This year has been bad for hunter safety in Minnesota. So far we are looking at 4 shootings and one fatality. Not a good year for hunting to say the least. In looking at the reports of when and why there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary. Most were driving deer or posting when it happened and apparently got excited when seeing the large buck, which most of the time is the norm. Accidents are preventable in most cases and should be on your mind 100% of the time. Saying that is easy, but doing it is something else.
When I first started in the gunsmithing business it was on my mind alot. Liability insurance is not cheap and having 3 employees to watch I decided to make some rules and stick with them. One of them was NO live rounds in a gun in the shop for testing. Go outside to test fire no exceptions. Well, everything went well untill hunting season with all the repair and Warranty work we were working six and seven days a week….. well it turned out I was the one who broke the rule. I had just repaired a A-5 Browning and was testing the function.
An easy way to do it is load it and work the barrel by hand…. well the customer was waiting patiently and in a hurry I grabbed live ammo and loaded it and for a brief second it entered my mind to go outside. I said to myself the gun has a safety sear and a interlock in it and what could possibly go wrong with it. Never happen.
Well, as I was working it the second round went off and blew a nice 12 guage hole in the roof… yes, it was a slug. I looked up after I could hear and thru the hole in the roof was a beam of light shinning on me and it said, Stan you dummie, I let you by this time !!!
After, I put in a new safety sear which is designed to catch the trigger sear in case it malfunctions. It had broken. Never ever does that happen……. but it did. I reflect on that happening a lot and think of how bad it could have been. Especially for someone who should know better. So, I got the scaffolding out and was up on the roof repairing it when Suz came home from work… I tried to fix it before she got home but didn't make it. So, my tail went between my legs again…… first she was mad and later just felt sorry for me. Eating crow is hard especially if its cold.
The Next time was when a customer bought in a Winchester M-94 in a old canvas gun case. Laid the gun on the counter in the case and started taking it out of the case and the front sight got stuck in a hole in the case…. as he was reaching in by hand to grab a hold of it by the lever I noticed the gun was pointed at me… I grabbed it and swung it out of my aim and said wait a minute here. Is the gun loaded ? He answered yes, thats why I came here I have a stuck case in the chamber. I proceeded to give him a good tongue lashing and after I cooled off I went outside to remove the case. With a quick jerk it came loose and yes it was a live round. I know he felt bad, but this is how things happen. Just one second later and the outcome could have been different.
The Point of this article is to remind you that you can never be too safe. Being safe is YOUR Job and don't for a second drop your guard. Minnesota has a good hunter safety program and youngsters coming up must complete the course in order to get a license which is good. So, when going hunting, bench shooting or just plinking make sure its on you mind.
Have a great hunting season Published Nov 06 2007, 02:34 PM by Stan Ware