I see people rest their rifle muzzle on their feet as well as the butt on the ground and leaning on their muzzle with precision rifles. Check the above pictures. You should get out more.
I never said it didn't happen, and in fact said I believed you that it happened sometimes. People can be dumb.
I just called you out for the blatant lie of saying that it was a regular occurrence that was spreading because shotgun people did it. People do it because people are dumb, not because shotgunners do it.
I find it odd that you think a broken shot gun is a harmless tube yet you don’t like the idea of no bolt in the gun.
You say a bolt back is a clear indicator, yet don’t see how no bolt in the gun would be a clear indicator. As well as glossing over the entire part where I suggested an inert bolt (that would be colored red or yellow obviously).
It is not clearly visible, at a glance, that a bolt has been removed from a rifle. A broken open shotgun
IS clearly visible. There's a big difference.
Here's an example of what I mean. On top you'll see two pictures of shotguns, and on the bottom you'll see two pictures of bolt action rifles. You'll find that a broken open shotgun is much quicker and easier to recognize than a rifle with a removed bolt.
As to the inert bolt suggestion, once again that has the same flaws as a chamber flag where a simpler solution to the problem exists (bolts back at all times) with less risk from people fumbling around with their guns to remove a chamber flag or swap a bolt before shooting a stage. The inert bolt would be visible, but it wouldn't be substantially more visible than an open bolt that's been moved to the rear. It's colored, yes, but the standard open bolt is sticking up for all to see just fine.
People who decide to use an inert bolt on their own without it being a requirement is not a danger, because they would then be allowed to swap out the inert bolt before they're lining up for the start of a stage and after the rifle has already been placed in a safe location. The majority of muzzle sweeps happen immediately before a stage begins or after a stage ends. This is when the shooter already has the largest number of things to handle, and when they're least likely to be paying attention to the muzzle.
Adding another required step there that causes the shooter to fumble around with their bolt is a perfect way to make things less safe, because you're forcing the shooter to touch the bolt when they wouldn't have to otherwise. You don't have to touch the bolt any more than is required currently when preparing for a stage or leaving a stage if it's required to be open unless you're on target, because the bolt is already required to be opened when you leave a stage (to eject any extra rounds) and it's already required to be open when you start a stage.
Also, unless you are using a bungee type system, you can’t DQ people when their bolt is forward as the safest way to carry your rifle is sling in front with muzzle down. Gravity will make the bolt slide forward. Another reason I suggested taking the bolt out and replacing with an inert piece of plastic.
Muzzle up vs muzzle down carrying of the rifle is another piece of the debate, but both methods of carrying a rifle are widely accepted as safe. Claiming that muzzle down is safest in all scenarios is pretty ridiculous when there are a lot of ways for you to be injured from an ND that impacts directly in front of you. Not to mention the fact that if you carry the rifle muzzle down as you suggest it would only take a simple bump from someone else not paying attention to close your bolt. Suddenly that situation became objectively less safe than someone who carried their rifle muzzle up with an open bolt, because the rifle can never fire if the bolt is held completely to the rear by gravity.
If the bolt is open and back, a round will not magically fire even if it dropped onto the bolt face at the same time as the firing pin broke and protruded from the bolt face. If you close the bolt prior to picking up the gun to carry muzzle up, it's a match DQ already for unsafe handling of a firearm (you closed the bolt when you weren't on target).
Suffice to say that there are pros and cons to both muzzle up and muzzle down transportation of bolt action rifles. Muzzle up makes it less likely that anything would fire in the first place, but introduces an unknown risk in the form of not knowing where a round would land if one did go off. Muzzle down means you know exactly where the bullet will hit if a round goes off, but it's a lot easier to end up with a situation where the round could go off in the first place.
You also say that it's impractical to require bolt back because it would require an extra piece of equipment to carry in what you consider to be the "safest way". That's more than a little hypocritical when your proposed method for safety requires a much more expensive piece of additional equipment (an inert bolt) than a simple bungee cord that can be purchased for about $2 at Wal-Mart, and your claimed "safest way" of carrying a firearm is one where you already require an extra piece of equipment (a sling).
Keeps dirt out, which is a major concern and why many people only keep their bolt open, but not back.
If a competitor is concerned with dirt there are many things they can do while still fully complying with an open and back bolt rule.
- Wrap a shirt/towel/shemagh/whatever they want around the action where dirt can enter the gun without covering the bolt (remember, the bolt handle is back so it's not in the way of anything that covers the ejection port and magazine well)
- Use a barrel cooler just as the Riflekuhl, which creates a seal in the chamber and covers the ejection port
- Use an inert bolt like you seem to like so much, so long as it has a longer than standard bolt body to be open and back while still covering the chamber/ejection port/magazine well
- Drape their gamechanger/fortune cookie/tactical udder over the top of their scope so that the ejection port is covered
The list goes on. None of these things are prohibited by a rule that requires you to have your bolt open and back. None of them are any less effective than your suggestion of an inert bolt.
I consider any part of a firearm as a complete firearm and again, always treat it as its loaded. I will not enter into a discussion or debate otherwise.
Good to know that at least you're consistent. It doesn't make it less delusional to treat an individual component such as a barrel or a frame/chassis as a full firearm, but it's at least consistent. There's no debate to be had if you're already this far overboard.
You're wildly concerned with making it look like you're being safe in situations with literally zero danger (barrels completely separated from the rest of a firearm), while simultaneously advocating for things that would undoubtedly result in more unsafe situations by requiring unnecessary bolt manipulation.
I’ve seen first hand what safe and unloaded weapons do to people.
You've seen first hand what weapons that were not properly checked and cleared do.
You've never seen a bolt action rifle fire from an open bolt positioned to the rear. You've also never seen a barrel magically set off a round, the slide of a handgun shoot someone, or the detached barrel of a shotgun result in a negligent discharge. You've never seen these things because they are physical impossibilities, and making policy based on preventing physical impossibilities is a terrible strategy for improving safety.
What is a good strategy for minimizing safety is implementing rules that minimize the handling and manipulation of firearms when not necessary, especially the action of a firearm. It's also a good idea to implement rules that require a shooter to always indicate that their rifle is not capable of firing, in the most visible fashion possible. The most visible way to accomplish this, and the way that requires the least amount of bolt manipulation (even chamber flags require bolt manipulation, most need the bolt pressed forwards against the flag to prevent it from falling out) is to simply leave the bolt open and pulled to the rear.
