Accidental Discharge... Poor Mattress

[keyframe]

Thank God I live by rule #1, "ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction."

Here's the story...

I always keep my guns loaded with a full magazine and an empty chamber while they are in the house. May not be the best tactically but anyway....

Last night I was taking pictures of my Sig 229 .357 to place along with my classified ad here at the forums. I took pictures of the left side the right side, and figured for the pictures sake I would put a magazine in the gun, and one in the magazine holster. MISTAKE: I put a loaded magazine in the gun. I know, not a good idea. In the process of taking the pictures, I decided to take a few with the action locked back. Immediately after those couple of pictures I went to put the gun up. In my inspection of the barrel, ( i always check the barrel before i close the action ) i saw no bullet chambered, and somehow missed the loaded magazine staring me in the face through the ejection port. As a second safety check, I always dry fire into something safe, most often the ground, in this case the mattress. When I pull the trigger for a dry fire, I assume a round is going to fire, however in the past 6 years of gun ownership, nothing ever has. *BOOM*,.... I just blew a hole in my mattress at point blank range, through the mattress, box spring, carpet, and a bit into the concrete. Scared the heck out of me, however if I hadn't have been safe in the way I handled the firearm, ( even though it went off ) something much worse could have happened.

Take my mistake as a lesson, don't ever become lackadaisical when practicing proper safety when handling firearms. Because I followed Rule #1, i lost a portion of my mattress instead of something else.

[bpet]

Pretty dumb, but good that no one was hurt. Rule #1 is a very good rule.

Guess anyone wanting to check out your Sig should ignore the feathers in the action and bring sanitizing wipes for the grips. Unless of course, you cleaned up the pistol after the AD.

Sorry for the accident but glad all is well.

Stay safe and continue to be extra careful. We need all of our members and all of their parts.

[keyframe]

HA! feathers are gone, and the gun is shiny and clean!

[flintknapper]

Pretty dumb, but good that no one was hurt. Rule #1 is a very good rule.

Guess anyone wanting to check out your Sig should ignore the feathers in the action and bring sanitizing wipes for the grips. Unless of course, you cleaned up the pistol after the AD.

Sorry for the accident but glad all is well.

Stay safe and continue to be extra careful. We need all of our members and all of their parts.

I don't think "extra careful" happened here...that I can see.


In fact, I don't "careful" even happened.

The proper/safe/correct/careful....way to "make safe" your SA weapon is to:

1. Remove the magazine!
2. Lock back the slide/action.
3. Make visual inspection of chamber.
4. Point in safe direction and operate slide/action several times.
5. Reinspect chamber to verify it is empty.
6. Lower slide/action into battery....point weapon in a safe direction and pull trigger/use decocker.
7. Reinsert mag. at this point only!

[KBCraig]

Thanks for the lesson, and for being brave enough to let us comment on it.

I always keep my guns loaded with a full magazine and an empty chamber while they are in the house.

I believe this was the beginning of your accident. You've conditioned yourself to believe your guns are unloaded (or at least have an empty chamber).

The proper/safe/correct/careful....way to "make safe" your SA weapon is to:

1. Remove the magazine!
2. Lock back the slide/action.
3. Make visual inspection of chamber.
4. Point in safe direction and operate slide/action several times.
5. Reinspect chamber to verify it is empty.
6. Lower slide/action into battery....point weapon in a safe direction and pull trigger/use decocker.
7. Reinsert mag. at this point only!

I disagree with 4, 5, and 7.

If you remove the source of ammunition and visually inspect the chamber, then there is no reason for 4 & 5. Rote repetition of unnecessary steps is a prime ingredient in many accidents.

There's no good reason to have a magazine in a gun that you've verified as unloaded and wish to remain in that state.

[keyframe]

I believe this was the beginning of your accident. You've conditioned yourself to believe your guns are unloaded (or at least have an empty chamber).

Very possible. I may need to re-evaluate my reasoning there. Thanks for the comment.

[flintknapper]

Thanks for the lesson, and for being brave enough to let us comment on it.

I always keep my guns loaded with a full magazine and an empty chamber while they are in the house.

I believe this was the beginning of your accident. You've conditioned yourself to believe your guns are unloaded (or at least have an empty chamber).

The proper/safe/correct/careful....way to "make safe" your SA weapon is to:

1. Remove the magazine!
2. Lock back the slide/action.
3. Make visual inspection of chamber.
4. Point in safe direction and operate slide/action several times.
5. Reinspect chamber to verify it is empty.
6. Lower slide/action into battery....point weapon in a safe direction and pull trigger/use decocker.
7. Reinsert mag. at this point only!

I disagree with 4, 5, and 7.

If you remove the source of ammunition and visually inspect the chamber, then there is no reason for 4 & 5. Rote repetition of unnecessary steps is a prime ingredient in many accidents.

There's no good reason to have a magazine in a gun that you've verified as unloaded and wish to remain in that state.

Technically, there is no reason for him to point it in a safe direction either (if he's done 1-3 right)...but we all like redundancies when it comes to firearms safety.

If I understand this gentleman's purpose for the weapon (home defense) he is keeping it accessible.. but without a round chambered (I do the same thing in my home). Hence the need to reinsert the mag.

Items 4&5 are both excellent habits to develop IMO. It pretty much insures you don't have a round in the chamber. But... this comes from a "press check junkie"...so do as you will with this advice.

[KBCraig]

Rote repetition of unnecessary steps is a prime ingredient in many accidents.

But... this comes from a "press check junkie"...so do as you will with this advice.

An excellent example.

I almost mentioned compulsive press-checking, but didn't want to complicate my response. I press-check once: right before I holster up for the day. For me it's not so much a check, as a confirmation. In my house, any gun that is likely to be used defensively isn't just treated as if it's loaded: it actually is loaded. That means four pistols and a shotgun that I never have to wonder about.

