Safety Question

[Tanglefoot]

When hunting with a muzzleloading rifle, I carry it loaded. If it's a flinter, I prime the pan and carry the rifle with the frizzen down and the hammer on half-****. If a percussion, I carry it with a cap in place and with the hammer down. Those are the ways I was taught and they work for me, but that's not to say everybody should do it the same way. In any case, I do NOT carry whichever firearm I'm using with the muzzle pointed at some part of my anatomy -- or anybody else's. One of the images that will always make me cringe is that of a shooter leaning on the muzzle of a long rifle with it's butt on the ground.
Once I went hunting with a good friend, and he brought another friend of his also. His other friend was a recent convert to muzzleloading and his rifle was a .50 caliber percussion "Plains" type with set triggers. We spread out on the property, each hunting a pre-arranged area and at the end of the first day's hunt we met to head back to camp together. Walking along, we noticed that the new shooter was carrying his rifle in the position the Army calls "Shoulder Arms" with the hammer on full ****.
My old friend gently asked if he could examine the rifle, making it safe as he took it from the owner. Then he asked why the man was carrying it that way. Turns out he thought the set trigger was a safety mechanism, and had been packing the gun around that way all day!! We had a brief training session on the spot. The new guy is still active in muzzleloading and has become a safe and skilled shooter since then. Lucky fellow. Us too.

 

[SamTex1949]

Squint, I do believe it is quite common in Africa to carry a firearm this way.
Walk

I'll ask it and I bet Squint would echo it too ! "WHY" ?

 

[Walkingeagle]

I'll ask it and I bet Squint would echo it too ! "WHY" ?

I think it was because of the weight of the old large bore rifles and just stayed from there.
Walk

 

[rpatmuck]

I had a fellow try to sell me a muzzleloader that was loaded. The bore looked good but the ramrod stuck out too far when inserted down the barrel. I removed the sabot and cleaned the rifle up and gave it back to him. Hopefully he wont forget to load powder first for awhile!

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I had a hammer get pulled back to full **** going through the brush once. If it hadn't got pulled back so far it would have fired due to the fly in the tumbler. A nipple cover of some sort is a good idea.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Actually a cow's knee that covers the entire lock might be a better idea along with the nipple cover if you are going through thick brush.

 

[Feltwad]

There is only one safe way when crossing a obstacle or entering a thicket is to remove the caps or blow out the priming from the pan Never rely on a half **** position or hammers resting on the nipple which have a cap on also a flintlock which should have a open frizzen and the **** lowered into the pan . One of the most frequent discharge is when climbing over a wood rail fence and catching the hammers on the top rail also dry stone walls of which we have many here in the Uk the same discharge can happen if looking for wounded game in any thicket or bramble bushes it is best to leave the gun on the ground in a safe condition away from this type of obstacle
Feltwad

 

[Grenadier1758]

I was always taught to place the gun in a safe condition, on the ground or at the next fence post before crossing a fence or going over a wall. It only makes sense to always control a firearm in a manner that is safe and secure with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

 

[Feltwad]

I still think that one main obstacle is a rail fence and a stone wall for safety . I always remember when I witness this from two fellow shooters one negotiated the fence while the other held both guns with the barrels pointing skywards and handing them to the other on the other side of the fence ,on receiving both guns in each hand and stepping back from the fence one gun the hammers contacted the top rail and both barrels dis charged . It was a good thing the barrels were pointing skywards if any other direction it would have had serious results ,I must also point out that the gun in question had both hammers resting on the capped nipples.
Feltwad

 

[Howard Pippin]

Actually a cow's knee that covers the entire lock might be a better idea along with the nipple cover if you are going through thick brush.

I'm sure you're right, and part of the issue I'm sure is that Where you fellows hunt there are many trees and much Thick brush. Here in Montana, where I live, even if you hunt on the rivers there's not the trees nor the brush that would bother the rifle you're carrying such in areas back East. I would imagine even a sling carry would be hard to do with lots of trees. When I was a young hunter, I sometimes missed a shot on a bird because my shotgun had a sling on it and I was shoulder carrying. If I ever do hunt in this type of situation, I think I will make me a cow's knee and cover the whole darn Ignition system so that the hammer is not exposed. I'm sure I would probably use one if I hunted in the rain what you probably do if you have many showers. Here in this dry country I gave up hunting in the rain or snow many years ago. I kinda gave up on jump shooting years ago too, so a few extra seconds don't mean much when I'm ready to shoot. Age does funny things to you.
Squint

 

[87TT]

I think the guy in the video is just lucky he only lost a finger. And he's an *****. Dumbest way to carry a gun period. And making a video about it and not saying how dumb he was to carry a capped rifle in thick brush that way. I don't like the idea of a hammer resting on a capped nipple. There is a reason the old timers carried their sixguns on an empty chamber or un capped nipple.