Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

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JimT
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Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by JimT »

Education is expensive, no matter where you obtain it. I began learning that at an early age, my Daddy being one of the Instructors. However, since this is a story about firearms we will bypass the early years and concentrate on the “learning to handle firearms safely” part. Education I received about behavior is another topic.

Dad started me shooting when I was little. I don't remember ever not shooting. When I was 5 or 6 we would go to the town dump and shoot bottles and rats. I had a BB gun that was heck on bottles. By the time I was 10 I had my own rifle, a nice little single-shot .22 that Dad had shortened and cut down for me. By that age I knew to be careful to not touch the trigger until I was on target and ready to shoot. I knew about shooting in a safe direction and being aware of what was beyond the target I was shooting at. And things went well until in my teenage years I was give a nice Ruger .357 Magnum. This was the early small frame sixgun that was basically the same size as the Colt SAA.

Shooting ground squirrels and jack rabbits was no problem. I practiced daily and shot target out to several hundred yards. No problems there either. The problems arose when I decided I was going to become one of the better quick-draw artists. I began practicing with the .357, pulling and snapping the empty gun. I would stand for an hour in front of my Mom's antique vanity with its full length mirror and try to outdraw the dude in the mirror.

Eventually I became pretty good at drawing and snapping the gun and graduated to live ammo on the range. Using .38 Special loads I would draw and fire at tin cans, bottles (we shot a lot of bottles before that became a “no-no”) rocks, dirt clods and other targets including paper bad guys. Over the course of a year and a half I had gotten to where I could pull the .357 pretty suddenly. One thing I learned to do was, starting with the loaded gun in the holster and a 3” to 4” long piece of 2X4 in my gun hand, I would toss the 2X4 out in front of me, draw the sixgun and most times hit the board before it went 3 feet. It looked impressive and I was impressed by myself.

One day I was with some friends on the range and decided to give a demonstration of my lightning draw. I wasn't showing off. It was a demonstration. Ha! I tossed the board with my gun hand, jerked the .357 and fired it straight down through the holster! Stunned I stood there for a second and then I noticed the bullet hole below the holster in the right side of the right leg of my levi's. There appeared to be a hole in the left side of the same pants leg! I wobbled unsteadily back to the truck and sat on the running board, shaking. I checked my leg and it was undamaged. I don't know how. The pants must have flared forward and the bullet missed my leg by 1/8 of an inch!

Thinking back on things I realized that in my haste to impress my friends I had neglected to tie down the holster.

I also realized that I had been putting my finger into the trigger guard as I pulled the gun. Cocking it as it came up in the holster, all it took was a slight bump and the gun would fire.

From this mistake I learned to always double-check the holster and tie-down. And I began practicing not putting my finger into the trigger guard until the gun was poked toward the target. I practiced this in front the mirror, slowly, for months. All I wanted to do was build muscle memory. I knew speed comes when the movement is smooth and done without thinking about it.

Somewhere during this time I bought a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. Sporting a 7 ½ inch barrel, I found with practice that I could pull it pretty durn fast, and I practiced with it in front of the mirror also.

One day I spent 45 minutes or more standing in front of the mirror, drawing and snapping the .357. Tiring of that I decided I would go out to the range and shoot the .30 Carbine. I took off the .357 and holster and put on the 30 Carbine and holster. Walking past the mirror I suddenly without thinking about it drew the .30 Carbine Blackhawk in the one of the smoothest, fastest draws I had ever made, and fired a shot right through the middle of the guy in the mirror.

The speed of the draw and the accuracy was amazing! The problem was, it was my Mom's antique vanity that now had a large hole in the center and “spiderwebs” radiating out from it. Not to mention the hole in the wall into the living room. No one else was home at the time so I did not have the worry of shooting someone. But .. this was a serious problem. So I did what I thought was best for me. I wrote a note apologizing for the damage and explaining that I had a problem with the gun and accidentally fired it through the mirror. And I left for a while.

Things calmed down by the time I returned and I learned several lessons from this incident.
#1 .. It would have been a lot easier in the long run to tell the truth and live with the results.
#2 … When dry-firing a firearm, no matter what kind, put it away and do not touch ANY OTHER firearm for at least an hour. If you do not practice that you will fire it sometime without meaning to. I have lots of data to back that up.
#3 … Dry-fire with a backstop. Something that will stop the bullet if somehow a live round gets introduced.

I have made mistakes with a firearm in over 60 years of handling them. The incidents have been rare and without injuries. I have never shot anyone or any animal accidentally or negligently. I do not count shooting my neighbor's dogs. He told me to shoot any dogs I saw chasing his cows. I saw dogs chasing the cows and I shot them. It was not an accident that all shots were good ones. I did not realize they were his dogs. Sorry.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Catshooter »

Great story Jim.