When you load and unload guns, you're never positive about their condition until you check. The obvious solution is to keep them in a consistent state, and develop confidence that you know what state they're in.

As an aside, one of my co-workers is notoriously scatter-brained. One wag describes him as being like a weedeater without a string: running 10,000 rpm and accomplishing nothing. The jokers in his (former) department knew how to take advantage of this for their own amusement. As they were all leaving out the front door for the day, one of them would inevitably ask, "Hey, did you check that lock on such-and-such?"

He would stop, sigh, and return to Control, check his keys out again, and trudge back down to his shop to make sure everything was locked up.

Seriously, this went on for years. At least 2-3 times a week he'd have to go back and check, because he couldn't keep a focused mind for the 2-3 minutes it would take to check every lock and then secure his shop with confidence.

Don't be that guy. Check once, set it in your mind that you've checked, and then proceed with confidence.

[dukalmighty]

You've stolen sleep from me for the last time,bang now i can get that sealy i been wanting.Seriously after i killed a tv years ago before i pull a trigger on an "unloaded" gun i have a flashback and check the chamber again

[flintknapper]

Rote repetition of unnecessary steps is a prime ingredient in many accidents.

But... this comes from a "press check junkie"...so do as you will with this advice.

An excellent example.

I almost mentioned compulsive press-checking, but didn't want to complicate my response. I press-check once: right before I holster up for the day. For me it's not so much a check, as a confirmation. In my house, any gun that is likely to be used defensively isn't just treated as if it's loaded: it actually is loaded. That means four pistols and a shotgun that I never have to wonder about.

When you load and unload guns, you're never positive about their condition until you check. The obvious solution is to keep them in a consistent state, and develop confidence that you know what state they're in.

As an aside, one of my co-workers is notoriously scatter-brained. One wag describes him as being like a weedeater without a string: running 10,000 rpm and accomplishing nothing. The jokers in his (former) department knew how to take advantage of this for their own amusement. As they were all leaving out the front door for the day, one of them would inevitably ask, "Hey, did you check that lock on such-and-such?"

He would stop, sigh, and return to Control, check his keys out again, and trudge back down to his shop to make sure everything was locked up.

Seriously, this went on for years. At least 2-3 times a week he'd have to go back and check, because he couldn't keep a focused mind for the 2-3 minutes it would take to check every lock and then secure his shop with confidence.

Don't be that guy. Check once, set it in your mind that you've checked, and then proceed with confidence.

Not to worry, I'm not "that guy".

I check my weapons as often as I feel necessary (which is more than most). But, I don't handle my weapon unnecessarily during the day. If circumstance permits, I do press check every time I load or unload the weapon, and sometimes if I remove it from the holster. Not to the point where it is committed to muscle memory and therefor a tactical hazard, but some folks consider me a "junkie".

I can honestly say... in almost 40 yrs. of shooting handguns, rifles and shotguns...I have NEVER had an accidental/negligent discharge. So....I'll have to continue with what works for me...since I kind of like my track record.

[57Coastie]

"Press check" = ?

Tks.

Jim

[LarryH]

"Press check" = Press the slide back just enough to see brass in the chamber.

[NcongruNt]

Pretty dumb, but good that no one was hurt. Rule #1 is a very good rule.

Guess anyone wanting to check out your Sig should ignore the feathers in the action and bring sanitizing wipes for the grips. Unless of course, you cleaned up the pistol after the AD.

Sorry for the accident but glad all is well.

Stay safe and continue to be extra careful. We need all of our members and all of their parts.

I don't think "extra careful" happened here...that I can see.


In fact, I don't "careful" even happened.

The proper/safe/correct/careful....way to "make safe" your SA weapon is to:

1. Remove the magazine!
2. Lock back the slide/action.
3. Make visual inspection of chamber.
4. Point in safe direction and operate slide/action several times.
5. Reinspect chamber to verify it is empty.
6. Lower slide/action into battery....point weapon in a safe direction and pull trigger/use decocker.
7. Reinsert mag. at this point only!

This won't work on the number of guns (such as the Hi-Power) that employ a magazine disconnect. As for me, I find it unnecessary to drop the hammer on a SA pistol, and simply store mine cocked and locked. The Hi-Power is my carry gun, and is only unloaded when at the range or during cleaning. Breakdown and reassembly is done with the hammer cocked , so there is no time when the hammer is down for me, except of course when it is actually being fired or during drills with snap caps. The only exception I can think of is when dropping the hammer is required for verifying clear during an IDPA competition. In this case I have to pull the used mag, verify empty, insert an empty mag, then drop the hammer. If I were to store it unloaded, I would remove the magazine, eject the chambered round, verify clear again, then lock the safety and put it away. This is the same procedure I use when handing the gun to someone so they can look at it. And of course, the 4 rules are employed at all times when handling any gun.

To me, dropping the hammer on a SA gun as a matter of habit for storage is an invitation for an AD, as seems to have happened here. It introduces more steps into a handling process, and simpler is generally better when handling firearms. Storing it cocked is not going to "weaken" the hammer spring as some tend to think, and if you're picking it up from storage, you should be checking it anyway (which will cock the hammer again), so I see no feasible reason to keep it in a hammer-down state for picking it up later.

[ELB]

*BOOM*,.... I just blew a hole in my mattress at point blank range, through the mattress, box spring, carpet, and a bit into the concrete.
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I use a one of these, just in case... saves on mattresses, book cases, wallboard, small animals/kids hiding under the bed, etc.

http://safedirection.com/ballisticcontainment.html

They also travel well, so I can always have a safe backstop in hotel, airport restroom, ...

elb

[lawrnk]

Ok, this has to be asked. What did your wife say?