WARNING: AMMUNITION

1. Use only high quality, original, factory-manufactured ammunition. Do not use cartridges that are dirty, wet, corroded, bent or damaged. Do not oil cartridges. Do not spray aerosol-type lubricants, preservatives, or cleaners directly onto cartridges or where excess spray may flow into contact with cartridges. Lubricant or other foreign matter on cartridges can cause potentially dangerous ammunition malfunctions. Use only ammunition of the caliber for which your firearm is chambered. The proper caliber is permanently engraved on your firearm; never attempt to use ammunition of any other caliber.

2. The use of reloaded, “remanufactured”, hand-loaded, or other nonstandard ammunition voids all warranties. Improperly loaded ammunition voids all warranties. Improperly loaded ammunition can be extremely dangerous. Severe damage to the firearm and serious injury to the shooter or to others may result. Always use ammunition that complies with the industry performance standards established by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, Inc., of the United States, (SAAMI) or the equivalent from other countries.

3. Firearms may be severely damaged and serious injury to the shooter or to others may result from any condition causing excessive pressure inside the chamber or barrel during firing. Excessive pressure can be caused by obstructions in the barrel, propellant powder overloads, or by the use of incorrect cartridges or defectively assembled cartridges. In addition, the use of a dirty, corroded, or damaged cartridge can lead to a burst cartridge case and consequent damage to the firearm and personal injury from the sudden escape of high-pressure propellant gas within the firearm’s mechanism.

4. Immediately stop shooting and check the barrel for a possible obstruction whenever:

• You have difficulty in, or feel unusual resistance in, chambering a cartridge, or
• A cartridge misfires (does not go off), or
• The mechanism fails to extract a fired cartridge case, or
• Unburned grains of propellant powder are discovered spilled in mechanism, or
• A shot sounds weak or abnormal.

In such cases it is possible that a bullet is lodged part way down the barrel. Firing a subsequent bullet into the obstructed barrel can wreck the firearm and cause serious injury to the shooter or to bystanders.

5.Bullets can become lodged in the barrel.

• If the cartridge has been improperly loaded without propellant powder, or if the powder fails to ignite (Ignition of the cartridge primer alone will push the bullet out the cartridge case, but usually does not generate sufficient energy to expel the bullet completely from the barrel).

• If the bullet is not properly seated tightly in the cartridge case. When such a cartridge is extracted from the chamber without being fired, the bullet may be left behind in the bore at the point where the rifling begins. Subsequent chambering of another cartridge may push the first bullet further into the bore.

6. If there is any reason to suspect that a bullet is obstructing the barrel, immediately unload the firearm and look through the bore. It is not sufficient to merely look in the chamber. A bullet may be lodged some distance down the barrel where it can not easily be seen.

IF A BULLET IS IN THE BORE, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHOOT IT OUT BY USING ANOTHER CARTRIDGE, OR BY BLOWING IT OUT WITH A BLANK OR ONE FROM WHICH THE BULLET HAS BEEN REMOVED. SUCH TECHNIQUES CAN GENERATE EXCESSIVE PRESSURE, WRECK THE FIREARM AND CAUSE SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY.

If the bullet can be removed with a cleaning rod, clean any unburned powder grains from the bore, chamber, and mechanism before resuming shooting. If the bullet cannot be dislodged by tapping it with a cleaning rod, take the firearm to a gunsmith.

7. Dirt, corrosion, or other foreign matter on a cartridge can impede complete chambering and may cause the cartridge case to burst upon firing. The same is true of cartridges which are damaged or deformed.

8. Do not oil cartridges, and be sure to wipe the chamber clean of any oil or preservative before commencing to shoot. Oil interferes with the friction between cartridge case and chamber wall that is necessary for safe functioning, and subjects the firearm to stress similar to that imposed by excessive pressure.

9. Use lubricants sparingly on the moving parts of your firearm. Avoid excessive spraying of any aerosol firearm care product, especially where it may get on ammunition. All lubricants and aerosol spray lubricants in particular, can penetrate cartridge primers and cause misfires. Some highly penetrative lubricants can also migrate inside cartridge cases and cause deterioration of the propellant powder; on firing, the powder may not ignite. If only the primer ignites, there is danger that the bullet may become lodged in the barrel.

CAUTION

Discharging firearms in poorly ventilated areas, cleaning firearms, or handling ammunition may result in exposure to lead and other substances known to cause birth defects, reproductive harm, and other serious physical injury. Have adequate ventilation at all times. Wash hands thoroughly after exposure.