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I'm ashamed to say I've done it - once.
If you handle guns a lot - it may happen.
I just stay cognisant of the danger.
I'm more safe now than ever ... as one gets older ... you need to be safety aware IMHO
Remember "the most shot thing in the world are TV's"
:smt1099
I've been safely handling firearms since 1955. Last year, an LEO friend of mine and I were looking at some of my handguns. I was in the process of unloading one of them... gun pointed in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, dropped the magazine, went to rack the slide, and for whatever reason, lost control of the gun. It was a DA/SA striker-fired gun, so the short slide movement cocked it. I foolishly reacted by trying to catch the gun... instinct, I guess. I ended up with a 9mm entry and exit wound in my left hand, at point blank range. NO excuses, and yes, I learned from it, and yes, I was lucky. I post this only in the hope that it may save others from similar or worse injuries.
I have two pics of the results... Number 1 is a poor quality, cell phone pic at the hospital... number 2 was taken one month later.
I'll just post links to the pics as the first one is somewhat graphic
1. http://personal.swayzee.com/jayb/wound.jpg
2. http://personal.swayzee.com/jayb/wound2.jpg
Be safe.....
As a pilot, I wonder if this might have been caused by something that pilots can experience. COMPLACENCY! Pilots do many repetitive things so often, that it becomes almost second nature and they can do it without really thinking about it too much. That can lead to missing a single, vital step of a process. Pilots have "compensated" for this by making written checklists, for example, a checklist for takeoff procedures, landing procedures, emergency procedures, etc. for each specific aircraft type they fly. While it may sound silly to have a written checklist for unloading your guns, it does force you to complete each step in proper order.
Glad nobody was hurt!! I'd say, get up, dust off, and get back on that horse. You wouldn't sell your car over a fender bender would you? You don't quit walking after you slip and fall on some ice. Hang in there and regroup. :numbchuck:
Wow, thanks for posting USMCJ, that woke me up. Looks like they did a remarkable job fixing it, also looks like you healed remarkably, guess thankfully it didn't hit anything major in the hand. Looks definately like a SD hollow point wound.Quote:
Originally Posted by usmcj
The round was a 9mm Federal Hydro-shok. Nothing major, and no function shortcomings. I was extremely fortunate.
Same thing happened to me, but it went through the well and in the neighbors house! Police still handling the issue and confiscated the 1911. Feel very ashamed and like you I feel like selling the semi automatics because after that I just don't want to take a risk like that again.
Why does everyone feel the need to dry fire? When I head out for work I drop the mag and remove the one in the pipe. The weapon is then placed in the box in a hidden compartment. The wife sometimes drives the vehicle without me so I unload it to alleviate any hassle if she gets stopped. I never dry fire the weapon.
Is there a reason to dry fire it?
Heck... I've shot my bench twice...due to interference in the repair/cleaning process (wife) I suppose I'm not as young as I used to be. As long as you didn't hurt yourself or anything of value just learn from it.Quote:
Originally Posted by bojasmi
Well, no, there's no reason to dry-fire your pistol...unless you want to become a better shot than you are, that is.Quote:
Originally Posted by guardrail
Dry-fire practice is the best way to achieve superior trigger control, and superior trigger control results in superior accuracy.
The problem here is inattention and brain-fart, not dry-fire practice itself.
The problem in absolutely all negligent-discharge episodes always boils down to inattention and brain-fart.
Yeah. Obviously, it was all the semi-automatic pistol's fault.Quote:
Originally Posted by quaze
It couldn't possibly have been you.
Some feel the need to dry fire because they are used to dropping the hammer. Not everyone is used to the "new" guns that don't have the decocker or don't need to be decocked like a striker fire.
As to your second part I don't think he is blaming the gun but rather himself and instead of worrying about it he would rather remove the tool.
Rookie question because I know bupkis about Glocks, but can't you just rack the slide to clear the round in the chamber? I do it with all my semi-autos, drop the mag and rack the slide, one of my many OCD habits with firearms. I don't store any weapons loaded other than my immediate ccw which is under my control, but still check them when I take them out, even when loading. I want to be pointed downrange or grounded when I cycle the slide to load the weapon.
In spite of all these safeguards, I fully expect a visit from the screwup fairy any time. I've paid stupid tax in pretty much every other aspect of my life, no reason to believe firearms are any different.
The only proper ways to absolutely prove that the chamber of a gun is empty is to either leave the slide retracted and locked back, or to drop the hammer on an empty chamber. Using the decocker proves nothing, and, thus, is unsafe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarrde
If the striker remains cocked, and the slide is closed, how do you know that the chamber is empty?
And, yes, I know that all guns are to be treated as if they were loaded. But I also want to protect against a negligent discharge by some snoop who doesn't know what he is doing, or an uneducated child. I want to know absolutely that the gun is absolutely empty when I put it away.
...And, exactly, how is that not blaming the tool?Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarrde
Please explain.
I sure don't want this taken the wrong way, and I hope it's accepted in the spirit in which it's said.
I've been around firearms since age 8 or so. I served in the military and in LE for over 30 yrs. I've paid due diligence when around firearms at all times.
Having said the above, I've never had a accidental or negligent discharge of any kind.
I made this statement to more or less prove that it can be done. And yes, I have a lot of years ahead of me still, but the game plan isn't going to change.
My dad shot a hole in the middle of the dinning room table one time...
Another time, he shot a hole in the door frame of the shop.
Crap happens.
You learn to be safer. Nobody got hurt! I am sorry that you had this happen but it will happen to most of us sooner or later. We all just hope that it ends with a laugh and not a cry.
I will dry fire my glock when i don't want a round in the chamber. I like to keep the tension off the firing pin spring when a round is not chambered. I think striker fired guns do not usually have decockers. When cleaning and racking the slide , I think dry firing is the only way to uncock internal firing pin.Quote:
Originally Posted by guardrail