Saftey first or.........?
 

OK,

Here’s a question bound to raise a few opinions. If you were sitting still on watch, would it be wise to have your safety off? When I’m in the bush, my safety makes a loud click that a dogger said he heard from fifty yards out. So last year, I started taking the safety off when I was comfortably seated and settled into position. If I stand up to shake out the legs or put the rifle down for a minute the safety always goes back on. When I’m sitting, the gun is resting on my leg, pointed in a safe direction and my hand is absolutely nowhere near the trigger. I’d hate to think that a deer would take off based on the sound of me releasing my safety!

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

ALWAYS keep your saftey on until your ready to pull your trigger. get the loud click fixed. there is no reason why you shouldnt have your safty on until you are aimed and ready to pull your trigger.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Leave your safety on and somehow get the click silenced or lessoned.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

I would agree with the others...get it fixed....sometimes i do a soft grunt when i click off the safety and that seems to cover it up....just a tip.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

I agree with eastwood and gimp. Does the safety still make noise if you release it slowly? I know some of my safeties are a little loud, but if I release them really slowly, they won' t make a sound. If that doesn' t work, have them changed.:)

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

i hunt in thickets...my farthest shot is 40 or 50 yds and thats rare...most are about 20...my saftey is loud but not tooooo loud...every time i click it off it seems its too late for the deer anyways...usually if their walking they seem to stop and look.....by that time theres a 165 bullet going there way...i dont want to take the chance of bumping my trigger..falling asleep..or hitting it way to early because of the gloves i usually have on...a little oil in the saftey part should quiet it down...my mossberg used to make a really loud click...i put oil in the saftey and now it doesnt..but i dont know if thats smart it may mess some things up in there....

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

What kind of safety is it? On my slug gun (remington 870), there is an audible click if I just press the safety. If I place my index finger on the other side of the safety while I' m pressing it with my thumb you can hardly hear anything. Almost the same for my black powder gun (TC Black Diamond). If I pinch the safety between my thumb and index finger and take the safety off slow, you can hardly hear it, but if I just switch it with my thumb it clicks.

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RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Well I believe it is unanimous, LEAVE THE SAFTY ON!!! I lost a cousin because he figured he could to the same as you, well he went to move a few feet, forgot about the safety and BANG off went the back of his head when he tripped over a rock. You can never be to safe every little thing makes a difference. Is it better to loose your life, or loose the deer? that is what it comes down to. No animal is worth loosing your life over. I' m with hntngirl try to move it slowly, that is what I have to do with mine, other wise it is loud as heck.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

I work my safety the same way RIStrutStopper works his. Keep the safety on until you are ready to shoot.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Thanks for the overwhelming response that I was kinda expecting :D. My safety is a cross bolt behind the trigger and I' ve tried the two finger slide as well with equal success. It is simply on the one finger push that the snapping sound is heard. Funny though, I feel more nervous with the two finger slide than I do with the safety off. Too much finagelling too close to the trigger in my opinion.

Consider my habits changed.[8D]

Model 722 my deepest condolences to you and your family. No matter how long ago, what a tragic story. Thanks for your input.

Thanks again!

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

I' d hate to think somebody got shot because the safety was off!Keep it on til you' re ready to shoot.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Thanks Taxman003, it did happen a long time ago he was a heck of a nice guy. He had been in the service, so he did know about guns. It was just one of those dumb mistakes that can' t be reversed. One mistake with a gun and peoples lifes can change in a flash of a secound.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Nice to read a unanimous opinion where safety is the issue.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

It really depends, but last year, the only time I put my safety on was the two days I got my does, one at 40yrds and one at 17yrds and closing....of course, the other times I was hunting was with guns that DON' T HAVE SAFETIES[&:];):D. My Ruger Super Blackhawk, my old marlin 1894, and my .45-70 W&H BC don' t have them, so I CAN' T put them on, but the hammer never goes back until I' m ready to let it drop.

If you can' t ease your safety off slowly enough to make it not click loudly try some of these: wear gloves that leave your thumb and pointer fingertips exposed, so you can grip the safety better and maybe put a couple pieces of electrical tape over the ' handle' so there is no metal to metal click for 3position bolt safeties, take that retainer ball out of the x-block safety (trigger guard), or file down the edges of the ball' s retaining notch so that it doesn' t have to drop so heavily. If none of the above works, and you can' t think of anything else, then, if you find it to be quieter, which it often can be in a bolt gun, just rotate the bolt, I don' t know of any bolt gun that will fire with the safety off even and the trigger depressed when the bolt isn' t locked down, I' ve done this during benchrest shooting a bit, and even the RO' s that saw me doing it never said anything, as they know as well as I do that it' s safe. Just sit with your pointer finger running along the stock, ready to drop into the guard, and your thumb hooked over the top of the bolt handle, time comes, drop the thumb, and drop the deer.

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

Not even a consideration. Safety on till ready to shoot!!!

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

My 7600 pump, I used the thumb and finger trick to quiet it down, one finger and loud click. I also know guys who rather leave the action open and then close it upon raising the firearm (like nomercy mentioned). This is how I do it when decoy hunting waterfowl with the shotgun, but I have the saftey on as well. Never can be to sure especially when your laying down on the ground blowing on the calls and your buddies are not to far in either direction...safety is always number one with me!

I now only use bolts with top mounted safety, easier & more natural to slip the safety off in the shooting position, less likely to bump it off(IMO more safe) and three sound can be control very easily.

Simple resolve to this problem & you now have an excuse to buy a new gun/toy:D. If married or have a sign. other that hassles you about spending cash on hunting, etc. " But honey don' t you want me to be safe!!!!!" works everytime. I have used it on more than one occasion (of course their must be merit), but after pulling the old safety issue line;)...she always agrees:D[8D].

RE: Saftey first or.........?
 

To me hunting without the safty on is like playing Russian Roulet. May not be this time or next time but sometime it will discharge. All the praying in the world isn' t going to bring that bullet back.