Whenever and wherever a firearm is handled, you need to follow NRA’s rules of safe gun handling, be it on the range, in your living room or while working in the shop. They are:
   1.) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
   2.) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
   3.) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
   If you always follow these rules—especially having the muzzle of every gun you handle pointed in a safe direction at all times—and an accidental discharge does happen, it will be embarrassing, and it will scare you, but nobody will get hurt. In addition, always consider every gun loaded—even if you know it is not.
   The only exception may be when working on guns that require pointing the muzzle in a less-than-desirable direction. For example, it’s difficult to re-crown a rifle muzzle without having body parts in the potential line of fire. In that circumstance the gun should be made inoperable by removing the bolt or other parts needed to function. At the very least, the action should kept be open.
   The first stop for every gun that comes through the shop door is in your hands. Make it a habit to check every gun to make sure it is unloaded. Open the gun and make a visual check to see that the chamber is empty and that you can see the magazine follower, which indicates that no cartridge is in the magazine. Then stick your pinky finger in the chamber to feel that it’s empty. If the gun is a repeating design, point the muzzle in a safe direction and work the action several times, and then check again, both visually and by feel to be certain it’s still not loaded.
   Every time you pick up a gun, check it again. Even if you think you just did. Assume that somebody could have loaded it when your back was turned. It may seem silly, unlikely and redundant, but it is not. This does two things. First, it ensures that the gun is safe. Second, it forms a habit with you that, after a while, becomes second-nature. If you automatically check a gun every time you pick it up, you will be less inclined to make a mistake.

1. Every time you pick up a gun, check to see if it is loaded. 2. Make dummy rounds by seating a bullet without primer or powder. Use these to check the function of a rifle. 3. Always wear eye and ear protection when shooting. Even if it is function testing a rifle. 4. When you can’t get to the range for live-fire testing, the Savage Snail bullet trap is an alternative. The rifle is fitted with a strain gage for pressure testing. 5. Solvents can irritate your eyes and skin, so safety goggles and rubber gloves are a must for cleaning a rifle in our shop. A rag protects the stock finish from dripping chemicals and solvents.

   Never function test a gun with live ammunition inside the shop. Use dummy rounds. These are simple to make by resizing brass and seating the bullet without powder or a new primer. Function testing with live ammunition to ensure the gun fires, or that a semi-automatic will cycle, should only be done at the range or with an infallible bullet stop, such as the Savage Snail Trap Range System. The Snail Trap allows shooting indoors and safely catch the bullets. Two versions are available. The larger one will handle cartridges up to .50 BMG; while the smaller “Gunsmith” model will handle cartridges up to the .338 Win. This system captures the bullet in a lubricated steel spiral that sends it around and around until the energy is spent. Then the bullet drops through a hole in the bottom into a collection tray. Unless you have a range on site, this is a very handy tool to have in your shop. It allows firing a gun safely inside a building or in an urban area.
   It is imperative to wear eye and ear protection when testing a firearm. It takes about a millionth of a second to lose your sight, and you never know when it’s coming. Your gun or the guy’s next to you can fail, and it’s rare these days, but it could happen to any gun at any time. But the possibility of splash back from a bullet is just as real.
   My cousin Philip can attest to that. He was hit in the leg by splash back, and it penetrated through his new jeans and stopped when it cracked his femur. Philip is a big, rugged guy with muscular legs.If the bullet penetrated to his thighbone, it would certainly have taken out an eye with no problem.
   Buy the best shooting glasses you can afford and wear them every single time you fire a gun. No exceptions. Wear them even when cleaning your guns. If you read the side of the can on most gun-cleaning products, it’s pretty clear you don’t want them in your eyes.
   Hearing loss is not immediate, but it is instead the result of a cumulative effect. Every time you fire a gun without ear protection, you lose a little more hearing. If you don’t think that can add up, ask an old shooter from your grandfather’s generation—back when they rarely wore ear protection. But write the question down, because I doubt he will be able to hear you without a hearing aid. I have been lucky to meet several of the great old gun writers whose work I have been reading for decades. They all seem to have the same limited vocabulary.
   “Huh?”
   “What?”
   It makes for lousy conversation. Be safe first and foremost.