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TexasCajun wrote:If you were going to dry fire a dozen or so times, why didn't you take the mag out before you started? You'd slide-lock after the first dry shot.

Glad nobody got hurt, though.

The guns I put in my range bag usually don't have a mag in them, I purposely do it that way. This time I didn't. The gun was cleared at home, dry fired and left with the trigger not reset. Right before putting the gun in the bag, I put the mag back into it, thinking to myself that I'll just take it out when I get there, and I forgot to.

Normally I'd just rack the slide back when I'm ready to dry fire there and go on with it....forgot the mag was in there when I racked slide.

Anyway, before I shoot, I always dry fire to make sure I'm not flinching before I even start. If I notice flinching while shooting, I empty, and dry fire a few times to correct behavior, then load back up and shoot some more.

I just had a brain fart this day. No matter what though, gun is always pointed in safe direction when my finger is on the trigger.

My lesson is when guns go in range bag, they go in empty, mag out, trigger pulled back with no exceptions. I always have a carry gun on my person that will not be part of shooting, so no need to have one in range bag "ready to go".

I decided to share a story from my last trip to the gun range. I dry fired a loaded gun and just like it's designed to...it went boom

Here's what happened. When I was home preparing to go, I packed up my range bag with the guns I was going to be shooting as well as the ammo and mags. I took my EDC G19 out of my IWB holster, dropped the mag and unloaded the chambered gold dot. I checked to make sure it was clear, and dry fired it. No problem. Then, I made made my first mistake. I put the loaded mag back into the gun thinking to myself I'd just take it out at the range (I always leave that mag loaded so I have it in the gun for the ride home)

When I got to the range and got all set up and pushed the target out to the 21' mark. I decided that I wanted to dry fire a dozen or so times before I started shooting. I pulled G19 out of range bag then racked the slide back to reset the trigger. I pointed the gun down range (thank God that I have this driven into my brain! ) and pulled the trigger..... off went one of my gold dots. Startled the hell out of me....but I instantly knew what just happened

I dropped mag, and cleared chamber, then took a step back. I tried to go forward with the dry firing but each time I flinched so bad that if I had another round chambered it probably would have skimmed the bottom of the target! Sheesh. I started using the tactical breathing I had just learned about (thanks Dave Grossman) to calm down, then proceeded with my dry firing.

My lesson from this is NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER put a loaded mag into any gun that I'm putting into my range bag. I always have a carry gun on my person when I'm at the range, this time was my G23, so the need to have a gun at the almost ready isn't there. From now on I'll just put the loaded mag into the front zipper part of my bag with the other empty mags.

So there's my story so that others may learn.