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I wanted to post this quick story that happened to me last night in the hopes that the reader will always check twice.

I have had the privilege of going to some of the best courses for firearms training. Even with all that training, mistakes can and do happen.

I know many of you are aware of a well-known instructor recently launching a .357 magnum round accidentally while demo'ing a revolver.

I had a bunch of p320s at the range the other day and pulled them out to lube them up. I took out the new Xcarry compact and ejected the mag. Now, this gun had been to the range, I shot all my practice ammo and left my carry gun in my holster.

So there I am, mag out, I KNOW this thing is not loaded. Then a voice came out of thin air, it was a cullmination of many instructors voices, with Tom Givens being the loudest...

"Better make sure that fuckin pistol ain't loaded ya dumb ass"

We all know that when I racked the slide to "Visually and physically" inspect the chamber, the proverbial round flew forth from the chamber.

I will tell you I KNEW that gun was not loaded and yet, somehow, there it was.

Bottom line, remove the magazine, LOCK the chamber open, visually check the chamber, physically stick your finger in there, and then "fiddle fuck" with it.

Thank you for reading.


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Posts: 2505 | Location: FL | Registered: May 07, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
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quote:
Originally posted by leonidas211:
I know many of you are aware of a well-known instructor recently launching a .357 magnum round accidentally while demo'ing a revolver.
And who might that be?
 
Posts: 107227 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
quote:
Originally posted by leonidas211:
I know many of you are aware of a well-known instructor recently launching a .357 magnum round accidentally while demo'ing a revolver.
And who might that be?


I did not want to use his name. Shit happens. I was more illustrating that even the most well-seasoned people make mistakes.


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Posts: 2505 | Location: FL | Registered: May 07, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
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If you don't mind, email it to me, please.
 
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Sent


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Posts: 2505 | Location: FL | Registered: May 07, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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This is something that can’t ever be expressed enough. Anytime I pick up any gun to examine I ensure it does not have a magazine in it and then rack the slide 3-4 times. I know the slide only needs to be racked once, but I guess 3-4 makes me feel better. I too have had a round pop out before when I “knew” there was not a round in the chamber. Even if someone clears a gun before handing it to me, I clear it again myself.




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Posts: 8657 | Location: The Lone Star State | Registered: July 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Measure twice...




Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

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Posts: 3757 | Location: Wichita, Kansas | Registered: March 27, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Thanks for the reminder. I take every story like yours very seriously and to heart. I know how easy it is to get complacent.
 
Posts: 10822 | Registered: January 04, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I had a close encounter of the wrong time, decades ago when as a teenager. The gun was in my hands, and someone begged me to check that it was not loaded. It was, and I had almost shot the family dog. So easy to make a mistake, always, always check.


-c1steve
 
Posts: 4039 | Location: West coast | Registered: March 31, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
rack the slide 3-4 times.

I know it drives some people crazy, but the 3 or 4 times thing is so that if you have an empty chamber, with a loaded magazine, if you only rack it once, you're loading the weapon, if you rack it 3-4 times, you will load, and unload the chamber, and your dumbass alarm should go off.
It's very easy to pull a slide, or bolt back and not pull far enough, or with enough force to eject the live round. For some human reason, doing something 3 times in rapid succession usually makes people apply more force.



"Ninja kick the damn rabbit"
 
Posts: 4609 | Location: Oklahoma | Registered: October 11, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ubique
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quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
quote:
rack the slide 3-4 times.

I know it drives some people crazy, but the 3 or 4 times thing is so that if you have an empty chamber, with a loaded magazine, if you only rack it once, you're loading the weapon, if you rack it 3-4 times, you will load, and unload the chamber, and your dumbass alarm should go off.
It's very easy to pull a slide, or bolt back and not pull far enough, or with enough force to eject the live round. For some human reason, doing something 3 times in rapid succession usually makes people apply more force.

Sorry but it is just wrong. Lock the slide back and physically inspect feedpath and chamber. Racking the slide multiple times is a recipe for disaster unless the end result is slide lock and in that case why waste the time and effort just lock it back. I saw a fellow do a « cool » unload with lots of speed racking and he still managed to end up with a live round in the chamber and dropped the hammer shooting his shotgun through the stock.


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Posts: 1492 | Location: Alberta | Registered: July 06, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I will admit I did this not too long ago, and my son was the one who called me "the dumbass".

Luckily I had taught him well enough. Firearms are always pointed down range, when not in use, they are on the bench pointed down range, mag out, weapon on safe if applicable. You don't handle them, until you are ready to fire.

We usually load 5 rounds at a time. For whatever reason, either I loaded 6 or shot 4, I left a round in the chamber.

My son goes up, inserts a mag, racks the slide, and ejects a round. His response was something like, "Hey dad, you dumbass".

It happens, but if you practice proper safety protocols, it can just be a "dumbass" moment, instead of something more significant.

