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A Community Firearms Safety
and Produced as a public education project of the Second Amendment Foundation, a tax-exempt not-for-profit foundation |
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| Hinge Action (Used on single-barrel and double-barrel rifles and shotguns, and some handguns.)   The hinge on a hinge action firearm
operates just like a hinge on a door. On many hinge-action guns
the barrel will tip down to reveal the chambers. In others, such
as the rolling block type, the barrel remains in place, but the
rear of the action breaks opens backward. Either type of action
will open by means of a release lever located at the rear of
the barrel or beneath the barrel as part of the rear part of
the trigger guard, or by means of a release button directly in
front of or behind the trigger guard. To open either type of
hinge -action, the release lever or button is pressed and the
barrel or barrels are pressed downward (or the breech will open
backwards). A quick glance usually will tell you if it is loaded,
but it is safer to insert the finger into the chamber to be sure
there is no cartridge in place. Hinge-action guns have no magazine
and cartridges are loaded singly directly into the chambers.  A sub-category of hinge-action firearms
includes some break-open revolvers and a few single-shot and
semi-automatic pistols in which the barrel tips down. The barrel
of a single-shot hinge-action pistol will tip down to reveal
the chamber; if a cartridge is in place it can be removed with
the other hand. In the case of the hinge-action break-open revolver, the release lever will also cause the rear of the cylinder (magazine) to be tipped up so that the cartridges or empty cases can be removed by tipping them out onto a table, or by pulling them out individually with the fingers.   In the case of the semi-automatic
pistol with tip-up barrel, the magazine release on the grip or
frame should be pressed and the magazine removed before the barrel
is released to tip up and expose the chamber. |
| Bolt Action (Used on rifles and shotguns, as well as a few special handguns and airguns.)   A bolt action firearm operates in the
same manner as a door bolt and may even look very similar. The
bolt handle should be lifted up and pulled all the way back.
It is then possible to see and even feel the chamber with the
finger to see if it is loaded. If the gun is loaded a cartridge
will normally be extracted when the bolt is pulled back. Occasionally
the extractor won't work properly. For that reason, the chamber
should actually be checked by sight and finger touch to be certain
it isn't loaded. While the action is open locate the magazine
if there is one and check to be certain it, too, is unloaded.
If the external box magazine protrudes below the stock or barrel,
it should be removed by pressing the magazine release button
located above the magazine. |
| Lever Action (Used on rifles, and some airguns.)   A lever action firearm can be identified
by the metal handle which is located as part of the rear portion
of the trigger guard. This type of action is so named because
it operates just like a lever. To open the action the lever (handle)
is pulled down and away from the stock. It is then possible to
see and feel the chamber to be certain the gun is unloaded. While
the action is open locate the magazine and check to be certain
it, too, is unloaded. It may be necessary to operate the lever
to open and close the action several times to be sure the magazine
is empty. If after two or three operations of the lever no cartridge
is ejected, it can be safely assumed that the magazine is empty.
Keep the finger away from the trigger
and the barrel pointed in a safe direction while doing this. |
| Pump Action (Used on rifles and shotguns, and some airguns.)   A pump action firearm is also referred
to by several other names. Sometimes it is called a slide or
trombone action because the wooden foreend located below the
barrel is pumped back and forth in order to operate the action.When foreend is pulled back toward the trigger guard, it will open the action. If the gun is cocked, loaded or not, a release must be pressed before the pump will operate. The release is usually located just in front or just behind the trigger guard. When the action is open, it is easy to tell by sight and touch that it isn't loaded. While the action is open locate the magazine and check to be certain it, too, is unloaded. If you do not know how to empty the magazine safely, it may be necessary to pump the foreend back and forth several times to be sure the magazine is unloaded and empty. Keep the finger away from the trigger and the barrel pointed in a safe direction while doing this. |
| Semi-Automatic or Auto-Loading Action (Used on rifles, shotguns and handguns.)   The action of a semi-automatic firearm
(frequently incorrectly referred to as an "automatic"
since it loads the next shot from the magazine automatically
but requires a separate pull on the trigger to fire each shot)
is opened by pulling back a handle on rifles and shotguns, or
the slide on handguns. Most semi-automatics will lock open when
pulled fully to the rear but some must be held open in order
to look inside to see if they are unloaded. With semi-automatic
pistols and semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines,
always remove the magazine before drawing the slide back to open
the action. If the semi-automatic rifle has an internal box magazine,
open the action by drawing back the bolt handle, then try to
remove any cartridges which are visible in the magazine. While the action of the semi-automatic rifle or shotgun is open, locate the magazine and check to be certain it, too, is unloaded. If you do not know how to unload an internal magazine, it may be necessary to work the bolt handle back and forth several times to be sure the magazine is empty, particularly on semi-automatic shotguns with tubular magazines. Keep the finger away from the trigger and the barrel pointed in a safe direction while doing this. |
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GUNSAFE
