A recent thread about an exploded rifle got me thinking about the safety of two brands of rifles I own when it comes to venting gases in the event of something like a case rupture. I read a very long thread from a few years ago about this topic. A very common opinion was that Mausers are great "venters" that vent the gases away from the shooter's face, but the most knowledgeable seemed to think the safest of all were the "sealers," like the Remington 700 and the Savage 110.
The only centerfire rifles I own are Tikkas and Howas - just kind of worked out that way. I understand that the Howa is a "venter" designed to direct gases down through the magazine well (I might be wrong there). That seems less than ideal? I am curious what your thoughts would be. Also, people criticize the safety of adding a sako-style extractor to a Remington 700, but the Howa bolt has a sako-style extractor. Is that an issue?
I am more curious about how modern bolt actions compete - those from the last twenty years or so. These are mostly cheaper designs, like the Ruger American, Mossberg Patriot, and the Winchester XPR. But also of course I'm wondering about the Tikka. How do these compare in safety to the safest bolt actions, such as the Savage and the Remington?
I wonder how concerned I should be about this topic. I wear safety glasses and do not lose sleep over it. I don't reload. But I now have a child, and someday I will teach him to shoot - I don't like the idea of handing him anything less than the safest action I can find. Is this mostly a non-issue? Are we talking about very remote possibilities here?
