Safely chambering at home?

[suthdj]

That happened to my XD-S before I learned about the recall — on the day of the recall, when I was about to contact them to report it.

Yep... I shot the mattress with my XD-S and even triggered the recall, so that I could buy a new mattress.

So, the recall was my fault. Sorry.

So the discharge happened when you were about to call SA concerning the recall, but the call you did not make triggered the recall and the recall is your fault.

The recall happened after the discharge, but before I had a chance to report it on the following day.

Translated....He wanted his XD refrubbed AND a new mattress. some people just want it all.

[n5wd]

That's scary stuff. Time for a tempurpedic mattress now. Make the wife happy.

Tempurpedic with head/foot elevation and built-in massager.

Moral of the story: don't unload your EDC. If you're not going to use as your night gun, lock it into a small safe till you're ready to holster it again!

[Shoot_First]

That happened to my XD-S before I learned about the recall — on the day of the recall, when I was about to contact them to report it.

Yep... I shot the mattress with my XD-S and even triggered the recall, so that I could buy a new mattress.

So, the recall was my fault. Sorry.

So the discharge happened when you were about to call SA concerning the recall, but the call you did not make triggered the recall and the recall is your fault.

The recall happened after the discharge, but before I had a chance to report it on the following day.

So the recall was not as a result of your discharge as you claim. Doc, be patient... some actually read what you say! Let's move on. Your OP triggered my thought that I had done the same as you with my XDs .45, but likely mine did not have the defect or it had not yet manifest such by a discharge, Mine arrived at SA about the same time as yours.

[WinoVeritas]

I built a home bullet trap for chambering my CCW for that very reason - past experience with an semi-auto that occasionally fired when chambered. That pistol was stolen, but I never forgot the experience.

Cost to build was less than $25 and beats the heck out of replacing a mattress. 5 gal. bucket is filled with layers of sand and pea gravel, cut 3" hole in lid and bolted toilet neck flange. When chambering, stick pistol muzzle into neck and do the deed. So far no ND's. Use on average once a week, sometimes more. Fairly comfortable it will contain any round fired.

[ATDM]

I built a home bullet trap for chambering my CCW for that very reason - past experience with an semi-auto that occasionally fired when chambered. That pistol was stolen, but I never forgot the experience.

Cost to build was less than $25 and beats the heck out of replacing a mattress. 5 gal. bucket is filled with layers of sand and pea gravel, cut 3" hole in lid and bolted toilet neck flange. When chambering, stick pistol muzzle into neck and do the deed. So far no ND's. Use on average once a week, sometimes more. Fairly comfortable it will contain any round fired.

Occasinally fired, when chambered?! So, it happened more than once? What was the make of it and model? Did you try to fix it and it kept happening?

I don't think I'd use it again until it's fixed... Maybe, it was a blessing in disguise that it got stolen.

Thanks for the advice on the trap...

[WinoVeritas]

I built a home bullet trap for chambering my CCW for that very reason - past experience with an semi-auto that occasionally fired when chambered. That pistol was stolen, but I never forgot the experience.

Cost to build was less than $25 and beats the heck out of replacing a mattress. 5 gal. bucket is filled with layers of sand and pea gravel, cut 3" hole in lid and bolted toilet neck flange. When chambering, stick pistol muzzle into neck and do the deed. So far no ND's. Use on average once a week, sometimes more. Fairly comfortable it will contain any round fired.

Occasinally fired, when chambered?! So, it happened more than once? What was the make of it and model? Did you try to fix it and it kept happening?

I don't think I'd use it again until it's fixed... Maybe, it was a blessing in disguise that it got stolen.

Thanks for the advice on the trap...

Llama .380. Wasn't sorry to see it go bye bye.

[bagman45]

Scary stuff for sure, but come on man, buy the guns; it's just one little hole that, once covered by a new mattress pad and sheet, NOBODY could ever tell exists.....

