Safely chambering at home?

[ATDM]

My gun fired while chambering a round. The issue is being fixed. However, no one can guarantee that something like this will never happen again.

I was preparing to leave the house with my carry gun last month, put in the magazine, chambered the round, and... shot my mattress — the only safe place for me to point at, when I chamber a round at home. My wife is quite angry about it. The gun was her 15th anniversary gift to me.

Any suggestions for the future regarding chambering a round at home?

What do y'all do, when you have to chamber a round at home?

I thought of doing it outdoors, but then (if it ever happens again) I could run into legal problems discharging a weapon in a residential area. Since there is a tiny chance of it ever happening again, I am not too worried, but still would prefer not to destroy a $2,000 mattress in the future!

[Middle Age Russ]

Sorry to hear of this happening but glad no one was hurt except for the mattress. Can you elaborate about the cause of the discharge? What is being repaired on the firearm?

[louisf1]

Do you know what went wrong that caused the weapon to fire? I would suggest you look for the cause and take corrective measures not to repeat. I have never had a weapon fire when chambering a round. If at all possible don't clear the weapon unless necessary. This will alleviate the need to be chambering thus lessening the chance of a negligent discharge. If the round fired because of a fault with the weapon then the weapon should be repaired prior to carrying it. All my thoughts and nothing more.

[mrvmax]

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/

[Middle Age Russ]

I leave my carry gun chambered all the time except when I need to tear it down for cleaning.

My carry gun is always loaded and chambered, except for when it is cleared for cleaning/inspection or when swapping out for range ammo.

[ATDM]

Sorry to hear of this happening but glad no one was hurt except for the mattress. Can you elaborate about the cause of the discharge? What is being repaired on the firearm?

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. Although this post is not about that gun specifically, I just wanted to get some suggestions as to the general idea of chambering safely at home.

I own a two story house (I holster and conceal my gun upstairs) and couldn't think of a safer place to point the gun at than the mattress, when chambering (as I have been doing all along). I usually guide the slide, when I chamber at home, but with the XD-S I was told by the SA and experts not to, since that may cause failure to feed. So I snapped it.

First off, I never actually expected it to fire (it had never happened to me in 30 years of using handguns; no accidents EVER happened to me in 30 years), but I have ALWAYS handled my guns with extreme caution, following instinctively and automatically all the safety protocols that are deeply ingrained in me. And IT PAID OFF. No injuries

It just goes to show you that there is a chance of something happening, even if you do everything right for 30 years. The gun had a flaw. I have always been tempted to point it at the floor, but it would have gone right through to the first floor, causing damage.

I am still not happy about having to get another mattress soon. My wife wants a $3,000 mattress. I could have used that money for five good new guns. But, like you said, at least no one was injured.

I don't think it will ever happen again, but you never know for sure. So, I am looking for advice as to what to point the gun at when chambering at home.

[Texsquatch]

The Yankee Marshal has a good video of his inexpensive & effective bucket. I believe he has another video where he actually test fires different rounds into the bucket.
[youtube][/youtube]

[suthdj]

Ya ya likely excuse blame the gun..... Just admit it you want a new mattress.

[ATDM]

Ya ya likely excuse blame the gun..... Just admit it you want a new mattress.

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.

[krieghoff]

Ya ya likely excuse blame the gun..... Just admit it you want a new mattress.

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 you are the varmit responsible for both my XDs's having to take a road trip!!

[ATDM]

Ya ya likely excuse blame the gun..... Just admit it you want a new mattress.

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 you are the varmit responsible for both my XDs's having to take a road trip!!

You got it... Anything to make my wife happy!

[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.

[rotor]

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

[ATDM]

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.

[gregthehand]

If you're that concerned about it go on Ebay and buy some old body armor. It goes for cheap once it's over five years old because it supposedly loses its effectiveness. Put it in the bottom of a five gallon bucket and load your pistol through a hole cut in the top. It may be slightly less effective body armor but if you use the front and back piece there is no way a bullet will pass through.