Clear it before you clean it....and double check the chamber!! (oops)

[AHM]

Clearing should be a deliberate process

That's very odd to me. My way of clearing my handgun is always to release the magazine, rack the slide and visually see the chambered round come out. Then another visual and physical check one last time. But the biggest thing is always seeing that round come out. If I release the mag and rack the slide and nothing comes out I'm thinking either rack it again or "I can't believe I didn't have one in the chamber, dumbass!"

If there's the slightest chance I'm clearing a gun with one in the pipe, I'm not going to preclude free ejection - let it drop quietly on the mat. I'm no athlete and have no faith I'd see where it went. I'm not about to crawl around on my hands and knees.

Besides, I have to salvage the round. We're not getting jammed up for improper storage from loose rounds strewn all over the house. And our club frowns upon discarding live rounds because we don't want youts scouring the ranges in search of ammo. Not to mention that in event of a malfunction, I want to inspect the case, too.


Rather I inspect the chamber after lock-back, being particularly careful not to be hypmotized into seeing brass as a normal condition, to be ignored. And it is locked back - If I'm holding the slide/bolt manually, I'm distracted from careful observation.

I have to see the presence of the chamber not the "absence" of brass - we have steel and aluminum case ammo. It's a good opportunity to make sure a rimfire's chamber rim isn't getting peened by a runaway firing pin, which can roach the whole gun. I also look to see there's no loose round hiding in the magwell or receiver, waiting to be [re]chambered. Light shining up the magwell to the chamber has the side effect of double-checking that the magazine really was removed.

---

ETA:

Installing a empty chamber indicator when ever the firearm is supposed to be safe is a big help in reducing chances of things going bad.

If you need to do this to be safe with a gun there is a problem and it is not the gun.

Some places it's a range rule;
to be safe around other people and their guns.

 

[rivet_42]

I'm not a Glock owner and don't know that much about them but it seems a lot of these NDs are caused by Glock owners not remembering there is still a round in the chamber....how/why does this happen?

Just a guess, it probably has something to do with the popularity of Glocks. Same way more Chevys are involved in car accidents than Rolls-Royces.

 

[xero2099]

any time someone hands me an "unloaded" gun I always check it myself before i do anything to it

 

[meh]

When you have to explain to the ED docs and police what happened, it's better to to say you were cleaning it, instead of telling the truth that you were just dicking around with it and shot yourself. It makes it sound like you were at least doing something meaningful and made a mistake that could happen to anyone. I'm convinced this explains 90% of "cleaning"accidents.

Makes sense to me. I've wondered about that. I mean, I get that newbies don't always think about the round in the chamber, but it seems to me that if you spend much time at the range with a semi-auto that locks back when it's out, you're associating "empty" with the slide being locked back and the gun being in an obviously empty state. Slide forward tends not to be empty, rather. OTOH, if you have a carry gun or a home defense gun that you're screwing around with...

 

[Goliathan]

Makes sense to me. I've wondered about that. I mean, I get that newbies don't always think about the round in the chamber, but it seems to me that if you spend much time at the range with a semi-auto that locks back when it's out, you're associating "empty" with the slide being locked back and the gun being in an obviously empty state. Slide forward tends not to be empty, rather. OTOH, if you have a carry gun or a home defense gun that you're screwing around with...

Lots of people (apparently) don't shoot their guns dry, but rather train to reload when the last one is in the pipe. I guess there's a possibility of a brain fart ejecting the mag and not racking the slide. That possibility would be there in other situations, too, like if one shoots dry and then drops the slide to holster, or something else. It's easy to see how it might happen even if I can't imagine all of the scenarios. I am still learning after being away for years but I'm pretty anal about dropping the mag, visually checking both the mag well and the chamber.

Of course the "cleaning" excuse doesn't really excuse anybody or absolve them of responsibility for screwing up. But it's easier than trying to explain that you were stupid.

 

[Chet0729]

I am with Bill o on this. I doubt it was a cleaning accident. That is just a good excuse.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

I'm not a Glock owner and don't know that much about them but it seems a lot of these NDs are caused by Glock owners not remembering there is still a round in the chamber....how/why does this happen?

Because many people are so unfamiliar with their handgun and don't know how to clear a semi auto pistol correctly. It doesn't matter if its a Glock or a 1911 or any other, they just do it wrong time after time after time and eventually they shoot themselves or someone else or something else.

Magazine out first, then open the slide in a safe direction and empty the chamber and check it again with your eyes, not racking the slide three times.

KEEP YOUR DAMNED FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER!!!!!

 

[hminsky]

I've posted this before, I'm sure, but am I the ONLY OCD anal-retentive dweeb who drops the mag and then runs the slide or bolt back and clears the firearm 3 times, every time, and THEN visually inspect the chamber before I will acknowledge that a firearm is 'safe'?

me too.

