I felt the breeze!

[Golden Phoenix]

Basic rules of gun handling:
Don't point it at anything you don't intend to shoot.
Finger on the trigger only when you intend to shoot.
Finger off the trigger at any time there is another person at risk (down range, touching the gun, etc).
Listen to the instructor/manager/employee/person who knows more than you.

When I was a cadet we also had one additional rule:

"Always treat a gun as if it is loaded, even if you unloaded the damn thing five seconds before and haven't even glanced away."

A few fellow cadets got torn new ones over that rule. "It's ok that i'm [violating rule 1 2 or 3 above], it's not loaded!"

No, it's not ok, there could be a round chambered that you didn't remove, or, if you've left it or looked away some "helpful" person could have loaded it for you to "save time" on the range.

Being from the UK many of my fellow countrymen wouldn't know any of these rules, we simply don't have to address them.

Incidentally, it's been a few years since I last handled a firearm, I wouldn't want to live fire until i'd had a refresher.

[Rosco the Iroc]

^ truth
Basic firearm rules all co-support each other. So if you violate one, the others will stop the chance of death/injury. I'm also on my local BSA counsel and the rifle ranges at 2 local camps. Believe me those rules are stressed and them, some and the boys listen and follow better then 95% of the adults that I deal with.

[greek_jester]

Being from the UK many of my fellow countrymen wouldn't know any of these rules, we simply don't have to address them.

Another Brit here! I used to obsessively watch Mythbusters when it was on Quest, so I'm familiar with the rules at least. The instructors always went through the rules on camera before anything was attempted, probably in the faint hope that the viewers would pay as much attention to them as they paid to the "don't try this at home" warning.

I wouldn't mind trying target shooting on a gun which hasn't had the sights skewed (i.e. guns on "shoot the target to win a prize" games) but I have too much respect for the damage they can do to be entirely happy firing one "for pleasure".

[Rosco the Iroc]

Another Brit here! I used to obsessively watch Mythbusters when it was on Quest,

*shivers*

When they did gun myths.->

Not till late in the seasons did they start getting them close to right.

I almost stopped watching when they gave their expiation of how tracers work.
I had to yell at the TV like I was Chef Ramsey that they were WRONG!

[Comechatcha]

When I was a cadet we also had one additional rule:

"Always treat a gun as if it is loaded, even if you unloaded the damn thing five seconds before and haven't even glanced away."

A few fellow cadets got torn new ones over that rule. "It's ok that i'm [violating rule 1 2 or 3 above], it's not loaded!"

No, it's not ok, there could be a round chambered that you didn't remove, or, if you've left it or looked away some "helpful" person could have loaded it for you to "save time" on the range.

Being from the UK many of my fellow countrymen wouldn't know any of these rules, we simply don't have to address them.

Incidentally, it's been a few years since I last handled a firearm, I wouldn't want to live fire until i'd had a refresher.

Knew I forgot one. My dad shoots black powder muzzle loaders that he disassembles and cleans with soap and water after coming back from a hunt or the range. He STILL had us treating them as loaded. You've got to force it into a habit or you'll forget at the wrong time and bam, someone's dead.

[peach2play]

Glad you're OK! There are some people that shouldn't try anything harder than walking. They just don't have the mental capacity to do so. Natural selection used to weed those people out...

My dad was a range instructor and a flight instructor, no stories from the range, but there was a reason he kept a squirt bottle in the plane. Most of the time that was enough to startle someone out of a death lock on the stick, but he did have to hit one guy who panicked on trying to land, jammed the stick forward and locked his elbows, which prevented my dad from pulling back. My dad said that was the day his grey hair started.

[greek_jester]

*shivers*

When they did gun myths.->

Not till late in the seasons did they start getting them close to right.

I almost stopped watching when they gave their expiation of how tracers work.
I had to yell at the TV like I was Chef Ramsey that they were WRONG!

I'll take your word for it

[ApolloSZ]

Gun safety. So ingrained in my flat mate and I (We did rifle shooting when in Air Cadets with .22's) we find our self doing breech checks etc with frigging Nerf guns.
Hell, I was doing a Live & Work at an Airbase, went to Air Security Squadron for one visit. Checked out the Steyers and pistols - The pistol was functional, the clip was functional, the rounds were all certified non-live, as in not even a blank. Tips re-attached to spent cases. There was no physical way for anything to come out the barrel (unless you ripped the tip off and dropped it down the barrel) and I still kept it pointed the hell down while handling it.


Tracers - isn't the rear of the tip hollow/concaved, and so the round firing ignites the phosphorous/magnesium/chemical of choice for colour?
Or were they saying what its used for? (as in, I think, to let you know clip was low/idea of bullet trajectory at night? -Could be wrong, long time since I read any of that stuff).

[Rosco the Iroc]

^ that's about right,
According to MB the coating on the bullet glowed do to friction with air.
Yea that's just paint so you can tell them from reg bullets.

[Cia]

Guns are always loaded even when they aren't and always pay attention to where your barrel is pointed.

I have dummy bullets for dry firing my Kimber .45 which I use to practice racking the rounds. My Ruger 22LR Bearcat says it can be dry fired w/ no problem.

[Ironclad Alibi]

The main thing to remember about tracer bullets is that the tracing goes both ways.

[wolfie]

And if they've never shot before (or if they seem to be affected by testosterone syndrome), they will begin with my .22.

You start them with a .22, and not a .177 pellet gun?

"most" guns will not be hurt when you dry fire them. .22 can be.

Is this because with a centerfire cartridge the firing pin will hit nothing but air when dry fired, but with a .22 rimfire the tip can hit the part of the breechblock that the front side of the rim would be resting against if the gun were loaded?

[BlaqueKatt]

Gun safety. So ingrained in my flat mate and I (We did rifle shooting when in Air Cadets with .22's) we find our self doing breech checks etc with frigging Nerf guns.

They don't recommend that anymore, if it's not your personal weapon do you know all it's quirks(in his words, when I automatically went to clear it "is that yours? why the hell are you messing with it then?")? it's now "treat every gun as though loaded and real" Our SORA instructor actually SHOWED us all a *cleared* pistol, then proceeded to fire the blank he had hidden IN THE BARREL WHILE CLEARING IT. 20 of us looked at the lack of magazine/clip, 20 of us looked into the open and empty chamber, he closed the slide and fired.

[Rosco the Iroc]

You start them with a .22, and not a .177 pellet gun?



Is this because with a centerfire cartridge the firing pin will hit nothing but air when dry fired, but with a .22 rimfire the tip can hit the part of the breechblock that the front side of the rim would be resting against if the gun were loaded?

Close, it will hill the breach face of the barrel and dent it or deform the firing pin.
That being said I dry fire all my own.

[paxillated]

You start them with a .22, and not a .177 pellet gun?

I don't have a pellet gun, or I probably would. Folks tend to learn more when they're not being frightened! (I'm not a range pro like Rosco

The four rules, all in one place:

Every gun is always loaded. (i.e. always treat any gun as if it were.)
Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
Know your target and what's behind it.
Never point your gun at anything you're not willing to kill.

I have a "blue gun" to practice drawing and aiming from concealed carry with. (It's a detailed replica of my carry gun, cast out of plastic. It's solid- no hole in the barrel, no rackable slide.)