Basic safety

[Cogster1]

I wasn’t sure I was going to post this since it seems so basic.

Has anyone ever suddenly felt unsafe during a safety check of a weapon?

I t happened to me that I picked up my handgun off the nightstand, ejected the magazine, and then went to lock the slide back. A round was ejected from the chamber. I do not normally keep one “in the pipe”. I do check the chamber every time regardless of my carry habits. I sat there for a minute before I realized what had happened. I’d been out earlier that day shooting and never cleared the weapon before placing it on the nightstand. It definitely reiterated to me the need for the chamber check – even if you know without a doubt that there is nothing there.
(I realize the fact that I didn’t know I had a round chambered is itself a safety issue, but isn’t that why we check?)

Have you ever been relieved by your safety habits?

 

[hso]

You don't actually need a "chamber check" if your objective is to keep the chamber empty. What you did was the best chamber check you could have performed. You made sure that the chamber was empty by clearing the gun.

 

[TX1911fan]

I came the closest I've ever come the other day to a negligent discharge. My friend and I were at the range, I was shooting my CZ P-01 (14 rounds) and he was shooting his XD 9 (15 rounds). We each loaded up a magazine and swapped guns to let the other shoot. I had been used to counting out how many shots I took, so when I got to 14, I was done. Didn't even dawn on me that the slide didn't lock back. I just handed his pistol back to him like nothing. Then he pointed it at his target and shot the last one. I was shocked. I felt like such an ass. He is pretty new to shooting, so he didn't think anything of it, he just thought I got tired of shooting his gun and left one in, but I knew that I THOUGHT it was empty.

It was a great wakeup call to me. I won't get complacent again.

 

[nbkky71]

Made a boo-boo during a highpower match some years ago.

I was shooting my M1A and we were in our three minute non-firing preperation period for the prone rapid-fire stage. While snapping in I instinctively grabbed a magazine, inserted it into the rifle & released the op-rod. When I finally settled into a good position I decided to dry-fire. I squeezed the trigger expecting an empty chamber but instead I was rewarded with a loud BOOM. My heart sunk. Thankfully my rifle was pointed at the target and the round went safely into the berm.

You have to keep your head in the game at all times...

 

[MikeJackmin]

Every one of us makes mistakes. Every single last one.

This is OK, so long as we have overlapping layers of safety habits, so that our mistakes result in nothing more than embarrassment.

If your personal way of doing things - and your personal honor code - requires that you periodically check to see that your gun is unloaded, even when you are sure that it is unloaded, then you are doing it right.

 

[v35]

Speaking of mistakes: Everyone knows the rule, keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot, right? I think most would agree in practice this means to keep your finger outside the trigger guard. Well...

After shooting my favorite .22 plinker at the range I got into the habit of placing it back in its case every time I put it down. I also started picking it up... by the trigger guard.



Suddenly, while picking it up in this manner, it occurred to me what the #@&!* I was doing. I was horrified and ashamed at myself. The thought of what could have happened haunts me to this day.

Lesson learned?

1. Bring a friend to the range. Someone else might have noticed my brain fart. Even if he didn't at least someone would be there to drive my sorry asch to the hospital.
2. Get a holster. Use it.

Knowing the safety rules does no good if you don't practice them.

 

[El Tejon]

Cog, gun magically reload themselves all the time. They are terribly sneaky.

Remember The Four Rules. The Four Rules are life. Always obey them and you always be O.K.

 

[Cogster1]

Told my wife

And she shrugged her shoulders - "As long as you check.. Shouldn't be a problem."

I agree with that - the point was more that I KNEW when I pulled the slide back that there wasn't a round in the chamber. Surprised the heck out of me when it ejected one.

What is the line - Every ND happens with an unloaded gun.

 

[El Tejon]

It should not surprise you!

Rule #1: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED!

Not treat, not handle, not think about guns being loaded, they are loaded!