And, as us old guys know, poop happens!
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by CowboyTutt »

#3 … Dry-fire with a backstop. Something that will stop the bullet if somehow a live round gets introduced.
You know Jim, that might be the most epic take-away I have read in a long time. As I already said in my recent "your first and I hope only accidental discharge" thread,

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83054&p=932426&hili ... ge#p932426

I put a 45 Colt, probably a +P load, through much of my duplex in my earliest days while "dry firing" (yeah, right, that worked out real well!)

Good advice!!!!

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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by crs »

Still glad that I had the prairie, creek banks, slush pit dirt piles, (Texas oil country), etc to practice drawing and shooting.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by wvfarrier »

I had a similar "mirror" incident when I was younger. I was obsessed with fast draw and got pretty good. I made the mistake of not checking my Vaquero (apparently my dad had used it earlier in the day). I made my draw and man those youthful reflexes were smoking until I heard "BOOM"!!! Shot right through my bedroom mirror, through the wall of the house and outside it went. Fortunately into a wooded embankment. I lucked out, no one was home. I repaired the damage and never said a word for several years. Shameful but the lesson stuck for life.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Hi Jim -

I had a similar experience myself about 40 years ago. I started practicing quick draw with my Ruger Super Blackhawk. Got fairly fast with it, but that 7.5" barrel does add a few fractions of a second, as you know (I have one of the .30 Carbine Blackhawks as well). Was at the range trying to shave some time off the draw and put my finger in the triggerguard before I had the revolver leveled and pointed at the target. Actually at the apex of the draw stroke before turning the gun. You can guess what happened next. I plowed a .44-caliber round an inch from my right foot. :shock:

I decided at that point as was plenty fast enough.

A couple years later I did launch a .22 LR through my bedroom wall, through the hall, through the bathroom door which embedded in the wall right above the commode, but that was just shear laziness on my part. I "knew" the gun was unloaded so pointed it at an inanimate object (the wall) and pulled the trigger. Thank goodness no one was home... and especially not using the bathroom! :shock: Found out later my kid brother had been messing with the gun trying to see if some ammunition he found would fit. His plan was to take the rifle (a 10/22) out when I was gone so I wouldn't know. It was my fault for not checking... and for not securing my room better. I did beat the snot out of him for good measure though! :wink:
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by JimT »

The thing about those kinds of incidents is .. IF you survive them unscathed and no one is harmed, you are really really really safety conscious for a very long time.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Blaine »

:oops: :oops: Put a BB into the toenail of my left big toe. It didn't go in all the way. Pried it out. Ouch.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by .45colt »

The best one I know of happened out on the farm where the extended Family lives. some of the relatives came from Pennsylvania for a day. a whole group goes out in the field to do some shooting. one had a new '06 that was "dead on balls accurate". He lays the gun over the bed of the landowners new Chevy pickup and proceeds to shoot the bullet thru the off side of the truck bed . after that the party really picked up. :lol: .
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by gamekeeper »

They say "familiarity breeds contempt" it sometimes takes a loud bang when you don't expect it to get your full attention...Thanks for the reminder Jim.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Some lucky fellas here, and thank God for it.
I haven't had an AD with a handgun -- yet, touch wood -- but had one one morning getting ready to hunt ducks with my brothers. I was campaigning a well-used Winchester Model 97 "corn-shucker" in 16 gauge, when the hammer slid off my thumbing while I was "easing it forward" and off she went into the ground about seven feet in front of me. So glad it was pointed toward the ground and not toward my bros. :shock:
I am kinda spooky around handguns and never thought I had the coordination to do well at fast draw.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

You know, I commented to two friends that I was no longer bothered by the Marlin cross bolt safety. For years I hated it, probably because I thought that the old guns were somehow better and I didn't "need" that dang safety. However, I have come around.

Emptying a Marlin with a full magazine can now be easily done without the fear of an accidental discharge.

We live and learn. I never had an accident with fast draw, mainly because I never really did any of that. I was in Houston where we wore flap holsters and fast draw wasn't really on the menu (though you could get it out pretty quick if you needed it).
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by marlinman93 »

