Worst mistake during a training session.

[booker_t]

Mike, glad to hear you survived that one.

I've taught about a dozen male and female friends firearms basics, usually on request. Either they've never held a gun before and want to, or have but want to know a bit more.

I like to start that training/instruction away from the range. When there are other shooters dumping mags and you're wearing muffs, it's really hard to clearly communicate the basics of handling and safety, harder still to be confident that the messages are getting through, and you're on the clock, the meter is running, so you're both inclined to rush.

I start in a safe, quiet location, away from distractions. Using a rubber training gun, or a firearm that I've cleared & checked, usually with a removed barrel, we start with the basic 4 rules. Then go over basic functionality of the weapon in question. Then a break.

After the break, we review by having the student teach me what they just learned. We correct mistakes and fill in gaps.

This style of learning continues, working through trigger finger position (where their "default" position is off the trigger), loading/unloading/clearing, and finally basic aiming and trigger manipulation. Very little instruction about aiming, trigger control, or any of that. First lesson is about familiarity with the weapon's functionality. Aiming is limited to "see the front sight, put it on the target." Trigger pull details are limited to simply "pull it slow, let the gun wobble."

Then I let it soak in. A day or two is good. We reconvene and again, I have them teach everything I taught them back to me. Train the trainer. I observe their handling procedures, and introduce snap caps into the procedures for clearing, loading, chambering, firing.

At this point, I make an assessment. Are they ready for the live range? Do they have the steps down such that they can safely shoot at the range with minimal direction from me? If so, we head out. I like to go at an off-hour if possible, so the range is quiet. Once at the range, it's another basic review of safety, and my main focus is on the muzzle and their trigger finger. When we start to shoot, it's with an empty gun. Drill through the process several times dry. When the live ammo comes out, it's with 1 round in the gun at a time. Each time, the gun is returned to the bench, mag out and cleared. By this time, I know whether this person is going to get it or not. We've run through the basic steps at least 30 times. I've only had one person (male) who "didn't get it," and I ended the session respectfully, simply stating that I felt that my teaching style and his learning style weren't compatible, he should seek another instructor. The others were ready to start learning trigger control and front sight picture to improve their shooting.

The 1 round at a time thing is huge with me. And I always stand behind the student, never at the side unless the weapon is up and presented to the target. Slow and steady each step of the way, with repetition and train-the-trainer to ingrain the concepts by forcing the student to think through them on their own.

My best student was a 110lb 25-year-old female whom I had been friends with for 6+ years. In 4" heels she was shooting the .22 so well, didn't make a single range error after a good 45min of shooting, I decided to let her pop off a 10mm. At 25 feet she put it dead through the X. Second round was in the X ring. The range officer wasn't too thrilled with me letting her shoot the 10mm until I showed him her results, then he wanted her to come back for ladies' night.

 

[Old Grump]

If I were the moderator of this forum I would delete this thread.

Well I'm glad you aren't the moderator then because then I wouldn't be able to tell my story.

1971, new shooter to competition and new to 1911A1. About my 3rd or 4th match, not sure which because a lot of matches later I have slept a lot and not everything stays with me but this one episode did. Big range and there must have been over a hundred competitors in 3 relays. My relay was up and about half of us had been staged there because we were all new or marksmen class and they didn't want us to bother the real shooters.

I was loaded and ready to go when I heard "Is the firing line ready on the left?"

That was my cue to let one loose in the dirt about 12 yards down range but the range master never skipped a beat.

"Is the firing line ready on the right?" That was my friend Ray's cue to show what he could do and puts a bullet down about 20 yards.

Rangemaster still not missing a beat. "Is the firing line ready?" BAM, Bam, Bam, Bam, four shots in the bench including one box of 45 hardball ammo now scattered, fortunately none of the 4 shots were Ray or me.

Rangemaster "Apparently the firing line is ready and raring to go and he turns the targets. 5 of us had only 4 shots for that string, the other guy had to be restrained as he had tried to gather up his spilled ammo and didn't get a shot off. The rest of the match was a lot smoother.

On the way home my team coach who was also our Division officer just looked in the back seat at Ray and me and said "I told you jitters would get you." He had told us that but both of us had just been on the line in Viet Nam within the last two years and knew we were past the jitter stage. Uh, huh. sure we were.

I hate eating crow but our coach was merciful and never mentioned it again. Ray and I did a lot of calling commands for each other for awhile after that to help us get our timing. Didn't help our shooting much but no more early shots in the dirt.

 

[doofus47]

I was at a range with a buddy and about 8 other joes and the range officer calls a break so we can go change targets. We wander down and do our paper changing and my staple gun runs out of staples after only tacking up only one corner of my target. So I hustle-butt up to the firing line and grab a fresh rod of staples and head back to the berm while everyone else is meandering back to the firing line.
I just finished stapling my last corner and turned to go back to the line when I hear the range officer say "Line is HOT!!" I about crapped my pants.


File that however you like.

 

[Ski098]

When I was in the USMC we were shooting a cold weather shoot with our Machine Gun Section. It was a night fire w/NVG's. Since there was literally 4' of snow on the ground they gave us the little stick man targets, and told us to put them 100 yards or so out and use them as targets.

Well the fire goes ok. A couple of the targets got knocked over so the range officer(a butterbar) sent out one of the teams to slog out there and set the targets back up.

None of us knew it, but after it got dark the range next to us had a National Guard unit come in and setup on the line. At least 100 shooters we found out later. Just as our team got out to fix the targets the guard unit opened up. Tracer rounds flying all over the place. They were shooting on their range and our range. The MG Team hit the deck immediately as rounds flew all around them. One of my buddies got his flashlight out and started to wave it in the air to try and signal the shooters to stop firing. But he later told me he had to shut it off because as soon as he started waving it, the rounds started tracking to him. He said he could feel the rounds passing over his head and he felt the snow getting kicked up around him and landing on the back of his neck as he tried to burrow deeper into the snow. Our Range Officer sent a team of runners over to shut that other range down.(It was actually difficult to get from one range to the other) Eventually they got a ceasefire called on the other range and we extracted our team. Luckily no one had gotten hurt.

 

[Nnobby45]

In Farnum's class a student was wearing a Bladetech combo and twice tried to load his flashlight. Vicki Farnum got a chuckle out of it.

I goofed up, also. Not making excuses, but I was listening to one of the volunteer instructors (right behind me), and didn't listen properly to what John (down on the end) was saying. When he blew his whistle, rather than draw, move and wait for the whistle again before firing, I drew and fired with the first whistle (along with two others). We heard about that one!

 

[dnr1128]

This didn't happen at a range, but on one of my very first deer hunts ever. My buddy picked me up at 0430. Still half asleep, I got into his truck, and like a moron, took his "advice" and loaded the 270. Since I wasn't familiar with the weapon, somehow a round got chambered, and my finger grazed the trigger. Thankfully the barrel was on top of my boot, so it only went into his fender and did $2300 worth of damage. Needless to say, when I'm hunting now, my rifle doesn't get loaded until I'm headed into the woods.

 

[Jeremiah/Az]

An 80 year old man at the gun club, in the clubhouse, wants to show me his new Crimson Trace. He pulls out his loaded pistol & points it right at my face & lights the laser!

 

[alienbogey]

<<There is no such thing as a accidental discharge.>>

Of course there is, but that's a topic for another thread.

<<If you were using these in a training situation or context, they would be worth while, but to tell stories about what could have been, is not a good idea.
If I were the moderator of this forum I would delete this thread.>>

And then people would not be able to learn from the mistakes of others by reading about them.

 

[CMichael]

These are kind of amusing. They were probably discussed here before.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am-Qdx6vky0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDfNV9bJoSg&feature=related

 

[leadcounsel]

I'll share.

As a new shooter I was excited to take my 8mm Mauser to the range. The R.O.s were quite strict and the range was packed. I inadvertently turned my unloaded Mauser sideways as I loaded in the guncase, pointing it at the shooters to my right. I got an earfull from the R.O. Frankly it flustered me as I wasn't accustomed to R.O.s on ranges. I didn't like being yelled at, but I understood the reason.

 

[booker_t]

At the range today, Sunday, around 6pm. Outdoor range at a state park, no range officers, pistol and rifle areas are separated. Rules are you must have a state hunting permit or pay $10/visit at the office on the honor system. Bring your own target stand & targets. The place is nearly empty, nobody on the rifle line and a couple people at pistol.

