I prefer mag blocks instead of chamber flags. Not crazy about sticking plastic in a hot chamber after I fire a stage…I’ve seen too many failures on next stage due to shavings from sticking them into the warm match chamber
I've been shooting PRS for 5 years and have never seen a malfunction caused by a chamber flag. Nor has my chamber been hot enough to melt plastic. Especially not my freaking 22.
But I have seen a couple of guys with mag blocks ND and DQ themselves because they (and everyone around them) thought their loaded rifle had an empty chamber. Lucky neither of them shot someone.
While true is it really an issue? For example, how would this have happened:
The bolt failed to extract a fired round
The bolt failed to extract an unfired round and the shooter didn't notice
The shooter single fed a round and then inserted the "mag flag"
In two and three the rifle still cant go off with a mag flag inserted unless the rifle falls in some weird or wonderful way. While yes it could happen if one was worried about those sorts of odds they'd be better off not owning a gun as yer more likely to be shot if ya own a gun.
Having said all that I love the expression "the devil loads a gun once every seven years". As always treat her as live and dangerous.
Yeah, it really can be an issue.
I watched a well known and respected shooter (will not name names because he owned the mistake at the time) ND into the parking lot after a match because he thought his mag flag meant that his hot rifle was empty.
While finishing the last stage of the day he had loaded a round but not closed the bolt, then pulled the mag, inserted the mag flag, and carried the loaded rifle down to the parking lot on his shoulder. Once he got to his car he pulled the mag flag, closed the bolt on what he thought was an empty chamber, and fired the rifle, expecting a dry fire and instead firing the live round he didn't know was in the chamber. Luckily for everyone standing around (myself included) he wasn't pointing his "cold" rifle at anyone or at any of our vehicles.
Sure, the shooter made a lot of consecutive errors (like failing to visually inspect the chamber at least twice, assuming his mag block indicated an empty rifle) and also avoided tragedy by following another rule (muzzle awareness, even with an "empty" firearm).
But the point is that the "safety device" so many people in this thread are assuming indicates an cold firearm failed, and it failed because it encourages complacency by allowing guys to pretend it indicated an empty chamber when it does nothing of the sort.
IMO we'd be better to use nothing, assume everyone's gun is hot, and throw people out for poor muzzle discipline at any point during the day than to allow them to use something that actually encourages complacency and unsafe behavior.