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

[hulsey76]

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.]

[Auto426]

Hollow points are designed to expand and penetrate to a certain depth in human flesh. Glass bottles of perfume and and pine paneling aren't very good analogs for human flesh. I wouldn't be too worried about the ammo's effectiveness against people, but I would feel slightly more comforted knowing that if I miss my target, the rounds aren't going to go sailing through buildings possibly killing innocents.

As for your ND, congratulations. You have now taught yourself a very important lesson the hard way, and you were lucky enough not to harm yourself or anyone else in the process. I'm sure that you will always check your weapons condition before handling it now.

[FALshootist]

No. The good news is no one was hurt. The Bad news is you were careless and had a ND.

[Hog Hunter]

Were you high or on drugs? I think your a complet idiot. The first thing that you do when you pick any weapon up wether it be yours or someone else is check the chamber. WOW!! I have been handiling guns for many years and witnessed people neglagently disfire a weapon. Every time it could have been prevented, takin the right precaution. Most of the time makin sure the safty is on. I myself have never had a gun go off when I didnt want it to.
Welcom to the forum I think. Let this be a very valuable lesson!

[Nitesites]

Trying to test the Darwin Theory are we?

Good to hear no one was harmed, you included. Bad to hear someone forgot to give their firearm the proper respect it deserves. Now go sit in the corner.

[hulsey76]

Now that I feel completely welcome here...

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.

Probably should have just kept it to myself.

[Daekar]

Obligatory Scolding: LOOK WHAT YOU DID! BAD BOY! You ALWAYS clear a weapon before pulling the trigger!

Now that's over... I'm glad you're OK. Too bad your wife's perfume was a casualty. :-) I agree, I wouldn't worry about the performance of SD ammo in pine board. It's good to know that your misses won't hurt bystanders in buildings, and a good lesson. Mental note: probably won't work too well through windshields either, if you ever have occassion for that kind of thing. God willing, you won't!

[cornbush]

Now that I feel completely welcome here...

Welcome..... speaking from experience, you will be more careful from now on.
Thank god no one was hurt, this is a pretty good forum, don't judge just from this thread please.

[davlandrum]

Why in the world would you want defense ammo that

a bullet that is reported to have excellent barrier penetrating characteristics

Most people would love to have ammo that was not going to penetrate the paneling!!!!

And hope that you are not assaulted by a perp wearing pine body armor...

[Nitesites]

Sorry guy. Welcome to the forum. Now go back to your corner.

I joke.

[WDE2010NC]

Ahhhhhh....the aroma of gun smoke and perfume.

[gyvel]

Don't worry too much about the "judgemental" crowd. Somehow, I suspect they ALL have had at least a close call in their lifetimes if they were truthful. Some folks just like to be self-righteous and point fingers.

You're not the only one to have a lapse of judgement, believe me. I've known good gunsmiths who have had NDs, too. All it takes is a second's distraction or mental lapse. You definitely have learned a very valuable lesson, however.

As far as the bullet's performance (or lack thereof), I can only assume that a tremendous amount of energy was lost when it penetrated the two bottles. Also, drywall, made of gypsum, is a tremendous energy dissipator.

I think someone who is more versed in physics could probably give a more defined answer.

[jglsprings]

Now that I feel completely welcome here...

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.

Probably should have just kept it to myself.

Well, you really can't expect to show up here and be absolved of this type of behavior. You want to talk about terminal ballistics performance? Not going to happen. Careless individuals like you kill people.

Let's see how the thread at www.handgunforum.net/ went. I'll bet they were not any happier than we are.

[hulsey76]

don't judge just from this thread please.

I was just a little put off by someone's quickness to jump to ad-hominem insults, followed by the typical "I've never ever made any mistakes ever when I was handling a gun..."

I'm sure the 20yr trained veteran DEA Agent who ND'd his Glock into his leg in front of a classroom of children was also an "idiot" who must have been on drugs.

[Hog Hunter]

Ok maybe I was a little harsh on you but somethin like that is nothin to take lightly

[Nitesites]

Y'all relax. You know he deserves a bit of ribbing.

Plus : You only get one chance at your 1st ND and you Sir did it in grand fashion.

[KyJim]

If you've learned your lesson and apply it the rest of your life, good for you. You have to absolutely check, double-check, and check again. I had a friend killed by an "empty" gun. After you triple check and want to practice your trigger control, point it at something in a safe direction, meaning something toward the floor.

