Good and bad practice: Automatics

[DNS]

Had an hour at a local club yesterday and saw both ends of the spectrum with respect to safe use of fixed barrel guns at clay grounds.

 

One chap with an auto never moved outside the cage unless the gun was vertical and with a hi-viz streamer in the chamber clearly showing 'gun empty'. Good to see.

 

Two chaps showing a clearly inexperienced female 'what to do' with an auto managed to have a negligant discharge. Finger on trigger when slide went forwards I think. All three of them in the cage at the time and the barrel pointed in a totally random; but coincidentally safe direction.

 

Other than in a strictly controlled environment I have severe reservations about novices being taught to use fixed-barrel guns.

 

I saw two or three matt-black pistol-gripped autos in use yesterday, which I haven't noticed before. Are these becoming more common?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Safety is the responsibility of the shooter or the person teaching the shooter.

 

You say slide going forward, was it a pump rather than a Semi-Auto?

 

I wonder if more attention from the ground owner is required. We just accept that people turn up and pay to shoot. Is anything done to prove they are safe?

[kent]

Safety is the responsibility of the shooter or the person teaching the shooter.

 

You say slide going forward, was it a pump rather than a Semi-Auto?

 

I wonder if more attention from the ground owner is required. We just accept that people turn up and pay to shoot. Is anything done to prove they are safe?

Agreed the ground owners should ensure competency first what was their finger doing inside the trigger guard ? its equally as dangerous in a break action as they both discharge if the go switch is live. The amount of times I have seen dangerous gun handling at "pay and play" grounds makes me think twice before attending. Personally every attending member or guest member should get the demo and talk and be ticketed to go round to my mind- how can a ground be able to meet its H&S risk assessment otherwise? The risks need discussing - especially any specific ones to that ground. I don't get one type of gun being more dangerous its all down to the handling

Edited March 18, 2013 by kent

[DSPUK]

As a dedicatid semi user for last 25 yrs I to get a bit twitchy seeing some gun handling - I always come out of cage with gun vertical in my right hand and ejection port facing out for all to see.

 

I have twice looked down barrel of a semi with one up spout and never knew I was such an expert dancer singing and shouting at same time.

 

Pet hate is semi user who walks from stand to stand holding it around reciever horizontally.

 

Dave

[mickmep]

personally have seen more people waving around closed o/u's at grounds out of the stands (and in carparks) than i have people who

have been doing the same with semi auto's.

every man and his dog jumps on semi auto shooters, but how does anyone know a closed o/u isnt loaded ?

 

i shoot a semi auto around 75% of the time and i personally hate the safety flags, cant stand the faffing around with them and more than once

have had them stuck in where the extractor has caught on it.

 

gun handling is down to the individual, and in the case of anyone inexperienced it should be the responsibility of whoever has taken them to the ground,

or as with the clubs i shoot at if they are not a guest of a member then they are required to make themselves known to the safety officer who will either supervise them

for their first visit to assess that they have a good understanding of gun safety and handling, or put them with an experienced group of club members who will

look after them.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

personally have seen more people waving around closed o/u's at grounds out of the stands (and in carparks) than i have people who

have been doing the same with semi auto's.

every man and his dog jumps on semi auto shooters, but how does anyone know a closed o/u isnt loaded ?

 

i shoot a semi auto around 75% of the time and i personally hate the safety flags, cant stand the faffing around with them and more than once

have had them stuck in where the extractor has caught on it.

 

gun handling is down to the individual, and in the case of anyone inexperienced it should be the responsibility of whoever has taken them to the ground,

or as with the clubs i shoot at if they are not a guest of a member then they are required to make themselves known to the safety officer who will either supervise them

for their first visit to assess that they have a good understanding of gun safety and handling, or put them with an experienced group of club members who will

look after them.

 

In this case the OP saw it happen so that is what was commented upon. I too have seen plenty of bad practice with O/Us too.

[DNS]

I should clarify: I've nothing against automatics. They're as safe and effective - or as dangerous - as any other type of gun. If anything I would view a closed o/u as more potentially dangerous than an untomatic - if I see an o/u closed othert han in a rack or case, my assumption is that it has been loaded

 

I may be lucky, but I don't see much sloppy gun handling where I shoot. Yesterday was an exception.

[feaks]

When shooting clays with either an o/u or semi i keep the gun in the slip until in the stand, remove gun, put slip over front bar and get ready to shoot. When finished the gun is back in the slip before i'm more than a yard out of the cage and everyone watching will have a good idea the gun is safe.Easy.

[oscarsdad]

whilst I appreciate that the OP saw this behaviour with an auto, I would say that the vast majority of auto users are more keen to make sure people can see the gun is safe either by keeping in a slip, safety flag or carrying vertically with breach open than many O/U users are. Too often I see closed O/Us and therefore have to assume that it is loaded...

 

I agree that grounds should be a little more strict with perhaps the less diligent shooters.

Edited March 18, 2013 by oscarsdad