Guns unbagged before firing point
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Malxwal
Well-Known Member
Conversely, I and all the lads I shoot with enjoy friendly banter, encouragement, spotting etc. Our days are social. We are still safe, and observe all the rules.
bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
I shoot at st Nicholas club in Chislehurst London/Kent Border all guns must be removed from gun bag at the firing point.
The bolt and magazine must be removed and rifle cleared and checked then bagged at firing point by RO and flagged
The bolt and magazine must be removed and rifle cleared and checked then bagged at firing point by RO and flagged
Smallholder
Well-Known Member
I run gallery rifle comps at our range and guns are usually bagged on the firing point. When moving up and down the range & scoring and it raining etc there are benefits of bagging a gun. You could argue that if a gun is in a bag then people can't fettle with it and do something stupid. Not likely but just as likely as someone putting a loaded gun in a bag?
Not straight forward to remove a semi-auto bolt, that’s the issue.
My Ruger 10/22 for example, being a decades old design, requires removal of trigger group, then a right faff with the return spring and bolt to get it out. If I’ve shot a decent amount of rounds during the evening, the bolt and receiver will be very grubby and very difficult to get out
bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
No but the mag can be removed and rifle checked
Of course, I was quoting the poster above stating all bolts must be removed, which is not always practical.
ALWAYS remove your mag (if it’s not single shot)
ALWAYS clear your rifle (preferably get somebody else to clear it)
ALWAYS Remove your bolt and flag, or flag if bolt removal is impractical.
My Ruger 10/22, BSA International, KRAL semi auto 12G, Southern Gun Company AR-15 are all impractical to remove the bolt. My Clay shotgun doesn’t have a bolt to remove.
My P14, being a military rifle and not designed to have the bolt removed on a regular basis, only has its bolt removed for cleaning.
All I meant was, and as has been stated above, know you’re firearms safety, really know it.
Bill.Stickers
Active Member
At club events away from Bisley we operate 'un-bag at the line' ie, bring your gun to the line in the bag/take it off in the bag. This is fine as we're not particularly pressed for time but it does then require some bipods etc to be fitted on the line (Like my Tier 1 F class). At Bisley it makes sense to un-bag behind the line for competitions as there's often more than one shooter to a peg and time and space is short. Either method can be perfectly safe provided guns are flagged and/or bolts removed and guns taken off the line are cleared in the correct way ie, a proper visual inspection of the chamber and magazine if fitted, not just a cursory glance, and then followed by a loud "Clear !" to ensure there's no mistakes.
What cannot be tolerated is fiddling with rifles behind the line beyond fitting bipods etc and then leaving the gun alone, pointing down range with a flag evident.
As RCO I will never allow magazines to be loaded like we did in the military. I've personally witnessed a loaded mag put onto a rifle behind the line by a shooter not thinking, he was mortified when he realised what he'd done in a moment of inattention
What cannot be tolerated is fiddling with rifles behind the line beyond fitting bipods etc and then leaving the gun alone, pointing down range with a flag evident.
As RCO I will never allow magazines to be loaded like we did in the military. I've personally witnessed a loaded mag put onto a rifle behind the line by a shooter not thinking, he was mortified when he realised what he'd done in a moment of inattention
2 incidents recently where live rounds were fired off the range
not necessarily exactly the same thing but that is far more likely if you are carrying an unslipped gun around off the firing point
The "Safe Practices" bit of SSSS
Dan Newcombe
Well-Known Member
I’m not a club person so no idea about range etiquette but I would fall into the ‘too pedantic’ camp myself
One was in clubhouse on site, on a previously cleared rifle (loaded mag had been reinserted)
One was in a car boot, again loaded mag reinserted on a cleared rifle.
Neither anything to do with guns being bagged, both everything to do with carelessness
No that is exactly my point - you simply can't put a mag back in a gun when it's zipped in a bag
so if it is in a bag unless it is on the firing point then this won't happen
Edit: Sorry that sounded ruder than I meant - yes it is completely carelessness, but people are careless and stupid at times and rules like this prevent that being a problem
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
There's a whole group of us that converge on the range socially, shooting is merely incidental to the banter. We all take the safety element very seriously, encourage and support anyone with marksmanship, reloading or guncare issues, and generally put the world to rights. Its not the place for anti social misfits who solely want to shoot
Thats the approach I take on the BDS range days...not really bothered about the shooting..its the banter I like..and I do exactly what the range officer tells me
Not at all rude, but in at least one of the two circumstances, after clearing and BEFORE the gun went in the bag, the mag was re-inserted. Don’t know for sure about the one in the clubhouse
Very interesting mix of views and opinions - thank you all.
