irrational and unfounded fears

[GhostlyKarliion]

I'd like to talk for a bit about some of the irrational fears some of us shooters have about firearms.

Does anyone else get that churn of the gut and dreadful beat skip of the heart when you drop a rim fire cartridge on a concrete floor? The image of the round hitting just right and detonating, embedding shrapnel in my leg flashed across my mind every time I drop one. I have never had one explode on me, but the fear is still there.

Anyone else have fears about guns that you know aren’t likely to happen, but are still concerned with nonetheless?

 

[Aran]

Fortunately, nothing comes to mind.

So either I'm not aware that any of my thoughts are irrational, or I'm more rational than I thought.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

It isn't an irrational fear. I saw a guy get nailed by one at scout camp. It just left a bruise though.

 

[COMPNOR]

I don't think I could ever carry a Single Action only weapon with a round chamber, hammer cocked, no matter how safe it is. Wouldn't matter if a single accident had never happened, I just don't think I could do it. It just feels like an accident waiting to happen to me.

 

[Drgong]

I don't think I could ever carry a Single Action only weapon with a round chamber, hammer cocked, no matter how safe it is. Wouldn't matter if a single accident had never happened, I just don't think I could do it. It just feels like an accident waiting to happen to me.

I was like that for a while...I recently accepted Condition 1 though.

However I would say that many worries are not "irrational", just respectful of what it can do.

 

[Treo]

I worry that the hammer will get broken when I carry Condition 1

 

[MT GUNNY]

Not realy fears, just thoughts, like what if that would have discharged?

 

[Youngster]

I don't know if you'd call it irrational but I fear lowering the hammer over a live round on DA pistol designs that don't have a decock lever, in fact I've never tried it.

 

[Monkeybear]

I always get nervous when one of my friends handles on of my firearms. My greatest fear is that they will drop it, scratch it or some how manage to break something off of it.

 

[RP88]

top three:

-having my house broken into and my guns stolen
-being attacked, mugged, etc. for my guns while in a parking lot of a range or something
-watching as the politicians ban 'assault weapons', which would pretty much outlaw every single gun I have interest in buying and shooting.

Number three would probably hurt my enthusiasm for guns so much that I may stop having an active recreational interest in them.

 

[jrfoxx]

My only real fear with guns is taking one too far apart (as in well beyond field stripping) and no gettiong it put back together, or getting it wrong, or breaking/losing something.
Finding good, detailed instructions that go beyond field stripping can be a little difficult, especially for some of the less common guns and/or some milsurps.That, and some guns are just designed REALLY wierd and can be very different from what you are used too and arent at all intuitive, and some things are just a serious pain in the butt. My Mauser 71/84 bolt assembly after bying all the individual parts was one of the most diffucult, painful things I have ever done gun-wise.I also consistantly screw-up the field strip of my Astra 600 and have the barrel rotate on me which is a pain, and my Galesi spring and firing pin like to sproing out and send me searching.

 

[Crow1108]

It's kind of silly, but I keep my 1911 at condition one at all times. I know it's been said many times that this won't have any adverse effect on the hammer spring, but I had the fear once or twice that if I ever needed to use it in a defense situation, I'd get a "Click" rather than a "Bang" due to a weakened spring.

I occasionally have a nightmare where I'm in a situation where I have to use a gun, and it fires, but has absolutely no effect. I've had several variations of the same dream. The most realistic was my wife and I were in a mall, and somebody pulled a gun and was shooting randomly. I shoved my wife into the nearest store to get her out of harm's way, pulled my gun, and fired at the guy, but again to no effect. He turned his gun on me, and that's when I woke up.

I guess after those, the next biggest would be I would get orders overseas, and during that time the government took a severe turn for the worse and all-out gun confiscations happened.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Fire and theft are my main concerns.

 

[General Geoff]

I've yet to manually lower a cocked hammer on a loaded DA revolver. Just doesn't seem particularly safe to me. I'll probably try it a few times at the range, but it'll probably make me very sweaty-palmed.

 

[Vermont]

After I reassemble a firearm, I worry that I didn't put it together properly and that when I fire it, some parts will come loose and shoot out of the back of the gun into my face. Weird.

 

[ToeRag]

Carrying IWB --- front

thinking what happens if that round in the chamber goes off, while a quik draw and squeezing the trigger by mistake to soon!

 

[sweetbeard]

After I reassemble a firearm, I worry that I didn't put it together properly and that when I fire it, some parts will come loose and shoot out of the back of the gun into my face. Weird.

+ 1 I try to keep my face well far away from a gun after I put it back together for the first firing! LOL

 

[wheelgunslinger]

The closest I ever come to being OCD is when I'm carrying.
Some people with OCD have to count to 100 before going through a doorway, and I have a safety ritual I have to do before I carry. Nothing weird, just the usual safety precautions. But, I never carry without going through the motions. I never want an ND, so I never assume anything.

Otherwise, I'm pretty normal. Whatever that is.

 

[everallm]

I have an irrational fear of other peoples unfounded fears.....Sorry couldn't resist.

Although now I think of it, almost all firearms controllers are driven by unfounded fears so maybe I'm not that paranoid after all......

 

[spwenger]

Just the Facts...

Does anyone else get that churn of the gut and dreadful beat skip of the heart when you drop a rim fire cartridge on a concrete floor? The image of the round hitting just right and detonating, embedding shrapnel in my leg flashed across my mind every time I drop one. I have never had one explode on me, but the fear is still there.

Detonation of the primer in a cartridge that is not supported by a firing chamber will not impart much velocity to the bullet, as mentioned in an earlier comment. Several years ago, a few of us were cleaning up the local range in Douglas AZ. Trash was being burned in a "ventilated" 55-gallon drum. A discarded .22 round went off and happened to be pointed toward one of the holes in the drum. The bullet struck a member of the clean-up party in the leg. It failed to penetrate his jeans and barely raised a welt.

 

[Grey_Mana]

I have an irrational fear that somebody will arc an arrow over the berm into the pistol range area.

 

[jackstinson]

I have an irrational fear of clowns.
A tiny carload of them is just plain creepy.
Killer Klowns from outer space are even creepier.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Ammo in the trunk on a hot day.

 

[Zwetschgen]

I've got a few:

Bump firing my SKS, if I wasn't prepared for that, it might not be good, could drop the rifle, then what? Tuck and roll.

How about delayed firings? Pull the trigger and click... What if it decides to go boom in the next ten minutes... or should I remove the round... Creepy!

Also, what if I got a bad batch of over powerful ammunition and it destroys the chamber and I take it in the face...

Also, fear that I'l end up making a mistake and getting a hole in the house, car, me... Then we might have a lack of gun situation... So, obviously all of these (well most of them) are pretty irrational, so it keeps me in check.

 

[highorder]

Several years ago, a few of us were cleaning up the local range in Douglas AZ. Trash was being burned in a "ventilated" 55-gallon drum. A discarded .22 round went off and happened to be pointed toward one of the holes in the drum. The bullet struck a member of the clean-up party in the leg. It failed to penetrate his jeans and barely raised a welt.

while cleaning up deer camp nearly a decade ago, a .22lr got raked into the fire and cooked off. The brass opened up like popped popcorn and hit my dad in the thumb, splitting it open a bit.