I learned the hard way about safeties, and why you need to be sure to use them! When I was just out of the military, and early 20's, I went out plinking with my buddy. He had a Ruger Mk I and I think I had a Ruger Bearcat. We were walking along shooting pinecones, or small stones out in a rural area one day, and had just shot a few rounds and holstered our handguns. He was a lefty and went to put his Ruger in his holster when it went off! Scared the heck out of me as I was standing to his left, and I saw the dust fly up by my right foot!
I yelled at him to put the darn safety on before holstering his gun, and keep his finger off the trigger! I looked at my shoe to see if he had grazed me, but saw nothing. We began to walk again when I felt my right foot felt gushy like it was wet! I stopped and sat down to check my foot, and pulled my low top boot off. No sign of a hole, but my sock was bloody, and I could see it was from higher up my leg. I began to pull my pants leg up, but couldn't find the source of the blood? I finally stood up and dropped my jeans, and that's when I saw a hole in my leg on the right side, just below my knee! Surprisingly I felt no pain at all, and not really sure why, other than maaybe my brain shut it off?
We took off back to the car, and he drove me to the hospital for xrays. By the time we got there I had a lump all the way down the right side of my leg from entrance wound to my ankle. Xrays showed the bullet was sitting just above my ankle, and the doctor removed it with a small incision that didn't even need stiches. Just a piece of suture tape over the exit cut.
The next day it was pretty sore, and I spent a week on crutches, and then returned to work. The bullet traveled down along my lower leg bone, and after ricocheting off my leg bone it ended up coming to the surface at my ankle, and barely breaking the skin. No long term affects, as no bone damage. So pretty lucky it didn't hit my foot.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Vall, that was an amazing story. Glad you didn't suffer much pain -- and that it was a .22 and not a .44. :shock:
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by JimT »

Reading Marlinman's story I was reminded of how .22 bullets do weird things sometimes. A friend of mine called me and asked if I knew a fairly easily accessed area to hunt deer. He was taking his 12 year old son with him and did not want difficult country. I told him that about a half mile off the highway on the road to the Little Hills Mine was a nice flat area and a dirt landing strip. I told him I would drive to the end of the strip and hunt the flat lands from there. He said thanks and he would try it.

Deer season came and went and I did not hear from him. Several months passed and in Tucson one day I bumped into him. He was skinny and kind of weak looking. I asked him how the deer hunt went with his son and he said, "Not so good."

It seems they went hunting, the Dad with a deer tag and the son with just a hunting license, carrying his .22 rifle in case he got a shot at a jackrabbit. They hunted for several hours without seeing anything and returned to the car to get something to eat. He got behind the wheel and the son got in the back seat. While doing so he fired the rifle into the seat back. The bullet hit my friend in the lower ribs, bounced off turning 90 degrees down and exited his right buttock. It went into the car seat, hit a seat spring and turned 90 degrees and stopped in his right calf.

He had to drive about 40 miles to the nearest hospital. Thankfully he did not bleed badly, but was laid up from the wounds for quite awhile. He said he just did not check that the boy's gun was unloaded for some reason.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by octagon »

A friend took his wife deer hunting. She got in the back seat with one of "those" Remington rifles that later proved to go off with the safety on. Down the road a bit and BANG shot through the seat right into his considerable backside, him being a great big old boy, ex college football size, and had a good attitude about it later. A 6mm I recall.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by yooper2 »

I once shot my apple tree after doing a bunch of dry firing while doing trigger work on a New Model Ruger. Got the trigger where I wanted , walked outside the shop and shot the knot on the tree I had been aiming/dry firing at all morning.


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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by AJMD429 »

.
I know some folks find this guy irritating, but his tutorial on dry-firing is actually kind of useful - https://youtu.be/lYJk_ioERK8
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

I had a buddy who carried a Virginia Dragoon in a nylon shoulder holster as he was hunting. He is a big old boy and he struggles to get through a barb wire fence. Anyway, the gun fell out and shot a .44 magnum round angled up through his shoulder between the bones. Lucky he didn't bleed out.

But he is still with us. Its a good reminder to carry only 5 rounds in a single action revolver unless it is a new model Ruger.
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by Ysabel Kid »

JimT wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:26 pm The thing about those kinds of incidents is .. IF you survive them unscathed and no one is harmed, you are really really really safety conscious for a very long time.
+1 :shock:
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Re: Experience Is A Great Teacher or How I Learned Not To Shoot Myself In The Foot

Post by marlinman93 »

Jim, I had a good friend who got shot when he was about 9 yrs. old by a man with a .22 rifle, and done on purpose! He said he rode his bike to an old pond near his house, and was sitting by the lake with his arms crossed his bent legs when he saw a man walk down to the water opposite side of the pond. He was wondering what the man was doing with the rifle when suddenly the man aimed at him and fired!
The bullet entered about mid thigh and traveled up into his stomach. It then bounced around inside before coming to stop on his inner ribcage! He jumped up and rode his bike home, and collapsed on the kitchen floor. His mom rushed him to the hospital where they opened him up to repair all the damage the .22LR bullet had done bouncing around inside.
We met when he was in his 20's and he married my younger brother's sister in law. He had internal issues the rest of his life off and on from being shot, and eventually died from complications of them in his late 50's. The man who shot him was never found, and no idea why he'd shoot him?
.22's can rarely kill large animals or humans outright, but they can eventually cause death hours, days, or even years later.
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