Safety First! kinda long!

[G.T.]

I really don't feel much like a soapbox kinda guy...but an earlier post made me think about some tough learned lessons.....In thinking back, some of the most unusual firearms accidents that I have witnessed, happened to some of the most experienced shooters I have ever known! I know that most all have learned right from a pup, all the basic stuff....but two areas that aren't usually addressed are, complacency and just plain probability......if you shoot hundereds of rounds, you'll have a few incidents in your life, that give you that electric shock reaction! If you shoot thousands of rounds a year, you'll probably go through them all! The whole idea of correct gun handling habits is just what is says...and that is, devoloping habits, that you pray to God you are doing, out of repetition, when the next thing you here is BANG! That brings me to the point that I want to convey to the forum, especially to the more inexperienced shooters.....When you have a pistol malfunction OF ANY TYPE, the first and most important thing to do is THINK! NOT ABOUT MALFUNCTIONS...but about SAFETY! I've had more guns pointed at me by confused shooters with a stove up weapon, then by all the hunters I've ever hunted with! While keeping the muzzle downrange or up, take out, or drop the mag, before you try to clear the gun....then, after waiting aprox. 30 seconds or so, carefully clear the chamber.....NOW think about malfunctions......think this sounds trite?...next time you have a malfunction, (especially when you don't expect it!) see where your brain goes first, then remember this little note....I would like to here some of the other forum members take on this and their brushes with trouble! till...later....G.T.

[Matt]

because all it takes is a split second lapse in judgment that can cause a serious accident.

I do a lot of Trap shooting and it makes me gringe everytime someone has a misfire! Usally within a second of hearing the firing pin go "click" they open the gun and eject the shell. It's as if no one has ever heard of a hang fire. I had one happen to me when I was a kid and the person instructing me made me keep the gun pointed down range and WAIT! After about 10 sec. it went off!!!! Scared the living S@#$% out of me. I could have killed some one if I had been "messing" with it trying to figure out why it didn't fire. Thank God for a wise instructor.

I had a .45 Auto go "pop" once that should have gone bang.

There was a bullet stuck in the barrel! Apparently the round

(third in the clip) had no powder in it. The primer pushed

the bullet into the barrel and cycled the action.

I borrowed a ram rod from a black powder shooter down the line and knocked the bullet out.

About 10 minutes later, the fellow two stalls over had his

S&W .44 mag blow up. No injuries but the top strap was stuck

in the ceiling.

I figured this was a good time to call it day.

[BILL]

Thanks G.T. Safety is the most important thing. You can't overstate it. Remember, not just shooting, but disassembly and tinkering with Lugers can be very dangerous also. Man, that mainspring can pack a wallop! I learned about safety glasses the hard way, a small spring cut my cornea and I had to wear a patch for a week. That was many years ago but it changed my behavior patterns for good.

[DAVID]

ADs or accidental discharges can happen to anyone. But if the first rule of gun handling is followed no one is hurt. Never point the gun at anyone or anything not to be shot.


When I was much younger (18). I was not old enought for a regular carry permit but the local sheriff gave me a handwritten pass to transport a pistol to and from the range.


I had borrowed a War time P38 and had an Astra 600. I got to the range and loaded the mag for the P 38 while sitting in my car. When I put the mag in the pistol I triped the safety the pistol discharge hitting my tranmission. I drove the car for another month before it died. The mechanic found bits of copper and lead in the transmisson fluid.


Second incident was about a year later had the Astra 600 at the range and was shooting the pistol. When I decided to stop I dropped the mag about 1/2 inched started to pull the slide back when it moved back the pistol went off. I had a another friend who carried one of these as a loaded car gun and he spent hours trying to tell me how I must have pulled the trigger. About 6 months later, he called me and appologized. It seems that he got his Astra out of the car to clean it. when he took the mag out, he pulled the slide back the pistol discarged into the living room floor. no one was hurt but his wife would not talk to him for a week.


I returned the P 38 to the owner and told him what had happened and to have pistol fixed. The Astra I took apart and threw into the river. Best David.

I have three Astras, a 400, 600, and a 300 (.380)

I just checked all three for the problem David described.

None of mine went "click!" but you can bet I won't be

leaving a round in the chamber or using the guns for anything but plinking.


Thanks David, you may have saved a life.


Moron

[Dok]

Many years ago I had a "reloading" accident. Apparently a cartridge had been reloaded and "double filled" with powder. I was at the range, and was using a manual bolt-action rifle. When this round went off, the explosion was was so intense it was frightening. Because it was a bolt-action the shell could not blow back, the slug just couldn't move fast enough to accommodate all that gas, so the gas exploded out of the rear of the cartridge, blew out the extractor, and jammed the the bolt with casing and extractor shrapnel, blew out the magazine, in fact blew it apart in the process, and cartridges went everywhere, luckily the rounds in the magazine escaped damage, but it generally traumatized me! That ended the use of reloads, but it could have been much worse, for I was lying on the ground with my eyes 6-7 inches away from from the extractor and bolt. I started using pistols after that, and staying away from reloads where possible.


