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I had a big wake up call today.

8K views 54 replies 37 participants last post by  Busa Dave 
#1 ·
Do the press checks people, or equivalent because it does matter. I normally keep a small .380 auto in one of the kitchen drawers just because. Well a couple of weeks ago we were having a visit by some relatives that have small children.

So prior to this I dutifully go around and demilitarize the house. At any rate I put all the guns that might be accessible to children away. So then time passes and I think that It is time to rearm the house, and proceed to do so. So the . 380 goes back into the kitchen drawer. Well today I decide that hey I have not shot this one in a while, so it is overdue. I grab it and decide that it will be my carry gun of the day. And that aside from accompanying me into town. I will get out of my truck on my return from town and attempt to dispatch the juice can that I keep sitting on one of my fence posts just for this reason.

Well low and behold I get out of my car to dispatch this juice can on the way home, and nothing. No Mama, No Papa. The gun is empty. So I started to think about this and then I remembered. Before I put the gun away in the safe prior to the visit, I emptied it into the gong outside of the shop.

Pay attention people! do the press check or whatever else works for you. But definitely do it. I am still kicking myself in the butt over this.
 
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#4 ·
Aint that the truth.



I am humbled. :eek:
 
#12 ·
I bet he's saying HIS guns are ALWAYS loaded, and chambered. Same around my house, and in my safe.

That's not to say that, like USMMguy, I might have shot at a snake, skunk, coyote, etc., and not reloaded immediately. It happens. Lots of times I will shoot at something, top off my mag with carry rounds from my spare, then look a couple days later and find that my spare hasn't been topped off yet.

I try to remedy this immediately, even to the point of keeping open boxes of carry ammo in the shop, truck, and around the house where they are handy for immediately replacing spent rounds wherever I may be. I also keep a LOT of loaded mags laying here and there, wherever I spend time. But sometimes life gets in the way, and I forget for a few days.

However, I do always perform a quick press check when I put a gun in a holster or pocket. Just to make sure.
 
#48 ·
I bet he's saying HIS guns are ALWAYS loaded, and chambered. Same around my house, and in my safe.

All the firearms in my safe are unloaded but I still check each and every one when I pull it out.

That being said I watched a video today where a man was forced to open his safe by some thugs and he had one loaded handgun in his safe and the thugs learned a hard lesson. That got me to thinking about loading one pistol and leaving it where I could get to it easily but having it placed so as not to be noticed by someone else. I need to put some thought into this.

jack
 
#10 ·
Here's one for stupid. I was in my bedroom and decided to use the bathroom. So I unholstered and took care of business. Then I left the house to run some errands. When I got home, I checked the holster. No pistol! Paranoid, I assumed I had done something stupid and left it somewhere while doing errands. But upon checking the nightstand, there it was. I was walking around with 34 rounds to throw at an attacker and a very threatening empty holster.

I feel mistakes are a part of learning. I'd just rather learn from other's mistakes. And it's best if the mistakes are the no harm kind.

Sent from my QTASUN1 using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
A close friend was out shopping for new clothes, he took off his holster with gun inside & laid it down in the dressing room. On his way to the check out, he noticed his EDC was missing...he went back to the dressing rooms and bumps into another customer with a funny look on his face, the other customer asks my buddy "did you lose something?" The other customer found his EDC laying on the seat inside of dressing room. Luckily the other customer was a gun guy & had the sense to keep any eye on my buddy's gun so a lil kid didn't end up with it. We had a long talk afterwards & it truly scared the hell outta my buddy.
 
#16 ·
The basic safety rule is "all guns are always loaded '.

The rule for the more advanced is "always KNOW the condition of your weapon, loaded or unloaded, and treat it as such"....
 
#18 ·
^^^this. My guns are always loaded unless you have cleared it yourself. I only pass off a loaded gun at the range. Anytime I pass off a gun when not at the range, the mag is removed, slide locked open, & muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Even once the gun is cleared & safe, I'm always mindful of the muzzle & never cover anything that I'm not willing to destroy.
I will chew your ass if you muzzle cover me or anyone else especially if the gun is unloaded.
Had a good friend point an unloaded & slide locked pistol at my chin, 4" from my face. He almost ended up with his ass beat. Now he shoots with other people & isnt allowed back to our private range.
 
#22 ·
.380 for the carry gun of the day.....

I am just not a fan of the ballistics of a small and short barreled .380. My minimal carry gun is nothing less than a 9mm with +P JHP ammo..... If the very rare circumstance happens that I need to defend my life with a handgun, it surely isn't going to be a .380..... I am pretty happy with my 1911 .38 super with +P+ ammo, or my STI Eagle .40 with bull barrel as my optimal carry gun choice.......and I always carry at least one spare mag for any carry gun I use.....
 
#23 ·
retirerod I don't assum sheet but your assuming things rod . When the handgun is empty as in last round fired and slide locked back the mag is removed , chamber checked check , slide eased forward mag and empty mag set next the pistol if done shooting non carry pistol . If its my carry handgun ??? It stays loaded or reloaded till home to clean and lube then reloaded and chambered again ..
 
#24 ·
One time at my private range a long time ago when I was younger, I had an accidental discharge. For some reason back then, when the gun was empty and the slide locked back I would release the slide into battery and dry fire it to decock the gun. That day, some how a round was left in the magazine when the slide locked back and when I released the slide into battery it loaded the chamber, when I went to dry fire it, it went off! That was a feeling I never want to feel again. I do things differently now, and check every gun over and over like I have OCD. Even if I'm 100% sure the gun is unloaded I will check everytime, same goes for if I think its loaded, always check its like second nature for me now, I do it without even thinking about it.
 
