Bisley range safety etiquette

[IainWR]

Hi

When you say the RCO Handbook do you mean the NRA Range Conducting Officers Course Instruction Manual?

[TattooedGun]

Yeah, that one! emrolleyes

[IainWR]

OK

PM me your ID and I will get you a copy of edn 5.

Thanks for calling my attention to this. It is written in slightly loose language. For instance the rule that defines how a rifle must be pointed while being loaded or unloaded on a live round (rule 257) includes the comment that "In practice this means that when closing or opening the bolt with a live round in the chamber the barrel should be horizontal." The equivalent statement in the Instruction Manual is ""When loading, or unloading with a live round in the chamber, the rifle must be horizontal". Now that is a very good approximation to the rule, but it isn't quite true.

Your comments have kicked off a lively debate involving me and the NRA Training Dept (see other threads - Richard Blackmore is learning VERY fast) and it is likely that substantial revision of RCO matters will follow.

Thanks again

Iain

[ovenpaa]

Iain, OT for a moment, has Richard mentioned if he will be joining us on the forum at some point?

[IainWR]

Hi

I don't think that's a fair question.

Richard has his own job to do and his own department to run and it is not up to me to explain how he proposes to do it.

If I went too far in mentioning his positive involvement in an area with major safety implications - my primary responsibility but a secondary responsibility for everybody - I am sorry.

Iain

[ovenpaa]

Fair point, I was just curious.

[TattooedGun]

I should point out that I am not actually an RCO (yet anyways!) - I just have the third edition of the manual from a friend so I could learn the rules... as It happens I got the forms to fill in today to send off to try and get the last spot on the RCO course in December...

[Dombo63]

OK

PM me your ID and I will get you a copy of edn 5.

Thanks for calling my attention to this. It is written in slightly loose language. For instance the rule that defines how a rifle must be pointed while being loaded or unloaded on a live round (rule 257) includes the comment that "In practice this means that when closing or opening the bolt with a live round in the chamber the barrel should be horizontal." The equivalent statement in the Instruction Manual is ""When loading, or unloading with a live round in the chamber, the rifle must be horizontal". Now that is a very good approximation to the rule, but it isn't quite true.

Your comments have kicked off a lively debate involving me and the NRA Training Dept (see other threads - Richard Blackmore is learning VERY fast) and it is likely that substantial revision of RCO matters will follow.

Thanks again

Iain

I am still very much a newbie, having only started shooting this year, and so apologise if speaking out of turn, but given a 303 round can travel over 4 miles and still kill, commonsense would suggest the rifle should always be horizontal and pointing in a safe direction when loading or unloading with a live round in the chamber.

[IainWR]

Looseley, thats what the rule says. The exact language sets out the limits of error in "horizontal".

[Hauptman]

I'll echo the comment about loading a Swing mk4. In the early days, I found it extremely difficult to load and eject on account of the ridiculous firing pin spring. Having sorted that (thanks again, RGC) with a much lighter spring, I find the best (only?) way to load is to angle the rifle slightly down and canted to the left, hold the round at the base and poke it forward into the breech. If you're lucky, the round will then slide smoothly into the chamber as you close the bolt.............
If you're not, then open the bolt fully, give the whole thing a gentle side to side shake and try again. If that fails, then tip the round out and start again.
But if you're using a long bullet such as SMK 2156, the ejection port is too short, so you either A take the bolt out of the receiver, tilt the rifle up until the round slides back out of the receiver, replace the bolt, and start over again, or B, remove the extractor and get some smaller fingers.

I wouldn't part with it for anything.............

Hauptman