I admit I am probably being a bit negative but there's something about shooting for me that despite the years I've been doing it, still has a danger element I don't think can be overstated. I'm not saying any one person's opinion is wrong in the responses, and i'm not surprised by the occasional mistake, mag left in, uncleared rifle making off the line, but I do feel more comfortable knowing the procedures at our club that are stricter than some - required or not. Clearly the procedures are safe, I guess it comes down to what you're used to and what you feel you can control. A few more trips to Bisley will probably put my mind at rest.
I admit I am probably being a bit negative but there's something about shooting for me that despite the years I've been doing it, still has a danger element I don't think can be overstated. I'm not saying any one person's opinion is wrong in the responses, and i'm not surprised by the occasional mistake, mag left in, uncleared rifle making off the line, but I do feel more comfortable knowing the procedures at our club that are stricter than some - required or not. Clearly the procedures are safe, I guess it comes down to what you're used to and what you feel you can control. A few more trips to Bisley will probably put my mind at rest.
That's why they have these open days. To see if YOU "fit" THEM but also to see if THEY "fit" YOU. The engagement BOTH ways is important and if you aren't happy then it's not a "fit" for you. There's a clay pigeon club near me which I enjoy going to. There's another I don't. Both are safe and sane but the "fit" isn't there with the second one. I hope that makes sense?
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bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
Think we all go brain dead at times.
Some one distracts you we are only humane.
But other's remind us and point out our mistakes.
Some one distracts you we are only humane.
But other's remind us and point out our mistakes.
Joking apart, and no affront intended, but given "I don't particularly like being around random people with guns anyway" if and when the **** hits the fan and WW3 begins I'd suggest the Navy might be better for you than the Army? And in "civvie" life if you get offered a day of walked up partridge shooting maybe give it a pass?
I grew up as a teenager around open carrying of rifles on ranges, or on exercises as simply there never were any gunslips anyway. A rifle didn't need a slip to carry it in as it was fitted with a sling. You used that.
Later in my life on game shooting days again the your gun was in a takedown case in you car and was put up as soon as the day began. No gunslips ever. So I've never been nonplussed by it.
So to me in my circumstance I actually found it an odd experience the first time I was in a game syndicate where people arrived with their guns in slips and took the slips out with them into the field. With the guns inside those slips.
Putting guns in slips between drives, keeping guns in slips until on pegs, slipping guns as the drive ended. My shooting experience was actually being able to see between drives what guns people had brought with them as they were carried openly and nobody used a slip. And enjoying talking about which gun someone had with them that day.
Simply what with cartridge satchel, shooting stick, and on walked up days a game bag, encumbering oneself with a gunslip was just an extra embuggeration to be avoided. So we never used one. But that's how we were.
I grew up as a teenager around open carrying of rifles on ranges, or on exercises as simply there never were any gunslips anyway. A rifle didn't need a slip to carry it in as it was fitted with a sling. You used that.
Later in my life on game shooting days again the your gun was in a takedown case in you car and was put up as soon as the day began. No gunslips ever. So I've never been nonplussed by it.
So to me in my circumstance I actually found it an odd experience the first time I was in a game syndicate where people arrived with their guns in slips and took the slips out with them into the field. With the guns inside those slips.
Putting guns in slips between drives, keeping guns in slips until on pegs, slipping guns as the drive ended. My shooting experience was actually being able to see between drives what guns people had brought with them as they were carried openly and nobody used a slip. And enjoying talking about which gun someone had with them that day.
Simply what with cartridge satchel, shooting stick, and on walked up days a game bag, encumbering oneself with a gunslip was just an extra embuggeration to be avoided. So we never used one. But that's how we were.
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bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
I did not mean me i have seen this while i was RO on the range.
enfield I learnt rifle control on a 303 as a teenager.
Then with a SLR i like to stalk or wait for a shot not have it delivered
enfield I learnt rifle control on a 303 as a teenager.
Then with a SLR i like to stalk or wait for a shot not have it delivered
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