Hunting with a round in the chamber is a common practice.
My Mate usually loads one in the chamber, and decocks the bolt by pulling the trigger. (bolt doesnt catch)
While able to hunt ‘safely’ by having no firing pin underload. When you see an animal all you need to do is rack the bolt up n down.
Although one time, as he went to uncock it, it went off. Over my head.
#1 and only rule, always point it in a safe direction.
good yarn that, I reckon if your putting one in the chamber for whatever reason, its safer to have it on full cock with the safety on, if its on half cock or de-cocked with one up the spout people get a bit careless – if its full cock its armed and dangerous. As for always treat a gun as loaded thats a fair call but I think its better to be more meticulous and take bolts out, get into the habit of double checking etc….. does everyone still treat the gun as loaded when they put it in the gunbag and transport it?
Hi Josh,
Our family is meticulous about gun safety. We take the bolt out and put a bolt lock in when it’s in the gun safe (must remember to remove when hunting, otherwise it’s just a long walk). Our family also always check each and every rifle each and every time it’s handled.
The Ryan Whanau