() This close to a ND

[Hardware]

So, last night I finished installing a tac latch on my AR charging handle. Not a big deal, but I needed a 1/16th inch punch and had picked one up at the hardware store on the way home. Anyhow, I was pretty happy with my home armoring I pulled a couple of rounds out of a loaded mag, replaced them with snap caps and operated the charging handle. Everything went hunky dory. I dropped the mag, checked the chamber clear, dropped the trigger, reloaded the ready mag and locked it back in the weapon until I could put it back in its usual storage location. I then stood the rifle up against my work bench and got involved in some research on my computer.

Shortly thereafter I heard the unmistakable crash of a rifle hitting the floor. My cat, Spot, had been rubbing on the rifle and knocked it over. Cursing myself for an idiot I picked up the rifle and cycled the charging handle to make sure everything was still okay. Then I dropped the magazine. Just as I was reaching for the trigger my brain did an idiot check and came back with a positive result. I hit the charging handle one more time and sure enough a live round came shooting out of the ejection port. I felt icewater shoot out from my chest, down my arms realizing how close to disaster I had come.

Thank God, thank God I did an idiot check. I am damn near sick and kicking myself over how many blatant violations I had allowed to creep into my firearms handling. I was literally a trigger pull away from ventilating the front wall/roof of my house. If anything had gone wrong, if I was sick, or had been drinking or taking any sort of drug that had dulled my senses I believe I would have had an ND.

Don't let this happen to you!

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

This is why I don't own a cat.

 

[msparks]

Good to hear all went well.

Go back and practice your fundamentals 20 times. Just do it.

Unlike the fool in this video who is going to have a ND eventually. Watch the whole thing, he actually spins a Glock like an old .45colt. Truly a disregard to safety.
http://youtu.be/x_VnY0GuusQ

 

[NOLAEMT]

glad no one got hurt.

Like has been said, this is why we practice, remember your 4 rules (which you did).

Things like that are what keep us sharp.

 

[GregGry]

A friend of mine did the same thing except he put a hole in his wall. Besides always checking the chamber you should never put snap caps in mags that have live rounds. You will forget there are rounds in it and you will do exactly what you did. A couple malfunction drills in and you will have a hole in whatever your sights were on.

 

[Dueling1911s]

i had a buddy who had a ND in my presence between his legs.

his gf brought a couple of her dad's guns with her. my buddy did not remove the mag and checked the chamber with the gun facing forward (looking up and over the slide), chamber appeared empty. but the mag wasnt. boolit loaded and dumbass "dryfired "it between his legs

put a 9mm HP in the dirt right in front of him between his legs

i dont go shooting with him anymore to say the least...

 

[Owen Sparks]

I had an epiphany about dry firing a while back when I bought a Springfield XD that MUST be dry fired in order to be dissembled and cleaned. I have found a way to absolutly minimize damage in case of a ND.

But first let’s review rule #3.

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.

This applies to dry firing also!

Not just in practice but when you must dry fire in maintenance (such as when dissembling a Glock or Springfield XD).

Why?

Because when you look at the sights you will be far more aware of exactly where that muzzle is pointed. This virtually eliminates the chance that you will shoot something valuable such as your foot, a pet or the wife's wedding china. It also gives you a split second to THINK about what you are about to do and the potential consequences.

If I am in the house and have to dry fire I aim at the baseboard where the floor meets the wall, preferably in a corner if one is handy. (There is one about 4 feet from my cleaning table.) This provides enough of an angle to miss my feet but not enough to skip it off the hardwood and go through the wall. The structure at the junction of the wall and floor should be enough to stop most bullets and even if it doesn't you are still shooting downward. If you put one through a wall it can kill someone in the next room or even in the next house.

Be safe, always use the sights when you dry fire.

 

[StrutStopper]

Not close to an AD, but my cat came about () this close to getting locked in my safe. He was a little too curious and it was a good thing I was paying attention before closing and locking the door...

 

[Creature]

 

[essayons21]

Did nearly the same thing with a Mossberg 500, except the idiot check never occurred.

Ended up putting 9 pellets of 00 buck through my hardwood floor over the garage, and managed to hit and break the hot and cold water lines, sink drain pipe, cable, some garage wiring, and put a dent in the copper gas line.

Got everything fixed up pretty quickly, and patched the ~2" hole in the hardwood, but purposefully left the patch unstained to be a constant and obvious reminder.

While you are right in your response to this near accident, let me congratulate you on your idiot check, it avoided some serious damage.

Hopefully your near mistake will have the same effect as my mistake had on my consciousness about gun safety.

 

[Owen Sparks]

While the above video is obviously fake, I know an idiot that actually did something like that. He was getting ready to go deer hunting and "dry fired" his 30.-06 at the tom cat down the hall. He forgot to unload it last season and did not bother to check. The cat exploded much like the one in the video.

 

[Inebriated]

This is why I don't own a cat.

This man get's it!

I've had a couple idiot checks I'm thankful for...

 

[Mousegun]

If you did have a ND, as long as you were pointing it at the cat, it wouldn't have been THAT bad.

Glad you didn't and weren't.

 

[Strykervet]

I'd like to add a trick that will help prevent this if you like snap caps.

Take a magazine, or two if you practice mag changes with snap caps, and either paint the bottom half red or use a stripe of red electricians tape (or whatever marking works best for you). Clear the rifle properly, then use the snap cap mags. Never use those mags for live rounds, and try to use the same kind of mags you normally use, the older worn ones are fine for this, and if they cause ocassional malfunctions, all the better for training.