[Bucks Gun Shop]

Sorry, but the firearms instructor in me just won't let me not comment...

You ALWAYS check to make sure a firearm is unloaded before your finger ever comes even close to the trigger!!!!! This is really basic stuff people...

Okay - I had my say...

[geetarman]

Hulsey,

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about the AD and glad no one was hurt.

I will bet you NEVER forget the lesson.

Get into the habit of ALWAYS checking the weapon. If you have safed a weapon and you put it down, check it again when you pick it up.

There are some folks who visit gun shows just to see if they can load a round into a weapon. . .they wait for someone to come along and just pull the trigger.

You do not need to be one of them.

There is an old saying in the military that ordnance rules are written in blood.

You got off easy this time. If you go to a range and are careless handling a weapon, it won't be funny what happens to you.

Learn from your mistake and make sure there are no repeats. Enjoy the sport.

Geetarman

[hulsey76]

Trust me guys...lesson learned. It's a first, and hopefully a last. (Surely I am not the only person here who has done something this boneheaded?)

I am still wondering though if this ammo is weak. I mean, I don't expect or need handgun ammo that can go through car windows or trees...but I've shot hollow points before that punched easily through 3/4 plywood, so it just kind of made me wonder. Could the small glass perfume bottle really tear a bullet up that much?

[Mokumbear]

The first and only time I had a ND was some 32 years ago.

Let me tell you, that was a lesson that lasted a lifetime!
Nobody was even close to being hurt because I intentionally pointed the
pistol away from the door where my friend was knocking.
(Even though I thought it was not loaded)

Treat EVERY gun as if it is loaded.
Never accept anyone telling you it isn't until you check for yourself.

Learn from this and I hope the rest of your shooting experiences will be fun and safe.

[Auto426]

Perfume bottles are usually pretty substantial chunks of glass. It's very likely the bullet started expanding when it hit the bottle of water, and the hard surface of the perfume bottle finished it off. Once the bullet has fully expanded it's not going to be the best penetrator, so bouncing off the paneling wouldn't surprise me that much.

As I said earlier, modern hollow points have a certain penetration depth in mind when they are designed. They are also designed to reach that optimum depth and expansion in human flesh. The water bottle and perfume bottle aren't very good analogs for human flesh, so it's expected that the bullet behave a little different.

[Noreaster]

I was instructing a group of "trained professionals" and we cleared all the firearms. Everyone was made safe and checked by the person to their right and left. While giving the final bit of instruction prior to the dry fire drill in the classroom I observed one of my guys lock and load. This former Marine and now LEO did it out of routine and muscle memory. He had no actual memory of doing it when I stopped the class and called him out on it. Even though the drill would have been pointing the firearms in a safe direction (Sig Academy wall drill,) it made me stop, think, and change. Now all my dry fire drills are on the range, muzzles down range, with eye and ear protection for everyone. Dry firing is a great assest, (see Delta MSgt. Paul Howe's remarks on dry firing,) but mistakes can happen.

[ice monkey]

This is why I sometimes get leery when people talk of their firearms as tools, similar to any other tool. I don’t like the term as a handgun is a weapon, and should always be treated as one or else one has the chance of doing something that makes them a tool lol!

Having said that, I have a cop friend who tells me that I would be surprised at how many ND’s there are in a year … some that lead to death! If considered a ND that lead to death - folk don’t even go to jail! Well that’s what he’s told me anyway. His nonchalant attitude about it though gives me the creeps!

All these story’s along with shooting in the past with a bunch of tools who sweep me with their handguns cuz “a tool that isn’t loaded is nothing more than a paperweight,” has made me very careful who I shoot and hunt with here lately!

Stuff happens to the best of us and to the OP – I am glad in your case you didn’t hurt yourself or anyone else. It was dumb, but I am sure you know that better than anyone else. I am sorry however that this incident is what has you wondering about your ammo!

Google ammo performance - it pays to research your ammo! Boxoftruth is a good start!

[kinggabby]

When I went through hunter safety in North Dakota we were told we should not refer to our guns, rifles,shotguns etc. as weapons he told us we should refer to them as firearms because as he stated using the term weapons is just giving gun control people another thing against use.