 

[kmanick]

I am with Bill o on this. I doubt it was a cleaning accident. That is just a good excuse.

same thoughts here as well.

 

[PreliatorX]

Ouch. He won't make that mistake again. At least he's not in Massachusetts (I assume, otherwise he'd probably find himself 'unsuitable').

 

[In God We Trust]

well props to him for sharing his mistake with others. it takes a humble man to confess and come clean. at the same time i won't be inviting him to the range w me anytime soon.

The Internet is full of hard lessons to show new shooters. It's like when they show the car wrecks around prom time.

It's best to learn a lesson from someone else's mistake.

 

[Radtekk]

Clearly the only safe thing to do is carry the gun empty with the magazine safely in a pocket. Even better would be to keep the magazine empty and the bullets in a separate container, perhaps in a briefcase or backpack.

 

[drgrant]

The Internet is full of hard lessons to show new shooters. It's like when they show the car wrecks around prom time.

It's best to learn a lesson from someone else's mistake.

Back when I first started shooting I made it a point to look at ND pictures, as gory as they are... to get a true appreciation to how badly you can get ****ed if you **** up. Was also interesting to read accounts of how long it took for people to get function back, etc. Even in the "better" cases it took a lot of these guys a YEAR or more to get function from their limb back. Even having a typical pistol KB in your hands is patty cake easy mode stuff compared to someone giving themselves a bullet.

-Mike

 

[AHM]

Clearly the only safe thing to do is carry the gun empty with the magazine safely in a pocket. Even better would be to keep the magazine empty and the bullets in a separate container, perhaps in a briefcase or backpack.

Bah, half-measures.

Carry the ammunition components in various tacticool pockets and assemble them when faced with a threat.

It's been done before;
by those who don't merely live on the fringe,
but wore the fringe.

​

 

[nstassel]

Never put your hand in front of the muzzle unless you're checking the laser function.

 

[nstassel]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mMGPpVtO1vw

 

[fshalor]

I've posted this before, I'm sure, but am I the ONLY OCD anal-retentive dweeb who drops the mag and then runs the slide or bolt back and clears the firearm 3 times, every time, and THEN visually inspect the chamber before I will acknowledge that a firearm is 'safe'?

You are not alone. I was bitch slapped hard by a mentor of mine when I did this and didn't break visual contact before recheck one last time.

I still hear his voice in my head every time I touch a firearm even though he passed away almost a decade ago.



Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

 

[kmanick]

I've posted this before, I'm sure, but am I the ONLY OCD anal-retentive dweeb who drops the mag and then runs the slide or bolt back and clears the firearm 3 times, every time, and THEN visually inspect the chamber before I will acknowledge that a firearm is 'safe'?

Same here, I'm paranoid as hell when making sure a weapon is cleared or not.
I need to be absolutely sure

 

[MisterHappy]

Bah, half-measures.

Carry the ammunition components in various tacticool pockets and assemble them when faced with a threat.

It's been done before;
by those who don't merely live on the fringe,
but wore the fringe.

​

He should not be holding the ramrod that way - Don't cover the end with your hand, in case there's a spark hiding down the pipe.

Even Legends can screw it up. But, that 'hawk throw that splits the tree is awesome!

 

[Chet0729]

Ouch. He won't make that mistake again. At least he's not in Massachusetts (I assume, otherwise he'd probably find himself 'unsuitable').

Dont count on it. If he was careless enough to do it once he could very well do it again

 

[drgrant]

Dont count on it. If he was careless enough to do it once he could very well do it again

I've never heard of it happening twice. Usually an injury that bad that leaves an impression. If we were talking NDs without injury, then I'd be more apt to agree....

-Mike

 

[M1911]

How hard is it to not point a gun at yourself while you pull the trigger?

 

[Mike-Mike]

That's why I always carry with the first 4 rounds are snap caps... Then I use the Glock block behind the trigger..


Calibrate sarcasm meter now.

 

[AHM]

Never put your hand in front of the muzzle unless you're checking the laser function.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mMGPpVtO1vw

Laser was still screwed up, but the pistol passed the rest of the function check, sigh.

---

...

​

He should not be holding the ramrod that way - Don't cover the end with your hand, in case there's a spark hiding down the pipe.

Even Legends can screw it up. But, that 'hawk throw that splits the tree is awesome!

(Apologies in advance if someone here knows the following story all too well, but maybe telling it serves a purpose...)

One night at Tailgaters in Acton I met an old buck, with veteran hat, who was a leader in an artillery re-enactment company in Concord. He said that after an accident it was years before Concord would let them operate again. Seems that someone was maimed while ramming a cannon because the charge contacted a stray spark. In particular, the victim violated the cardinal rule to ram with a single hand, so he lost both hands at the wrist.


And yeah, I still dig Dan'l's tomahawk throw...

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How hard is it to not point a gun at yourself while you pull the trigger?

How hard is it not to pull the trigger while you're pointing a gun at yourself?