Your post upset me because it was very similar to ones I've read regarding this problem the last few years where you focused mainly on the media and safe handling, the latter of which I commented and agree on. This, IMHO puts the real problem in the background and may make people continue to say it hasn't happened to them and never will. However, it doesn't matter if you have those rifles pointed in what you think is a safe direction and away from someone like you were so adamantly saying that caused all the accidents because if they go off and there is a ricochet like I mentioned someone can still be injured or killed. This is not a "keep your finger off the trigger " issue!
It was not my objective to upset you or anyone else, so please accept my apology for having done so. As far as the "it hasn't happened to you" issue- it actually has happened- six feet from me, but with a different type of rifle. Upon returning to camp at the end of the day, a group of us had all come out of the woods at about the same time and stopped to unload the rifles before approaching the cabin. We all, from long ingrained habit, faced out (we were standing in a rough semi-circle), pointed our muzzles at the ground, and when one of the fellows released his safety to unlock his bolt- BANG. Of course we were all surprised. None more than he was. I was 13 at the time, the man whose rifle fired was in his 30s, his father, also in the circle was in his 60s. When the shock wore off, Dave turned to his Dad and hugged him hard, saying "thank you so much for always making me watch my muzzle". When they took the rifle to a gunsmith after the long ride home, he found that accumulated gunk had gotten on the mating surfaces of the trigger and sear, from the lubrication these gents liked to use on their rifles. Trigger mechanisms should be run "dry" for just this reason. If a safety is of a type which allows the trigger to move freely when the safety is engaged, then it is possible for the user to inadvertently pull the trigger while on safe, and some tiny or not so tiny piece of debris to fall between the trigger and the sear, preventing proper trigger re-set, and when the safety is released later, it (the safety) becomes, in effect, the trigger. I have looked into the Remington "Walker" trigger issue because I own a 700. In all their testing, Remington was never able to re-create an accidental discharge with a clean, properly adjusted (correct sear engagement) trigger. I still don't like two-position safeties. Ruger's M77 Mark 2 safety locks the trigger by putting solid steel under the trigger bar so tightly that the sear bar cannot get away from the striker ramp surface. That's a SAFETY in my opinion. I run Savages with RifleBasix SAV2 triggers. The safety blocks the trigger, but it is a two lever trigger and the lever that actually holds the sear is NOT locked mechanically. I have dropped these rifles on their butt pads fairly hard, and not had a release, but I never forget how they work, and I know in the back of my mind that there is a tiny possibility that it could happen. RifleBasix adamantly warns the buyer NEVER TRUST THE SAFETY.
The OP of this thread described a method of handling a bolt-action rifle that is, to me and apparently everyone else who responded, UNSAFE. While there are many subscribers to this site who are heavily into the mechanical aspects of their rifles, there are also probably plenty of shooters, both long time and newcomers, who have never taken a rifle apart or really know what "makes the darn thing tick". I have written my responses to this thread with those folks in mind, hoping to provide some insight as to how to be "safe-er" when handling firearms. If you shoot enough, just like if you drive enough, you will see some accidents. The point here is to learn from those mistakes, regardless of who made them, and avoid repeating them. For those who want more information on the Remington trigger issue, I recommend 8541Tactical on youtube. He goes into the differences between all the currently available Remington triggers, the function of the Walker unit, and the recall.
