Safeties in Shotgun Sports

[ford.304]

I really wasn't sure where to put this, so please feel free to move it...

I very recently started branching out into sporting clays. Definitely a lot of fun! I was the only one in my squad with a pump gun (just your basic/class Remington 870). One of the things I noticed was that the approach to safety was much more... relaxed... than the pistol matches I have been to. I wouldn't go as far to say it was unsafe, but the rules and norms were much less clear on things like show clear commands, safeties, and the like.

My actual question is - what is the correct usage of the safety on a shotgun in these sorts of games? Should the safety stay on at all times when you aren't actively shouldering the gun? Or is good muzzle direction and finger placement considered good enough?

I just noticed I was being much less consistent with it than I am with the one on my 1911 (including leaving the gun sitting on the rack with the action open and the safety off, and one accidentally forgetting to take it off when I went to shoot), and wanted some advice on how I *should* be training myself to use it.

[JeffJ]

In shotgun sports, generally, the action is open if you aren't on the line about to shoot. Engaging the safety on an open, unloaded gun is not strictly necessary and probably not even possible on some models. Having said that, it's better to be in the habit of putting it on when you demount the gun and taking it off when you mount it.

I think that the reason that it isn't as codified in the shotgun sports is 1 part tradition, and 1 part easily visually verified open actions - it'd be more like everyone walking around with their pistol's slide locked to the rear in the holster.

I also think that the games are still designed to be played with a real shotgun, that is - one that opens, not one of those people-shooting pump guns, or ridiculous automatics

[joshs]

I use the safety when shooting clay sports, but most people that I've observed don't. For me, mounting the shotgun while taking the safety off is good practice for 3 gun.

[LHS]

I'm just happy to get through a round of clays without getting muzzled...

[1slow]

Most shotgun safeties do not seem to block anything more than the trigger.
I believe the military Mossberg is supposed to be drop safe.

[LOKNLOD]

I got to shoot my first sporting clays event in the fall. (It was fun. I want a more appropriate shotgun for it...) It was a big organized fund-raiser type event, and it's pretty obvious that no one there was carrying a weapon, just lots of folks with ballistic golf clubs.

[Wheeler]

I've yet to shoot a match or tournament where the use of the safety is required. As a matter of fact, most shooters I know start with their fingers on the trigger once they are in the box. I do not. I start unmounted with my finger on the receiver and get no end of grief over it with derisive comments about pistol shooters and so forth. Thatpretty much ended when I had a failure to eject on a station with a crosser and an away bird. I cleared the empty hull and broke the away bird at around 60 yards. :-)

I too am happy to shoot a round without getting muzzled.

[joshs]

We are talking about shooting sports where the more experienced shooters often have a special rest on their shoe for the barrel of their shotgun. "Treat all guns as if they are loaded" isn't a universally accepted practice in shooting sports.

[JeffJ]

But those are for break-action guns. Maybe I'm way off base, but when my gun is broken open I don't care where the muzzle points - its one of the things that I like about break action guns.

[joshs]

But those are for break-action guns. Maybe I'm way off base, but when my gun is broken open I don't care where the muzzle points - its one of the things that I like about break action guns.

People definitely use them with semis and pumps too. I think of it like a blue gun or SIRT pistol. I don't sweep people with those either unless I make the conscious decision to do so and ask them before I do it. I've also seen a number of reports of self inflicted gun shots from using a toe rest incorrectly.