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I agree with Tophet1. I don't particularly like 3 position safeties, don't own a single rifle with one and don't really see the need for it. I like the safety either on or off. If I'm stalking close, I don't want to have to flick my safety twice to get ready to fire.

When I need to unload, I point the rifle in a safe direction, flick off the safety and open the bolt. If an internal magazine needs to be emptied, that is what the floorplate is for. If its a blind magazine then the cartridges can almost always be thumbed out individually.

Good gun handling etiquette means that whenever handling a firearm, it should be pointed in a safe direction (safety engaged or not). That means at a safe backdrop, not just away from any nearby person. If you empty an internal magazine by cycling cartridges through the chamber with the safety on but bolt unlocked, the firearm must still be pointed in a safe direction, just as it would with no safety on. A rifle with the safety on is not a safe firearm - it is only safe when the chamber is empty. This also applies if you want to check that all your rounds cycle through your DG rifle - it should be done against a safe backdrop, safety or not. I wouldn't stand in font of anyone doing that just because they had a 3 position safety!!

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Where did you get the idea that you have to flick a three position safety twice to get ready to fire? Except for the Mauser type wing safety, there's no question of that. With a Model 70, you simply push the lever forward. If you want to use the intermediate position, you have to do it deliberately, not the other way around. With a Mauser type wing safety, when I'm stalking I leave the safety vertical, where a flick of the thumb can unlock it.

My experience with magazinefloor plates that are that easy to unlatch is that they are likely to unlatch of their own accord and spill the contents on the ground, not a happy occurance hunting dangerous game, or for that matter, any game which needs a quick second shot.

I appreciate your explaining gun handling etiquette to me. I suppose I've been going around all these years pointing guns in every direction and endangering my fellow shooters without being aware of it. I will try to do better.

However, I still prefer three position safeties. If you had ever handled a rifle with enough recoil energy to tear your thumb off if it accidentally discharges while you are cycling the bolt at waist level, pointed in a safe direction of course, then you might prefer one, too.

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