Firearms Safety Rules:
Hey, Chuck Norris! We all know that you are a bad-ass, but keep your finger off of the trigger! It’s obvious that the actor doesn’t have any real firearms experience.
-SA-
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Firearms Safety Must Read:
- Throwing Lead’s Introduction to Gun Safety
- Throwing Lead’s article on Jeff Cooper’s Rules of Gun Safety
- Cornered Cat’s article on The Four Firearms Safety Rules
- Cornered Cat’s article on How To verify That A Firearm Is Unloaded
- Cornered Cat’s article on Securing Firearms in the Home
- Cornered Cat’s article on Child-Proof Locks
- Cornered Cat’s article on Keeping Guns Away From Little Hands
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Negligent Discharge:
Treat all guns as though they are always loaded.
Keep your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to fire.
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Dangerous Ammunition Malfunctions:
Hang-fire:
If handled correctly this will be a non-event. The rare case of the priming compound not igniting immediately. It may ignite after a delay. Keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction for at least 30 seconds before unloading the firearm. If the round does fire while the weapon is pointed in a safe direction then there should not be any more problems unless you have a bad batch of ammunition.
Misfire:
If handled correctly this will be a non-event. Happens when a cartridge does not fire when the firing pin hits the primer. When this happens, the shooter must keep the gun pointed in a safe direction and wait for at least 30 seconds before opening the bolt. The misfire normally happens because the strike by the firing pin was too weak to fire the priming compound or because there was no priming compound where the fining pin hit the cartridge’s primer.
Squib:
If not handled correctly, this can result in a catastrophic event. The rare case where the primer ignites, but there are not enough gasses to force the bullet out of the barrel. If the round fired did not sound right, nor did it hit the target, stop and do not fire another round. A bullet may be lodged in the barrel and the firearm may burst if another round is fired as seen in the photos above. If possible, remove the bolt or open the action and inspect the barrel from the breech. If a bullet is in the breech, use a rod and push it out from the breech. Never push it back in from the muzzle. Clean the barrel before shooting again.
Double-Charge:
This will most likely result in a catastrophic event. It is the result of an accidental over-charging of propellant during the manufacturing of the ammunition cartridge. Always wear safety glasses.
“Kaboom”:
A slang term for when a firearm explodes (see photos above). This is usually due to an obstruction in the barrel, such as firing another round into a squib, or a double-charge of propellant (as discussed above).
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The Savannah Arsenal Project 