Can you look down a firearm barrel on the firing line?

S

Sikvenum93

New member
I was shooting some shotgun slugs at a range today and started noticing this incredibly dirty fouling in the breech. So i unloaded my shotgun and disassembled the barrel from the body and looked down the barrel to see if the fouling was there. When I did that, the RO immediately started yelling at me. Is this a violation of firearms safety even though i was looking down the barrel with it unattached to the gun?
 
Might have been a smarter move to do the look-see behind the line, but me thinks the RO is a wee bit power drunk.
 
I assume there was no shell in the chamber?
If no shell is in the chamber then inspect away but perhaps as jonnyc suggested inspect it behind the firing line.
 
Maybe the RO didn't have a good line of sight. Any kind of disassembly should be done behind the line, on the bench. Or according to house rules. Some do not allow handling of firearms behind the line...
 
Were you looking in the breech end of the barrel or the muzzle end?
True,some RO's get a little Sgt Carter/Gomer Pyle.

But the RO has to be heads up and eyes open for anything that is outside the norm for a range operating safely.The RO cannot mind read,and a complacent RO is to some degree worthless.

I suggest communication.Don't surprise the RO with something he does not immediately understand.
"RO,chamber is empty.You are welcome to check.I'd like to pull my barrel to inspect it.Am I good?

RO may say "Lets see what you've got"

RO sees you looking down a muzzle or sweeping even a detached bbl around,his inner alarm bell goes off,because he cannot assume you know what you are doing and the chamber is empty,,etc
 
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The problem with looking down a barrel from the muzzle end (btw, I can't tell from the post if the OP looked down the barrel from the muzzle or breech end), whether on the range or in your home, is that it teaches or programs you to do something very dangerous. Or it will teach someone, who may be looking to you for guidance, such as your friend/child/student, that looking down a barrel is ok.

Even if I knew that a gun was not chambered and open, I would never do it. As they taught me in tactical school, the way you learn and train is the way you will do things. If you get into the habit of looking down a barrel, one day you may be this guy:

► 0:52► 0:52
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlbibgmg2o
Oct 30, 2012 - Uploaded by quicklolcom

Before you say, 'oh that guy's stupid, that'll never be me', you shouldn't be so sure. Human beings often do things half consciously and on autopilot all the time. For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home. If you shoot often enough, you'll eventually just act out of habit without thinking.

If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.
 
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Machineguntony said:
The problem with looking down a barrel from the muzzle end (btw, I can't tell from the post if the OP looked down the barrel from the muzzle or breech end), whether on the range or in your home, is that it teaches or programs you to do something very dangerous. Or it will teach someone, who may be looking to you for guidance, such as your friend/child/student, that looking down a barrel is ok.

Even if I knew that a gun was not chambered and open, I would never do it. As they taught me in tactical school, the way you learn and train is the way you will do things. If you get into the habit of looking down a barrel, one day you may be this guy:

► 0:52► 0:52
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlbibgmg2o
Oct 30, 2012 - Uploaded by quicklolcom

Before you say, 'oh that guy's stupid, that'll never be me', you shouldn't be so sure. Human beings often do things half consciously and on autopilot all the time. For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home. If you shoot often enough, you'll eventually just act out of habit without thinking.

If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.
Click to expand...
It was from the muzzle end but the gun was disassembled. I own a Win 1300 and you just need to unscrew the mag tub nut to remove the barrel.
 
olddav said:
I assume there was no shell in the chamber?
If no shell is in the chamber then inspect away but perhaps as jonnyc suggested inspect it behind the firing line.
Click to expand...
No unless it is an invisible shotgun shell. Yeah ill do that in the future. Just this black gunk kept fouling the gun and the air whenever I fired it. Was getting annoying.
 
If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.
Click to expand...

How do you look down the breech end of the barrel of a pump or semi-auto shotgun unless the barrel has been removed from the shotgun?
 
You said "open the gun", not remove the barrel. I agree one should remove the barrel, look first at the breech end and then, if necessary, look at the muzzle end. I was not objecting to your concern with safety - a concern I share - rather, I was concerned with the ability of anyone to see an obstruction in the barrel of a semi-auto or pump shotgun by merely looking toward the chamber with the action open.
 
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Ah, my communication failure. Yes, I meant take the gun apart and look down the barrel.

As a test, for those who think that's too much of a hassle, I just did a timed test. I took out my most over engineered shotgun, took it apart, checked the barrel, and put it back together. Took less than 45 seconds, with pictures along the way.

*redacted demo pics due to SN visible.
 
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The OP said he "unloaded my shotgun and disassembled the barrel from the body and looked down the barrel to see if the fouling was there"--so the barrel
was not attached to the receiver.

What was the violation of range rules that had the RO wound up? Rules vary
by range. Where I shoot most often, unscrewing the magazine cap and pulling
the barrel on a shotgun while on the line and pointed safely downrange, then
looking through the un-attached barrel from either end wouldn't be an
issue.
 
I'm overly paranoid about safety.
Click to expand...
I think sometimes, this can be taken to the extreme, that it in itself, can become unsafe. Ive seen it enough times with some RO's to know that it is. They get so anal about every little thing, and hover and freak out on people as it seems, every opportunity. Power drunk is an very apt description.

I would say that any reasonable person, who clears a weapon, knows the weapon is clear, and by looking down the bore from the muzzle end, is no more unsafe, than someone looking from the chamber end. Some guns, simply wont allow the barrel to be removed, what then?

I fully understand the safety rules, but I do think some really do take things to far.

Best thing you can do, is do your best to not have to shoot around them. I know I feel a lot safer that way, than them hovering over me, just waiting to freak, at any perceived infraction.
 
The video linked has been repeatedly debunked as a fake...

Simple tell is compare the smoke from the first two shots to that of the last (lots more technical debunking on the web)...

As for this:

For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home.
Click to expand...

I can't say that has ever happened to me...
 
That's how I've always checked my pump shotgun barrels without having to disassemble. Open the chamber and stick a white card or piece of paper in front of the bolt, then look down the barrel from the muzzle. The white paper reflects enough light that you can easily spot any dirt/fouling.

Edit to add: I do this at home, never done it on a firing line.
 
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The rule anywhere I've shot is "Always keep the muzzle pointed down range." As long as the muzzle is pointed in the general direction of the targets (and assuming the shooter is looking through the barrel from the chamber end), I fail to see any safety problem with looking down the barrel.

The range where I shoot most often is an indoor range. The rule there is that ALL guns remain cased or are transported only with the action open except when the gun(s) is (are) on the bench in the shooting lane. Guns may be handled ONLY in the lane, and must be kept pointed down range at all times. The range rules specifically prohibit removing a firearm from the lane and doing anything with/to it on the tables behind the shooting lanes. If there's a problem that needs to be checked, shooters have to either take the gun upstairs to the counter (either cased or unloaded with the action open), or ask one of the counter guys to come down and look at it. Ad hoc gunsmithing is not allowed in OR behind the shooting lanes.

I fail to see a problem with the opening post, but I do wonder if the barrel inspection was from the muzzle end or the chamber end.
 
I fail to see a problem with the opening post, but I do wonder if the barrel inspection was from the muzzle end or the chamber end.
Click to expand...

I fail to see why it matters. A detached barrel is a pipe, not a gun.
 
I have done it, but only after I checked to make sure the gun is unloaded. I have certainly gotten looks. I looked down the barrel of a single action revolver in a store once to look at the rifling and certainly got some looks. I was just not used to single actions at that point. It was "dark" is about all I can say. :D
 
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