Replica Firearm Safety

The standard rules for gun safety apply to all manner of guns, irrespective of whether they be the 'real steel' powder burners, CO2 powered or even plain old spring powered Air Soft replicas, where possible I've tried to adapt them more specifically to CO2 replica firearms.


1. ALWAYS treat every gun as if it is loaded - Never expect a gun to be unloaded and made safe, even if the person that hands you the gun states that it's empty Always check this manually yourself, that doesn't mean pointing it down range and firing it ! This means manually opening up the action (magazine out and slide back on an auto, cylinder opened for a revolver) and visually checking the breech for a projectile, the absence of shells (in a revolver) and whether the gun is loaded with a CO2 capsule.

2. DO NOT point a gun at anything that you don't want to shoot - The gun should only ever be pointed at your intended target, this applies to handling your gun at a range too. Just because you know that the gun is out of ammunition doesn't mean that everyone else does too, so waving it about like a flag to catch another shooter's attention on the firing line will serve only to get you a) a temporary range ban or b) a permanent range ban, as well as being labelled as a dangerous shooter. Always keep you gun pointing down range at the target, even if it is empty !

3. NEVER keep a gun loaded when not in use - Once a gun has been returned to it's case it should be completely unloaded of ammunition, this includes CO2 as well. There's plenty of stories of people 'accidentally' discharging (please see the note about accidental discharges) a gun that they thought was completely unloaded and injuring themselves. Removing the cartridge shells from CO2 replica revolvers and the magazine from an auto is standard practice when putting a gun back in it's case/box and plus it's always a good idea to engage the safety switch too.

4. NEVER rely on a 'safety' - Safety switches can fail but your finger never does ! Only ever have your finger on the trigger when you are ready to shoot at the target. This is your #1 safety, do not hold a gun (loaded or unloaded) with your finger on the trigger. There are obvious exceptions with single action revolvers but it's good practice to learn not to have your finger on the trigger until such a time that you actually want to shoot it. No gun will fire unless you pull the trigger, that's why it's your #1 safety ! I really can't empathise this enough.

5. ALWAYS wear safety glasses - Irrespective of whether you're shooting pellets or BBs, you should always wear suitable eye protection. Ricochets do happen and your eyes are the most vulnerable part of your body. Any eye injury will, in a best case scenario, temporarily suspend your shooting pleasures and at worst, end your shooting enjoyment - Permanently. It's far better if an errant BB destroys your glasses than it permanently ruins your eyesight.


Horror story #1

A member of the AGF (Rob-on-Target) was about to put one of his replica guns up for sale and just wanted to check that it was functioning correctly, so he popped in a fresh CO2 capsule and gave it a test fire, which involved him putting his hand over the muzzle end of the gun as he pulled the trigger in what he thought would verify that the valve and gas system was functioning correctly.

Needless to say (you can probably guess from the sub title 'Horror Story') he ended up with a BB painfully embedded in his hand !

So how many rules did he break ? Well rule #1 (Treat every gun as if it is loaded) was certainly ignored, rule #2 (Do not point a gun at anything that you don't want to shoot), Did he want to shoot himself in his hand ? I don't think so ! So that was another rule ignored. What about rule #3 (NEVER keep a gun loaded when not in use), well he managed to break that rule too ! To be fair he did actually check to make sure that the gun wasn't loaded by swinging the cylinder out, he noticed that the base of the cartridge shells were empty so closed the action back up again BUT what he had forgotten was that the BB firing shells are loaded from the front and not the rear ! All that would have been negated if the cartridge shells had of been removed completely from the gun as stipulated in rule #3.

If he had chosen to comply with just one of the first three rules he would not have ended up with a steel BB implanted into the palm of his hand, that's how staggering safety conscious those first three rules are !




Horror Story #2

Hammer slippage - This one is a personal story ! I was shooting my Dan Wesson 715-6" in single action through the chronograph when I cocked the hammer for another shot and 'just' before the hammer is far enough back to lock onto the trigger sear it slipped away from my thumb, the hammer fell forward and hit the valve with enough force to fire a shot off, the pellet landed not 12 inches away from the muzzle as it embedded itself into the bedroom door and scared the absolute 'bejeezus' out of me.

So what did I do wrong ? Well seeing as how the bedroom door was clearly not the designated target I'm totally guilty of breaking rule #2 (Do not point a gun at anything that you don't want to shoot). I've learnt since then to keep the gun pointed in the right direction (at the actual target) rather than elsewhere. I've had it happen a couple of times since then (with different guns I might add) but the difference being that the pellet/BB has gone in the right general direction rather than trying to embed itself into various pieces of domestic furniture and ultimately putting me squarely into the Mrs's bad books, lol. So lesson learned and luckily for me it was at no great cost, but I'm far more rigorous when it comes to pointing my guns in the right direction at all times now. Sometimes accidents do happen (like my thumb slipping off the hammer) but with proper safety controls in place it can minimise the potential damage that can be done to either your property, other people or even yourself.


Summary

It's far too easy to get complacent with firearms, we've been shooting for years and have never had an accident, so we get over confident in our set routines until that fateful day when our complacency runs hand in hand with our own stupidity, which invariably leads to something awful happening. Don't be that guy, always practise and maintain safe handling of all firearms, treat them with the respect they deserve and save yourself from the embarrassment of trying to explain to everyone how you managed to shoot yourself in the hand. Ultimately, we all need to be safe; you, me and all those around us ! This is a fun and very rewarding hobby, we just need to maintain a safe aspect to it at all times, from the moment we remove a gun from the case till the moment we put it back away.


Note
There is no such thing as an accidental discharge, only a negligent discharge. The term 'negligent discharge' refers to not paying due care and attention to safety aspects when dealing with firearms. The only person who ever thinks of it as 'accidental' is the fool with the gun, everyone else will see it simply as 'negligence'.