#27 ·
I don't wear a holster they all print. I use a MIC like cover on my Glock as the 1911 is way too large and prints like heck.
That said the only weapon unlocked and available is my EDC G43. All my other weapons going to the range are all loaded but not chambered in a locked safe room. When I have company the EDC is locked in the safe room as well as a lot of the company are little kids always curious and no matter what they would want to play with anything not locked up.

I love shooting my 1911's but the darn things all FS are too big to carry...
 
#29 · (Edited)
Oops!

Don't feel too bad OP - I did something just about in the same category as you a few months back. I always keep my EDC - a G17 in my nightstand with a loaded mag and empty chamber. I also keep my striker in the "fired" position(trigger visibly all the way to the rear) so I can tell at a glance whether or not there is a round in the chamber. Well, I was getting around to take my wife and daughter to the city one Saturday to do some shopping, go out to eat, and catch a movie. My routine is I unholster the gun, chamber a round from the magazine, and then pick up another from my little nick nack containter to top off the mag, reholster, and put on my gun. Well, everything went smooth that day and we had a great day but when I got home and was taking everything off my belt and out of my pockets I went to drop the mag to take the round out of the chamber and to my surprise - no mag:eek: It was laying on the bed right where I left it that morning. If I would have had to use it I would have only had one shot and then be reloading in order to stay in the fight! Needless to say, I felt like a fool. Picking my strategic locations in the eating joints and theatres, looking for the EXITS, and cover, having all of my bases covered and I did that:hrm:
 
#32 ·
I am 74 so pretty much everything that can go wrong... has. Plus, I'm Irish so Murphy rides around on my shoulder. Here's my "what the...?" moment. Taking a trip to the city
from the only sane place on earth (VT) so I took a Beretta 6.35mm 950 made in 1950. Circumstances dictated nothing larger. I test fired it before we left. All good. When we returned I stepped onto my porch (I shoot from my porch) to empty it before putting away.... CLICK. Broken firing pin. It must have broken (tip gone) when I fired the last test shot or when I loaded it (tip up bbl.). That's a tough one to foresee.
 
#33 ·
I've been shooting for over 40 years and consider myself a safe gun handler, regardless a friend of mine told me that the biggest majority of shooters will have some kind of snafu at some point. I had the perceived click that was a bang.
I had come in with my Glock 26 and had taken it off, I was about to put it into it's hiding spot, when for some reason I checked the chamber by pulling the trigger, sending a 9mm gold dot through my wall and into the framing.
I left the hole in the wall to remind me how careless I was and how much I need to pay attention when handling a firearm, I know, (Always consider them loaded).
I was lucky and learned from my mistake.
 
#35 ·
My .45 EDC is always loaded. My summer lightweight carry revolver is always loaded. One .45 in my gun safe is always loaded. All other long/short/rifles/shotguns/pistols are always unloaded. I know this because they are mine and my responsibility - but I always check. My index finger is always outside the trigger guard when handling any firearm. All unloaded firearms are always treated as loaded, even though they are mine. When the grandkids (or friends/visitors) are over everything not on my person is locked up - that would be the revolver.
 
#37 ·
I'm not sure what kind of 380 pistol you're referring to but that sucks. Not trying to criticize but even the lightest 380 has a noticeable weight difference empty versus loaded. In my opinion if it was a gun you were familiar shooting you would know the difference. This is why I don't carry anything I'm not familiar with.
 
#38 ·
I don't usually put my hand near the loud end but I believe in knowing what is going on with your guns. Of course I would never hand a loaded or unchecked gun to anyone other than to fire at the range. Still, when I had some twit a gun and they ask if it's loaded, I just tell them I'm not sure, put it to your head and pull the trigger. That usually prompts them to do the right thing and check it themselves. I certainly wouldn't take someone else's word for it.
 
#39 ·
Well a couple of weeks ago we were having a visit by some relatives that have small children.

So prior to this I dutifully go around and demilitarize the house. At any rate I put all the guns that might be accessible to children away
For me, you did do the most important thing. I'd much rather have a gun go "click" when it should have went "bang" than one that went "bang" when it should have went "click"-at least in the context of having kids around guns.

I appreciate the lesson you are reenforcing: make sure the gun is loaded when it needs be and unloaded when it needs be.
 
#43 · (Edited)
There is a place for the "press check". It likely originated in WWI, when U.S. soldiers armed with a 1911, and confronting the face of death in ultra-extreme stress situations, decided, on their own initiative, that it just might be a good idea to double-check that there was a round in the chamber.

When the "obvious" is life-critical, a double-check is a wise action. Reminds me that in aviation, normal protocol is for both the captain and co-pilot to verify that flaps are in the correct position prior to take-off ...yes, of course it's obvious, but excessive, non-attentive reliance on "the obvious" being as it should be has resulted in catastrophes on more than one occasion.

Thanks USMM guy for sharing. +1911.:)
 
#45 · (Edited)
Just to set the record straight.

Back when I was still sailing. Something like this never would have happened.
Not on my ship at any rate. Draw your own conclusions. Things happen, not the end of the world as absolutely nothing happened.
 
#46 ·
Some of us are lucky, in that we don't ever have ANY youngsters in the house. So wife and I are always locked and loaded with ALL of our weapons....nightstand....hollowed out book in the bookcase...computer desk drawer etc. And always pepper spray within reach in the car and the house.
 
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