I realize that everybody else already knows this, but I didn’t, at least not at first. Worth mentioning in case there is another young version of me about.
As a misinformed youth, I got in the habit of leaving the action of a rifle open to make it ‘safe’. With most rifles, such as lever guns and bolt actions, this is fine, and there is no need to empty the magazine first.
This does not apply to semiautos like AR15s, or the occasional SKS or AK you might encounter with an after-market bold hold-open device. If these rifles fall, the actions tend to slam shut on their own. If the magazines had been left loaded, that’s bad.
Keep that in mind when crossing fences, too. Those removable mags are removable for a reason.
September 10th, 2011 at 11:02 am
I realize that everybody else already knows this, but I didn’t, at least not at first. Worth mentioning in case there is another young version of me about.
As a misinformed youth, I got in the habit of leaving the action of a rifle open to make it ‘safe’. With most rifles, such as lever guns and bolt actions, this is fine, and there is no need to empty the magazine first.
This does not apply to semiautos like AR15s, or the occasional SKS or AK you might encounter with an after-market bold hold-open device. If these rifles fall, the actions tend to slam shut on their own. If the magazines had been left loaded, that’s bad.
Keep that in mind when crossing fences, too. Those removable mags are removable for a reason.