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Part of the responsibility of being a reloader
includes the safe handling, storage and use of gun powder. It is vital
that you practice the recommended and necessary precautions before, during
and after the use of our products.
INTRODUCTION
There is a sentence in a pilot’s flight
manual that reads, "When you enter the cockpit of this aircraft,
you become part of a system over which you have control - both in terms
of operation and safe handling. You are the only one that can make the
system safe or unsafe."
The same is true of the shooter, whether a hunter, target shooter or
casual weekend plinker. From the time he picks up a firearm, the shooter
becomes a part of a system over which he has complete control. He is
the only part of the system that can make a gun safe - or unsafe.
Hunting and target shooting are among the safest of all sports. This
booklet is intended to make them even safer - by re-emphasizing and reaffirming
the basics of safe gun handling and storage and by reminding each individual
shooter that he or she is the key to firearms safety.
Please read this booklet carefully and follow the safety procedures outlined.
Firearms safety is up to you. Make no mistake about it.
KNOW YOUR GUN - READ YOUR INSTRUCTION MANUAL
1 - Don’t Rely on Your Gun’s Safety.
Treat Every Gun as if it Were Loaded and Ready to Fire.
The safety on any gun is a mechanical device
that serves as a part of a complete system of safe gun handling. The
safety is not intended to serve - nor can it possibly serve - as a substitute
for common sense or safe gun handling.
For example, never pull the trigger on a firearm when the safety is in
the "safe" position or anywhere in between "safe" and
off. It is possible that the gun could fire anyway, and it is also possible
that the gun could fire later when you release the safety - without your
ever touching the trigger again. Always place the safety completely in
the "fire" or "safe" positions. Never in between.
Half - safe is unsafe. Don’t play with your safety, putting it on
and off. Leave it on until you are absolutely ready to fire. You and
the safe gun handling procedures you have learned are your gun’s
primary safeties. To rely entirely upon a mechanical device is unsafe.
Use your safety safely
2 - Never Cross a Fence, Climb a Tree or Jump
a Ditch With a Loaded Gun.
There are times during nearly all hunting trips
when common sense and the basic rules of firearms safety will require
you to unload your gun for maximum safety.
Anytime there is an added risk that you might lose your balance and drop
or lose control of your gun, you should unload. Before climbing a fence
or crossing a stream are perfect examples. If you need to climb a slippery
hill and certainly if you are going to climb a tree to hunt from a tree
stand, you should unload first. Then, should you lose your balance and
lose control of your gun, you will not jeopardize your safety or the
safety of your companions by dropping a loaded gun which could discharge.
The chances of missing a shot at game by unloading at such times are
slim and more than offset by the added safety of unloading.
3 - Never Load or Carry a Loaded Gun Until
You Are Ready To Use It.
One of the cardinal rules of shooting safety
is to load your gun only when ready to use it - and to unload as soon
as you are through. A loaded gun has no place in - or near - a car or
truck or building. Keep your fingers off the trigger while loading or
unloading.
For shotgun shooting, don’t load until you’ve started into
the field or are well settled in a blind. Unload before you leave!
Many big game hunters will not chamber a cartridge until they have actually
sighted game and decided to shoot. This is especially true when hunting
from tree stands.
Target shooters should never load until it is their turn to shoot, and
they should unload immediately if there is a delay in the shooting progression.
Think of yourself and your gun as part of a system whose safe operation
depends on you. Your gun can’t think. You can. Don’t load until
ready to shoot - and unload as soon as you’re done.
4 - Watch Your Muzzle So the Other Fellow Doesn’t
Have To
If everyone handled his gun so carefully that
the muzzle never pointed at something the gunner didn’t intend to
shoot, we’d have no firearms accidents. It’s as simple as that,
and it’s up to you.
Learn to keep your muzzle always pointed in a safe direction. That may
be in the air on some occasions, at the ground on others, but never at
anyone or at anything not intended as a target.
You can always tell an experienced shooter by how he or she handles a
gun. A knowledgeable shooter always opens the action on a gun before
handing it to someone else and always checks to make sure the gun is
unloaded if it is handed to him.
Handle guns so others will want to hunt with you, not away from you.
You and your gun are parts of a system whose safe operation depends on
you. Your gun can’t think, but you can.
5 - Keep Guns and Ammunition Separately and
in Locked Storage.
There’s really only one basic way to safely store guns and ammunition.