Take it as a learning moment, and keep learning from that moment. When I take some of my son's friends, most whom have never shot before, I tell them check to ensure it's not loaded TWICE. Even if you just were handed a weapon by someone who cleared it, check it again TWICE.


-----------------
I apologize now...
 
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Thanks for the reminder


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Posts: 1088 | Location: TN | Registered: February 23, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Lock the slide back

quote:
just lock it back

Walther PPK. or any other number of weapons that don't have a way to lock the slide or chamber open/back, even with a empty magazine (FN FNC etc).



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Posts: 4609 | Location: Oklahoma | Registered: October 11, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I prefer to open slide and inspect...twice.
A bad rim on a round or goofy extractor can allow a round to stay in the chamber.
My fingers are too big to feel a rnd in a chamber unless it’s a shotgun.


--------
After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box.
 
Posts: 3771 | Location: Central AZ | Registered: October 26, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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kept me from goin Insane!
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
quote:
Lock the slide back

quote:
just lock it back

Walther PPK. or any other number of weapons that don't have a way to lock the slide or chamber open/back, even with a empty magazine (FN FNC etc).


Many years ago I had a ND it was with a ppk. I know I must have pulled the trigger. however, I can't recall actually pulling the trigger.


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A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today, who no longer understand that fact.
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Posts: 2179 | Location: Lyndon,KS | Registered: November 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Age Quod Agis
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quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin:
This is something that can’t ever be expressed enough. Anytime I pick up any gun to examine I ensure it does not have a magazine in it and then rack the slide 3-4 times. I know the slide only needs to be racked once, but I guess 3-4 makes me feel better. I too have had a round pop out before when I “knew” there was not a round in the chamber. Even if someone clears a gun before handing it to me, I clear it again myself.


This is exactly me. And the reason I do it, is that in a moment of confusion, I racked the slide BEFORE dropping the mag, and then when I racked again, I ejected a round. Two more strokes with no rounds, and the slide locked back, and I felt better about the world, but I am religious about this now, because it works as an added check against a previous mistake.



"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
 
Posts: 12741 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
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quote:
Originally posted by TSE:
quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
quote:
rack the slide 3-4 times.

I know it drives some people crazy, but the 3 or 4 times thing is so that if you have an empty chamber, with a loaded magazine, if you only rack it once, you're loading the weapon, if you rack it 3-4 times, you will load, and unload the chamber, and your dumbass alarm should go off.
It's very easy to pull a slide, or bolt back and not pull far enough, or with enough force to eject the live round. For some human reason, doing something 3 times in rapid succession usually makes people apply more force.

Sorry but it is just wrong. Lock the slide back and physically inspect feedpath and chamber. Racking the slide multiple times is a recipe for disaster unless the end result is slide lock and in that case why waste the time and effort just lock it back. I saw a fellow do a « cool » unload with lots of speed racking and he still managed to end up with a live round in the chamber and dropped the hammer shooting his shotgun through the stock.


This is the way it is done. Mag out, lock to rear, visually and physically check the chamber.




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Posts: 15497 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of StorminNormin
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quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
quote:
rack the slide 3-4 times.

I know it drives some people crazy, but the 3 or 4 times thing is so that if you have an empty chamber, with a loaded magazine, if you only rack it once, you're loading the weapon, if you rack it 3-4 times, you will load, and unload the chamber, and your dumbass alarm should go off.
It's very easy to pull a slide, or bolt back and not pull far enough, or with enough force to eject the live round. For some human reason, doing something 3 times in rapid succession usually makes people apply more force.


This is why for me the FIRST step is to ensure there is not a magazine in the firearm and then I will rack the slide 3-4 times. Of course the next step is to lock the slide and inspect the chamber. I would never just rack the slide several times with a loaded magazine inserted and assume the firearm is clear, but if I did then my dumbass alarm better go off as you said.




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Posts: 8657 | Location: The Lone Star State | Registered: July 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of StorminNormin
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by TSE:
quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
quote:
rack the slide 3-4 times.

I know it drives some people crazy, but the 3 or 4 times thing is so that if you have an empty chamber, with a loaded magazine, if you only rack it once, you're loading the weapon, if you rack it 3-4 times, you will load, and unload the chamber, and your dumbass alarm should go off.
It's very easy to pull a slide, or bolt back and not pull far enough, or with enough force to eject the live round. For some human reason, doing something 3 times in rapid succession usually makes people apply more force.

Sorry but it is just wrong. Lock the slide back and physically inspect feedpath and chamber. Racking the slide multiple times is a recipe for disaster unless the end result is slide lock and in that case why waste the time and effort just lock it back. I saw a fellow do a « cool » unload with lots of speed racking and he still managed to end up with a live round in the chamber and dropped the hammer shooting his shotgun through the stock.


How is racking a slide multiple times just to triple check a “recipe for disaster?” I would rather verify more than once just to be sure.




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Posts: 8657 | Location: The Lone Star State | Registered: July 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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