I don't see the point in fully unloading the rifle, no round in the chamber and bolt closed, yeah no prob. I ride around chasing pigs on dirt bikes, magazine fully loaded nothing in the chamber and holding the trigger while closing the bolt. Nothing in the chamber it can't go off. It's easy to cycle the bolt and reload the magazine.
Would I just be lazy or also unsafe...
- Thread starter sh1kar
- Start date
Ray7756
Well-Known Member
if you are arriving at the high seat .....in plenty of time to get settled in before expecting any deer, why bugg@r about just unload the rifle close the bolt and hand off to your buddy, or sling over the shoulder, then climb up safelyusing BOTH hands, and only loading the rifle once safely tucked in the high seat and ready to shoot
to many people ask questions about "technicalities" on safety here,,, there is only one way to do it safely,,, unload the rifle,,,, if you miss a shot tough luck,,, get there earlier next time
to many people ask questions about "technicalities" on safety here,,, there is only one way to do it safely,,, unload the rifle,,,, if you miss a shot tough luck,,, get there earlier next time
Can't see this one getting past an AW on level one.
8x57
Distinguished Member
Too true finnbear. So with all due respect the answer to the original question "Would I just be lazy or also unsafe..." has to be yes to both.
Chasey
Well-Known Member
I have a Sako 75 and theres no way the bolt stays a "bit" back once open. It will fall back to the full, any round in the chamber will fall out and it rattles about noisely
Like others I stalk to the seat loaded.
Open the bolt and push the round back into the clip. Remove clip, close bolt on checked empty chamber and climb to the seat
The re laoding noise is negligable compaired to the getting in the seat noise
Once in the seat the rifel is stowed empty as the most likley time to drop it is now whilst I am sorting out my seet pad bag range finder and binos & additional clothing for the long sitting still bit.
Very last thing i do is load the rifel
Some seats are worse than others but most are a pain to climb into with a sholdered rifel
ATB
Chasey
Like others I stalk to the seat loaded.
Open the bolt and push the round back into the clip. Remove clip, close bolt on checked empty chamber and climb to the seat
The re laoding noise is negligable compaired to the getting in the seat noise
Once in the seat the rifel is stowed empty as the most likley time to drop it is now whilst I am sorting out my seet pad bag range finder and binos & additional clothing for the long sitting still bit.
Very last thing i do is load the rifel
Some seats are worse than others but most are a pain to climb into with a sholdered rifel
ATB
Chasey
Last edited:
Flatbadger
Well-Known Member
Pleased you saw the light,
Both lazy and reckless. You are courting with disaster. Unload the bloody thing properly, it only takes a moment.
Do you really think any self-respecting deer is going to hang around while you walk up to you high seat, faff around getting ready, climb up into the highseat, faff around some more getting comfy, and wait for you to get the binos out and have a look round, spot said deer and wait while you pick the the rifle, close the bolt, aim and fire?
I was climbing up into a high seat one day and my sling swivel gave way (due to a design flaw in the swivel) dropping the rifle which was slung on my right shoulder. Fortunately, I was on the first or second rung and the rifle landed softly so wasn't damaged. And because it was unloaded with the bolt locked closed, it could not possibly have harmed me. In you scenario, imagine the sling gives way, the rifle falls with the bolt striking the ladder on the way down, that cartridge gets chambered - and unknown to you the sear is badly worn - so the thing fires on impact with the ground. It would be goodnight Vienna for you. I'll say it again, unload the bloody thing properly, it only takes a moment.
-JMS
Do you really think any self-respecting deer is going to hang around while you walk up to you high seat, faff around getting ready, climb up into the highseat, faff around some more getting comfy, and wait for you to get the binos out and have a look round, spot said deer and wait while you pick the the rifle, close the bolt, aim and fire?
