Show them this side...my latest build
That better communicates the safety status, but.f oesn't.ma j e safer.
Best answer yet. Someone follows directions! Ya see people, it was about an odd observation of PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTENT. Not a discussion on the merits of gun safety, the functionality of compnonents of the AR platform, or child rearing. Jeesh! Why can't internet-ians ever just respond to the actual topic? No, seriously all good info though, for a black rifle novice I do appreciate hearing the various advice, as misplaced as it was.Show them this side...my latest build
Best answer yet. Someone follows directions! Ya see people, it was about an odd observation of PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTENT. Not a discussion on the merits of gun safety, the functionality of compnonents of the AR platform, or child rearing. Jeesh! Why can't internet-ians ever just respond to the actual topic? No, seriously all good info though, for a black rifle novice I do appreciate hearing the various advice, as misplaced as it was.
For those that probably never noticed what I was talking about, you probably will now look for it every time you see an AR pic - and HATE me for it....You're welcome! ;-)
... Not advocating giving guns to 3 YOs.
... In a way it shows the gun has been racked to verify an empty chamber, and released to assure it cannot be loaded again and accidentally fired.
...
I only take pictures of loaded firearms, with the safety off. Is BGOS so bad that we worry about a picture?
I always treat the photo as if it is loaded...
But "Pappa says it won't hurt us."
But meanwhile,
How do you know there isn't a live round in the chamber? Maybe someone did load it again. You would need to rack it again and re-verify that empty chamber, no matter what the selector position is.
No matter what the selector position is, the only way to know the rifle is clear without re-racking it is if the bolt and port cover are both open. Bonus points if there's an Empty Chamber Indicator in place.
Can you get any "safer" than hammer down on empty chamber ?
Off topic from the ops original question, but not all firearms have safeties. What do you do then?
Show them this side...my latest build
A final thought: In the current political climate we live in regarding Guns nationally and in the Communist Republic of MD, I think it would be wiser that future pics should probably show the selector in the "S" position, at least for the photo. The fact those of us inside the firearm community debate this topic should give you an idea what could happen outside the community. Don't give the Libs anything else to grab onto. Thanks again to all the helped with this, and with that I'M TAPPING OUT.
Thanks for all the input. I didn't think this would create a debate, I thought a few would say "yeah that is weird", or offer a more precise explanation as to why it seems to be the norm in a lot of photos. I think I got my answer, it just seems to be a normal practice with this firearm platform. Like I said, in 40 years of shooting and multiple types of firearm ownership I'm only 6 months into the AR community, so thanks for all the constructive replies & the education.
BTW I Googled this topic earlier today and found this topic is actually a more heated debate than I would've guessed (try AR15.com if you're curious). A few responses I did see was the US Army training manual supposedly mandates this "empty & safe" method of hammer spring down selector on "F" that others have suggested in this thread. That condition makes sense to me in as far as the relief to the hammer spring. It is still a weird visual cue in my mind though, but I'm learning now. In fact, this old dog might just learn this new trick for all the AR toys in the safe.
I still reiterate though that the graphic depiction (photograph) of a weapon that could be construed as hot seems unusual to me. I'm not passing judgement on the actual practice one way or the other, it's just contrary to decades of previous learned firearm safety. It seemed weird to me, but now that I've seen the topic debated it's a lot less weird, and I'm almost to the "it makes perfect sense to me" stage. I GET IT that it could be the safest practice of all, but the simple fact is that you cannot determine intent or that particular person's level of experience with the weapon's equipment by a photograph. If you intended to show your weapon as hot & ready to send rounds down range, it would look EXACTLY THE SAME as one that went thru the aforementioned safety procedures. 100% the same. A gun on " S" won't send a bullet down range, regardless of what you did or didn't do with the bolt, the magazine, etc...
A final thought: In the current political climate we live in regarding Guns nationally and in the Communist Republic of MD, I think it would be wiser that future pics should probably show the selector in the "S" position, at least for the photo. The fact those of us inside the firearm community debate this topic should give you an idea what could happen outside the community. Don't give the Libs anything else to grab onto. Thanks again to all the helped with this, and with that I'M TAPPING OUT.
FWIW, ill be 100% certain that all of my AR pics are taken with the safety off from here on out.