Disassembling practices

[bearwise]

I was recently co-instructing a lesson on the disassembly of a 870 express shotgun. My co-instructor was a certified long arms instructor with Parks Canada so I was confident that he knew what he was doing but he did two things that surprised me:
1/ when proving the firearm unloaded he looked down the barrel of the assembled shotgun
2/ when loosening and tightening the magazine cap he hit the butt of the firearm on the floor sharply

When I asked him why he did these things he got defensive and restated that he was a certified longs arms instructor and that was how he was taught and that was the end of the story. Rather than get in an argument in front of the students I decided hold off and later ask people in the know. Was I wrong to be concerned with the practices of looking down the barrel while proofing it safe and hitting the butt of the gun on the ground in order to tighten and loosen the magazine cap.

What are your thoughts on these practices?

[stereo joe]

I remember my CFSC instructor looking down the barrel (from the muzzle end) to verify the bore was clear of obstructions. This was the last step in "PROVE". The gun was confirmed to be completely unloaded first so I guess it was safe but it still isn't something I felt comfortable doing. I would always prefer to examine the bore from the chamber end and in an 870 I would remove the barrel to do it. But from what my instructor showed us, examining the bore from the muzzle end is acceptable providing all other steps in PROVE have been completed.

Not sure about the butt-smacking thing. Reminds me of whacking a jam jar on the counter to loosen the lid...

[Synchronizor]

Like Stereo Joe said, looking into the muzzle is an acceptable way to check an 870 for bore obstructions, since that cannot be done from the breech end as with a break-action shotgun. However, that should only be done with the action open (an 870's firing pin is blocked from extending past the breechface when the bolt is out of battery), and only after first inspecting the chamber at the breech (by opening the action and looking through the ejection port) to verify that it's truly empty. For obvious reasons, one should never look into the muzzle to check if the gun is loaded.

As for thumping the butt of the gun on the floor, I can only imagine that he did it to make sure the barrel was fully seated before tightening the magazine cap. One should ensure that an 870's barrel is properly seated before securing it with the magazine cap, but this should be done more gently by hand, while looking through the ejection port to ensure that the barrel extension is engaging the ejector correctly. It shouldn't take much force to seat the barrel (in most cases, it will simply slip into place under its own weight), and applying too much force or slamming things around when the barrel is not properly aligned can lead to a broken ejector, which puts an 870 out of commission until a new one can be installed.

[bearwise]

Thank you stereo joe for the feedback, it is much appreciated.

[bearwise]

Thank you Synchronizer for the quick feedback. I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable looking down the barrel of a shotgun at least I now know why in this case it was safe to do so. Considering that we were showing how to disassemble the 870 for cleaning, in the future I think I will have the students hold off checking the barrel until it is removed from the firearm and then have them check it from the chamber end.

Your comments regarding hitting the butt of the firearm on the floor is in line with why I was uncomfortable with the practice especially considering the shotguns were mine!

[Synchronizor]

I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable looking down the barrel of a shotgun at least I now know why in this case it was safe to do so. Considering that we were showing how to disassemble the 870 for cleaning, in the future I think I will have the students hold off checking the barrel until it is removed from the firearm and then have them check it from the chamber end.

Yeah, if you're taking the gun apart for cleaning or service anyway, it's best to inspect the barrel while it's off the receiver. Good habits and all that. Plus, bore obstructions are often more likely to occur when the gun is disassembled. I always recommend checking a shotgun barrel immediately before reinstalling it on the receiver to make sure a patch or cleaning tool didn't accidentally get left in there.

Looking down the barrel without removing it is more of an "in-the-field" procedure. The bore should obviously be checked for obstructions if the user experiences a particularly weak-feeling shell or drops the gun in the mud; but due to circumstances in some hunting, defensive, or survival situations (imminent threats, poor weather, lack of tools, darkness, etc.), taking the gun apart then and there may not be particularly feasible. This is where checking from the muzzle - with the proper precautions - would be more appropriate.

[dtjacob]

I had a Mossberg 500 that required rapping the butt on the floor before you could loosen the barrel nut, even said to do that in the instruction manual. Perhaps that's where this came from????

Don

[Banshee]

Smacking the butt on a hard floor is a good way to break the butt plate and or stock on some older guns without a recoil pad.

[DaveC]

On the other hand, it is an excellent way to clear a cartridge from the chamber that will not extract with normal pressure on the slide action...

OP: The thing about 870 operation that gets my goat is when folks hold down the disconnector with a forefinger and then rapidly work the pump back and forth to "unload" the magazine... Thus ensuring that at every pump stroke a live shell is introduced into the chamber...

There are some nutty practices out there that's for sure... But the 870 is pretty dead-bolt reliable as a rule, and is a very safe design. Doesn't make it idiot proof, but then precious little is...

[Neverhome]

He may have hit the gun on the floor with the stock to ensure the mag spring wasn't pinched between the mag and mag extension. I picked that up from a disassembly video on UTUBE.

Neverhome