Dok

[RET]

You can't be too careful: never be complacent and never take anything for granted. Note the number of accidents that occur with "unloaded" firearms. All firearms should be treated as loaded, and no mechanical safety mechanism should ever be trusted.


Safety depends on procedure and vigilance. I have had people move into the line of fire in hunting and plinking situations as well as point truly loaded firearms at me at supervised ranges. I am particularly annoyed when people use their scoped rifles in place of a spotting scope or binoculars. It is aggravating to look through my binoculars and see someone looking back at me in this manner.


Also, recognize and fix a problem, don't ignore it and hope it doesn't happen again. A friend accidently put a .45 round from his old and trusty 1911 into the otherwise nice hardwood floor in the living room of my vacation home.


He convinced himself (and me) that he had caused the discharge and took no corrective action. Months later we were plinking at a local sand pit when the pistol performed its trick again: I saw that he was holding the pistol pointed at the ground between and in front of us with his finger outside the trigger guard when it fired. Very stupid, but fortunately no damage was done.


As before, you can't be too careful!


Bob

[Mark M.]

Gruss Gott,Kinder!

That is a good round of posts!!You

can't be too long in stressing the safety factor!I've posted in regard to

the Aimco pistols and I know from experience wth my first "Mitchell Arms"

that there is no such thing as being too

careful!The trigger mechanism wasn't quite right on that particular gun(it has since been re-worked) and the gunsmith I was talking to started to turn around to tell me why he thought the gun had failed to strike,when it did just that.It was a full 10 second delay!!!Thank Gott,he hadn't turned all the way out of the range tube(it is an indoor range)!This man was a "professional!!

Not like me!Or was he!!!??


Tschuss! Mark M.

[G.T.]

Thanks Guys! For all the lessons! They are best learned now, the easy way, rather then the way we learned them! till...later...G.T.

[John Sabato]

War story---Well almost...


In 1975, My full time duty position was as Coach of the US Army Combat Pistol Team at Fort Gordon, GA.


In order to break up the monotony of training and to encourage others in the shooting sports I approached the Company Commander of the post Military Police company to send out his soldiers 5 at a time during the lunch hour and my team and I would provide pointers and instruction to guys whose job it was to be ARMED during the normal course of their duty, but who seldom had a chance to practice.


It only took one range session to realize that these soldiers were not more than just familiarized with their weapons and safety practices were not the norm in firearm handling. Their weapons were just like any other tool to them, because few if any of them ever had to draw a loaded weapon for a serious social purpose.


It became obvious that to prevent possible damage and injury during these volunteer sessions that I was going to have to get their attention to insure that my team's public relations were not damaged by an accidental discharge.


It became my practice to have a demonstration prior to the start of each session that would promote safety based on fear if for no other reason. With the help of my team we staged a demo that began with each visiting MP unloading and clearing his weapon. Their magazines and weapons were then placed on the shooting bench and I took the group out to within 7 feet of the rotating Silhouette targets. The targets were not facing us when we got there.


I explained to them that safety was my primary concern and training was secondary. I told them that people who handle weapons on a day to day basis believe that they are careful and seldom think that they are not. I then instucted them to inspect the accidental bullet hole that was put in my range's shooting bench by a know-it-all MP officer on the first session (without mentioning names).


I then told them that the .45 1911A1 on my hip in a standard open-topped holster was the only weapon authorized to be loaded on MY range at any time without direct instructions from me. The most common mistake made by people who shoot infrequently is to turn around with a loaded weapon in their hand when something is wrong. I told them that this would be a deadly mistake on MY range. The first person who turned around with a weapon in his hand would be a dead man, ...no exceptions. I could easily explain having to take down a dangerous person with a firearm. But explaining how I permitted an unsafe condition to exist on MY range was not something I was willing to let happen.


My instructions to my assistant coach were to turn the target frames to face us as soon as they heard laughter (which always happened at this point).


When the Silhouette target 7 feet in front of me turned to face me (unexpected by them, but anticipated by me) I would turn, draw, and empty my .45 into a about an 8" group on the chest area of the target, drop my magazine, reload, lock and holster my weapon, and then turn back and say to five very suprised faces "...are there any questions?"


There was NEVER a question from my professional visitors, and we NEVER had an accidental discharge after that.


This demo became standard practice for any visitor of any rank who came to shoot while I was coach on that range.


FEAR grabs your attention faster than anything else, and can be a powerful motivation to pay attention to what you are doing.


If YOU don't know fear...then you have never been present at an accidental discharge. They are more frightening than looking for the enemy behind the next door - because at least you know under those circumstances that somebody is SUPPOSED to be hurt!


Keep them muzzles pointed down range boys...and PAY ATTENTION!


regards,


John (not LOL)