They should both be kept locked, separate from one another, with the
keys under the control of a responsible adult. Casual visitors and children
should find it impossible to handle either without the direct approval
, action, and supervision of an experienced person totally informed in
the principles of safe gun handling. This may take some extra effort
on your part, but consider the potential consequences of the wrong hands
putting guns and ammunition together.
6 - Don’t Shoot Unless Absolutely Sure
of Your Target and What Is Beyond It.
You can’t call a bullet back. And you can’t
change its direction.
Once you’ve pulled the trigger on your rifle, shotgun or handgun,
you have given up all control over where the bullet will go or what it
will strike. Every shooter - whether a big game hunter, upland gunner
or plinker - owes it to himself and to everyone within range of his firearm
to be absolutely sure of his target. Make certain there are no hunters,
buildings or other objects behind or near your target.
And make absolutely sure of the target itself. Particularly duriong the
low-light periods of dawn and dusk, it is easy to mistake one shaper
for another. Scientists call it "Early Blur," and it is one
reason you should be totally sure of your target before pulling the trigger.
Firearms safety is up to you. Make no mistake about it.
7 - Know the Range of Your Gun. Remember, Even
a 22 Rimfire Can Travel Over One Mile.
All shooters hope they will hit what they are aiming at when they pull
the trigger. Safe shooters also consider where their shot might go
if they miss.
Shooters should keep in mind how far a bullet will travel of it misses
its intended target or ricochets in another direction. A 22 short can
travel 1 1&Mac218;4 miles, and a high-velocity cartridge such as a 30-06
can send its bullet more than 3 miles.
Shotgun pellets can travel 500 yards, and shotgun slugs have a range
of one-half mile.
Before firing at game or other targets afield, shooters should be certain
there are no roads, buildings or livestock in the course of fire, should
the bullet go astray.
Guns and ammunition cannot think. You can.
8 - Always Wear Eye and Ear Protection When
Shooting.
Most rules of shooting safety are intended to
protect you and others around you, but there are two rules that are for
your protection alone.
These rules involve the wearing of eye and ear protection. Eye protection
can take the form of inexpensive plastic safety glasses, sunglasses,
the shooters own prescription lense or specialized shooting glasses.
They guard against twigs, falling shot, clay target chips and the rare
ruptured case or firearm malfunction.
Heavy repeated exposure to shooting noise is not only uncomfortable at
the time, it can also cause permanent hearing loss that may not be detected
until it is too late.
There are a wide variety of hearing protectors available, ranging from
throwaway or reusable ear plugs to sound-deadening muffs that cover the
entire ear. No target shooter, plinker or hunter sighting-in should ever
be without them.
Obey the safety rules that are intended to protect you. Wear ear and
eye protection.
9 - Always Be Sure the Barrel is Clear of Obstructions.
Only Carry Ammunition of the Proper Size for the Gun You Are Using.
It might be mud, snow or a shotshell wad. It could even be a cleaning
patch or the wrong size ammunition placed in your gun’s chamber
by mistake. All are obstructions that can block a gun barrel by careless
gun handling - as in the case of mud or snow. Or, they may have been
left there accidentally by someone else.
Proper safety procedures require that all gun barrels be checked for
obstructions before firing.
Carry only the proper ammunition for the gun you are shooting. Mixing
ammunition causes problems. A 20 gauge shotshell, for example, will pass
through the chamber of a 12 gauge and lodge in the barrel.
Never allow different types of ammunition to get mixed up in the pockets
of your hunting or shooting coat.
It is a simple and basic safety step to check your barrel for obstructions
before shooting - for your own safety and to prevent damage to your gun.
10 - Always Carry Handguns With the Hammer
Down on an Empty Chamber.
Handgun safety is largely a matter of common
sense and the development of safe habits. For example:
- Carry loaded revolvers with empty chamber under the
hammer.
- Carry loaded pistols with the magazine inserted but
with an empty chamber
- Always empty handguns before carrying into a house,
car, boat or RV.
- Never point a handgun at anything you don’t intend
to shoot.
- Never handle a handgun without opening it yourself to
check and see if it’s loaded.
- Always open your handgun and keep it open after firing.
- Be sure of your backstop and what lies beyond it before
you shoot.
Refer to the instruction manual you received
with your gun.
S A A M I
SPORTING ARMS AND AMMUNITION MANUFACTURERS’ INSTITUTE,
INC.
Safety Series, 1075 Post Road, Riverside, CT 06878
© 1998 Alliant Powder
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