Things That Make You Go Oh Crap!

[Vlad]

This morning I got up early and went to shoot a local steel match. It was revo's and rimfire day so I dug out my old Ruger MK2 and I hurried out the door completly forgeting my Depends. Not that I usually need them, mind you.

Weather is great, sunny but cool, perfect day. The people are friendly, mostly regulars, the usual banter and good natured jokes. My shooting sucked, but who cares, it is a nice day, and I'm playing with guns. Steel is becoming my guilty pleasure, as I really don't care how I place and I just shoot it for fun.

The first stage goes by, with no troubles. At the second stage the joking continues, the fun is rolling. I'm RO'ing one of the regulars. He has only been shooting for about a year or two but he is always out and helpful and pleasent. He is shooting a S&W 41 with a 7 inch barrel. Odd lookind and for some reason he is shooting it out of a Limcat. I found it strange that it fit but I figured he must have shot it before and he seemed confident in his gun/holster cambo.

Around his third string he reloads and holsters and BOOM! HOLY CRAP!! I look down and perfectly centered between his two fit is a hole in the dirt and everyone on the squad is silent as a tomb. I give a quick look over the shooter and he is not bleeding from anywhere so I have him unload and show clear. When that is done I note that my toes are about 2ft from the whole in the ground too. I quietly count my own toes inside the shoes and confirm they correct number is still present and accounted for.

Later I found out that this was the first time he used the gun he borrowed from a squad mate for the match. He just slaped into the Limcat and it seemed to fit so he went with it. I didn't even bother to ask if he used the safety for any of his other strings, I didn't want to know.

And then we got to look at his pants:

Yup, thats the muzzle burn, and ... damn .. thats the grease mark as the bullet grazed his jeans.

I didn't even have to tell him his was DQ'ed. He did the cool thing and hung around for the rest of the match scoring for the rest of the squad. I don't have a real conclusion for this except that maybe we should never assume that ANYONE has a clue of what they are doing, but then you risk offending people. Sigh.

This is the SIXTH shooter that DQ'ed while I was running them in less 18 months. I'm starting to think I'm cursed. And I can't even say this one was the worst of the lot. That honor goes to the corrections officer who at our shotgun match last year finished his run and was unloading his pump gun buy pumping the rounds out one at a time .... but he forgat his finger on the trigger and a load of no. 6 shot impacted the ground between us less then a 12 inches from my foot.

Any of the older guys want to tell me how well Depends work? I'm tiered of having to bring spare boxers and pants to every match.

[Jasonub]

at last sunday's match one range officer was telling me that when he was ROing a cop, well its a police shoot to train them, he said load and make ready.

the response was "loaded na kanina pa sa bahay"(Its already loaded when i left the house).

they were in uniform btw

[Bubber]

This morning I got up early and went to shoot a local steel match. It was revo's and rimfire day so I dug out my old Ruger MK2 and I hurried out the door completly forgeting my Depends. Not that I usually need them, mind you.

Weather is great, sunny but cool, perfect day. The people are friendly, mostly regulars, the usual banter and good natured jokes. My shooting sucked, but who cares, it is a nice day, and I'm playing with guns. Steel is becoming my guilty pleasure, as I really don't care how I place and I just shoot it for fun.

The first stage goes by, with no troubles. At the second stage the joking continues, the fun is rolling. I'm RO'ing one of the regulars. He has only been shooting for about a year or two but he is always out and helpful and pleasent. He is shooting a S&W 41 with a 7 inch barrel. Odd lookind and for some reason he is shooting it out of a Limcat. I found it strange that it fit but I figured he must have shot it before and he seemed confident in his gun/holster cambo.

Around his third string he reloads and holsters and BOOM! HOLY CRAP!! I look down and perfectly centered between his two fit is a hole in the dirt and everyone on the squad is silent as a tomb. I give a quick look over the shooter and he is not bleeding from anywhere so I have him unload and show clear. When that is done I note that my toes are about 2ft from the whole in the ground too. I quietly count my own toes inside the shoes and confirm they correct number is still present and accounted for.

Later I found out that this was the first time he used the gun he borrowed from a squad mate for the match. He just slaped into the Limcat and it seemed to fit so he went with it. I didn't even bother to ask if he used the safety for any of his other strings, I didn't want to know.

And then we got to look at his pants:

Yup, thats the muzzle burn, and ... damn .. thats the grease mark as the bullet grazed his jeans.

I didn't even have to tell him his was DQ'ed. He did the cool thing and hung around for the rest of the match scoring for the rest of the squad. I don't have a real conclusion for this except that maybe we should never assume that ANYONE has a clue of what they are doing, but then you risk offending people. Sigh.

This is the SIXTH shooter that DQ'ed while I was running them in less 18 months. I'm starting to think I'm cursed. And I can't even say this one was the worst of the lot. That honor goes to the corrections officer who at our shotgun match last year finished his run and was unloading his pump gun buy pumping the rounds out one at a time .... but he forgat his finger on the trigger and a load of no. 6 shot impacted the ground between us less then a 12 inches from my foot.

