whoops while clearing my gun after shooting a stage

[G-ManBart]

Yikes, that is a little scary! Thanks for being big enough to post it for everyone to learn from the experience.

I've seen habits like this creep into the routines of people who know better and it's generally pretty easy to avoid. At the end of a stage, I like to flip the safety on, bring the gun close to my body and let myself take a breath. If I want to, that's the time when I'll look at a target (you know the one you're dying to look at right?). Then I go back to my routine. Mag out, stuff it in a pocket. Gun to my side, flip the safety off, pull the slide back, watch the round come out, hold the gun up for the RO to look in the chamber, then look in the chamber myself, let the slide forward, point it into the ground/berm and drop the hammer, holster, flip the lock on and check the gun is secure. Only then will I move.

What I think happens is lots of people spend more time practicing by themselves than they do shooting matches. So, the pop the mag out, rack the slide, drop the hammer and pop the gun back in the holster.....that becomes their routine even though they don't realize it. Throw in the distractions after a stage and it's easy to forget a step and drop the hammer on a live round.

I think it's smart to practice as if you're shooting a stage....even say or mouth the RO's commands to yourself. Hands in start position, mouth "are you ready, standby" then hit the start button on the timer. Same thing for ULSC....say or mouth the commands as you perform the actions and you'll ingrain the proper sequence so it's hard to make a mistake. I like to just take my time and follow whatever pace the RO likes to use for ULSC so they have a chance to catch anything I do wrong. R,

[KyroWebs]

I felt a little awkward at a match last week because I told a friend that he "hammered down" directly into the wall about 1 foot away. I'm not an RO so I got a nasty glance, but rule #1 is always treat a gun like it is loaded. It's a pet peeve of mine to see someone hammer down randomly and not pay attention to what is in front of the muzzle, regardless if they have shown it is clear or not.

[Voodoo]

I found the clip, here it is...

Hard to tell the RO's reaction since the clip was cut short. but you can hear the extra "bang" at the end.

That range looks scary to me. Rock heaven. It looks like a ricochet nightmare. OP thanks for sharing the video of a screw up. Makes for a good "teaching moment."

[JThompson]

A little more drift here, but within what's been covered... I find a lot of RO do not look for the chamber clear. I'll drop a mag rack the slide grab the round, then I hold the slide back for them to have a peek. Usually they have already issued the hammer down and sometimes the holster command before I even show the chamber.... My point it the door swings both ways on this one.

JT

Edited June 27, 2009 by JThompson