Lever Action Unloading

[Go For Broke]

Shotguns are administratively unloaded.

Rifles are administrative unloaded.

Other than shucking shells on the ground, How do you administratively unload a lever action rifle?

Details would be appreciated.

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

Most of them, you run the lever until the magazine is empty.

 

[Liberty1776]

yep, that's how. keep cranking till done. then check the magazine, check the chamber and check again.

wth is administrative unloading...?

 

[jmr40]

With some guns it is possible to back them out of the loading gate. Not worth the effort though. I use great care and just work them through the action. This is exactly why the cross bolt safety is on newer Marlins. Lots of folks touch the trigger when unloading and get a big surprise.

While I don't like the CBS on the new guns, I do use it for unloading if it is on a gun. But at no other time.

 

[Jlr2267]

I unload mine down the barrel

 

[twofifty]

So that's how you administer yours!

 

[Frostbite]

I unload mine down the barrel

I second that!

If it is a tubular magazine feeding system, as it is the case for many lever actions, some of them, like one of the old .22 LR I used to shoot (a Winchester, if I am not mistaken), could be unloaded by unscrewing the magazine cap at the end of the rod that pushed the bullets towards the action. removing the said rod and pointing the muzzle down so gravity would make the bullets fall. Then put the rod back in place and cycle the action twice just to make sure it is really empty.

 

[Ed Ames]

I have been known to remove the magzine and work the lever a few times.

That is perhaps misleadingly worded. My lever guns have a magazine tube, and inside the tube is a second tube with the spring and follower as an assembly. A few twists of the knurled end and the inner assembly comes out, allowing you to dump the cartridges or reload through a port in the side of the magazine. In my case I have .454 casull 1892 style lever guns only.

 

[Malamute]

If I have a convenient place like a bed to let the rounds eject without going on the ground, I just run them through the action and eject with my trigger finger on the outside of the trigger guard. Otherwise, I cycle the action til the feeding round is free of the cartridge guides, about 1/2-2/3 of the way or so into the chamber, then pull it out by hand by the rim. Works good on Winchesters.

 

[toiville2feathers]

If you have a 22 LR you pull the magazine rod dump the cartridges, open the action and check the chamber and remove the cartridge if necessary. Install the magazine rod and operate the action once more, for a final check to insure you have an empty magazine and the empty chamber.
Regarding center fire lever rifles, I never just jack then out of the rifle and onto the ground to be picked up later. Finger out of the trigger guard is not a guarantee that the gun can't or won't go off. When you operate the lever action to unload it that way, there is a period of time that the hammer is fully cocked and a cartridge is in the chamber. This moment of time when the negligent discharge can occur. The way to avoid this is as follows;
Open the action all way to eject the loaded cartridge. When you go to close the action, only close it far enough to where you hear or feel the next cartridge being fed into the cartridge lifter mechanism. STOP, don't close the action any more. AT THIS POINT NOTICE THAT THE BOLT IS BACK , THE HAMMER IS UNDERNEATH THE BOLT AND IS NOT FUNCTIONABLE. Open the action up and tip the rifle on its side and dump the cartridge out of the action without installing it in the chamber. Repeat this process until the magazine is empty.
This method allows you to unload the rifle without chambering a cartridge.

Any lever action rifle can be and should be (IMHO) unloaded without fully cambering a cartridge. I unload my Winchester 95, Savage 99, Marlins with this method.

 

[Jason_W]

With a side ejecting levergun like a Marlin, I always thought I unloaded them like I did pump action shotguns. Eject the loaded round, hold your hand over the ejection port and roll the gun so the next round fall out into your hand. Work the action, roll the gun again, etc. until its empty.

I thought that worked, but it's been a few years since I owned a Marlin.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I can back the cartridges out of the loading gate on my Winchester 94..and that is what I do

 

[Art Eatman]

"Administrative unloading" is a new term to me. What is it?

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

"Administrative unloading" is a new term to me. What is it?

Pushing 0g with a member of the IRS in the back seat?

 

[Tommygunn]

"Administrative unloading" is a new term to me. What is it?

It has to be done in triplicate -- press hard you're making two copies.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

If I'm unloading my 336 inside I put my thumb on the hammer before I close the bolt, just in case.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Just looked up the manuals on the Winchester 94 and the Marlin Lever guns. They instruct to work all cartridges through the action...but these are modern guns with safeties.

 

[BCRider]

Yes, .22 levers can be unloaded by removing the spring rod and dumping them out. But generally if you have to unload half way through shooting for some reason it does mean you have a loaded round or casing in the chamber. Ideally you'd shoot it to make it an empty casing before having your hands work around the muzzle to perform the unloading.

On center fire rifles with the side load gate it's a total PITA to unload through the gate. Far easier, less fussy and likely safer in the long run to simply point the rifle in a safe direction and cycle the rounds through the action. If you cradle the fore stock in your support arm elbow you can reach back with the support hand while standing sideway and catch the rounds as they snap up out of the port. This save you schlepping around in the dirt or grass for the live rounds. And moving your hand back so the trigger finger is in the big loop avoids any accidents with the trigger.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

I can explain admin reload/unload but I have never heard it used other than on a firing line during a qualification course for my police dept. I will explain how my agency does it. When firearms are inspected the weapon is left in the holster and the magazine is removed and placed on a table containing a snail bullet trap. The weapon is then removed from the holster and the muzzle placed into the bullet trap. The slide is then racked and locked open ejecting the live round from the chamber. The round is shown to the inspecting officer and placed on the table next to the magazine. After the inspection the pistol is returned to the holster. The magazine is inserted into the holstered pistol. The pistol is then removed from the holster, the muzzle placed into the bullet trap, the slide is pulled to the rear and released chambering a round. The pistol is then placed back into the holster and secured. The magazine is removed, the round originally removed from the pistol is replaced into the magazine and the magazine is then replaced into the holstered pistol.

 

[qwert65]

I shoot the one in the camber into a safe backstop then eject the rest by working the lever onto my bed(no bounce). Though that's only if I'm gonna be in a car with the rifle getting bounced around. In the house I leave one in the chamber and out at the range I shoot them out

 

[Jackal]

Step outside, point it in a safe direction (the dirt) and cycle away.

 

[Charlie Horse]

From the net:

Administrative Loading is a loading procedure that is conducted under controlled, non- stressed situations.

Most concise definition I could find.

 

[bergmen]

On my Rossi stainless 92 in 454, the magazine has a threaded cap on the end. Unscrew it, slide out the magazine tube and dump out the contents.

Eezzee peezee.

Dan

 

[BCRider]

Your Rossi 92 is far different from mine in this case. Mine has an end plug with a pin screw that screws in through the tube and plug and up into a recess in the barrel above.

If I remove the plug there's no plunger tube. Just a snarly snake like spring with a follower on the end that loves to tie itself into knots.

And both my Marlin and Winchester .30-30's have the same arrangement.

With these the only reasonable way that is easy, fast and safe is to cycle the loads through and out.

 

[WestKentucky]

Trigger finger INSIDE the loop of the lever, butt against hip, other hand on forearm. Nothing is setting my 336 presafety off other than me.