Nightmares of Gun Jamming Up.

Well, I'm not a psychologist, and if anyone here is they would probably charge a fee for their response.

Part of the issue is your lack of confidence in a semi-automatic handgun functioning in a crisis.

My first question is how much experience do you have with handguns, especially semi-autos?

My second question is have many rounds have you shot through this gun?

My third question is how many range sessions have you had with this gun and under what conditions? (Shooting 300 rounds in one visit is not the same thing).

The only real solution is to shoot this gun a lot until you regain confidence in it. For maximum reliability shoot only ball ammo until you are convinced of it's reliability then repeat the process again with hollowpoints. Inexpensive? Not unless you reload.

In the meantime switch to carrying a revolver.

The Glock is shooting flawlessly but I keep having these horrible dreams. What does mean? anyone help I just want to know what this means.

Click to expand...

Wah. Put 300 rounds through the gun (successfully so that you can trust it), and get over it.

my gun always cycles very slowly and unsuccesfully in my dreams, it's strange

I'm no expert on dreams, but if they persist I would seek professional help.

My personal standard before carrying a semi-auto is 500 trouble free round excluding clear operator error or bad ammo. If I can't identify the cause I start the test all over.

I also often deliberately don't clean my guns to see how dirty they have to get before they start giving me problems. I also shoot them weak hand, limp wristed, sideways. This enhances my confidence in a clean gun under worst real world conditions.

Demanding? Time-consuming testing? Expensive? Depends on much value you put on your life.

As for semi-automatics especially Glocks this is over played gun writer and Internet hype. Guns are a precision made machine and semi-auto are complex depending not only how they are manufactured but sensitivity to ammunition used.

While Revolvers are precision made they are more forgiving when it comes to ammunition.

Thethickster said:

@BSA1

Ive been looking at a S&W Airweight for a revolver for quite some time. You think this be a good choice in .357mag?

Click to expand...

They have quite the stout recoil. If I had one I probably would not carry .357 mag loads in it

I'm not sure it means a dang thing except you're not sure why your gun would function that way with what should be considered a minor problem for a glock; and as many have stated before you might be having a lack of confidence in it. Shoot it till you feel better or sell it. However, if it makes you feel any better then I will tell you that on the rare occasion I have a dream about using a firearm in self defense, no matter how hard I squeeze the trigger most of the time the gun won't fire, and if it does once I don't ever hit the target and it won't fire again...and I have complete confidence in my firearms.

The one reason I prefer a revolver for self defense.

Nothing to think about or do, but pull it out and fire.

It will work everytime .

the iron horse said:

The one reason I prefer a revolver for self defense.

Nothing to think about or do, but pull it out and fire.

It will work everytime .

Click to expand...

Sand can easily jam up a revolver as well. I guess people don't understand or don't want to believe it.

Purely unprofessional opinion, worth what you're paying for it:

You dream suggests fear of bodily harm, helplessness, and physical confinement. Possibly your subconscious is seeking a point of failure to blame, and the glock jamming stands out in your conscious memory as a demonstrated failure.

Examine instead the possible sources of anxiety/ trauma. Talk your way through your feelings about the car accident itself as perhaps the real cause for nightmares involving entanglement, loss of control, and sudden fear of bodily harm.

Lately I have these dreams about my GEN III Glock 17 jamming up during a gun fight when my aggressor is face to with me, In most of my dreams I am face to face and my Glock only gets off one shot then the slide stays jammed back.

Click to expand...

IANAD, but those sorts of dreams are pretty common amongst those of us who carry guns for a living or for SD.

Mine was that the gun worked, but the bullets didn't or the knife broke, etc., etc.

Seemed to have drifted away as I reached my 30's, if that helps....

As to your G17 not working, a detail strip and clean followed by a bunch of ammo down range, usually clears that up. Check your striker channel.

As to the revolver folks, I've had three go down over the years and the bad thing is, they go down hard. As in, turn it into a hammer, it ain't going to shoot again till the gunsmith fixes it.

