Good first Calibre for 18 year old daughter.

[jaycee]

Didn't realize that Marlin had a cross bolt safety, we had a group of young fellows who were unloading there firearms at the truck. One of the firearms discharged and killed his buddy. It was a model 94. Thumb slipped off the hammer. Terrible scene! Life long consequences. The less amount of motion it takes to download a firearm the better for an inexperienced hunter.

This would not have happened if he would have unloaded the proper way ;

depress the loading gate and remove all the rounds in the mag. tube, you have one round left in the chamber which you unload by racking the lever , VOILA EMPTY SAFE FIREARM.
Do not forget , do this while pointing the firearm in a safe direction.
OBVIOUSLY THAT YOUNG FELLOW DID NOT POINT IT IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND WAS CARELESS, NEEDLESSLY ENDING SOME ONE'S LIFE.

[blasted_saber]

Didn't realize that Marlin had a cross bolt safety, we had a group of young fellows who were unloading there firearms at the truck. One of the firearms discharged and killed his buddy. It was a model 94. Thumb slipped off the hammer. Terrible scene! Life long consequences. The less amount of motion it takes to download a firearm the better for an inexperienced hunter.

If the gun discharged and hit his buddy it means he wasnt controlling the muzzle. Yes I agree it is terrible, but blaming operator negligence on a firearm isnt the correct response.

As an aside, a hammer extension is "must have" for any rifle with an exposed hammer. It makes dropping the hammer pretty much fool proof.

[shorst97]

I vote the .243 or the 7mm-08 in a youth model. As long as it fits her well so that it is comfortable to shoulder and shoot, the recoil will be that much more manageable. I vote the .243 for the availability of ammo anywhere you go.

[Fox]

I love the 6.5x55mm, but with the weight of the sporters it can be a problem.
I picked up a CIL (Savage) bolt action 30-30 for the fiancee, she is 5'1" tall so we needed something compact. Partner this with Hornady LeverRevolution (I know we can use spire point but the OAL length is a problem) and she would be able to go on a moose hunt with it. The 6.5x55mm she shot once and burst into tears, but I think the shock of the bang did it, this was her first shot with anything stronger then the 410.

She shoots the 20ga 3" turkey shells no problem now, after laughing at me patterning the 3 1/2" 12ga shells and having my arm go numb.

[werner.reiche]

This would not have happened if he would have unloaded the proper way ;

depress the loading gate and remove all the rounds in the mag. tube, you have one round left in the chamber which you unload by racking the lever , VOILA EMPTY SAFE FIREARM.
Do not forget , do this while pointing the firearm in a safe direction.
OBVIOUSLY THAT YOUNG FELLOW DID NOT POINT IT IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND WAS CARELESS, NEEDLESSLY ENDING SOME ONE'S LIFE.

Jaycee - none of my levers - Winchesters or Marlins can be unloaded like that - that includes 3 marlin 444s from mid 60's to a few years ago and Winchesters from 1900 to 1992. Muzzle control is what its all about - and if your not doing that right, even a muzzleloader is dangerous.

Blasted - re: hammer extensions - I don't have a problem with the Winchesters - but I do with the marlins. They all have extensions as well as a couple of the Winchesters.

Re: the hammer block safeties - the problem I see with them is that guys don't like using two safeties - so they either leave the hammer block on fire all the time or use it as a safety and walk around with the rifle fully cocked all the time.

The Winchester hammer blocks are made of some crappy very brittle metal. I broke one of them by dry firing against it. Glad there wasn't a live round in the chamber.

[jaycee]

Jaycee - none of my levers - Winchesters or Marlins can be unloaded like that - that includes 3 marlin 444s from mid 60's to a few years ago and Winchesters from 1900 to 1992. Muzzle control is what its all about - and if your not doing that right, even a muzzleloader is dangerous
.

On my model 94,built in 1951, and my buddy's at camp an older one , that is how we unload them , depress the loading gate and just give the round a forward nudge to get it past the cartridge stop [I guess they call it]and the round comes out, you have to do this with all the succeeding rounds as they do not just voluntarily come out.
I was taught this by a fellow much older than myself at 72.

[Fox]

On my model 94,built in 1951, and my buddy's at camp an older one , that is how we unload them , depress the loading gate and just give the round a forward nudge to get it past the cartridge stop [I guess they call it]and the round comes out, you have to do this with all the succeeding rounds as they do not just voluntarily come out.
I was taught this by a fellow much older than myself at 72.

I will check my Win 94AE, I cannot remember being able to unload through the gate very easily.

The Win94 is actually a very safe gun, there are 3 safeties on it I believe, you have to have the gun fully locked up before it will fire, if the gun is leaning on something even with the hammer cocked you cannot fire it with a stick, you have to pull up on the lever as well as pull the trigger while having the hammer back.

It is all muzzle control, as lots of people have said. The Win 94 is no more dangerous then single shot exposed hammer shotguns, Win 1897, cooey single shot. That being said, if you want a bullet proof safety you have to go military where a strong piece of metal blocks the firing pin rather then the trigger as in most modern firearms.

[TPM]

Didn't realize that Marlin had a cross bolt safety, we had a group of young fellows who were unloading there firearms at the truck. One of the firearms discharged and killed his buddy. It was a model 94. Thumb slipped off the hammer. Terrible scene! Life long consequences. The less amount of motion it takes to download a firearm the better for an inexperienced hunter.

Why would his thumb be anywhere near the hammer while unloading it?

[Fox]

Why would his thumb be anywhere near the hammer while unloading it?

Good point, I missed that, when loading and putting it on safe then it makes sense, unloading, why was the trigger pulled?

[trimmer21]

Why would his thumb be anywhere near the hammer while unloading it?

The only way that could happen is if he miscounted the number of rounds he removed. Without checking the breech,he attempted to lower the hammer which would still be in fullcock positon and a round was still in the chamber. His thumb slipped and "BANG"!