Shot my bedroom wall today - results were not impressive...

[HKFan9]

Glad to hear your OK.... Please be safe next time... and every time... but I have a feeling you already taught yourself that lesson.

That being said.... I work with guns every single day, I feel like my reaction to a man holding a gun and walking towards me has definitely been affected because it almost feels normal.

I ALWAYS clear a weapon.... because sometimes customers.... do not remember to. I had a co-worker a split second away from putting a 12ga slug through our ceiling... luckily.. by his own admission, he hesitated to dry fire the trigger... and checked the chamber.

[gearhounds]

Had a friend MANY moons ago who "cleared" his Tokarov 9mm by jacking the rounds until he thought he had enough in the pile. His girlfriend told him to please stop messing around, and he put the thing to his head and said "it's empty". After a pregnant pause, he decided to aim at a lazy boy in the living room to prove his knowkedge; BANG! The round went through the floor, the downstairs apartment floor and finally lodged in the dining room table in the second apt down.

Learn from your mistake, and carry the knowledge to the grave.

[chasep255]

When I was younger I used to play a lot of airsoft. You should see my bedroom walls, covered in marks from NDs. I was actually testing my new chronograph the other day with an airsoft gun and had an ND. I usually am a bit more careful with real guns though (and I probably should be more with airsoft). I have a feeling though that it will happen to me with a real gun one day but I will try and hope that it never happens.

[ice monkey]

Wow gearhounds !! Now your buddy has some deep penitrating ammo there lol!!

[danez71]

The round, a Winchester Ranger SXT 147gr.,

I just found it odd that a bullet that is reported to have excellent barrier penetrating characteristics didn't seem to perform the way I would have thought based on what I've read and seen.

I dont think that round is touted as having excellent barrier pentration....?


Welcome.... please shrug off the holier than thou judgmental people.

We all make mistakes.. they are a fact of life. The goal is not to kill or die making them.

[Terry A]

Today, 07:38 PM #1
hulsey76
Junior Member


Join Date: April 12, 2011
Posts: 3 Shot my bedroom wall today - results were not impressive...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK...I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post. Let me begin by saying hello to everyone who may read this. My name is Michael, and I'm a firearms enthusiast (addict).

So here's what happened that inspired me joining a forum:

I often dry-fire my pistols to train trigger control. I often do this indoors, in my bedroom. Today, I snatched up my Sig Pro 2022, lined up my front sight, and pressed the trigger like I always do. BLAM! What the ???? I didn't safety check the weapon. There was a live round in the chamber. I feel S.T.U.P.I.D.

The round, a Winchester Ranger SXT 147gr., went through a bottle of water, a glass bottle of my wife's perfume, and hit the wall paneling. I immediately went into the hall to see the exit hole, wondering how much drywall work I would be doing tomorrow. No exit. I inspected the point of impact more closely and found the taloned jacket lying on the dresser. The bullet appears to have disintegrated when it struck the pine paneling. The paneling looks to be about 3/8 thick, but it's solid pine, not laminate.

The good news is that there is no damage to my wall. The bad news is that I have trusted this ammo to save my life for over a year now. Does this seem like less than inspiring performance from this round to anyone here? Now I have to explain this to my wife......

[This is a repost of a thread I started at Handgunforum.net. I wanted to get opinions from the widest variety of sources, so I am posting here too.]

First, welcome to these hallowed boards!
Second, your first post started with a bang! (Sorry, couldn't resist the softball)

Here's a great rule of thumb to always remember.....

In most houses, there's no "cover", only concealment. Cover being something you can hide behind that also is capable of PROTECTING you.
Concealment being something that you can hide behind but it won't afford you ballistic protection.

I recently retired with over 29 years in law enforcement. I attended every certified SWAT, CERT, Officer Survival school or class available. I can't even guess how many thousands of rounds we've shot. Besides regular range work, we've done A LOT of shooting inside condemned buildings to see exactly what kind of penetration, if any, various rounds had.

To sum it all up- Don't TRUST even a stove or refrigerater to always offer you absoulute protection, because even these objects can be shot thru. Inside a man made structure, there's only concealment. Don't TRUST anything inside a home to be 100% "cover".

How is that related to your original question? Just because that one round that was fired didn't drill a hole clean to China, don't be so shocked. You can't judge what that particular round did or how it performed or "under-performed" just on one round being fired. Get some lumber or other materials, find a safe place to shoot and do your own tests on what your choice of round can or can not do.

And if I may offer you an opinion, it's that Winchester makes some great ammo. It was not "less then inspired performance", as you wrote. You don't want a lot of penetration in your home anyway. If you did, you'd use FMJ ammo. Personal defense ammo is designed to dump its energy quickly into what it impacts with. At times, a round can "over-penetrate" and exit a target. That's not good.

And if you are, as you put it, a gun "addict", invest some money in getting professional training, especially in basic firearms handling & saftey. Get a good solid background built around time tested fundamentals and then build your skills from there. If you love firearms as much as you indicated, you'll be a lifer, like many of us. So you have time to do all this the RIGHT way, which is always the SAFE way. Muzzle discipline is rule number 1.

Good luck.

[psyfly]

Bad bad boy.

I haven't seen this exactly addressed before.

Clearing a firearm should be made, absolutely made, into a habit.

You shouldn't have to think about whether the firearm is loaded.

It should be a HABIT. Automatic that any time you pick up a firearm, you clear it. Even if you just put it down.

Habit.

I remember how pleased I was, many years ago as I watched my then 11 year old son pick up the 870 and move the slide back to check the chamber and then set it down and, not 60 seconds later, pick it up and automatically slide back and visually check the chamber.

