Help, How would the gun fire?

Question

I was reading 'Salem's Lot and am at the part where it describes how Larry found Hubie & Birdie Marsten dead. It says that there was a thirty-ought-six (what is this?) lashed to a chair in front of the front door (inside). There was a string tied to the trigger and the door k**b . How would the gun fire when he opened the door?

Answer 1

It can be done.

Answer 2

A 30.06 is a rifle. When the door was opened, the string attached to the door k**b pulled the trigger, causing the rifle to fire.  

Answer 3

The 30.06 is a large caliber rifle used today for hunting large game around the world. Likely large enough to penetrate two people standing behind one another. Imagine if you will a string tied to the doorknob of a door that you pulled toward you to open. Probably the same as your front door when you leave home. The string is looped through the back of the chair(on your front porch) and returned to the trigger of the gun forming a "J" from the door to the rifle. As you pulled the door toward you the sting would have tightened through the chair and pulled the trigger firing the gun toward the opening door. A common movie booby-trap in the 70's and 80's.  

Answer 4

30.06 is a hunting rifle caliber

It thegun were facing the door

Just tying a string to the trigger would not make the gun frie

The trigger has to be pulled backwards

With the gun facing forward the trigger would be pulled forward and would do nothing but tilt the gun and chair over unless the string was strung  out so that the trigger was pulled backwards

The door would also have to be an inside door

Exterior doors open in which would just loosen the string

Answer 5

just a normal hunting rifel.