My friend scared me too

[Darkside852003]

I have taken my best friend to the range about 10 times. I have sold him a pistol, tought him safety, proper shooting technique, and upkeep of the pistol.

Before I introduced him to the shooting sports, he had never handled a firearm. He grew up in a strict anti-gun family. He keeps his firearm at my house because of this.

Before every range session I go over my rules, then the rules of the range. A little repetitive? Absolutely, but I do the same thing to my wife.

Wednesday we went shooting at a local indoor range. About 20 minutes into shooting he made a major error. He loaded his pistol and droped the slide with his finger on the trigger. I was in the next lane shooting and was showered with pieces of ceiling. I use to watch him 75% of the time, until i was comfortable with his abilities.

The R.O seen it and took me to the side. He allowed me to handle the situation. I asked him to unload his gun and step off the range , and think about what he did wrong. We then discussed the accident, talked to the R.O and he continued shooting.

When we made it back to the house. We talked more about the accident, and how following the rules will avoid mistakes like this. I will be keeping a better eye on him at the range.

Did I handle this the right way?

 

[ConserVet]

Sounds like you and the RO handled that well.

 

[Legionnaire]

Nice of the RO to let you handle it. Sounds like you did right.

 

[repsychler]

Sounds like you handled it very well. Good on both you and the RO for remaining calm and teaching instead of flipping out and yelling.

 

[MAUSER88]

You did right. Keep up the positive reinforcement.

 

[rocky]

sounds good. Atleast he must have listened to some of your rules, the gun was ponted in a safe direction. Anyone can screw up, the wise man learns from his(and others mistakes).

 

[Standing Wolf]

Did I handle this the right way?

Yep. It was good to return to shooting. Stopping after a mistake could be intimidating. I think it's better to learn the lesson and move on.

 

[3rdpig]

Not many RO's would have let you deal with it like that, I can only assume that he knows you fairly well.

Yes, you handled it well, good to get right back on the horse that throws you.

I bet it shook him up a bit!

 

[joab]

Sounds like you handled it very well. Good on both you and the RO for remaining calm and teaching instead of flipping out and yelling.

yes there was nothing you could say that was worse than what he was saying to himself at that point.

I would also bet that you don't have to watch him as much anymore.

 

[Bill2k1]

If your friend is a normal logical person, they will always think about that incident when they pick up a gun. I still think about an error I made when I was 13 on the trap range. Haven't had a problem since that one, hope I don't have another.

 

[Chuck Dye]

Dropped the slide with his finger on the trigger and the gun discharged? Seems to me you may have left out troubleshooting the disconnect failure. Unless the gun fired because it was designed to under those circumstances, I would have redtagged it until the cause of the discharge was determined and fixed.

I suppose your friend may have pulled the trigger after the slide was in battery, perhaps as a result of the forces involved in dropping the slide, in which case the discharge was all pilot error.

Regardless of whether the discharge resulted from disconnect failure and pilot error, or pilot error alone, kudos to your Range Officer.

 

[torpid]

Sounds like you're really trying to keep it safe- good job.
It also sounds like your friend has a good receptive attitude, but may just have information overload due to his unfamiliarity with shooting in general.

If you haven't grown up with it, it's amazing how much information there seems to be that you have to absorb & learn when new to shooting- it can be like mental juggling. Add to that the range environment, gunshot sounds, and the fear of looking like a fool in public, and lapses in the basic safety rules can occur while focused on doing something else properly.

When I take folks to the range I go over all the 4 rules, range safety rules, and operation of the gun beforehand , but I let them know that the 2 things they have to do 100% of the time are keep that finger off of the trigger when not shooting, and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

And I repeatedly emphasize the importance of the two ("Keepin' it pointed downrange?- Good deal. How's your finger- keepin' it on the frame? Cool, just checkin'...") as I downplay all of the "little" non-safety mistakes they make through self-deprecation ("...Now I notice you're doing _______ a bit, and before that gets to be a habit, let's nip that in the bud. I used to be really bad at that- a lot worse than this, and it took me a long time to get it right. So let's nudge you up to 100 percent while you're already at 95 here...").

Goofy mistakes just add embarrassment to tense and stressed new folks already flinching from gunfire, so I really am quite ready with a smile and gentle ego lift when they happen. But with finger and muzzle discipline, I really go overboard to let them know that they are the BIGGIES, and I'm dead serious about following them strictly (then we build from there).

The fact that you followed up with more safety review discussion, and that you'll spend more time on developing his familiarity with shooting gives me a good feeling about future range trips with your pal.

.

 

[Lupinus]

good job on it and its nice of the ro leting you handle it, I doubt many would allow that.

Just make sure he learns from it, don't push him to the point you become agravating we all make mistakes, but make sure he learns from it.

 

[Darkside852003]

I suppose your friend may have pulled the trigger after the slide was in battery, perhaps as a result of the forces involved in dropping the slide, in which case the discharge was all pilot error.

Thats what happend sorry for the mix up.

I can only assume that he knows you fairly well.

I have shot there since I was 17. They know I have taught several people at that range. I also keep and eye out for trouble when I'm there shooting.

First time anything like this has happend with a person under my instruction. Mistakes happen, after I felt he understood the mistake and the R.O was fine with it, we continued shooting.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm sure there are more experienced shooters and instructors here. I'm just hoping I am getting him started right.

 

[hrb02]

Well done. Positive reinforcement post mistake will keep him safer from now on.

Good on the RO too.

 

[larry_minn]

Sounds to me like the PERFECT way to handle such a accident.
Much better then haveing two or more people yelling at him.

 

[AirForceShooter]

we learn by screwing up.
and the bigger the screw up the better the lesson learned.

AFS