Habit. Train it into you and it will be much less likely to happen.

Congratulations on having it pointed in a relatively safe direction.

NDs can happen with only one safety step omitted, but, for someone to be injured, a series of mistakes has to be made.

Make each safety step a Habit, as in Automatic.

Again, we are all happy for you that no one was injured with your first (and hopefully last) ND.

Welcome to TFL, best firearms forum on the web.

Best,

Will

[Rugerismisticness]

As much as we should repremand you, I believe the embarrassment and the "self repremanding" will do the trick. Glad your ok, JHPs won't penetrate much on thick wood.

[Alexander]

Were you high or on drugs? I think your a complet idiot.

First off, check out a high school grammar book. Second, I'm sure the guy feels dumb enough after what he did. I'm sure he learned a permanent lesson. Anything past a firm but polite scolding isn't needed.

[9mm]

bureger finger shouldn't be on the bang switch

Oh I hate my spelling. :barf:

[hulsey76]

I'm pretty upset with myself over the ND, and I get why so many people are chiding me for it. This isn't exactly the first time I've held a firearm though. I've been shooting for many years. I know the safety routine. I had cleared the pistol earlier for practice. I laid it on my desk when I left the room. When I came back, the incident happened. I don't remember ever putting the magazine back in the gun or chambering it. I was the only person home, so I did it...but I just don't remember it. I knew that I would resume when I came back to the room, so I can't for the life of me reason out why I loaded the gun again? Now I'm ****** at myself for not rechecking.

[redstategunnut]

A friend of mine shot his bed. He thought his Glock was unloaded. His wife was so mad, he ruined a nice comforter and sheets.

Be glad you were reminded of your safety protocol and your failure in this instance without anything worse happening, and buy your wife some new perfume.

[Tactical Jackalope]

Hey..So, it was never mentioned..Were the cops called? How did your neighbors feel? How's everything? Send the perfume bottle my regards.


I'm writing it's eulogy now.

[Hog Red]

just be glad no one was hurt. had a friend of mine's son who killed himself cleaning his pistol. here's another one, my dad had an army buddy shoot his finger off with his 1911 while stationed in Germany.

[9mm]

I have heard of things like this happen, a round sometimes does not eject.

I watch some gun videos, and people will rack the slide 3~6 times then check and put the finger in the gun to make sure it is unloaded.

[jibberjabber]

Tell your wife that a bad guy tried to break in and steal her perfume. You intervened and told the bad guy, "if my wife can't have her perfume, no one will". Then you shot the bottle out of his hand causing him to flee in terror. You're welcome.

[hulsey76]

here is a typical firing line chat guy .... you fired a gun IN your home ...... PLEASE .... I beg you ... sell it before you kill someone - - - JERK !!!!

Dry firing a handgun inside is not an uncommon practice. It is perfectly safe and reasonable to dry fire a gun in the house - IF you DO what I FAILED to do and clear your chamber FIRST. In my case, I shall not dry fire indoors again, because I was negligent - and one time is too many for me. The difference between a responsible gun owner and a gun "nut" is that the responsible owner owns his mistake, recognizes the danger it creates, and changes his behavior and training routine immediately.

Your post sounds like someone who is looking to criticize guns and gun owners. Forgive me if I am drawing the wrong conclusion.

[hulsey76]

Hey..So, it was never mentioned..Were the cops called? How did your neighbors feel? How's everything? Send the perfume bottle my regards.

I live back in the woods a bit. No neighbors were harmed and no cops were called. The wife is ******, but our bedroom smells lovely. [Is it safe for me to make those jokes about it now?]

[9mm]

tell your wife that a bad guy tried to break in and steal her perfume. You intervened and told the bad guy, "if my wife can't have her perfume, no one will". Then you shot the bottle out of his hand causing him to flee in terror. You're welcome.

lol you have some aim there

I always put my finger in the chamber to make 100000% sure its unloaded.

[Tactical Jackalope]

Look man, it sucks...Sucks big time...I'd be EXTREMELY hard on myself had it happened to me. When the dust settles I'd make way too many jokes about it. Life is too short, no one was hurt. You know for next time (God willing) and everything is going to be okay from here on out. It happened for a reason. Who knows why you were taught that lesson? No cops were called, your out far..So much out that no one heard it. Good...No worries now. Please please please! Don't let it happen again. I had an almost slip with my 1911 once and was very hard on myself.


Seriously though, you've started a trend. Screw the air fresheners, and inscence. Shoot bottles of perfume and colonge

[hulsey76]

Figured I'd put up a mugshot of the intruder....

Also just saw the irony in the name

[Tactical Jackalope]

LMFAO! Wow man, poor lady......That's the pic of the perp? He looks like a sick freak....You should buy her another bottle and put the 9mm bullet next to it and a letter saying "I'm sorry" That's what I'd do :P

[chris in va]

You followed at least one of the four 'rules'. Pointed it in a (relatively) safe direction.

If you did this pointing it at a person, then we could justify calling you an "idiot" as less tactful individuals have done, but you didn't and that's what matters.

[MrWesson]

Ive had a slamfire in the house once.. do a triple safety check(something tells me you will from now on ) and keep the gun pointed in a safe direction(pointed skyward is my fav/no 2nd floor).

Try not to listen to people being annoying/nasty as their AD/ND is just around the corner.

[hulsey76]

If nothing else, maybe my post will be a reminder to someone else who is near to being as reckless as I was today. Even if you know that you know that you know - check it again anyways!