I had some cartridge cases separate on my .357 revolver twice in '94; both were from the same batch of ammo, and after the second failure I pitched 'em. Basically, the broken cartridge chunk would lodge between the cyclinder and forcing cone, and jammed her up good each time, bad enough to require a gunsmith to unjam.

And it triggered a similar "broken-gun-in-hand-bad-guy-approaching" dream a few times.

The cure: for me, it was buy some decent ammo and shoot the ever-loving-daylights out of it.

The dreams usually indicate something else you are worried about in your life (you might or might not be aware of the source yet). And being defenseless in a dream is very common.

That said, if the gun bothers you to the point of distraction, sell it and get a different one, because the last thing you need in a gunfight is doubt and hesitation.

Years ago one of my instructors had a gun jam DURING a gunfight (a custom 1911 from a well known maker). Very unpleasant. Luckily his companion was able to take up the slack. He wouldn't trust the gun again for carry, even after the maker went over the gun and retuned it just to make sure. Wouldn't sell it either, for fear of it choking for someone else. Carries a Glock 22 around last I saw him.

I agree with a lot of post above ... Texan Scott and Chuck 53 stand out....

And this one sonick808 my gun always cycles very slowly and unsuccessfully in my dreams, it's strange....

It is just a dream in my opinion, that's what we humans do!

Here is another thing to try also to build confidence... Go to range and make it jam!!! Practice clearing it and getting it running again.. About half way down magazine put an empty casing in.... this can be a good lesson in the auto world and clearing it may not be the same each time!

But you will get good at clearing the problem almost subconsciously. And let someone else load your mags so you do not know when it will happen.

Here is a small write up on the methods.. not perfect maybe But I like them a lot!

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/taprack.htm

And stop watching late nite TV .... That sets you up for bad dreams before you get to the pillow!

As stated in Post #10 357 magnums in lightweight J-frame is not only brutal but more than most shooters can handle.

There are very good self-defense 38 Special ammunition on the market. Again gun writers and Internet hype does not give the .38 the respect it deserves.

Thethickster said:

Lately I have these dreams about my GEN III Glock 17 jamming up during a gun fight when my aggressor is face to with me, In most of my dreams I am face to face and my Glock only gets off one shot then the slide stays jammed back.

Heres the thing I was in vehicle accident and rolled over my car on a dirt road, I got out only with one scratch thanks to my seat belt. My Glock landed in the sandy dirt, about a day after I fired the pistol and it would jam after shooting one round.

I completely stripped her down (Glock) cleaned it up and it started working flawlessly again all 17 rounds shot no jams. My Firestar .45 does the same thing but i suspect a bad clip, since the gun is from the early 90s.


The Glock is shooting flawlessly but I keep having these horrible dreams. What does mean? anyone help I just want to know what this means.

Click to expand...

Get a Ruger Security Six and you nightmares will go away.

Try switching to a real gun?

Something like a CZ!

FWIW:
There are a whole lot of otherwise very reliable guns that won't work when full of sand.

Sand is harder then woodpecker lips, and if one grain of it gets wedged in a tight fitting joint?

Things come to a stop until it is cleaned out of the action.

And that includes Glocks, Revolvers, 1911's, CZ's, M-16's, and M1 Garand's.

The OP's mistake was not cleaning the gun of all sand & dirt before taking it shooting again.
Now he is suffering the consequences.

It could also be he is suffering PTSD, or guilt from the unexplained roll-over accident!

Cars don't normally just roll over on dirt roads unless there were extenuating circumstances contributing to the roll-over..


rc

This isn't a firearm related dream really. This is just something in a dream not working as we would expect and not being able to take control of it subconsciously.
Gun won't shoot, running in slow motion, can't jump or can't seem to dial 9-1-1 on phone.....these are common dreams. I think I have the can't dial 9-1-1 one at least
once a month, so frustrating. I clearly am pressing the right numbers and it keeps misdialing.

Being able to control dreams is great though. Who doesn't like the ones where you can jump really far like almost flying? One day I hope to just be able get that one 9-1-1 call in.
tyeo098 may be onto something though, CZ does make great guns.