Lever action carry

[Float Pilot]

Many guides won't take a hunter who insists on keeping a loaded chamber.

You got that right...!!! I had a young fellar who dang near shot me ( and himself) with his 300 Win Mag chambered M-700.

I kept telling him and he kept putting the round back in when I was not looking. On a very steep shale covered slope he lost his footing and slide 50 feet down the slope with his rifle under him. He slid right past me since I was near the bottom. His rifle went off when he hit the bottom. He had powder burns on his face and was deaf as a door-nail. The bullet whizzed past my ankle.

As for lever guns; In a level heavily wooded area where I am close to game or bears I will carry one in the chamber and my 1886 on half cock. The same if sitting in an ambush spot. If the rifle is slung, in a scabbard or I am in rough terrain I carry chamber empty.

On Kodiak I was once startled by a big Sitka Black tail while carrying a Winchester (348win) Model 71. I had one in the chamber since the place was crawling with brown bear.
Well I ran the lever anyway and just tossed a perfectly good round off into the brush. So I would have been just as well off with an empty chamber.

 

[200Apples]

.
Well said, Float Pilot.

Carry/travel with an empty chamber, but once in a position, cycle yer action to load the chamber then pull back the hammer to that very first click... if I see my target and then discern what's behind it, I can then pull the hammer back with slight pressure on the trigger to reduce any sound from the sear settling into it's notch...

 

[12many]

I agree with BHK and 200apples. Carry to me means walking about or travel. When you get close to firing or see game and start the sneek, then load the chamber, or even wait longer. This is not combat. Maybe different if hunting predator or bear or something. We hunted on empty chamber and quietly cycled the bolt upon seeing game and in position. That is my interpretation.

 

[DPris]

If you habitually carry chamber empty, when you need a quick shot you're most likely going to habitually cycle the action, as FP did.

In my case, the Marlin's carried strictly for potential defense.
As such, it's carried chambered, on half-cock.
The quickest and simplest way to get a fast shot off is to thumb the hammer back fully as the gun comes up on shoulder, and by the time it gets there it's ready to go.

I don't try to tell anybody else how to carry theirs, but in this case I couldn't care less what Cooper's thoughts were on the matter & this is what works for me.

Did it the same way when I hunted with a levergun years ago.

Much less motion and sound required if a shot's indicated right NOW!
Denis

 

[Jason_W]

When I had a marlin with the crossbolt safety, I always carried and at in stands with a round in the chamber, safety on, hammer at half cock.

This was New England hunting (close range) so the noise made by levering a round into the chamber would have inevitably sent any deer running.

 

[DPris]

I don't use the safety.
Gets in the way.
Denis

 

[BSA1]

Am I the only person that has got his feet tangled up and had a close and personal experience meeting the ground while hunting?

Empty chamber for me.

 

[jmr40]

The cross bolt safety on newer Marlins CAN be used as a traditional safety, but in my opinion they are most valuable when used only when unloading. Levers have more unintentional discharges than any other type of rifle. Mostly when cycling rounds through the chamber during unloading and someone bumps the trigger.

Generally speaking I keep my chamber loaded with all rifle types unless in an area where slips or falls are more likely. Hammer is on half cock on levers with a loaded chamber. Only 2 of the 12 levers I own have CBS's, I ignore them unless I'm unloading the rifle.

The example given by Float Pilot is an example of a spot where the chamber should have been unloaded until safer footing were available. But if being guided, and told not to do so at all I'd comply with the guides wishes.

 

[herrwalther]

The cross bolt safety on newer Marlins CAN be used as a traditional safety, but in my opinion they are most valuable when used only when unloading. Levers have more unintentional discharges than any other type of rifle. Mostly when cycling rounds through the chamber during unloading and someone bumps the trigger.

That is how the safety on my Marlin 336 is used. And the only time it is used.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Half cock and chamber loaded was the way I always carried a 336 hunting. It didn't have a cross bolt safety.

 

[Agsalaska]

Am I the only person that has got his feet tangled up and had a close and personal experience meeting the ground while hunting?

Empty chamber for me.

Nope. You aint alone. I carry empty chamber too, on all long guns. I have only lost one animal trying to chamber a round, and that was on a misfire. When I cycled the bolt the cartridge hit the floor of the ATV making a loud pinging sound. The hog ran off.

I was expecting to see the animal and was chambered going into the drive. But when the gun sits on the ATV it sits unchambered.

 

[rcmodel]

I have the cross-bolt safety on a Marlin 1894P Guide Gun locked OFF with a rubber O-Ring in the Red Groove.

Within the first year I owned it, I missed two early morning shots at coyotes because the stupid cross-bolt Safety got pushed on somehow in the early morning dark setting up a stand.

In my mind, after 50+ years of using hammer guns?

It just added another level of complexity to an otherwise simple & safe gun.

If you can't safely handle a hammer gun without an additional cross-bolt safety, you probably shouldn't own one in the first place.

They are harder to keep track off Off or On then herding cats during a hunt.

A hammer is either cocked and loaded, or not, and resting on the safety notch, or all the way down on an empty chamber.

rc

 

[Malamute]

Am I the only person that has got his feet tangled up and had a close and personal experience meeting the ground while hunting?

I stumbled in some loose rocky stuff and had my 1886 Browning get dropped in the rocks. It was right after that I decided no gun worth owning was so special it couldnt get drilled and tapped for sling mounts and decent sights. Some may be upset at the guns I've drilled holes in for sling mounts and good sights. I have zero remorse.

 

[bluejeans]

When I was younger I used to carry in the woods with an empty chamber- mostly cause I loved the sound of racking in a shell and thought it was cool. Scared away many deer before I learns my lesson. Chambered round with the hammer on half-cock is plenty safe and much more practical for when its in your hands. When you get back the the truck-atv-house unchsmber the round.