I hope this is in the right forum area. I wanted to give a safety note based on my brothers experience recently. My brother has been shooting guns for 20 years or more, is very very safety conscious. But...He was unloading his Glock 19 so he could take it to the range. He kind of forgot to drop the mag, so he racked the slide to empty the pipe, then pulled the trigger. He had a negligent discharge that when though his window. It's ok, he lives in a very rural area so the only damage was replacing the window. He is totally stumped that he has unloaded his glock a million times safely every time but that one time. I certainly don't want to sound preachy, but if it can happen to him, it can certainly happen to anyone. Be safe everyone.
Unloading your gun.
- Thread starter Hunterfz6
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CigarGuy
Member
Revolvers are your friend?
JJEH
Member
I call that routine. Routine is a good thing, but it can kill you and others...
Glad nobody is hurt tho.
Glad nobody is hurt tho.
joespapa
Member
^^^^^^^this^^^^
What he said ^^^^
As a pilot, I have taken off hundreds of times, landed hundreds (these numbers match thank God!
) but I still always use a checklist to ready the aircraft for the next phase of flight. With a gun I don't use a checklist but I do go over it several times and still don't trust it so I go over it again. 
JJEH
Member
Right, that's a good thing. I also put my left hand over the extractor and turn the gun 180 degree while I rack the slide. In case there is a round in it will fall into my hand, not in the dirt...
fiasconva
Member
Sometimes the old brain just doesn't work the way it's supposed to. He's a lucky man.
bp231986
Member
Thats why you rack the slide several times. Im like a paranoid freak and rack my slide like its going out of style. I also use my eyes to see if a round is in the pipe. God gave us those eyes for several good reasons
Thats why you rack the slide several times. Im like a paranoid freak and rack my slide like its going out of style. I also use my eyes to see if a round is in the pipe. God gave us those eyes for several good reasons
Hell yeah, high velocity bullet at close range can really do some damage. I don't care if I pulled the mag out, I don't care if i can look inside and see no shiney, i'm always racking the slide just to be sure. Seem's a good way to have a nice long life to me.
McBear
Member
A National Guard Sergeant taught us boy scouts a bunch of years back to lock the slide back in place with mag out, step back a couple of steps point to ramp - mag - bullet [extracted] then step back and release the slide. I still do that 45 years later. Looks like I am blessing the gun. It works.
Been racking the slide and pulling the trigger for 20 years and you call that safe? Rack the slide 4 or 5 times to be sure the chamber is empty and you call that safe? Have you ever heard of a broken extractor? The SAFE way to be sure a chamber is empty is to LOOK!!!! Larry
sipowicz
Member
While running our dept. range, I have had no less than 3 individuals rack the slide, drop the mag, then turn towards me with a cocked gun...not fun at all.
Doug M.
Member
Why on earth unload it? It's this kind of useless administrative handling that causes many negligent discharges.
When I do it (which is not often). I first drop the mag, then lock the slide back. I can physically see the empty chamber and the floor through the grip where the mag USED to be. Then I know it's empty.
Just my routine.
Just my routine.
RandomMan
Member
Well, your brother violated all four rules that I can see.
First he violated rule one, which is treat the weapon like it is always unloaded. There is no UNLOADED with firearms, the ONLY time a firearm is safe from being fired is if its disassembled to a condition where the firing pin cannot strike a primer.
Second, he violated rule 2, he didn't keep his finger off the trigger until ready to fire. There was no reason to pull the trigger unless firing a gun, there never is. I've gotten into near fist fights with competition shooters, who believe "safe" is dropping the mag, racking the slide, and pulling the trigger. Why the heck you would pull the trigger? This is one of the reasons I dislike Glock firearms and the S&W Sigmas and ANY weapon that requires you to pull the trigger to disassemble the gun. There was no reason to pull that trigger.
Third, he did not point the weapon at a target he was willing to destroy. Thankfully, it was only a minor inconvenience to destroy his window, but it wasn't a target he wanted to destroy.
Fourth, he did not know his target and what was beyond it. Luckily no one was injured, but it could've happened.
I'd suggest something like the Safe Containment ballistic containment pad. Always a safe place to point a weapon if you MUST pull the trigger (like for instance to disassemble said Glock).
Remember, the four rules are redundant. If you remember rule ONE, you should remember rule TWO, which will prevent any extraneous perforation and violation of rules three and four.
-Rob
First he violated rule one, which is treat the weapon like it is always unloaded. There is no UNLOADED with firearms, the ONLY time a firearm is safe from being fired is if its disassembled to a condition where the firing pin cannot strike a primer.
Second, he violated rule 2, he didn't keep his finger off the trigger until ready to fire. There was no reason to pull the trigger unless firing a gun, there never is. I've gotten into near fist fights with competition shooters, who believe "safe" is dropping the mag, racking the slide, and pulling the trigger. Why the heck you would pull the trigger? This is one of the reasons I dislike Glock firearms and the S&W Sigmas and ANY weapon that requires you to pull the trigger to disassemble the gun. There was no reason to pull that trigger.
Third, he did not point the weapon at a target he was willing to destroy. Thankfully, it was only a minor inconvenience to destroy his window, but it wasn't a target he wanted to destroy.
Fourth, he did not know his target and what was beyond it. Luckily no one was injured, but it could've happened.
I'd suggest something like the Safe Containment ballistic containment pad. Always a safe place to point a weapon if you MUST pull the trigger (like for instance to disassemble said Glock).
Remember, the four rules are redundant. If you remember rule ONE, you should remember rule TWO, which will prevent any extraneous perforation and violation of rules three and four.
-Rob
Frank46
US Veteran
I can relate a story of an ad that actually happened. Our ship had sustained a nasty fire. All the weapons in the ship's armory had to be taken out and moved to temporary storage. Pistols, M14's, bar's, M1919 MG's and all the ammo and other goodies. I was one of many who helped. Anyhow they all had to be cleaned as they were starting to rust. One of the resident armorer's just finished cleaning a 45 and racked the slide back. Then let the slide go forward and dumped the mag. He said see its unloaded then pulled the trigger BOOM. About the only thing that saved either of us was the massive amount of insulation on the 4 decks and overhead. The armory was right above the #1 engine room. We both looked for the spent bullet but never found it. Guess someone found it when our ship was cut up for scrap some years later. I also wonder if they found more than one bullet. Frank
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