What do you use for a chamber flag?
- Thread starter JollyJerp
- Start date
The Appleseed flags. You can find them on their store page page, item AS127.
Better yet, go to an Appleseed event and they'll give you one.
Better yet, go to an Appleseed event and they'll give you one.
For matches I use something similar to these,
shop.actiontarget.com
For informal range training and classes with organizations like the Boy Scouts, where many are needed, we cut pieces of brightly colored weed eater string.
Law Enforcement Targets | Action Target : .22 Caliber Chamber Flag
.22 Caliber Chamber Flag
shop.actiontarget.com
For informal range training and classes with organizations like the Boy Scouts, where many are needed, we cut pieces of brightly colored weed eater string.
Zip tie with orange duct tape folded onto itself as a “flag”
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This gucci son of a gun over here.
if you buy a chassis from MDT for $1200 they will give you one for free. 
https://www.plugrusa.com/
I like these. Costs a few $$, but hold up well. Also many options for colors and messages. Their shipping/fufillment does take a bit, but have been happy with what I've gotten through them so far.
I like these. Costs a few $$, but hold up well. Also many options for colors and messages. Their shipping/fufillment does take a bit, but have been happy with what I've gotten through them so far.
I bought some of the smaller sized chamber flags for RF, and some of the small red flags/banners, drilled holes in the actual chamber flag, and attached the two with the slip ring on the flag. Close the bolt on the CF, and easy to see. Did basically the same thing for CF as well.
A yellow NRA chamber flag that I had leftover from my highpower competition days. A few minutes with a pocket knife made the stem fit right in the chamber.
The problem with those is, though they block the bolt, they dont tell you anything about an empty chamber or not.
Agree, in fact quite a few matches I shoot do not allow them anymore just for that reason.
SAP Chamber Plug - Rimfire Empty Chamber Indicator - Short Action Precision
For rifle matches that require them, or for times that you want to display a heightened level of safety by blocking the bolt and plugging the chamber with this plastic empty chamber indicator. SAP Branded chamber plugs with logo on both side. Rimfire model features a high powered magnet, that...
www.shortactionprecision.com
This is what I use as well as others I shoot with. It will not stick to the chamber face if a casing is left in it.
I've been saying that forever but got drowned out by the "but muh chamber gets scratched" morons
That's why I have both. No issues using either but the mag version doesn't fall out as easily.
Plastic weed eater string with a bright colored duct tape flag. I made about 50 of these for the local range to give out and not worry about getting back. I keep a dozen or more in my range bag at all times and give them away quite often.
Appreciate, but I wonder if they are much different than what I bought. I got a pack from Amazon, but they are too stiff to bend into the chamber from the ejection port!
This is my current solution on the right
Attachments
I bought 50 of them, a lifetime supply.
mfgservs.com
Custom Chamber Flags - MfgServs
Custom Chamber Flags! Brightly colored chamber flags alert the range officer and other shooters that the firearm chamber is empty!
mfgservs.com
I prefer mag blocks instead of chamber flags. Not crazy about sticking plastic in a hot chamber after I fire a stage…I’ve seen too many failures on next stage due to shavings from sticking them into the warm match chamber
I prefer the mag blocks but some MD's insist on something that inserts into the chamber. The little cheap yellow ones are fine but the bolt flops back and they fall out in random places. So this version of the center fire flags was born, bling-bling is optional.
I use weed eater line, the thick black type. Then heat and flatten one end, drill a hole in it, the loop through a key ring. Dangling from the key ring is one of those thick canvas red strips that says remove before flight
While true is it really an issue? For example, how would this have happened:
The bolt failed to extract a fired round
The bolt failed to extract an unfired round and the shooter didn't notice
The shooter single fed a round and then inserted the "mag flag"
In two and three the rifle still cant go off with a mag flag inserted unless the rifle falls in some weird or wonderful way. While yes it could happen if one was worried about those sorts of odds they'd be better off not owning a gun as yer more likely to be shot if ya own a gun.
