Manual

to follow this rule may cause serious injury and/or death to the shooter or by-

standers and damage to property.

13 Never attempt to clean a charged or primed muzzleloading firearm.

14 Wear protective gear when firing your muzzleloading firearm. Always wear

shooting glasses to protect your eyesight from air borne particles and ear protectors to

guard against hearing loss due to loud noise when firing your muzzleloader. Protect your

arms from flying particles of percussion caps or priming powder by wearing a heavy shirt

or jacket with long sleeves. WARNING: When firing, stand well forward of all by-

standers to ensure that they are not struck by particles of powder or caps. Fail-

ure to follow this rule may cause serious injury and/or death to the shooter or

bystanders and damage to property. Those wearing long hair or beards should

use extra caution when firing a flint lock. A flint lock can torch hair.

15 Do not load or prime your muzzleloading firearm directly from a can,

horn or flask. A spark from a previous firing may ignite the stream of powder being

poured into the gun and cause the container to explode. WARNING: The explosion of

powder can, horn or flask may cause serious injury and/or death to the shoot-

er or bystanders and damage to property. Use a separate pre-calibrated mea-

suring device containing small quantities of powder to load and prime your

gun and keep your face, hands and body well away from the muzzle when load-

ing and the pan when priming.

16 Do not smoke while using your muzzleloader. The spark from a lighted ciga-

rette, cigar or pipe can ignite Black Powder or a Black Powder Substitute such as

Pyrodex, Percussion Caps or Primers. WARNING: Smoking around a charged and/or

primed muzzleloader, percussion caps, priming powder or supply of powder

may cause premature firing of the gun or an explosion of the powder can, horn

or flask causing serious injury and/or death to the shooter or bystanders and

damage to property.

17 Keep powder, percussion caps, or primers well away from a firing posi-

tion or shooting bench. A powder horn, flask, can of powder, box of percussion caps

or primers can ignite with deadly force if exposed to sparks or intense heat. Follow the

manufacturer’s instructions for safe handling and storage of powder or caps. WARNING:

Keep unused caps, primers and powder well away from firearms that are being

discharged. Sparks from the discharge of a muzzleloading firearm may cause

an unused supply of powder, caps or primers to ignite causing serious injury

and/or death to the shooter or bystanders and damage to property

Give the firearm your complete concentration.

Never cross a fence, jump a

ditch or engage in any activity which distracts your attention while holding or carrying a

charged and primed muzzleloading firearm.