I try to remember to close break open guns by lifting the stock to the barrels as being both safer and putting less stress on the gun.
If an accidental discharge is going to happen it is most likely to occur when the gun is shut.
Many years ago I was shooting with a Spanish SLE by a well regarded Spanish maker. I will not mention his name as I have otherwise had his guns well spoken of by knowledgeable friends. I had bought it, a self opener, with 2 pairs of barrels at Weller and Dufty.
I came to a ditch to be crossed by a muddy plank, unloaded and then shut it to make a more rigid balancing pole.
When I opened it on the far side one of the ejectors sprang open.
This fortunately alerted me, and when I closed the gun I did so with the barrels pointing down into an empty bit of ploughed field.
Basil, a very large Black Labrador, wandered over to sniff the resulting hole in the ground clearly puzzled as to what I had found to shoot down there?
The fault was with some difficulties finally diagnosed as poor lock geometry in that the lock on that side was set up so the breast of the tumbler was striking the edge of the bridle, thus giving the bridle screws a sideways clout that soon loosened them.
I had it fixed, curing the problem, but by that time I no longer felt the same about it and I know my gunsmith was happy when I replaced it with a pre-war BSA BLE.