I was climbing up into a high seat one day and my sling swivel gave way (due to a design flaw in the swivel) dropping the rifle which was slung on my right shoulder. Fortunately, I was on the first or second rung and the rifle landed softly so wasn't damaged. And because it was unloaded with the bolt locked closed, it could not possibly have harmed me. In you scenario, imagine the sling gives way, the rifle falls with the bolt striking the ladder on the way down, that cartridge gets chambered - and unknown to you the sear is badly worn - so the thing fires on impact with the ground. It would be goodnight Vienna for you. I'll say it again, unload the bloody thing properly, it only takes a moment.
-JMS
Woodsmoke
Well-Known Member
I'd define it as 'any firearm with a charged magazine', and no round in the chamber. If a round is chambered the firearm is then 'Loaded and Made Ready'
Being of the large round model I struggle maneuvering when getting into the seat at the top so all my seats have a rope attached to the top rail which I tie my rifle to and pull it up when comfortable, then load, do the reverse when finished, makes life a lot easier and safer both getting in and out.
This is the perfect answer for all of us!!!, well done that man
bewsher500
Well-Known Member
what kind of rifle makes such a noise when loading that you have to go through all this in order to get up a high seat!?!?
you should be able to chamber a round on any rifle in a way that is virtually silent (Blaser excluded obviously.....)
Even with a controlled feed and a noisy mag box on a Mauser I can get a round out of the clip and onto the hook with minimal amount of noise.
closing bolt and undoing safety catch should be silent also
you should be able to chamber a round on any rifle in a way that is virtually silent (Blaser excluded obviously.....)
Even with a controlled feed and a noisy mag box on a Mauser I can get a round out of the clip and onto the hook with minimal amount of noise.
closing bolt and undoing safety catch should be silent also
bambislayer
Well-Known Member
Have a look at
Safety | bestpracticeguides
and
http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/uploads/guides/173.pdf
As an assessor, I'd fail you straight away, during DMQ 1 a safety assessment!
so, it would be STUPID, lazy and unsafe
Safety | bestpracticeguides
and
http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/uploads/guides/173.pdf
As an assessor, I'd fail you straight away, during DMQ 1 a safety assessment!
so, it would be STUPID, lazy and unsafe
and you would feel happy to carry it around in a sleeve dump it in your motor, shove it into your gun safe in that state , no unload the thing .As to noise it is less of a give away than movement getting settled down. If there was a chance that the animal i was sitting out for ,might shoot back at me i then would rethink my ideas ,untill then i would unload.Or.... just sell the sako and buy a Blaser... one up the spout, uncocked.... perfectly safe.... problem solved!!! lol
Last edited:
Vipa
Well-Known Member
now how on earth does having a rifle with a feature built in making it safe to carry in the field with a chambered round translate to turning it's guardian into a reckless fool??? That is just silly!!
no its not silly carrying in the field is poles apart from climbing trees with it ,just unload the thing ,
I believe we've had the "when is a rifle loaded" question before.
The simple answer is not to climb up with rounds in the rifle. However, whether it be technically right or wrong, the main thing is not to have one up the spout. BUT...if you've stalked through somewhere to get to the high seat, do you remember if you chambered a round when you saw that deer that didn't present a shot? Did you unload it? Is your memory perfect? Mine isn't. You should always know what state your rifle is in. But being human, we all make mistakes. So it comes back to not climbing up there with anything in the rifle.
However small the risk, I'd go for the risk of scaring away some quarry with the little noises made reloading rather than risk an accident, however remote the possibility.
The simple answer is not to climb up with rounds in the rifle. However, whether it be technically right or wrong, the main thing is not to have one up the spout. BUT...if you've stalked through somewhere to get to the high seat, do you remember if you chambered a round when you saw that deer that didn't present a shot? Did you unload it? Is your memory perfect? Mine isn't. You should always know what state your rifle is in. But being human, we all make mistakes. So it comes back to not climbing up there with anything in the rifle.
However small the risk, I'd go for the risk of scaring away some quarry with the little noises made reloading rather than risk an accident, however remote the possibility.
Similar threads
