Another EXCELLENT Reason to get training - UPDATED

UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST

If you have recently purchased a firearm due to the rush toward further Firearm Bans, I HIGHLY recommend you get training from a COMPETENT Instructor.

Bob Owens has an additional reason why training is Soooooo important.


"One thing we talk about at Appleseed (and just about any other reputable shooting course, for that matter), is the possibility of squibs and hangfires, and why you should take those very seriously.

Folks get the rough concept, but seeing it in practice is always a better reminder than just hearing or reading about it."

Squib-loads or Pop-No-Kick as it was called when I went through Army Basic Training is where the primer is set off, usually forcing the bullet down the bore of the weapon, not always but usually.  If you don't know through lack of training what that means you may just operate the action and load another round and try to fire again.

!!!!BAD!!!BAD!!!BAD!!! IDEA!!!

The first video shows a squib load in a handgun that was caught by the RSO, and kept from becoming a catastrophic failure with possible injury.  The second video show what happens when the squib load WASN'T detected.  A Major Catastrophic Failure that could have lead to serious injury, not just to the shooter but anyone within the danger radius.  The third video shows what is called a Hang Fire, where the primer is struck but takes awhile to fully ignite.  There are a number of factors that can cause that, from damp or old primers or powder to a mechanical reason with the firearm itself.

Those are further reasons you NEED TRAINING.

If you pull the trigger on a firearm and it doesn't go off.  Wait a bit.  Make sure you don't have a hang fire.  It could take upto 90 seconds for the round to finally go off.  I know that from experience using very old Surplus Berdan Primed .303 British that used cordite.  I was getting ready to turn the bolt when the round finally went off slamming the rifle back into me splitting my chin open on the rear sight.  I still have the scar to this day from that.  And it didn't do my shoulder any good either.  That was a Hang Fire.  If you are shooting older ammunition where you don't know how it was stored or it's age you want to be careful shooting it.  The .303 British I had been firing had come from a gunshow and the boxes were marked 1938.  The dealer told me it "Should" be good, and the hang fire I had was on the 12th round out of the box.  The recoil wasn't as stout with the Remington Factory Ammo I had been shooting, and the rounds weren't anywhere near as loud as the factory ammo either.  After bandaging my chin and checking out my rifle and cleaning all the blood off of it, I gave the rest of that ammo to a collector on the condition he NEVER fired any of it.  A few months later I sold off that Mk4 No1 to buy the Taurus Model 82 I needed to work for the Housing Authority.

Personally I have a 5 gallon bucket for rounds that don't fire.  I put a cup of salt in it and fill it with water.  If I pull the trigger and the round doesn't fire I call out "MISFIRE" 3 times real loud.and wait 90 seconds.  If the round still hasn't gone of I'll wait another minute.  Keeping the muzzle pointed DOWNRANGE the entire time.  Then if I'm shooting a pistol or a bolt action rifle I'll recock, on  revolver I'll open the cylinder and index it so that round comes under the hammer again, then I'll try to fire it a second time.  If it still doesn't shoot I'll wait my 2 and half minutes then dump that round in to my bucket.  On semi auto rifles, I'll wait 2 minutes then just eject the round in to the bucket and put the lid back on it.

For a Squib or Pop-No-Kick, the procedure is almost the same.  Hollar MISFIRE, and keep it pointed downrange. You could still have a hangfire, you don't know yet.  After you have ejected the round though however you need to check the bore for obstructions, especially if the shell you ejected DOESN'T have a bullet in it.  If your bullet is still in your bore, you need to tear down your firearm and get a good steel rod to hammer the bullet out of the bore.

This post is in NO WAY enough information for you to think you can forgo proper training with a qualified RSO/Instructor.  It is a small primer on letting you know you need MORE training.

So please, if you have purchased a firearm in the last year or so and have NEVER fired it, please get some training specific to that firearm in addition to general firearm training before you go shooting.  The training isn't that expensive, and if it saves your firearm, your body, someone elses body and lives - GET TRAINING!

UPDATE:

Sean Sorrentino at NCGunBlog had a BAD experience with an instructor.  Please click the link and go RTWT


It is really hard to walk away