Surplus rifle safety check

[Bill Hollinger]

Here are a few things I do.

1) Insure the weapon is empty and no ammunition of any caliber is anywhere near your work area.
2) A visual cursory inspection of the overall weapon to include inspection of the bore, function testing the action (open and close the bold, slide or lever depending on type of action) this includes pulling the trigger, preferably on a snap cap.
3) Remove the action from the stock and inspect the barrel for any deformities such as bulges cracks, welds and drilled holes. A weld where the barrel meets the receiver may indicate a drill rifle and may not be safe to shoot.
4) Check the trigger mechanism for missing pins, screws, cracks, welds or other deformities.
5) Inspect the stock for cracks, areas where the action may be rubbing, dragging or binding with the stock.
6) Clean thoroughly, bore, trigger group, bolt, action, etc.
7) Check all marking on the weapon especially on the breech or barrel near the breech (this is where a caliber change would be stamped or marked).
8) If you do not have them, purchase a set of head spacing gauges for your caliber. They are cheap insurance and nice to have when attending shows for purchasing a weapon. Buy the kind that do not require the bolt to be disassembled in order to be used. Muzzle wear gauges are nice but a necessity. Throat erosion gauges are nice also, but again not a necessity.
9) If you really are into it, purchase a Caldwell's Lead Sled shooting rest to mount your weapon at the range. This will facilitate remote firing if shooting from the shoulder is not something you wish to do.
10) Once you have fired the weapon, inspect the casing for bulges, cracks, primer bulge, too deep of a firing pin strike, deformities other than on automatics the neck may deform when it strikes the receiver on the way out. Normal!

I may have forgot a couple of things but you get the picture. If anyone has something to ad, please do