Can you look down a firearm barrel on the firing line?

[Sikvenum93]

I was shooting some shotgun slugs at a range today and started noticing this incredibly dirty fouling in the breech. So i unloaded my shotgun and disassembled the barrel from the body and looked down the barrel to see if the fouling was there. When I did that, the RO immediately started yelling at me. Is this a violation of firearms safety even though i was looking down the barrel with it unattached to the gun?

[jonnyc]

Might have been a smarter move to do the look-see behind the line, but me thinks the RO is a wee bit power drunk.

[olddav]

I assume there was no shell in the chamber?
If no shell is in the chamber then inspect away but perhaps as jonnyc suggested inspect it behind the firing line.

[HKFanNC]

Maybe the RO didn't have a good line of sight. Any kind of disassembly should be done behind the line, on the bench. Or according to house rules. Some do not allow handling of firearms behind the line...

[HiBC]

Were you looking in the breech end of the barrel or the muzzle end?
True,some RO's get a little Sgt Carter/Gomer Pyle.

But the RO has to be heads up and eyes open for anything that is outside the norm for a range operating safely.The RO cannot mind read,and a complacent RO is to some degree worthless.

I suggest communication.Don't surprise the RO with something he does not immediately understand.
"RO,chamber is empty.You are welcome to check.I'd like to pull my barrel to inspect it.Am I good?

RO may say "Lets see what you've got"

RO sees you looking down a muzzle or sweeping even a detached bbl around,his inner alarm bell goes off,because he cannot assume you know what you are doing and the chamber is empty,,etc

[Machineguntony]

The problem with looking down a barrel from the muzzle end (btw, I can't tell from the post if the OP looked down the barrel from the muzzle or breech end), whether on the range or in your home, is that it teaches or programs you to do something very dangerous. Or it will teach someone, who may be looking to you for guidance, such as your friend/child/student, that looking down a barrel is ok.

Even if I knew that a gun was not chambered and open, I would never do it. As they taught me in tactical school, the way you learn and train is the way you will do things. If you get into the habit of looking down a barrel, one day you may be this guy:

► 0:52► 0:52
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlbibgmg2o
Oct 30, 2012 - Uploaded by quicklolcom

Before you say, 'oh that guy's stupid, that'll never be me', you shouldn't be so sure. Human beings often do things half consciously and on autopilot all the time. For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home. If you shoot often enough, you'll eventually just act out of habit without thinking.

If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.

[rrockefe]

How would you look down a revolver barrel then?

[Sikvenum93]

Originally Posted by Machineguntony

The problem with looking down a barrel from the muzzle end (btw, I can't tell from the post if the OP looked down the barrel from the muzzle or breech end), whether on the range or in your home, is that it teaches or programs you to do something very dangerous. Or it will teach someone, who may be looking to you for guidance, such as your friend/child/student, that looking down a barrel is ok.

Even if I knew that a gun was not chambered and open, I would never do it. As they taught me in tactical school, the way you learn and train is the way you will do things. If you get into the habit of looking down a barrel, one day you may be this guy:

► 0:52► 0:52
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlbibgmg2o
Oct 30, 2012 - Uploaded by quicklolcom

Before you say, 'oh that guy's stupid, that'll never be me', you shouldn't be so sure. Human beings often do things half consciously and on autopilot all the time. For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home. If you shoot often enough, you'll eventually just act out of habit without thinking.

If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.

It was from the muzzle end but the gun was disassembled. I own a Win 1300 and you just need to unscrew the mag tub nut to remove the barrel.

[Sikvenum93]

Originally Posted by olddav

I assume there was no shell in the chamber?
If no shell is in the chamber then inspect away but perhaps as jonnyc suggested inspect it behind the firing line.

No unless it is an invisible shotgun shell. Yeah ill do that in the future. Just this black gunk kept fouling the gun and the air whenever I fired it. Was getting annoying.

[lefteye]

If you must check a barrel, open the gun and look down the breech end.

How do you look down the breech end of the barrel of a pump or semi-auto shotgun unless the barrel has been removed from the shotgun?

[Machineguntony]

By removing the barrel.

But I get it. I'm overly paranoid about safety.

[lefteye]

You said "open the gun", not remove the barrel. I agree one should remove the barrel, look first at the breech end and then, if necessary, look at the muzzle end. I was not objecting to your concern with safety - a concern I share - rather, I was concerned with the ability of anyone to see an obstruction in the barrel of a semi-auto or pump shotgun by merely looking toward the chamber with the action open.

[Machineguntony]

Ah, my communication failure. Yes, I meant take the gun apart and look down the barrel.

As a test, for those who think that's too much of a hassle, I just did a timed test. I took out my most over engineered shotgun, took it apart, checked the barrel, and put it back together. Took less than 45 seconds, with pictures along the way.

*redacted demo pics due to SN visible.

[BillM]

The OP said he "unloaded my shotgun and disassembled the barrel from the body and looked down the barrel to see if the fouling was there"--so the barrel
was not attached to the receiver.

What was the violation of range rules that had the RO wound up? Rules vary
by range. Where I shoot most often, unscrewing the magazine cap and pulling
the barrel on a shotgun while on the line and pointed safely downrange, then
looking through the un-attached barrel from either end wouldn't be an
issue.

