Firearms Safety W-W Style

It’s time for a firearm safety refresher course, so sit back and listen while Uncle Joe gives you the rundown W-W style.

The 10 Commandments of Firearm Safety:

1. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
2. Firearms should be unloaded when not actually in use.
3. Don’t rely on your gun’s safety.
4. Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.
5. Use correct ammunition.
6. If your gun fails to fire when the trigger is pulled, handle with care.
7. Always wear eye and ear protection when shooting.
8. Be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before shooting.
9. Don’t alter or modify your gun, and have guns serviced regularly.
10. Learn the mechanical and handling characteristics of the firearm you are using.

Those are the ten basic (unadulterated) things you need to know before ever picking up a firearm. Now let’s break them down a tad and throw in some reasoning for each commandment.

The 10 Commandments of Firearm Safety Redux:

1. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

In other words, don’t point your gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Carry your gun with the muzzle pointed to ground in front of you. If you are in a group and someone is in front of you, sling the rifle with the muzzle skyward, but remember, what goes up must come down. In a house, bullets can penetrate interior walls and many exterior walls like a hot knife through butter, only you can’t see who’s on the other side. Logic dictates that there might not always be a safe direction, in this case choose a direction that has the littlest damage potential, but try and avoid those types of situations first.

2. Firearms should be unloaded when not actually in use.

That’s pretty self explanatory. The only exception is a gun kept loaded at all times for personal or home defense, but technically these are guns that are in-use 24/7.

3. Don’t rely on your gun’s safety.

Mechanical safeties can fail. A safety is not a fail-safe mechanism; it is a precautionary item that should not be relied upon solely as a means of preventing a firearm from going off. These safeties rely upon the competence of the person handling the firearm.

4. Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

Bullets penetrate, often times much further than anticipated. There is also the possibility you might miss your target, so never rely on the target itself as a backstop. Don’t shoot if people are anywhere in the vicinity of your target. Ever hear of a ricochet?

5. Use correct ammunition.

Again, this should be self-explanatory, but there are those who aren’t so bright. Just because it looks like it fits, doesn’t mean its safe. The wrong cartridge’s dimensions could be off enough from that of the chamber so that if it were to be fired, dangerous pressures could result. If it’s not a cartridge made specifically for your chambering, don’t even think about trying it!

A cartridge too small for the gun’s chambering could slide down far enough into the chamber that when you try to eject it, the extractor doesn’t grab it. A following round being shoved into the chamber could cause the tip of the bullet to ignite the primer of the first cartridge, resulting in a potentially lethal catastrophe.

In the case of shotguns, the round might just stop up the barrel and when the correct cartridge is loaded and fired, the results can be potentially lethal for both the shooter and any bystanders. (See #8)

6. If your gun fails to fire when the trigger is pulled, handle with care.

Hang fires can and do occur with modern ammunition, though it’s not nearly as common as it was with muzzleloaders. There could be a couple different reasons why it didn’t fire, and doesn’t mean it won’t fire at all. The primer could be slow to ignite. The powder could also be the culprit and be slow in igniting.

If your gun doesn’t fire, keep it pointed at the target and wait at least 15 seconds, and honestly, in all my years of shooting I’ve had a two factory rounds that didn’t go off until after 20 seconds passed (though these are extremely rare, more than one in a million if I had to hazard a guess), so best to wait at least 30 seconds, then if your gun has second fire capabilities, try firing again, or else extract the cartridge and inspect the primer to make sure it has a firing-pin dent.

Things to look for:
Make sure the face of the primer is flush with the head of the cartridge. If it’s seated too deeply, that could cause the firing pin to not hit it with enough force to fire it. The firing pin indentation should be round and deep, if it’s a very light indentation that could be a sign of a problem with the gun itself, it could be a broken firing pin or weakened spring. It could also mean a defective primer with too thick a housing.

If none of the above is the problem and one wants to investigate further, use a kinetic bullet puller and remove the bullet and powder. Is the powder dry? Try carefully decapping the cartridge case next. Go easy, decapping a live primer can break your decapping pin and scare the bejeebers out of you and anyone in close proximity. If it won’t decap, that’s probably the problem right there, the cartridge case had no flash hole in the primer pocket. If it does decap, then by golly it was probably just a dead primer.

7. Always wear eye and ear protection when shooting.

Again, fairly self explanatory, but there are some people who don’t quite understand what proper protection is. Regular eyeglasses are not protection enough, unless they have shatter-proof lenses.
Those Wally-World sunglass are the same. Unless they are shatter resistant lenses, specifically made for shooting or otherwise industrial safety glasses, don’t wear them. Glass lenses can shatter when debris hit them. Make sure the glasses fit your face snuggly and properly.

