Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Poll: Do you hunt with a round in the chamber?

More personal attack. Nice. Proves my point that you can�t argue based on the facts.


By my definition (no powder or bullet in the barrel), no. It takes me much too long to load them, although I have waited until I was far from the vehicle to load powder and bullet. Don�t really consider walking around with no powder and bullet in the barrel �hunting�. By the State of Colorado�s official definition (uncapped, whether there is powder and bullet in the barrel or not), frequently. It only takes a moment to cap the nipple (although still considerably longer than chambering a round from the magazine) and there are times I prefer the additional safety of an uncapped nipple. By the way, my go-to muzzlestuffer is a Remington M700 ML. Same trigger group and safety as the standard M700�s. (The other is a more traditional Thompson with a side-hammer.)

Your argument is a non sequitor, by the way.

Your "logic" thus far for hunting with a loaded muzzleloader vice a loaded cartridge firearm is that it takes you longer to load the muzzleloader. So by your "logic," it should be okay to hunt with a round in the chamber of a cartridge firearm as long as you leave the rest of your ammo back in the truck. Great plan.
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Another non sequitor.

What I�ve said consistently was I hunt with both loaded and unloaded chambers depending on the circumstances. I�m quite comfortable doing so because it only takes a second to chamber a round, whether with my bolt guns or my levers. I tend to hunt hot (capped, with powder and bullet in the barrel) with my muzzlestuffers because loading time is much longer � not because a loaded muzzlestuffer is safer than a loaded cartridge rifle but because the time lost in loading them could cause lost shot opportunities. That said it is not uncommon for me to walk into or out of an area with an empty barrel and uncapped nipple. As noted above I don�t really consider such walks �hunting�. It is not uncommon for me to no cap on my Remington yet have powder and bullet in the barrel, although by and large this condition is considerably less frequent than an empty chamber in my cartridge rifles.




Twist it anyway you want, but I�ve never said a loaded (capped, with powder and bullet in the barrel) muzzlestuffer is any safer than a cartridge firearm with a loaded chamber. Never said it or even suggested it, no matter how obliquely. Nor do I believe it to be the case.

I hunt hot or cold depending on the circumstances of the moment and have not advocated one method or the other. All I�ve done is point out the obvious - that unloaded firearms are safer than loaded firearms. Apparently some here think that good handling technique can overcome the potential danger of a loaded firearm, rendering them as safe as unloaded firearms. Such arguments defy both logic and common sense.