The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Thanks, I'll think about it...

Wow lots of responses! I like this forum more and more.
To clarify, I really don't mind if it's a range where RCOs check clear and the finished shooter then bags and do that myself. Rather I mean those (esp clay grounds) where the shooter closes an unchecked firearm then walks around carrying the bag meaning the muzzle is horizontal and pointing every which way. As I can't see the action to know its clear it just gives me the willies.

On clay grounds I adopted a process for my O/U many years ago regardless of what was happening around me.

The shotgun remains bagged and in the slip.
I enter the cage and unzip the slip halfway and break the gun.
The gun is removed from the slip.
The gun us kept broken until I am ready to shoot, at that point it is loaded and shot.

I shoot the 10 birds.

Final shot the gun is broken and placed into the half zipped slip.
I close the gun and zip the slip up.

Move to the next stand.

Now I will be quite honest and say now I have no idea where I picked up such an approach however it works very well for me and I am happy with it, I also feel the gun is about as safe as it can be short of leaving it at home and taking up stamp collecting. Yes other people carry broken guns over arms and shoulders and if that works for them then fine as long as I and others can see the gun is safe.

I do remember one occasion where we were shooting an invitation clay shoot and one of the people there was shooting a 10 shot pump. He insisted on loading a full magazine and then leaving it on the floor unattended and away from the stands which hacked me off as kids were running around. So the person I was with unloaded it for him. He repeated the exercise, gave us both a lecture on gun safety and we went home.

We bag guns after each competition. 8 lanes cleared by the RCO's on duty.

Things are a bit more relaxed when it's not a guest day/probationers about. Then full members can clear each other's firearms before bagging them.

Clay shooting, pumps & semi autos bagged when not in use. O/Us & SxS broken, unloaded and carried about the area.

For clays, bagged between stands, we have to carry muzzle up or down, horizontal gets an instant fine which goes into the charity box, same as not wearing your club ID badge.

Ovenpaa isn't it a CPSA rule that guns can only be loaded with a maximum of three cartridges on clay shoots, or have the rules been relaxed since I last shot clays a few years ago?
The shooter who loaded up his gun with so many cartridges and then left it lying on the floor should have been given a stern reminder and sent home.

Chapuis wrote:Ovenpaa isn't it a CPSA rule that guns can only be loaded with a maximum of three cartridges on clay shoots, or have the rules been relaxed since I last shot clays a few years ago?
The shooter who loaded up his gun with so many cartridges and then left it lying on the floor should have been given a stern reminder and sent home.

actually it's two cartridges but notwithstanding that YOU NEVER LEAVE A LOADED WEAPON UNATTENDED !

I would have had a 'word' with said offender and if he didn't apologise and start doing it different then I would have had a mini tantrum and made my feelings about his safety procedures crystal clear , I do the same at game shoots if required and I'm afraid I don't care if it's a newbie or an old hand , safety is safety !

It was an invitation/private shoot and they seemed to have a very different approach to the clay shoots I frequented. We were both of the opinion there would be an accident and decided we wanted no part of it.

Interestingly I attended a long distance shoot as a guest a few years ago and although nowhere near as bad it left me feeling equally unhappy about the whole affair and I vowed never to shoot with that club again. Those of you that know me, know my local long distance range so should have a good idea of the club I mean..

ovenpaa wrote:On clay grounds I adopted a process for my O/U many years ago regardless of what was happening around me.

The shotgun remains bagged and in the slip.
I enter the cage and unzip the slip halfway and break the gun.
The gun is removed from the slip.
The gun us kept broken until I am ready to shoot, at that point it is loaded and shot.

I shoot the 10 birds.

Final shot the gun is broken and placed into the half zipped slip.
I close the gun and zip the slip up.

Move to the next stand.

Much the same here ... although for us it is acceptable to remove the gun, part broken from the slip outside the cage although it will be kept broken until in use. Members can walk between stands with an un-bagged gun provided it is fully broken.

I got an ear bashing followed by an apology a few years back. Standing at the set up and safety briefing, someone thought my gun was loaded and he could see two brass objects in the barrels. He forcefully and quite loudly said - "is that gun loaded?" At which point, I kept barrels pointing at the ground and removed 2 snap caps. He did apologise, although not needed really. Maybe my fault for leaving them in and they had not ejected when the gun was opened.

SAFETY is everyone's responsibility and it is better to say something and be wrong or made a fool of than keep quiet.

I'm never happy with rifles being bagged on the firing point, or only unbagged on the point. I want to be able to see that the bolt is open and/or that there's no magazine on, especially at the one permitted location where ammunition meets rifle.

If the bolt is open, the rifle cannot physically fire. If there's no mag on and a breech flag in, it cannot physically fire. If it's in a slip, who can tell what state it's in?

For the record, I usually move my rifle around in a slip (easier to carry). On arriving behind the point I take it out, open the bolt and put the flag straight in. If I don't have the flag with me the bolt comes straight out - I think the only time I've ever been pulled up on that was when Charlie Muggins of this parish asked me to drop the bolt from my Enfield while I had it slung over my shoulder. I just held it up in my left hand where it had been all along!