A dummy round and a dummy - a 3 gun "Fail"

OlSlyGuy · Nov 24, 2012

Well, i shot my first three gun match today and had an absolute blast. it was even better than i thought it would be.

HOWEVER....

as i was shooting the shotgun portion of the first stage i heard a "CLICK" and apparently had a failure to fire on a round. i cleared the shell and finished the rest of the stage, even though the click completely threw me for a loop and made me a spaz for the rest of the round (a good lesson i guess).

after the stage a fellow shooter brought me the spent (click) round. see pic....

YES, that's a dummy round and i am the dummy that forgot to make sure that i had them all out of my shotgun after i was done practicing last night.

Lesson learned. wont see that one happening again....not in my shotgun at least.

Dustin Cantrell · Nov 24, 2012

It's more of a fail of safe firearm handling practices. What if that had been a live round and you thought the shotgun was empty and you had a NG in your home and shot somebody? You should always verify that a firearm is unloaded and you failed to do so. Glad it just threw you off on your stage and wasn't worse than that.

KurtM · Nov 24, 2012

Hmmmm, and as I have posted MANY TIMES, I HATE DUMMY ROUND!!!!

dennishoddy · Nov 24, 2012

This section is here for people to discuss match mistakes, so that others can learn from those mistakes.

They know they made a mistake, and want to make sure sombody else doesn't do the same.

Personal comments don't belong in this thread.

Jason1 · Nov 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
It's more of a fail of safe firearm handling practices. What if that had been a live round and you thought the shotgun was empty and you had a NG in your home and shot somebody? You should always verify that a firearm is unloaded and you failed to do so. Glad it just threw you off on your stage and wasn't worse than that.

"Let he that is without sin cast the first stone."

Everyone has had one. Give him a break.

threegungeezer · Nov 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
It's more of a fail of safe firearm handling practices. What if that had been a live round and you thought the shotgun was empty and you had a NG in your home and shot somebody? You should always verify that a firearm is unloaded and you failed to do so. Glad it just threw you off on your stage and wasn't worse than that.

Boy, are we getting thin skinned in this day and age of PC. I have to agree with this comment. It was not name calling or a personal attack. It was a simple statement of fact, nothing more, nothing less! If it had been caught, as it should have been, when the shot gun was loaded for the stage it would have been a DQ.

KurtM · Nov 25, 2012

No, I think Denis was unhappy with my proported displeasure of placebo ammunition.

OlSlyGuy · Nov 25, 2012

threegungeezer said:
I have to agree with this comment. It was not name calling or a personal attack. It was a simple statement of fact, nothing more, nothing less!

I'm not thin skinned and the comments don't hurt my pride (not too much anyway :roulette

. if airing my dirty laundry can keep people safe , so much the better.

OlSlyGuy · Nov 25, 2012

threegungeezer said:
If it had been caught, as it should have been, when the shot gun was loaded for the stage it would have been a DQ.

Really? how does inert ammo result in a DQ?

irons_shooter · Nov 25, 2012

Guns must be "unloaded" until the command make ready. Period. I personally wouldn't have DQ'd him but per the rules at any match he should have been. I watched 3 shooters on their first stage of Rocky Mountain 3-gun DQ for coming to the line with a round in the gun. Good bye $275 entry and close to $500-$1000 for travel.

irons_shooter · Nov 25, 2012

If it was the stage that you preloaded tubes, a stern warning and a hearty laugh would have sufficed!! Good on you for not having a live round in there but from your post, I think it's safe to say there won't be a next time.

See you next time!!

WillR · Nov 25, 2012

So was the tube preloaded, then at the make ready command the first one in the tube (the dummy) was cycled into the chamber? Like it just got mixed in the live ammo? Or was it already in the chamber when you walked up to the line?

Wall · Nov 25, 2012

mike_pinto said:
Guns must be "unloaded" until the command make ready. Period. I personally wouldn't have DQ'd him but per the rules at any match he should have been. I watched 3 shooters on their first stage of Rocky Mountain 3-gun DQ for coming to the line with a round in the gun. Good bye $275 entry and close to $500-$1000 for travel.

I think I probably let too much stuff go with a just a "stern warning" when RO'ing as well. I just hate sending people away. I want everyone to have fun & enjoy the match.

From your desription in your OP, you travelled from home to the match to the first stage with a loaded (dummy round in the tube) shotgun.
Easy to understand how it could happen & Easy to see the saftey concerns & why this would be a no no.

Like Mike said.....Lesson learned, I'll bet it doesn't happen again.
Thanks for putting this out there as a reminder to everyone that practice isn't over until all guns are completely clear.

Dustin Cantrell · Nov 25, 2012

Shane, just so you know, I wasn't meaning to come across as harsh. I just wanted to be sure you saw the safety side of it and used your mistake as a reminder.

On the DQ issue, would he have been DQ'd for the dummy round in the tube? What about in the chamber? Some use an inert shotshell with a flag attached to put in the chamber to show its empty. An inert shotshell is not ok but an inert shotshell with a flag is?

I ask because I have a .22 LR that the bolt won't hold open without an empty mag. I mean it will, but only about 1/4". I was thinking of making something with a dummy .22 LR round to stick in there.

OlSlyGuy · Nov 25, 2012

I'm pretty sure it was in the magazine from the night before when I was practicing, so i would have carried my shotgun to the staging table with the dummy round in the magazine, but not in the chamber.

this was the first match i have shot with my new 10 rd mag tube so, since i could only preload 9 shells for the max 8 + 1 start capacity, i didn't notice that the dummy round was in the tube. If I still would have had my old magazine (7 round capacity), I would have noticed the dummy shell was in there as I tried to load a 7th shell.

It was a combination of new equipment that I was unfamiliar with and carelessness that led to the dummy round still being in there.

As we all know very well, carelessness can get people hurt so I wanted to share as a reminder to all.

OlSlyGuy · Nov 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
Shane, just so you know, I wasn't meaning to come across as harsh. I just wanted to be sure you saw the safety side of it and used your mistake as a reminder.

Don't sweat it Dustin. You're point was exactly what I was trying to get across. Safety is paramount. Just because I was using inert practice shells, that's no excuse for not following proper safety procedures.

You can bet this experience won't happen to me again!

Wall · Nov 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
On the DQ issue, would he have been DQ'd for the dummy round in the tube? What about in the chamber? Some use an inert shotshell with a flag attached to put in the chamber to show its empty. An inert shotshell is not ok but an inert shotshell with a flag is?

I ask because I have a .22 LR that the bolt won't hold open without an empty mag. I mean it will, but only about 1/4". I was thinking of making something with a dummy .22 LR round to stick in there.

The fact that it was inert doesn't have anything to do with the DQ. You can easily get dummy rounds mixed with your ammo that can get loaded into your gun during the match.

The DQ would have resulted from having a loaded firearm on a cold range before being told to load it by the RO.

If you're going to make a chamber plug out of inert ammo, it needs to hold the bolt open & have a flag of some kind coming off of it.
Just a dummy shell is not sufficient.

Wildcat · Nov 25, 2012

Dustin- you were asking about a 22 with a bolt not being able to be held open without a mag in. I was at a match and I saw someone using a 6" piece of bright orange weed eater string as their flag. They would pull the bolt back, slide it into the chamber, and leave 3" or so hanging out of the rifle. Served to keep the bolt open and flag the rifle was empty. Something like that might work for you.