[LAYGO]

Scary stuff for sure, but come on man, buy the guns; it's just one little hole that, once covered by a new mattress pad and sheet, NOBODY could ever tell exists.....

Yeah, what kind of mattress needs replacing just because of a lil hole? A waterbed?

Did it go thru the mattress or bounce around inside? It hit the floor? Find the bullet?

In all seriousness, pretty scary . . .

[ATDM]

Scary stuff for sure, but come on man, buy the guns; it's just one little hole that, once covered by a new mattress pad and sheet, NOBODY could ever tell exists.....

Yeah, what kind of mattress needs replacing just because of a lil hole? A waterbed?

Did it go thru the mattress or bounce around inside? It hit the floor? Find the bullet?

In all seriousness, pretty scary . . .

I think the mattress would still be usable for a few years, at least; but my wife is pretty unhappy about this whole thing for the principle of it. Although, she did calm down after a day or two...

I just want to prevent it in the future.

[ATDM]

All the funnies aside, I never have anyone in the room when I chamber a round... Been doing it for 30 years. I had never had any type of unintentional discharge until the XD-S incident. As I was chambering upstairs, one of my kids was in a room downstairs (!) and the other one was in the next room. I always point my gun away from living things (people and pets) — even away from people on another floor, because I am always aware of where they are in relation to me, and toward something that can absorb a bullet.

For 30 years I had been doing it this way on pure reflex, nary an incident... And my cautious ways paid off big time.

The mattress successfully absorbed the bullet (it's still in there), the kids were quite freaked out, and so was I! After 30 years of chambering without firing I didn't expect the loud noise that came out... Especially, inside my own house.

I don't wish this on any of you. After the incident, I made sure my kids were OK and explained to them what happened.

And the silver lining of this whole ordeal is that my kids are now even more cautious and understanding about ALL THE REDUNDANCIES of guns safety protocols and will follow them with even more fervor now.

The lesson here for all of us: you can NEVER be too careful or too redundant, when it comes to gun safety.

Never rush through your safety protocols and work them out to the point of automatism. I don't care, if someone has been dealing with guns for 1 week or for 60 years, unintentional discharge can occur, even if it's only once in a lifetime. And even once is one too many times for me.

I will continue to guide my slides, when chambering rounds at home. I had always done that until I was told by a gunsmith not to guide the slide of an XD-s to avoid a failure to feed... I had ALWAYS guided slides on ALL my guns. Come to think of it, I could have done it even with the XD-S, and then just slightly push the slide forward after the spring stopped.

Those of you, who have an XD-S know what I am talking about: the slide stops short about 1/8 of an inch from fully chambering a round (when the gun's empty, the slide returns all the way, even when guided). When I first bought it, I thought something was wrong with my XD-S and took it to my gunsmith for a consultation. He pulled out 5 other brand new XD-S models (both calibers) and the ALL had the same exact issues. Some of them stopped 1/4 of an inch short of being fully chambered, when he or I guided the slide.

That's when I started snapping it, when chambering even at home. The incident occurred two weeks after the purchase and on the eve of the recall date.

As a father of two kids and one on the way, I don't wish this on anyone.

[WinoVeritas]

All the funnies aside, I never have anyone in the room when I chamber a round... Been doing it for 30 years. I had never had any type of unintentional discharge until the XD-S incident. As I was chambering upstairs, one of my kids was in a room downstairs (!) and the other one was in the next room. I always point my gun away from living things (people and pets) — even away from people on another floor, because I am always aware of where they are in relation to me, and toward something that can absorb a bullet.

For 30 years I had been doing it this way on pure reflex, nary an incident... And my cautious ways paid off big time.

The mattress successfully absorbed the bullet (it's still in there), the kids were quite freaked out, and so was I! After 30 years of chambering without firing I didn't expect the loud noise that came out... Especially, inside my own house.

I don't wish this on any of you. After the incident, I made sure my kids were OK and explained to them what happened.

And the silver lining of this whole ordeal is that my kids are now even more cautious and understanding about ALL THE REDUNDANCIES of guns safety protocols and will follow them with even more fervor now.

The lesson here for all of us: you can NEVER be too careful or too redundant, when it comes to gun safety.

Never rush through your safety protocols and work them out to the point of automatism. I don't care, if someone has been dealing with guns for 1 week or for 60 years, unintentional discharge can occur, even if it's only once in a lifetime. And even once is one too many times for me.

I will continue to guide my slides, when chambering rounds at home. I had always done that until I was told by a gunsmith not to guide the slide of an XD-s to avoid a failure to feed... I had ALWAYS guided slides on ALL my guns. Come to think of it, I could have done it even with the XD-S, and then just slightly push the slide forward after the spring stopped.

Those of you, who have an XD-S know what I am talking about: the slide stops short about 1/8 of an inch from fully chambering a round (when the gun's empty, the slide returns all the way, even when guided). When I first bought it, I thought something was wrong with my XD-S and took it to my gunsmith for a consultation. He pulled out 5 other brand new XD-S models (both calibers) and the ALL had the same exact issues. Some of them stopped 1/4 of an inch short of being fully chambered, when he or I guided the slide.

That's when I started snapping it, when chambering even at home. The incident occurred two weeks after the purchase and on the eve of the recall date.

As a father of two kids and one on the way, I don't wish this on anyone.

Bears repeating because there is absolutely nothing funny about this incident - Murphy's Law is always lurking. Just thankful no one was hurt.

[Abraham]

You're being too hard on yourself.

[w squared]

You can by something like I have linked below but sometimes they are cost prohibitive. In the 90's when i was in the military we used cans full of sand. There is probably something on the web on how to build one. BTW, I leave my carry gun chambered all the time except when I need to tear it down for cleaning.
http://www.safedirection.com/

It's a good idea....but I think that their prices are out of line. That "Safe Direction" sleeve covering the ballistic material inside seems to bring the price all the way up to what a stand-alone Level III (rifle model) or Level IIIA (pistol model) chest plate would cost. "Safe Direction" can't honestly expect us to believe that it costs them the same amount to manufacture their product as it does to make a plate designed to be worn inside a vest.

[jmra]

To the OP-
You used the term "snapped" in reference to loading your XDs. Does this mean you locked the slide back, inserted the magazine, and released the slide using the slide release? Or do you mean pulling the slide all the way back and letting go of it? Or something else?

[ATDM]

To the OP-
You used the term "snapped" in reference to loading your XDs. Does this mean you locked the slide back, inserted the magazine, and released the slide using the slide release? Or do you mean pulling the slide all the way back and letting go of it? Or something else?

I don't remember how I did it on that specific occasion for sure, as I was taken by surprise by the discharge. I do it both ways usually, but more frequently I insert the magazine and pull the slide all the way back; then I release it without locking. That's what I usually do at the range on the first magazine load. Then, once it locks at the end of each load — I release from the locked position.

At home, I always guide the slides on all my guns, EXCEPT the XD-S due to the issue I described in one of my previous posts. I believe that, most likely, on that occasion I did NOT have it locked, but pulled it back all the way and then let go before holstering it. I have to admit, I was stunned and went to check on my kids first. Plus, the smell of the burning sheets and the mattress was seriously unpleasant. I don't know what material they use for the stuffing, but it makes your eyes burn and your throat really scratchy.

I hardly ever had to deal with handguns in the army in the early 1990's, so I didn't gain much experience with chambering rounds in handguns in a residential setting then. Pretty much all my handgun experience has been private. I behave very differently at home than at the range, since I ALWAYS point at the target, when chambering there. I have always been EXTRA careful and redundant in my gun safety protocols at home, and that's the reason I didn't have extensive damage or injuries. I often see people with their hands in the wrong place, when the chamber rounds. Some of them point upward at the wall in an indoor range. I never felt comfortable around careless people like that, but I don't know, how to correct them in a proper manner. Any suggestions?