Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Questions for Shrapnel

I was reading your response to the half-cock (safety or lack thereof) and my question is: How do you carry your lever rifles when hunting empty chamber or loaded chamber and hammer on half-cock? Second question is: what is the acual purpose of the half-cock feature on a lever action?

I carry my lever action rifles at half cock and empty chamber. I have killed plenty of big game with these rifles and never felt I was unprepared that way. I never "didn't" get a shot because of an empty chamber either.

Half cock does allow a round to be in the chamber without the obvious hazard of cocked or the hammer down on the firing pin. Make no mistake about it, half cock is not a safety...

Thank you for the explanation.

That's how I've done it for as long as I can remember as well. In fact, that's how I run any rifle, except that most rifles don't have the same uncocked position for their strikers. I much prefer, when I am traipsing through the alders, to carry a levergun chamber loaded at half-cock, than to carry a bolt gun 'cocked and locked' on a loaded chamber. I do not trust any mechanical 'safety mechanism' on any gun. The good reason behind that was recently reinforced by the loss that a local woman recently incurred: http://www.adn.com/article/20160103/vibrant-flame-snuffed-too-soon

Are you saying for all LVR actions including Marlin with the 2 piece firing pin???