I'm plinking with my .22WMR rifle, put about 50 rounds downrange with a few trips to the 75yd target when another car pulls up, three people get out. A late-20s IC1 male, a 30-something #3 female, and a younger girl, likely mixed daughter. They have a pistol case and a Wal-Mart bag (Red Flag #1).

I'm loading up my mag while these three wander up to the bench about 30 feet from my location at the end of the line. Case, carried by the older female, goes on the table. Three of them gather around. Handgun comes out, looks like a two-tone XD or something similar.

I notice there's a trigger lock on it, and a red plug at the muzzle. Thought process: New gun (#2). New shooter(s) (#3). A group of people who have never handled a firearm let alone taken a safety course (#4).

Gun starts out on the table as it should be, some targets come out of the bag. Along the range, there are large wooden frame baffles at 20yd increments, faced with layers of rubber. Having not brought a target stand, I'm assuming they are going to put these targets on the baffles (#5). At this point I've unloaded my magazine and put everything in my range bag.

Male picks up handgun, inspects it and in doing so sweeps muzzle across the younger girl twice (#6 & #7) At this point, I yell over, "Hey, I'm going to get my target, can you put the gun down?" They do, so I bring my target back behind the line. Finish packing up my things and walk over to them, in a calm quiet voice say, "I know the gun has a lock on it, but when you picked it up just now, it was pointed at the young lady twice." He male who had about half his teeth said something like "Oh, my bad.." and the female gave me a dirty look, but quickly changed and said to me, "It's a new gun.." then to him, "Yes Yes, he's right.." At that point, I picked up my things and went to the car.

Having only shot 50 rounds, I wanted to continue my session, so I put the rifle away and got my .22 Ruger, and walked down to the pistol range. Things were going well there, the two shooters there were competent and safe. I put another 80 rounds into my target, trying to fix the half-flinch I'm still fighting, when the trio starts walking down the hill towards the pistol range. I'm thinkin' "you gotta be kidding me.." Quickly dumped my mags back into the box, cleared the pistol, and called for a break on the line. Got my target and walked on out, done for the day. Didn't even wait around to see them come up to the line again.

Did I handle that appropriately? Anything better I could have done? Should I have avoided saying anything to them and just left?

 

[samsmix]

So this guys Beretta .40...

...fails to go into battery. Rather than follow the simple "Tap-Rack-Ready" drill he was learning, he not so smartly struck the back of the slide with the palm of his left hand...BANG!

Blood, shame, and a beretta-slide-shaped wound: CLASSIC!

 

[SigP6Carry]

I've only ever had "near" accidents. But looking back at those "near" accidents, it always scares the hell out of me. I've learned hard and fast trigger discipline and "clearing" exercises, to the point of annoying some less than cautious store clerks. I've only ever "NA"'d once, and luckily it was downrange when I was 11 with a .22 rifle. Didn't think the trigger would be that light.

Anyone I've ever let handle my guns, I've always reprimanded for not practicing safe gun handling (ask this one guy I let handle my Sig with a snap-cap in it, that guy got really annoyed. Told me "I saw you load a snap cap in it without a magazine!" and I told him "what if you thought I loaded a snap cap and I loaded a live round?!" his reply was "would you be that dumb?" I took my gun away immediately). To me: safety is literally the biggest concern to me regarding firearms.

I don't mean to be condescending, I just want to convey my opinion of firearm safety, which is something I've adhered to since the first day I picked up a gun. But, yeah, my default position for holding a gun is with my trigger finger pointing forward and higher than the trigger. It scares me so much that so many of you guys have come across such scary situations. And it's not surprising that some of us on the forum have had some of the safest NA's I've ever heard about. But, wow... some of these stories are just scary...

