Originally Posted by
country1
When unloading the tubular magazine, the cartridges do not have to be chambered and then ejected. When a cartridge is fed from the tubular magazine, rotate the rifle 90 degrees with the lever action open, the ejection port pointing to the ground and your hand over the ejection port to catch the cartridge. The same principle works with any firearm utilizing a tubular magazine (pump action shotguns, rifles, etc.)
I agree that there are better ways to unload the gun. I always unload the magazine through the loading gate, but the truth is that 90% of guys with lever actions will just rack them out. I've seen some pretty unsafe methods used to unload these guns. My favorite is when they stick the barrel in the truck so that the cartridges land on the seat, while someone else is sitting in the passenger seat. I've seen that one done several times when I was a kid hunting in Pennsylvania, even at 15 years old it would make me cringe.