lanternlad1
Member
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- Apr 14, 2007
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- 770
I once cleaned my brand-new Marlin 60 with Gun Scrubber and WD-40. Messed up the trigger assembly. Had to buy a new one.
Stupid moments of handgun ownership
- Thread starter Drgong
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JJE
Member
Selling my S&W 6" 686
The first handgun I ever bought was a beautiful 6" 686 in stainless in the early 1980's that was supposed to be a hunting gun. I had almost zero hunting experience and soon realized that handgun hunting was for experts, not beginners. After shooting probably no more than 5 boxes of ammo (all full-power loads of course) over about 2 years I sold it to a co-worker who needed a HD gun.
I didn't miss that gun until pretty recently when I decided what I really needed was a high-quality DA centerfire revolver for target shooting.
The first handgun I ever bought was a beautiful 6" 686 in stainless in the early 1980's that was supposed to be a hunting gun. I had almost zero hunting experience and soon realized that handgun hunting was for experts, not beginners. After shooting probably no more than 5 boxes of ammo (all full-power loads of course) over about 2 years I sold it to a co-worker who needed a HD gun.
I didn't miss that gun until pretty recently when I decided what I really needed was a high-quality DA centerfire revolver for target shooting.
JohnBT
Member
"I don't get it? "
I asked my father to borrow a gun.
My mother who knows ZERO about guns and cares even less said "You borrowed that last time you were here."
I guess you had to be there to know how stupid I felt.
It's the only time she has participated in a gun conversation that I can recall and I'm 58 or that my dad can recall and he married her during WWII.
And all those years we thought she wasn't paying attention to our constant yakking about guns.
John
I asked my father to borrow a gun.
My mother who knows ZERO about guns and cares even less said "You borrowed that last time you were here."
I guess you had to be there to know how stupid I felt.
It's the only time she has participated in a gun conversation that I can recall and I'm 58 or that my dad can recall and he married her during WWII.
And all those years we thought she wasn't paying attention to our constant yakking about guns.
John
Lonestar49
Member
Never again.. lol
...
First one was at the range and I grabbed a 45cal bore snake and pulled it too far thru my Sig P229 9mm, stuck it good, and quietly stored it in its gun rag until I got home and cut off the end sticking out the barrel and then muscled the remaining back out the breach..
Second one, accidentally grabbed Sig 9mm mag, loaded, and inserted it into my Sig P229/40 took aim and pulled, only to hear a very, very, low pop, almost like my gun had a silencer on it and no hole in the target..
I thought I had a squib, carefully disassembled the gun and took out the barrel and sighted, and no squib.
So, I thought, ok, just a weak load and put it all back together and reloaded the same mag and took the next shot..
this time, I get a hole in the target, but the sound is NOT right, same low muffled pop sound, and I know something is not right..
Popped out the mag and then focused on the top round.. 9mm, not 40cal..
Now I check, each time, and think about it, along with the low pop sound, every time I'm loading mags and guns at the range, or at home, for the road, etc.
Always check and verify..
Ls
...
First one was at the range and I grabbed a 45cal bore snake and pulled it too far thru my Sig P229 9mm, stuck it good, and quietly stored it in its gun rag until I got home and cut off the end sticking out the barrel and then muscled the remaining back out the breach..
Second one, accidentally grabbed Sig 9mm mag, loaded, and inserted it into my Sig P229/40 took aim and pulled, only to hear a very, very, low pop, almost like my gun had a silencer on it and no hole in the target..
I thought I had a squib, carefully disassembled the gun and took out the barrel and sighted, and no squib.
So, I thought, ok, just a weak load and put it all back together and reloaded the same mag and took the next shot..
this time, I get a hole in the target, but the sound is NOT right, same low muffled pop sound, and I know something is not right..Popped out the mag and then focused on the top round.. 9mm,
not 40cal.. Now I check, each time, and think about it, along with the low pop sound, every time I'm loading mags and guns at the range, or at home, for the road, etc.
Always check and verify..
Ls
The Lone Haranguer
Member
If you discount the ADs 
I put a nice "idiot mark" on the frame and slide of a new SIG 1911. :banghead: Because the slide is retracted slightly when you install the slide stop, when the slide is in battery the scratches do not line up.
I put a nice "idiot mark" on the frame and slide of a new SIG 1911. :banghead: Because the slide is retracted slightly when you install the slide stop, when the slide is in battery the scratches do not line up.
CajunBass
Member
Sorry the only one I can think of with a handgun was a SD (stupid discharge) so I'll leave that out. I got a couple from hunting though.
I came back to the truck one morning after the morning drive (deer hunting with hounds), and went to unload my shotgun and discovered I had never loaded it.
I suspect the club would have just taken my whole shirt on that one.
