4 Cardinal Rules: A Non-Negotiable

Safety rules are written in blood. Also in hearing damage, holes in walls and machinery, ruined reputations. The goal is to avoid writing any new lines into the history of accidents and negligence over your entire lifetime. Since gunsmiths often deal with defective or out-of-spec guns, the four safety rules are even more important than for people who can reasonably hope that the safety features of their firearms would keep them from harm.

Understanding the Cardinal Rules and Risks

A gunsmith receiving a firearm cannot be sure that the mechanical safety works. Certain bolt actions used to fire when the safety lever was moved to the OFF position. A working disconnector can’t be assumed either: some people have messed with the triggers to the point of the firearms doubling or burst-firing until the magazine goes dry. A missing spring or a worn-out sear could cause a discharge without the trigger being pulled at all, just from the weapon getting jostled or from vibration.

Poorly installed or defective muzzle devices could fly off the muzzle in an unpredictable direction. Out-of-battery discharge or overpressure ammunition would turn either the cartridge case or the firearm itself into a source of high-velocity fragments. In other words, if anything dangerous can happen over your career as a gunsmith, it probably will. Your goal is to keep “dangerous” from turning into “catastrophic.”

Rule 1: Treat All Firearms as Loaded

For one, until you verify, there’s no way to tell if the new gun on your desk has been supplied with ammunition in the chamber or the magazine. For another, the magazine or the extractor may be defective: cycling a pump shotgun, for example, doesn’t guarantee that all ammunition is out of the tube. The stray shell may end up dislodging and entering the chamber at an inopportune moment later on. The same is very common with chambered rimfire cartridges. The same applies to antiques: black powder in a shotgun over a mantlepiece can stay dry for generations, and even a very rare 19th-century cartridge revolver on display might have ammunition in it.

Rule 2: Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger Until Ready to Fire

That keeps you from pulling the trigger by accident, such as from losing balance or a startle response to a loud noise. I’ve handled pistols with trigger pull weight set at two ounces — just touching the trigger face caused a shot. The owner didn’t think to tell me that beforehand, and only the adherence to the first two rules sent the unintended shot into the target instead of a random direction. Following the first two rules also keeps people around you from panicking over either demonstrable incompetence or apparent hostile intentions.

Rule 3: Know Your Target and What’s Behind It

Is your backstop rated for the cartridge in the test gun? Is the backstop wide enough for the shot spread? Is ricochet a possibility? Would shooting from sitting or prone send the bullet over the outdoor berm or into the ceiling of an indoor range?

Rule 4: Keep Guns Pointed in a Safe Direction at All Times

In keeping with the earlier caveats about the possibility of the firearm being loaded and not in good working order when submitted for repair, it’s drastically important to control the muzzle direction. It’s also good to check for over-penetration and ricochet dangers at the expected point of impact, should an impact happen. Safe direction for a firearm in hand may change depending on who is around: if an office cat is underfoot, down might not be safe; if people are present on the floor above, up might not be safe for a high-power rifle.

Additional Considerations for Safety

Additionally, treat other people’s hearing responsibly. Not only is your own hearing in need of protection, ideally with plugs combined with highly rated muffs, but that of others at the office. Make sure that any test firing is done in a soundproofed space, or verify that everyone is wearing ear protection before starting. The same is true for eye protection: while safety glasses are usually adequate, consider a full-face shield or even remote triggering for the initial test firing of suspect arms. That precaution is especially true if using ammunition supplied by the client or when firing proof loads on a newly built firearm.

Following safety rules with the emphasis on the reasons behind them rather than pro forma will keep your eyes, ears, and digits in the number and configuration intended by nature. And, just in case, keep an emergency medical kit handy, along with the skill in its use.

Written by: Oleg Volk, Firearms Photographer