WAIT! No, I got one! The first time I use a S&W M&P 9mm. I loaded a magazine with 10 rounds, slapped it in, racked the slide, pointed it down range, pulled the trigger and I got nothing. I tried again. Nothing. So, I dropped the magazine, racked the slide and a live round popped out. Then I slapped the mag back in, racked the slide again (of course for me back then, it was a really hard to pull "rack") and tried again. I got nothing out of it. Again and again. So, I popped the mag, pointed it back down range (as safety dictates, I should only point a gun downrange when my finger hits the trigger) and pulled it again and "BANG!" and the gun fell to the ground. I forgot to rack the slide, but all of the other safety rules saved me from doing something stupid. I still haven't been able to recreate the trigger problem with an M&P, I think it was just "beginners Tupperware bad luck." But that one shot scared the hell out of me.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[jad0110]

Worst I've done:

Got a muscle twitch in my strong arm just as the shot broke and hit the target carrier at the indoor range dead center. IIRC, I was shooting either my 1911 or S&W 686 with lead reloads. Splattered lead all over my target, some coming back and stinging me in the face . It was embarrassing, but I was wearing safety glasses and as always, it could have been worse.

Worst I've seen someone else do:

The lady standing 2 feet from me during the live fire session of the concealed carry class shot herself in the foot with a 22.

2 rules violated: keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, and don't point the weapon at a target you don't intend to destroy.

 

[DAP90]

While in Basic/AIT we were turning our weapons back in to the armory. The Lieutenant on duty accepts my M16, turns it around, puts the muzzle in my stomach and pulls the trigger saying “that’s how we’re checking weapons today”.

This was after cleaning so I’d completely disassembled the thing and knew it was unloaded but still. We’d already had one misfire during a weapon check when one guy who’d supposedly cleaned his weapon somehow left a blank in the chamber and fired it while turning it in.

 

[FreakGasolineFight]

Not during a training session (at least not an official one) but I went out to my local range once and there were two punk kids with some kind of weird knockoff M4 lookalike chambered in .22. They had managed to make it jam and were for some reason pounding on the body of the gun in an effort to un-jam it. To their credit, they at least kept the muzzle (mostly) pointed downrange.

No range officer at my range, so you get all sorts of people. Just have to be careful ...

 

[qualfang]

worst mistake...

Heard a story from friends shooting at the range, they were doing bullseye shooting. There was one other guy on the range, several booths over. He manages to hit the target holder and knock it down.

So he ducks under the table and walks out to pick it up and put it back on the holder.

As soon as my friends see him walking out- they stop shooting- of course. They look at each other, but don't make an issue out of oddness of what they just saw.

This happens again maybe 20 minutes later, with my friends calling 'cease fire' to each other at the same time. The guy turns and looks, says something to the effect of "That's okay, you can keep shooting, y'all ain't missed shot on that target all day."

Nice vote of confidence, i guess, but not terribly safe...

 

[war_elephant]

Serving as range safety NCO at the time, a first Lt decided to give a safety lecture, took a .45, racked the slide caught the round, then took the magazine out and proceeded to start the safety lecture, while I and another instructor tried to get to him before he did what officers do best, which he did 3 seconds later when he shot himself through the hand. After the corpsmen took him away, I then explained to the other marines present, magazine out first, then rack and lock slide, then visually check and ensure it is clear.
As a LEO, and firearms instructor, and later range master, too many to count. Day I was off, officer put Glock back in holster with finger on trigger, BANG, bullet went in his thigh, and out next to the knee. Violated Rule #2, finger off trigger until ready to shoot.

 

[briandg]

Very embarrassing. I was holding my pistol, a ruger mkII, and was stung by a horsefly or some other beast on my lower back. My safety wasn't on. without thinking, I swept my hand back to knock whatever it was off of my back, it went off, and the stinger cratered the asphalt between my heels.

Just a moment of senseless panic while I was thinking of something other than the pistol that was in my hand.

 

[fiznat]

^^^ LOL


I'm a new shooter, only been at the lanes 3 times, but I've made a few errors already. I guess this isn't as bad as it coulda been, but my friend and I were taking turns shooting two different handguns on the same lane. One was a 9mm Sig, the other a .40 H&K. I loaded up the H&K, and apparently a 9mm round snuck in there somehow. Guess we weren't keeping the ammo as separate and neat as we should have been. When I fired the round it felt really light and didn't recock the gun. The brass looked all warped and mangled. I brought it to the RO to ask *** happened (I still hadn't recognized the error). He knew what happened immediately of course. That was embarrassing. Probably wasn't great for the rental pistol, either....