I had a close one Friday.
I was getting ready for a hunting trip and checking firearms and Ammo.
I don't know if I always do this and never vividly recall it or whether I just got really lucky. (My wife thinks that I do it all of the time out of habit, as I am so Anal about firearms safety!)

I took my Marlin 1895 out of the case to load the buttstock shell carrier and while it was out I checked the bore. I saw no light I dropped a .357 bullet down the bore and it didn't come out I grabbed a copper rod and tapped out the obstruction. It was a 300 grain jacketed hollowpoint

Disaster averted. Unfortunantly I can't quite agree with my wife about my safety record since I am the one who put the Marlin up with an obstructed bore

 

[Standing Wolf]

When unloading a revolver, check every hole in the cylinder by sight and feel. Be sure to count each hole as you do this, to be sure none of the holes has somehow turned itself into a loaded round.

Yep. I believe it's worthwhile to count the rounds removed from a gun. Haven't run out of fingers yet.

 

[f4t9r]

always check if loaded , then check everytime it switches hands.
If one of my buddies or anybody else has a gun and says its not loaded , I always make sure I get it in my hands to check myself