We have these discussions from time to time at THR where people insist that they know that their guns are not loaded. Guess what? Guns magically loaded themselves. That's why we have Rule #1 which reads "always loaded" so there are no surprises.

 

[Justin]

I agree with that - the point was more that I KNEW when I pulled the slide back that there wasn't a round in the chamber. Surprised the heck out of me when it ejected one.

I have had this happen a couple of times. This is why we always check the chamber.

 

[Cogster1]

mindset

Maybe that means I'm going to have to change my mindset a bit. I can recite the 4 rules - My mindset, especially with my own gun, is more of a "Let' s see - last time I used this I left the gun empty SOOOO the gun must be empty." It doesn't make me skip any safety checks. It just makes me expect a certain outcome when performing any safety checks.

Anyway, I know safety topics get beat to death. I was just curious if anybody ever experienced the same type of thing.

 

[Big Calhoun]

Outside of snagging my finger when inserting a new magazine, no. The only gun I don't keep chambered is my Springfield XD45 but I treat every firearm (including that one) as if there is one in the pipe and the safety is off, even though I may be able to physically see otherwise. One misstep and I'll have to deal with the wrath of the misses which means someones gonna find some nice deals on some nice weapons at some D/FW area pawn shops.

I'd rather avoid that unpleasentness and be overly cautious at all times.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Thats why there are four rules...So incase we have a brain fart with one of them, the other three save our butts.

 

[El Tejon]

Reciting them is one thing. Living them is another.

It's a constant struggle that we all need to be reminded of.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

Whenever I have a loaded gun, I allways keep a round in the chamber. This is how I carry, and this way I never assume that I have an empty chamber. Every time I pick up a gun, even one that I am 99.9% sure was empty, I do exactly what you did to clear the gun. If I am picking up a weapon that should be loaded (i.e. CCW or at the range), I pull the slide back far enough to make sure that there is a live round in the chamber. This, plus following the 4 rules has kept me and my loved-ones safe so far.

 

[DogBonz]

Been there...

I went to the safe to take out my SIG229 to go to the range. As I was racking the slide to put the cable lock in it a cartridge flew out and landed on the bed. In horror, I looked down at a live round of gold dot sitting on the bed and wondered how the hell it found its way into the chamber because I never, and I do mean never, store guns with a round in the chamber. Well, after doing a little research, it became clear.

I stayed at my friends house one night the previous weekend because a had a few too many pops during the poker game to drive home, so the girlfriend was home alone with the dog. The dog started barking for no reason, and the dog almost never barks. She got spooked and went to the safe, took out the 229, which is the only gun that she had fired other that a 22, and loaded it. The next morning she took the mag out and locked it in the safe, forgetting to clear the pistol or inform me of what had happened.

Moral of the story, all guns are always loaded. And even if you didn’t load it someone else may have.

 

[SIRVEYR666]

It's all about not be becoming complacent. I have loaded and unloaded guns thousands of times. It becomes a routine, one that we tend to become too familiar with. Sometimes we need to mix things up a little bit, just to be aware of our actions. I'm not saying that a near ND is mixing it up, just that we need to make our routines less routine. This is really important for competition shooters. Many of them, myself included, develop their "signature thing" when loading/clearing a weapon. I often need to consciously remind myself to slow down sometimes. The shooting needs to fast, but safety needs to slow, controlled, and methodical. Stay safe brothers.

 

[trainwreck100]

We had a bigger-city policeman come to our college's shotgun sports club and demonstrate proper and safe handling. He taught us how to clear and check several different kinds of shotguns, from o/u's to automatics and pump actions (guess levers and bolts aren't commone enough to bother teaching). Everything went pretty well as planned until he got to checking the 1100, but then I suddenly realized I didn't like his way of teaching. He taught us to open the action and check the chamber, then slam it shut and flip the gun over to check the mag...Looks to me like you'd check the mag first, otherwise, whenever you slam that action shut, it loads one in your "safely cleared gun."

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Informative

Thanks, all.

I'm learning something.

That's always good.