Use the proper hearing protection for your environment. At a range, wear hearing protection that attenuates loud noises and lets regular sound through so that you can hear range commands. Hearing protection is just important when hunting, though somewhat inconvenient. For those circumstances, try some of the hearing protectors that amplify (in stereo) surrounding sounds and attenuate the loud ones. These can actually help you hear game that you otherwise wouldn’t hear. Some guns require a little extra protection, those with muzzle-brakes can direct the sound-waves back towards the shooter, and in those cases sometimes earplugs with muff-type protectors over those are in order. Ultimately it’s your hearing, and it’s up to you how badly you want to keep it or not.

8. Be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before shooting.

This one kind of goes along with #5 for obvious reasons, but there is more to it that that. Make sure that mud, snow, and other debris hasn’t inadvertently plugged the barrel. A piece of gaffer’s tape over the end of the barrel will help prevent this, and won’t affect the bullet or accuracy any.

If you shoot the gun and it sounds “off”, it could have been a squib round. Don’t load and fire another round until you check the barrel to make sure the bullet isn’t lodged in the rifling. If it is, don’t try shooting it out, this will be bad news for you and the gun. If you can’t remove the bullet with a dowel or sturdy rod, it’s time to let the gunsmith take care of it for you. Now would be good time to have him check the whole gun over as a safety precaution. Now would also be a good time to fork over a few bucks to have him do a good trigger/action job if you haven’t had one yet.

A special note aimed at one person: To the guy who called in to Cam & Company a few weeks ago and asked what to do if you got your pecker stuck in the barrel of a shotgun, my advice to you is load the shotgun with a pumpkin ball and pull the trigger. Everyone else is advised to not do this, as it will only work for this particular person with the tiny genitalia.

9. Don’t alter or modify your gun, and have guns serviced regularly.

They’re talking about major modifications. Changing the grips, stock, or sights on a gun can probably be achieved by any gun owner unless they are completely incompetent, but this level of incompetence would have probably kept them from finding a gun shop in the first place. As for major modifications, action jobs, etc., those are best left to professional gunsmiths with outstanding reputations.

10. Learn the mechanical and handling characteristics of the firearm you are using.

Every gun is different, and has a personality of its own. Read the manual, if you didn’t get a manual contact the manufacturer and they will gladly send you one for free. Don’t go to the range and shoot the gun a few times and then never touch it until you need it. You need to familiarize yourself with the gun, go to range and practice, practice, practice. Use the firearm often enough so that all of its features and handling nuances become second nature to you.

Now for some W-W extras:

11. Don’t mix firearms and alcohol.

These activities should be enjoyed separately and should never be mixed under any circumstances.

12. Don’t ban your children altogether from your guns.

Children are curious by nature and banning them from your guns will only intensify their curiosity. Instead, teach them gun safety, teach them the importance of all the rules and the responsibility that goes with owning and using firearms. Then let them handle the guns under your supervision and teach them to shoot. Take them with you often to the range, and hunting, and let them shoot with you.

Buy a few guns specifically for their use that you will keep safe with your own, this will make a world of difference in their lives, they will then be their own responsible gun owner, and they now have to practice what they’ve been taught. It’s one thing to shoot daddy’s guns; it’s another to shoot their own guns that are specifically for them. Teach them to clean and maintain their own guns too.

13. Clean and lubricate your guns as soon as possible after each shooting session.

A clean, well maintained gun is a more accurate and reliable gun. Today’s non-corrosive rounds still leave a residue that can attract moisture which will cause rust and pitting in your bore.

14. Buy more guns.

I don’t care how many guns you own, it’s never enough. A happy gun is a gun with a responsible owner with lots of family members. Think of all the poor orphaned and ownerless guns at the gun shop that are in need of loving owners.

15. Hunters: One Shot, One Kill

Law Abiding Gun Owners/Hunters/Sportsman and the term "spray and pray" should never be used in the same sentence. Learn how to shoot accurately and kill the animal with one shot. Learn how to hunt and shoot properly, never take potluck shots and hope they hit, that's the among the worst kind of irresponsibility.

16.Last, but certainly not least: Support the National Rifle Association.

For around the price of a box of premium rifle ammo, you can get a year’s membership to the NRA who continues to defend your rights as gun owners. They are out there defending your rights whether you asked them to or not, so why not suck it up and show a little thanks for their efforts and give them the support they need in return. http://nra.org