Another one along the same line. I left early one morning to go squirrel hunting. Got almost to the place I planned to hunt, and realized I had left my ammo at home. I had to turn around and drive all the way back. I now keep a Skoal can of 22 ammo in both vehicles.
I came back to the truck one morning after the morning drive (deer hunting with hounds), and went to unload my shotgun and discovered I had never loaded it.
I suspect the club would have just taken my whole shirt on that one.
Another one along the same line. I left early one morning to go squirrel hunting. Got almost to the place I planned to hunt, and realized I had left my ammo at home. I had to turn around and drive all the way back. I now keep a Skoal can of 22 ammo in both vehicles.
one45auto
Member
I haven't had any stupid moments myself (my father is ex-military and raised us right) but I'll never forget when I picked up my new Ruger Vaquero from the local shop. The owner's son decided he needed to show me how to handle and disassemble it (after all he knows so much more about them than we do) and proceeded to pull the pin out with the wrong side down. The cylinder promptly fell out, landed on the glass case with a loud whack, and quickly rolled over the edge where it fell onto the floor. It was a stupid moment for him but a 
moment for me.
moment for me.CJ
Member
I sold my first. I had to move to California, and with all their convoluted laws, wasn't sure if it would be allowed. Had a deal that, if I ever came back, I could pick it up for what I sold it for, but never ended up going back (although I DID get out of California). Still have some of the darn ammunition around too for that Russian Makarov.
chris in va
Member
Buying a used HiPoint carbine. Previous owner destroyed the metal by not lubing it, and it cost me $150 in shipping for HiPoint to fix it right.
Buying an XD9 as my first CC gun without really trying it at the range first.
Not getting a compact all-steel 9mm sooner. Buy...sell...buy...sell...
Buying an XD9 as my first CC gun without really trying it at the range first.
Not getting a compact all-steel 9mm sooner. Buy...sell...buy...sell...
proud2deviate
Member
My first time stripping a 1911, my thumb slipped off the recoil spring plug which sailed up and cracked me smartly on the very tip of my nose. Instant tears. Could have been worse; I don't even want to think what would have happened if that sucker had caught me in the eyeball. . . I more respectful of springs n' things now.
Also with a 1911; went to slam another mag in at the range, and managed to pinch a huge chunk of my palm as I slapped it home. Big blood blister. Lots of cussing.
Also with a 1911; went to slam another mag in at the range, and managed to pinch a huge chunk of my palm as I slapped it home. Big blood blister. Lots of cussing.
funkychinaman
Member
Chris, it cost you $150 to ship a carbine from Kentucky to Ohio? What did you ship it in, a solid gold sarcophagus?
I got two:
- I was on the rifle team in college, and we had a shooting competition at Purdue. The match is at their ROTC fieldhouse. They have really rudimentary target hangers, just a wire frame with cardboard attached to it, so we had to staple our targets onto the cardboard. I hold my target in place with the staple gun in my right hand, and not thinking, put my left hand behind the cardboard to steady it...and I put a staple through the target, through the cardboard, and into my thumb. On the bright side, the dried blood made it easy to identify which targets were mine.
- Also in college, I brought up a few guns so I could shoot in my free time. I'm still in the dorms, so I can't have guns there, so I leave them with a friend who lives off campus. As a precaution, I keep the ammo with me, as the regs never said I couldn't keep ammo in the dorms. So one day I go to the range with friends. We come back, I drop him and my guns off at his place, and I head to Casino Windsor, across the border in Canada, to meet some friends for dinner. (Casino Windsor got a lot of business from college kids due to the lower drinking age.) The Canadian border guards didn't really make a fuss. I showed them my NJ drivers license (a laminated paper card back then,) and they let me through. I had dinner, and then I headed back to Ann Arbor. Since 9/11 had happened a few months before, the US Army was on US side of the border. And they no longer allowed people in who didn't have a passport. (I had taken a trips to Canada previously with only a driver's license.) And they especially didn't allow people in WHO HAD A TOOLBAG FULL OF LIVE AMMO IN THEIR CAR. The Army tossed my car, realized that I was telling the truth, that I only had the ammo, and I explained to the guard that I hadn't realized that I needed a passport, as I had made the same trip at least twice previously with just a driver's license. They bought it and let me go. That would've been one phone call I did not want to make.
I got two:
- I was on the rifle team in college, and we had a shooting competition at Purdue. The match is at their ROTC fieldhouse. They have really rudimentary target hangers, just a wire frame with cardboard attached to it, so we had to staple our targets onto the cardboard. I hold my target in place with the staple gun in my right hand, and not thinking, put my left hand behind the cardboard to steady it...and I put a staple through the target, through the cardboard, and into my thumb. On the bright side, the dried blood made it easy to identify which targets were mine.