Any of the older guys want to tell me how well Depends work? I'm tiered of having to bring spare boxers and pants to every match.

Vlad a similar incident happened years back. Safariland Holster (I believe) had interchangeable blocks to hold different model guns. (P9 and 1911). A friend of mine had purchased a used holster and was shooitng a 38 super 1911. At a match he was shooting and on the 3rd or 4th stage the gun discharged while in his holster as he was going for the draw. The bullet went through his foot. As we were getting him ready to go to the emergency room he said " I know I did not pull the trigger" After the match when I had time to look at this equipment for some reason I deciced to take the safety off while holstered and cocked (no round in the chamber or magazine in the gun) The hammer fell. The holster had a P9 block and was pushing against the trigger enough to set it off if the safety would be taken off prior to clearing the leather. I shared the information with the shooters at the match and found at least three others that did the same thing. He must of hit the safety on the way down form a surrender start.

[blackdragon]

Ivan

[ima45dv8]

At this weekend's A6 match, a shooter's gun went BANG during LAMR. For some reason I remained very clam. No fright or tension. Then I saw a wound in his left hand (palm, base of index finger, ahead of thumb).

THEN the adreneline hit! For a brief instant I thought he had shot himself in the hand.

A quick inspection showed it to be a gash from the front sight when the slide cycled. A flap of skin was covering almost the whole length of the FO insert.

I know this shooter well enough and have RO'd him enough to have serious doubts about this being a "finger in the trigger guard while loading" issue. I explained that I had to declare it a match DQ, and that he should go straight to the gunsmiths in the vendor area since it was most likely a broken gun-scenario.

He was very cool and even apologetic, but no apologies were necessary. I was just happy as hell he left the stage with all 10 fingers intact.

And yes, they did find a fault in the hammer/sear engagement and we were able to return both the shooter and his gun to the match.

[Carmoney]

A quick inspection showed it to be a gash from the front sight when the slide cycled. A flap of skin was covering almost the whole length of the FO insert.

Another excellent reason why the currently trendy technique of crossing the palm over the top and using the front serrations to run the slide should be strongly discouraged.

Using the slingshot method, this shooter's palm would have remained uninjured.

[XRe]

Using the slingshot method, this shooter's palm would have remained uninjured.

But his fingers might've gotten based by the rear sight or the slide....

The safest way, assuming one doesn't sweep oneself and does it correctly, is the "Todd Jarrett under the slide" grip on the front serrations. No body parts near moving parts of the gun... Doing that w/ a full power recoil spring is kind of tough, though - but w/ anything 12# or lighter, it's pretty darn doable...

[CenTX]

A quick inspection showed it to be a gash from the front sight when the slide cycled. A flap of skin was covering almost the whole length of the FO insert.

Another excellent reason why the currently trendy technique of crossing the palm over the top and using the front serrations to run the slide should be strongly discouraged.

Using the slingshot method, this shooter's palm would have remained uninjured.

I think it is more old school than trendy, it was very common in the late 70s/early 80s.

[carinab]

Carmoney....Saw the whole thing happen and he did "sling shot" it. The rear serrations were pinched between his thumb and index finger. If he made any mistake it was that his hand was above the pistol after racking the slide. The gun recoiled and the front site happened to catch the web of his left hand as the slide came back after the shot fired. Funny how it works that the gun recoils in the direction of least resistance. No injury is ever good but in this instance it did cause a malf so that the hammer couldn't follow a second time...or third...or fourth...

[ima45dv8]

Carmoney....Saw the whole thing happen and he did "sling shot" it. The rear serrations were pinched between his thumb and index finger. If he made any mistake it was that his hand was above the pistol after racking the slide. The gun recoiled and the front site happened to catch the web of his left hand as the slide came back after the shot fired. Funny how it works that the gun recoils in the direction of least resistance. No injury is ever good but in this instance it did cause a malf so that the hammer couldn't follow a second time...or third...or fourth...

I hadn't considered that. It could have gone full-auto.

And you're right -- he wasn't unsafe, his pistol was. I really don't to want to tend to any GSW's at a match and for an instant I thought we were going to have to hunt around in the mud for a finger.

[dajarrel]

Vlad,

We saw an almost identical incident at our Tuesday night shoot a couple of years ago. An unexperienced shooter was shooting a .22 in a holster that wasn't made for the gun. He was trying to get it out to start shooting and BANG. It looked like the bullet had gone in mid-thigh and come out over the knee. Later found out that the bullet had hit his keys and pushed a piece of the key into his leg but the bullet had not made the trip.

You are right.... unexpected discharges tend to make one want to soil thier BVD's

Lesson learned: Check everyone's gear, especially the new guys. Make sure it is safe.

dj