Lever Action Carry Conditions - Which?

The half cock position was the factory approved safety for over a hundred years. Only recently has the dreaded lawsuit-spawned crossbolt come into the picture. It is useful as an added comfort when unloading, especially indoors. My personal carry method is an empty chamber, hammer at half cock (I always have the hammer at half cock, regardless of chamber condition). My technique is described nicely in Cooper's book, Art of the Rifle. Basically, the lever is racked forward as the gun is coming up to the shoulder and is racked back as the butt is pulled into the shoulder pocket. With a bit of practice it is as fast as normally shouldering the rifle. If a round is not fired, the hammer is slowly lowered to the half-cock position and remains there until circumstances allow the chamber to be emptied. My reasons for carrying chamber empty is that exposed hammers have been known to cock themselves. Murphy's law seems to work especially well with exposed hammers. Pushing through thick brush has been known to result in a cocked hammer. The little extension intended to ease cocking with a scope in place exacerbates the problem. I had one on my 1895ss. One day I shoved the gun into a scabbard and went hunting on horseback. When I took the gun from the scabbard, the hammer was cocked. I don't begrudge any of the other fellow's methods of carry. To each his own.
 
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