- Also in college, I brought up a few guns so I could shoot in my free time. I'm still in the dorms, so I can't have guns there, so I leave them with a friend who lives off campus. As a precaution, I keep the ammo with me, as the regs never said I couldn't keep ammo in the dorms. So one day I go to the range with friends. We come back, I drop him and my guns off at his place, and I head to Casino Windsor, across the border in Canada, to meet some friends for dinner. (Casino Windsor got a lot of business from college kids due to the lower drinking age.) The Canadian border guards didn't really make a fuss. I showed them my NJ drivers license (a laminated paper card back then,) and they let me through. I had dinner, and then I headed back to Ann Arbor. Since 9/11 had happened a few months before, the US Army was on US side of the border. And they no longer allowed people in who didn't have a passport. (I had taken a trips to Canada previously with only a driver's license.) And they especially didn't allow people in WHO HAD A TOOLBAG FULL OF LIVE AMMO IN THEIR CAR. The Army tossed my car, realized that I was telling the truth, that I only had the ammo, and I explained to the guard that I hadn't realized that I needed a passport, as I had made the same trip at least twice previously with just a driver's license. They bought it and let me go. That would've been one phone call I did not want to make.
The Lone Haranguer
Member
I sold a couple of guns for half their worth so I could get something I liked better, then the gun I bought turned out to be a lemon.
ACBMWM3
member
I got a couple little ones.
First one about a month back pinched the tip of my pinkie between the mag and the grip. instant blood blister and me yelling the F word a few times and kicking the desk.
2nd was last week. Picked up a nice LE trade-in USP compact. Took it home, got it all nice and clean, went to put the top end back together, slid the barrel in and went to put the guide rod assy. back in and fling the guide rod spring snap ring goes flying off into outer space. Looked around for over an hour to find a tiny little piece of metal with no luck. Just got it all back together yesterday
First one about a month back pinched the tip of my pinkie between the mag and the grip. instant blood blister and me yelling the F word a few times and kicking the desk.
2nd was last week. Picked up a nice LE trade-in USP compact. Took it home, got it all nice and clean, went to put the top end back together, slid the barrel in and went to put the guide rod assy. back in and fling the guide rod spring snap ring goes flying off into outer space. Looked around for over an hour to find a tiny little piece of metal with no luck. Just got it all back together yesterday
OK, I'll bite
Early in my "career", I decided it was time to remove any roughness and other signs of imperfection from the guts of my new revolver. So, being the DIY type, I took it all apart (which was itself a real adventure that first time) and found what appeared to be some imperfection like a little bit of flash or burr inside the cylinder's extractor hole. AHAH! A perfect candidate. That hole was "D" shaped. Sloppy factory machinists. I reamed it perfectly round.
Then I found out why it was so shaped. :banghead: Cost me $90 to have that cylinder replaced.
Other than that one time over ten years ago, I've never done anything truly stupid with a gun. Honest.
Early in my "career", I decided it was time to remove any roughness and other signs of imperfection from the guts of my new revolver. So, being the DIY type, I took it all apart (which was itself a real adventure that first time) and found what appeared to be some imperfection like a little bit of flash or burr inside the cylinder's extractor hole. AHAH! A perfect candidate. That hole was "D" shaped. Sloppy factory machinists. I reamed it perfectly round.
Then I found out why it was so shaped. :banghead: Cost me $90 to have that cylinder replaced.
Other than that one time over ten years ago, I've never done anything truly stupid with a gun. Honest.
Quilbilly
Member
A few weeks ago I oiled my XD40 real quick before i put it in my holster and forgot to flip down the take-down lever. I carried it like that all the way to Safeway and back home. I am pretty sure that if I fired it like that the first round would have gone fine but then when the slide chambered the next round it would have just flown off the frame. OOPS!!
Could not figure out why all of the sudden my SA M1911a1 was being weird at the range with factory ammo. After about ten rounds I figured it out. I was loading .45 GAP instead of ACP. Picked up the GAP ammo which was right next to the ACP ammo at the gun shop earlier that day.
shibby
Member
lols
edit:
just the tip?
Last edited:
bigfatdave
Member
The worst thing I've done is swapped the captive recoil springs around between my CC and MrsBFD's CC ... cleaning both, end up with a pile of parts, get one gun (hers) together (and function checked!) and then the second one (mine) just wouldn't go together right!
The cause took me a while to figure out, the lesson I learned was that if you are going to disassemble two similar guns, lay out two paper towels far apart from each other, and use them as parts landing pads.
The cause took me a while to figure out, the lesson I learned was that if you are going to disassemble two similar guns, lay out two paper towels far apart from each other, and use them as parts landing pads.
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