Personally, I don't use snap caps. The whole dry firing being damaging to weapons doesn't really apply much to an AR in the first place, and most modern weapons in general. They can take it no problem. If I had a super tack driver using very expensive, fine fitted parts, I may reconsider, but when you are talking about an AR firing pin, which you should have a few of anyway, who cares? You could just as easily keep a dry fire firing pin instead if it actually bothers you.

Cheap hammers made from poor quality metal, they'll show the most wear anyway. They'll crater in right where the firing pin contacts the hammer. I've had to replace hammers before firing pins actually. I don't dry fire a whole lot, unless you do it quite often, I probably wouldn't be too concerned about snap caps myself.

Oh yeah, wore out barrels, broke rifles, wore out parts (almost all of them at some time or other) in numerous AR's and M4's... Can't say I ever broke a firing pin, but I did see one once in about 15 years. I saw a lot get bent and damaged by idiots using them as cleaning and takedown tools though. Food for thought.

Just a few hints and such, hope it helps.

 

[Loosedhorse]

Thank God, thank God I did an idiot check.

Seems like the "idiot check" was the smartest thing you did! Consider renaming it.

Don't know if this would have helped, but when I dry-fire or gunsmith, there is no ammo in the room, ever. Once I load the gun, the gun is secured where it belongs (holster, cabinet--wherever its assigned HD location is) and not touched.

 

[youngda9]

Why on earth would you automatically reach for the trigger...you need to drop that from your procedures.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Why on earth would you automatically reach for the trigger...you need to drop that from your procedures.

You beat me to it! I was going to say exactly the same thing! The proper method for clearing and storing an M4 (and AR-15) does not involve pulling the trigger....

1. Point in a SAFE DIRECTION! Place selector lever on SAFE. If weapon is not cocked, lever cannot be pointed toward SAFE.
2. Remove magazine.
3. To lock bolt open, pull charging handle rearward. Press bottom of bolt catch and allow bolt to move forward until it engages bolt catch. Return charging handle to forward. If you haven’t before, place selector lever on SAFE.
4. Check receiver and chamber to ensure these areas contain no ammo.
5. With selector lever pointing toward SAFE, allow bolt to go forward by pressing upper portion of bolt catch.

I'm not seeing pull the trigger in that procedure taken directly from the US Army M-16 technical manual. It's not in the unloading procedure in the Colt AR-15 users manual, either.

 

[essayons21]

The proper method for clearing and storing an M4 (and AR-15) does not involve pulling the trigger....

Army TM or no, it is the Army SOP for clearing and storing worldwide.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Army TM or no, it is the Army SOP for clearing and storing worldwide.

Respectfully, it's not. I was a unit armorer for the US Army National Guard from 1984-1988, 76Y MOS. It was not SOP then.

I went to US Army Ground Combat Training in Ft. Dix New Jersey in 2008 prior to deploying to Iraq (I also went to Army Basic Training in Ft. Dix in 1984 - stayed in the exact same barracks both times!). It wasn't Army SOP in 2008, either.

Repeated compressing/decompressing of a spring wears it out more quickly than remaining static in the compressed state. An AR-15, M-16 or M4 should be cocked 99% of the time.

 

[Trent]

If you are going to store a firearm long term, why WOULD you want to leave the striker/hammer under tension? I don't see anything particularly wrong with dropping the hammer prior to storage. I also do not see ANY advantage to leaving a weapon cocked in storage. All you are doing is stressing one (or more) of the wearable components - the springs. If those fail or weaken, the weapon is rendered useless. It would make sense to store the weapon without any more spring tension than is absolutely necessary.

If you clear a weapon properly there is absolutely nothing wrong with dropping the hammer.

(Except for some 22 rimfires or other weapons which have instructions specifically mentioning do not dry fire. Those can be damaged when dry fired.)

 

[Devonai]

This man get's it!

Dude, even my cat knows the difference between the possessive and plural use of an apostrophe.

I spent three years in the vault each drill at my guard unit. SOP was to keep the hammer cocked and the weapon on safe upon turn-in.

 

[youngda9]

If you are going to store a firearm long term, why WOULD you want to leave the striker/hammer under tension? I don't see anything particularly wrong with dropping the hammer prior to storage. I also do not see ANY advantage to leaving a weapon cocked in storage. All you are doing is stressing one (or more) of the wearable components - the springs. If those fail or weaken, the weapon is rendered useless. It would make sense to store the weapon without any more spring tension than is absolutely necessary.

If you clear a weapon properly there is absolutely nothing wrong with dropping the hammer.

(Except for some 22 rimfires or other weapons which have instructions specifically mentioning do not dry fire. Those can be damaged when dry fired.)

You need to do a little research about modern matalergy. Storing a spring compressed does not stress and weaken a spring. It is movement(compression-relaxation) that stresses a spring. Think of bending a piece of metal a bunch of times...eventually it weakens and breaks. There is NO reason to dry-fire prior to storage. BAD HABIT, and completely unnecessary.

 

[oldbear]

Hardware, If I've told you once I've told you twice cats and guns don't mix.

Glad that all turned out OK though.

 

[Hammerhead6814]

I'd rather have your cat than mine Hardware. Mine doesn't knock over AR-15's, he eats the small parts.

 

[gamestalker]

I had just finished cleaning one of my wheel guns. When I finished, I loaded the cylinder, and closed the cylinder at the same exact time I realized the hammer was back! Nothing happned, but if it had, the barrel was facing away and down. With a wheel gun, and especially one with a 20 oz. trigger, this is not a good thing, to say the least!!