Having said all that I love the expression "the devil loads a gun once every seven years". As always treat her as live and dangerous.
To add to this; two people should have LOOKED in the chamber before the rifle comes off the line, the shooter and the RO.
The short rimfire flags are crap, with muzzle up they fall out. Every match I'll find at least 3 on the ground.
The magazine block IS the superior design. To satisfy particular range's demands on this I shaved a bit from the flag to allow my magazine block to actually hold it in place.
It’s super easy… all it takes is one dumb ass. Which is what a chamber flag is designed to eliminate.
I can agree with you some directors require chamber flags .. my argument is the mag block doesn’t allow my bolt to even run forward into full battery so there’s no ND or failure or plastic in the match chamber or action .. win win
Edit added pic for your viewing :
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These are what I use too. Even if someone somehow left a round chambered, there's zero risk of it ever going off with these chamber flags/mags in place. And like @6.5SH said, at least two people should have visually inspected the chamber first anyway. But match directors gonna match direct, so I have a few pieces of weedeater string in my bag just in case.
Neither does running a chamber flag vertical down the magwell but I see that all the time...
Some disciplines require bolt removal.
That would sure end the argument over which is better.
Upside?
Bolt holster sales increase. Bolts dropped into the sand increase. Missing bolts increase.
And then, there's the "I had to take a dump and my bolt fell into the Porta-Potty liquid."
^^^^That's probably not an upside.
That would sure end the argument over which is better.
Upside?
Bolt holster sales increase. Bolts dropped into the sand increase. Missing bolts increase.
And then, there's the "I had to take a dump and my bolt fell into the Porta-Potty liquid."
^^^^That's probably not an upside.
Wow. Quite….creative. You’ve really taken this to a new level. PM me your mailing address. You get a free cock block as long as you agree to post a photo of the bedazzling modifications.
I've been shooting PRS for 5 years and have never seen a malfunction caused by a chamber flag. Nor has my chamber been hot enough to melt plastic. Especially not my freaking 22.
But I have seen a couple of guys with mag blocks ND and DQ themselves because they (and everyone around them) thought their loaded rifle had an empty chamber. Lucky neither of them shot someone.
Yeah, it really can be an issue.
I watched a well known and respected shooter (will not name names because he owned the mistake at the time) ND into the parking lot after a match because he thought his mag flag meant that his hot rifle was empty.
While finishing the last stage of the day he had loaded a round but not closed the bolt, then pulled the mag, inserted the mag flag, and carried the loaded rifle down to the parking lot on his shoulder. Once he got to his car he pulled the mag flag, closed the bolt on what he thought was an empty chamber, and fired the rifle, expecting a dry fire and instead firing the live round he didn't know was in the chamber. Luckily for everyone standing around (myself included) he wasn't pointing his "cold" rifle at anyone or at any of our vehicles.
Sure, the shooter made a lot of consecutive errors (like failing to visually inspect the chamber at least twice, assuming his mag block indicated an empty rifle) and also avoided tragedy by following another rule (muzzle awareness, even with an "empty" firearm).
But the point is that the "safety device" so many people in this thread are assuming indicates an cold firearm failed, and it failed because it encourages complacency by allowing guys to pretend it indicated an empty chamber when it does nothing of the sort.
IMO we'd be better to use nothing, assume everyone's gun is hot, and throw people out for poor muzzle discipline at any point during the day than to allow them to use something that actually encourages complacency and unsafe behavior.
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I use an MDT chamber flag.
Was at a match on Saturday and one guy forgot to bring a flag, but he had a small yard flag in his truck so he used it. Range officer offered to let him use a bright orange zip tie (looped) as a safety flag.
Was at a match on Saturday and one guy forgot to bring a flag, but he had a small yard flag in his truck so he used it. Range officer offered to let him use a bright orange zip tie (looped) as a safety flag.
