Nooooo!

[INccwchris]

I had one today, a ND at the outdoor range we use for company training. I foolishly did not check my mag well prior to closing the slide for some dry run through of scenarios. I pointed my weapon down at the ground and pulled the trigger to decock it. BOOM. Me and my LT looked at each other in horror and I immediately re-holstered and put my hands up to wait for the RSO. He came over, asked what the blank happened. I explained and admitted fault and I learned a very valuable lesson about checking my mag well before closing the slide on an "empty chamber" I was so embarrassed and I am still kicking myself for that rookie mistake. BTW, we had not yet donned hearing protection after our break so our hearing was ringing for a few minutes afterwards. After we dissected what I did wrong, we continued shooting and i shot 46 out of 50. I feel so disheartened in what I did. However, I am glad I followed the safety rule of pointing it in a safe direction to decock and shot into the ground instead of shooting my partner by accident. We have also instituted a chamber flag rule for dry practice drills

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Shackleton]

Ouch! Lesson learned the easiest of the hard ways sir.

I was at an outdoor range a few weekends ago and a LEO friend of mine went to de-cock his 1911 with one hand, hammer slipped, gun went off into the ground. No Range Officers at this range (owned by a friend) but man have we been laying into him since it happened. I never knew someone could turn so red!

[gilraen]

Ah, you taught me something. Have an ND at a range, raise your hands.

Thank you for the reminder. The four rules saved somebody's backside again. :-)

[SIXTO]

What kind of gun were you shooting?

[Elk Hunter]

The hard thing about humility is we get it through humiliation!

[DMan]

There is a reason the rules are redundant! A friend has a hole in his kitchen table from a .357. He emptied the revolver and cleaned it completely and placed the gun on the table propped up on something so the muzzle was pointed down, with the cylinder open. He picked up all the rounds in his hand when he accidental dropped them all and the fell on the table and the floorl. He picked up the gun, closed the cylinder and dropped the hammer.

The only thing we can figure is that when he dropped all the rounds out of his hands, one magically fell into the chamber.

He has a permanent reminder of the mistake. He now double and triple checks every chamber before closing it. He then reopens, checks again and closes. Its funny to watch him, but sometimes hard reminders work the best.

I am very paranoid myself, and I pray it always pays off.

[OPFOR]

The thing I'm most concerned with here - and there's a lot to be concerned with - is why you "pulled the trigger" to de-cock a gun. If it was a double action, it almost certainly has a decock lever for this. If it's a single action, why wasn't your thumb easing the hammer down?

"Pulling the trigger" to check/verify that a weapon is empty is one of the dumbest - and most common - things that I see on a regular basis.

[Guantes]

I don't like striker fired guns (presumption).

[OPFOR]

I don't like striker fired guns (presumption).

Hm, a rather decent presumtion, methinks. I do like striker fired guns (well, some of them anyway), but I don't like the practice of firing them to "decock" them. I suppose if you must do it, having the weapon pointed in a safe direction is a good start, but fer cryin' out load check, recheck, and check again to make sure that the weapon is empty. And why insert a magazine at all if you are done shooting and are "decocking" it for storage?

[cammo]

Thanks for sharing.

It's easy to listen to those basic gun rules and think "yeah yeah yeah" but it puts it in fresh perspective when I am reminded that humans forget things and accidents (of the mind and failure of procedure) happen all the time.

[MattInFla]

"Pulling the trigger" to check/verify that a weapon is empty is one of the dumbest - and most common - things that I see on a regular basis.

We do it all the time in IDPA. Of course, it is under RO supervision, with eyes and ears on, and into the berm.

Matt

[OPFOR]

We do it all the time in IDPA. Of course, it is under RO supervision, with eyes and ears on, and into the berm.

Matt

Ok, I'll ask. Why? Why does a striker fired gun need to be "decocked" during the course of normal use? It's going to be at least partially cocked (and will, in any case, be ready to fire by pulling the trigger) if and when you load it again, so what purpose have you served? I know they do it at ranges (and not just in competitions), I just honestly don't see the need for it. Visually and physically inspect the chamber and magazine well. If both are empty, the weapon cannot fire. If both AREN'T empty, you shouldn't be pulling the trigger, berm or no berm.

[DaveJay]

I have learned the easy way (reading these threads) that when I need to decock my Glock for any reason, remove the magazine, lock open the slide, and stick a pipe cleaner in the receiver...

After successfully pulling that pipe cleaner completely out the front end of the barrel, then, only then, close the slide and pull the trigger...

[INccwchris]

It was a Springfield XDM, and i was decocking it because i did not want my gun dry firing for tueller drills

[jughead2]

the people on this board all seem more knowledgeable than this old man. i always de-cock with thumb under the hammer. pull and release trigger.thumb catches hammer. remove thumb and let hammer fall. none of the pistols i have will fire if done this way. a simple test is with pencil in the barrel. if pencil doesnt move when hammer drops method is safe.