[AK103K]

I'm overly paranoid about safety.

I think sometimes, this can be taken to the extreme, that it in itself, can become unsafe. Ive seen it enough times with some RO's to know that it is. They get so anal about every little thing, and hover and freak out on people as it seems, every opportunity. Power drunk is an very apt description.

I would say that any reasonable person, who clears a weapon, knows the weapon is clear, and by looking down the bore from the muzzle end, is no more unsafe, than someone looking from the chamber end. Some guns, simply wont allow the barrel to be removed, what then?

I fully understand the safety rules, but I do think some really do take things to far.

Best thing you can do, is do your best to not have to shoot around them. I know I feel a lot safer that way, than them hovering over me, just waiting to freak, at any perceived infraction.

[Salmoneye]

The video linked has been repeatedly debunked as a fake...

Simple tell is compare the smoke from the first two shots to that of the last (lots more technical debunking on the web)...

As for this:

For example, almost everyone has driven home from work, and then, after getting home, not even remember driving home.

I can't say that has ever happened to me...

[WyMark]

That's how I've always checked my pump shotgun barrels without having to disassemble. Open the chamber and stick a white card or piece of paper in front of the bolt, then look down the barrel from the muzzle. The white paper reflects enough light that you can easily spot any dirt/fouling.

Edit to add: I do this at home, never done it on a firing line.

[Aguila Blanca]

The rule anywhere I've shot is "Always keep the muzzle pointed down range." As long as the muzzle is pointed in the general direction of the targets (and assuming the shooter is looking through the barrel from the chamber end), I fail to see any safety problem with looking down the barrel.

The range where I shoot most often is an indoor range. The rule there is that ALL guns remain cased or are transported only with the action open except when the gun(s) is (are) on the bench in the shooting lane. Guns may be handled ONLY in the lane, and must be kept pointed down range at all times. The range rules specifically prohibit removing a firearm from the lane and doing anything with/to it on the tables behind the shooting lanes. If there's a problem that needs to be checked, shooters have to either take the gun upstairs to the counter (either cased or unloaded with the action open), or ask one of the counter guys to come down and look at it. Ad hoc gunsmithing is not allowed in OR behind the shooting lanes.

I fail to see a problem with the opening post, but I do wonder if the barrel inspection was from the muzzle end or the chamber end.

[musher]

I fail to see a problem with the opening post, but I do wonder if the barrel inspection was from the muzzle end or the chamber end.

I fail to see why it matters. A detached barrel is a pipe, not a gun.

[22-rimfire]

I have done it, but only after I checked to make sure the gun is unloaded. I have certainly gotten looks. I looked down the barrel of a single action revolver in a store once to look at the rifling and certainly got some looks. I was just not used to single actions at that point. It was "dark" is about all I can say.

[g.willikers]

Exactly how would it matter if there was a shell in the unattached barrel or not?
It still takes a firing pin to make the cartridge go bang.
And, in this case, it's no where near the barrel.
Sometimes I wonder if having RO oversight at at range is a good thing.
Better to stay alert rather than blindly trusting an unworthy RO.

Might have been a smarter move to do the look-see behind the line

Then he would no doubt have been yelled at for sweeping the line.

[natman]

Of course it's perfectly safe to look down the barrel that's empty and no longer attached to the gun. However, the RO may not have been aware that the barrel was detached and all he saw was somebody looking down a muzzle. In that case he was more than justified to call out.

[Mike38]

I understand the rule, always keep the muzzle pointed down range. But, with the barrel removed from the receiver, the barrel becomes nothing more than a piece of pipe. It’s not a gun without the receiver, even the Federal Government agrees with that.

I had a casing stick in the chamber of a NEF Handi Rifle. Big signs at the range saying no uncased firearms behind the line, so now what? I removed the barrel from the receiver, pushed a cleaning rod gently down the bore from the muzzle end and popped out the stuck case. It did attract attention from the RO and he walked down to see what was up. He didn’t start screaming and yelling like many “power drunk” RO’s would do. He walked down, saw what I was doing, smiled and walked back.

I 100% agree that some RO’s make things bad by their own actions. Same range as above but different RO. A guy swept the line with a loaded .44 Mag revolver he was zeroing at the 100 yard rifle range. The range does alow revolvers only on the rifle range. The RO started screaming at the guy. All it did was make the guy flustered and he made more mistakes. The RO should have calmly walked down and explained to the guy what he did wrong, and calmly but firmly tell him to never do it again.

[buck460XVR]

As for being a safety violation, I cannot see one. Only way you can hurt yourself with a empty detached shotgun barrel is by beating yourself on the head with it or dropping it on your foot. Someone worried about which end you look thru the same is like advising you to avoid stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk. You may have tho, violated some other rule of the range by disassembling your firearm at the shooting line. I dunno. I'm not forced to shoot at ranges where responsible adults are watched like teenagers at prom and the ROs are like the old maid gym teacher chaperone.

[Onward Allusion]

So the OP took his barrel off the gun and looked down the barrel...right?

Are some of you guys completely insane? How the heck is that dangerous? HOW?