Guns, Cars, and Tech

Mental note

Written by

wizardpc

in

,

When buying a new gun, take note of the slide mounted safety. When the firing pin mysteriously stops making contact with the primer, check to make sure an overzealous RSO didn’t engage the safety while you were putting up a fresh target.

I haven’t owned a pistol with a manual safety in a little more than three years. This morning I took possession of a Walther P22. After three rounds of shooting, it stopped going bang. The slide mounted safety on a P22 is just a simple hammer block, so when it is engaged, the hammer will fall but never touch the firing pin. Since I am not accustomed to manipulating a safety before firing, it didn’t occur to me that an RSO would engage it.

That a gun with its slide back and magwell empty is unsafe unless the hammer block is also engaged will forever remain a mystery to me. And if it’s a rule that they should do that for me, why didn’t they catch it the first two times? Or tell me?

Comments

8 responses to “Mental note”

  1. Oddball Avatar
    Oddball

    It’s also curious that she didn’t do it to any of my handguns with external safeties in the stall next to you.

    I am glad that it turned out to be something silly like that instead of an actual mechanical failure. I guess it would be wrong of me to point out that this “new gun” used to be yours three years ago before you sold it to me. Yep… that would be wrong…

    Reply
  2. Oddball Avatar
    Oddball

    Of course, I guess I could take some of the blame for not say “that’s strange, can I take a look?”

    Reply
  3. Tac Avatar
    Tac

    OK. They touched your firearm (previously Oddball’s, yours before that, then mine even further back) without your consent, WHILE YOU WERE DOWN RANGE, which means they were pointing it at you??!!?? Because we know they follow the rules and keep the weapon pointed down range at all times. Nevermind not pointing it at something you don’t intend to destroy. Nevermind respecting other people’s property. Nevermind that some of those guys would be lucky to have an IQ that barely matches Forrest Gump in comparison. So, that said, I would count yourself fortunate that they didn’t load it, then pull the trigger to make sure it was functioning properly. Maybe someday it will make sence. Just wait until you bring something that falls under NFA and watch them all have a stroke.

    Oddball,

    I hope you are well. I haven’t seen you in a long time. Take care and don’t be a stranger.

    Regards to all,

    Tac

    Reply
  4. ZerCool Avatar
    ZerCool

    Tac beat me to it. What in the blue bloody f*@# were they doing handling your gun while you were downrange?

    Reply
  5. Oddball Avatar
    Oddball

    @Tac and@ZerCool: I don’t think this happened while we were downrange. It’s much more likely that it occurred while the RSO was checking before declaring cold. Protocol for this range is they declare cease fire, you unload and leave the chamber open, then step back. They then walk down the isle and double check everyone. They sometimes pick up your weapon because they can’t see the chamber clearly due to the way it’s on the bench, etc.

    Reply
  6. ZerCool Avatar
    ZerCool

    Thanks for the clarification, Oddball. The range I shoot at is a private club, cease fire and target-change time is by general consensus (on the off chance you are sharing the line), no official RSO.

    I feel more betterer about it now.

    Reply
  7. Linoge Avatar
    Linoge

    Still, checking “safe and clear” does not necessarily mean “muck around with a man’s firearm”. If its safety is off but its chamber is clear and no magazine is inserted, the firearm is “safe”, and the user may have left the actual “safety” off for a reason.

    Reply
  8. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    I have to agree with Linoge. An empty chamber and no magazine means it’s safe, and there’s no need to go fiddling around with it. If there’s no need to fiddle with someone else’s firearm, and you haven’t asked for and been given permission, DON’T. Period.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts