When do you take your safety off?

D

David Allen

Active member
I will start with a little back ground. My son and I went out Monday morning to the pond (1,200 acres) adjacent to our house on Monday morning. Even though I have lived there for better than 20 years it was the first time I hunted the pond. We set up in a cove where we had seen ducks and geese. The fog was very thick and the morning very slow. We heard some geese so I called to them. To my surprise they two flocks came in one after the other. I asked my son count down and we would shoot at the same time. I heard one two the then nothing. Gees still in front so OK one two three then shoot. He again counted one two three and this time I shot. My was still flopping so I put a second into it. Then I heard my son shoot bang bang on rapidly departing geese. He did not connect. I turned and asked what happened. "I forgot to take the safety off!". He is bumming hard. I know this has happened to us all.

I have been taking my son to the gun club, shooting skeet, modern skeet, trap, and some 5 stand. I have consistently urged safety. Safety on until you are ready to call the bird, then safety off and then call. He does very well. One thing he does now better than some shooting for years is keeps the gun pointed down range and unloads the spent shells before turning to leave the pad.

When I play thing back in my mind, I normally slide the safety off when I think the birds are coming in, but before they are in range. Before I coach my son I figured I would ask the brain trust. If what I do is wrong (nobody taught me), I do not want to teach him wrong.

When should one slide the safety off?
 
as I raise the gun to shoot - hunting - clays - all the same

I only shoot side by sides the tang safety is right there to thumb forward, (I did have a Browning pump for a while, but that was also a tang safety )
 
The best safety is muzzle control, keep the gun pointed of out the boat or pointed towards the decoys, in a safe direction. I slide it off at the approach of birds.
 
As I raise the gun toward my face my finger is over the button but is not depressed until I feel my cheek make contact with the gun. Like Rick, hunting, clays it's doesn't matter it's just the way I was raised. I've seen guys at sporting clays walk into the circle take the safety off then turn to talk to you. Just gives me the willy's!
 
"as I raise the gun to shoot - hunting - clays - all the same"

Same here.
I wouldn't sweat it too much, yes, its a rooky mistake. We've all done it. But its better than a gun going off when its not supposed to. I would rather miff on a bird than have an accident in the blind.
 
Muzzle control and location is a big issue with me, as that was how I was taught "All Guns Are Loaded". Safety off as I raise the gun to shoot. We have all fumbled with safeties, especially when using different guns. Excitement plays a role, and with young and new hunters it's better to be safe. He already has the fundamentals and now proof that hunting does effect gun handling.
 
"as I raise the gun to shoot - hunting - clays - all the same"

Same here.
I wouldn't sweat it too much, yes, its a rooky mistake. We've all done it. But its better than a gun going off when its not supposed to. I would rather miff on a bird than have an accident in the blind.
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Same, safety comes off as the gun is coming up.
 
David,
I'll agree with the others as safety comes off as I raise the gun. One observation I have made over the years is that not all safeties as equal. By that I mean, I've had guns where the movement of the safety was smooth as butter and others where you almost had to force it to move one way or the other. It does seem that both trigger pull and ease of moving the safety, have suffered in recent years. I suspect this is due to liability lawyers and demands from insurance carriers.
It might pay to check you son's gun and see just how smoothly the safety operates. Just a thought.
 
Just tell him that no one has ever been shot by having the safety on!! Personally I have my finger on the button until I slide my finger into the trigger guard. Sounds like you have one a really good job with him and the advice here is always (almost heheeh) good. I stress muzzle control above ALL else.
 
Just tell him that no one has ever been shot by having the safety on!! ...................................... I stress muzzle control above ALL else.

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I think we can all agree that "the muzzle control is the most critical " -

because the first part may not be true - very few "safeties " do anything more than act as a trigger block - unless you have intercepting sears, which will catch the sears if the gun is dropped or jarred. I have never heard of intercepting sears in an auto or pump and they are virtually unheard of in American doubles, and fairly uncommon in European doubles
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Rick, After a lifetime of teaching repair of mechanical things there is one truth above all others- Mechanical things WILL FAIL, we just don't know when. Many people have been shot by safeties that were supposed to be on. I should have made that clear and is why I added that muzzle control is above all else. When I taught Firearms safety class the Minn. DNR preached 3 rules, treat every gun as if it were loaded, muzzle control and be sure of your target and beyond. I used to add that if your muzzle was pointed in a safe direction everything else could fail and no harm would be done. You make a good point about some guns having better safeties than others but I doubt that is the subject here. Thanks for catching my omission.
 
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To me, muzzle direction is far more important than a mechanical device that I never put to the test, however, safety on until I am about to shoot.

I had a gun that used to switch back to safety after a couple of shots. Almost hucked that thing in the river, but I remember reading in hunter-ed that hucking guns is not safe :)
 
I will not say that he does not have any issues at all with keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, but at 11, I am more comfortable with him than with most adults. His issues at this point with this are few and far between. He gets an A+.

It seems that the concensus is that the safety is slid off during the mount, not before the mount as I do.

I think that starting next August I will have him start shooting low gun and slide the safety off during the mount. Myself I already shoot low gun so at that same point I will need to switch to my hunting gun and also practice sliding the safty off during the mount.

As you can tell I am working hard to train him to right to start with. While not duck related, I was exceptionally please when while driving the family we were listening to the radio and they were discussing how attractive a woman was, when he piped up and said something like "Welll how can they tell if they did not speak with her, the most attractive thing about a woman is her mind". It took me many many many years to learn this one and I still slip from time to time. As with most fathers my goal with him is that he be better than me. I think I am well on my way to meeting this goal, I only hope that I do not loose ground during puberty.
 
I've shot the same 870 for 15 years and flicking off the safety as the gun is coming to my shoulder is an ingrained part of my gun mount-I don't even think about it anymore. Seems to me that it's the safest way to handle it as the muzzle will already be pointing at the target. The part I have to keep in mind is putting the safety back on after shooting.
 
Think of it this way, when you teach a person to shoot flying targets you tell them to follow it with their eyes, shoulder the gun, and swing through the target to establish lead. It is during this time that the muzzle is out in front and starting to track with the eyes and in that shouldering motion is the time to remove the safety. Muzzle is under control and pointed in the general direction of the intended target.
 
Safety off as I raise, not before. I have hunted with others who feel need to take safety off at first sound of birds. Also have hunted with guys who take safety off on upland birds while approaching a point. I don't hunt with either anymore. Safety comes first.
 
Safety on till you raise the gun to your face, finger outside the trigger guard till you are ready to shoot. Reset safety as soon as possible. Easy to press the safety off again to shoot a cripple.
Saw a hunting show saturday, guy slipped and fell going down a snow covered road. Next his buddy is walking up on a point with his finger on the trigger with gloves on, bad habit... I take my gloves off to shoot...
 
David,

Firearms and firearms safety has been an integral part or my job for the last 16 years. It doesn't matter what your skill level is, or what weapon system you are using.

The proper procedure is this: the safety goes off as you are Raising the muzzle up to the target. The finger does not go on the trigger until you are ready to engage the target. Safety goes back on immediately after the target is engaged AND the environment is scanned for shot effectiveness and additional targets. Finger is not on the trigger while you are scanning.

Again this applies to all weapon systems. Rifles, shotguns, carbines, and handguns. Where the safety is located, and how easy or difficult it is for the shooter to manipulate, has no bearing on when it is disengaged. Muzzle discipline is HUGE...sounds like you have that pretty well covered.
 
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