Please be really careful - NDs

[Mr_Rogers]

Nothing dramatic folks, just a real life example of how NDs can sneak up on you.

Been keeping an old Winchester 74 22LR semi-auto in a room overlooking the chicken run for predators. Loaded a few rounds into the magazine (the type that uses a spring-loaded tube in the buttstock) and put it against the wall while I worked on the computer. Nothing in the chamber.

End of the day, decide to unload the Winnie. Check chamber - clear. Remove the magazine rod and let the rounds from the magazine fall into my hands. Replace magazine rod and close bolt but ----- catch a flash of brass through the ejection port as the bolt closes.

A round had apparently jammed against the chamber feed lips and did not fall from the magazine when I emptied the rest of the rounds. Put the magazine rod back in, close the bolt and VOILA a round in the chamber, bolt closed, trigger set. Fortunately, I would normally cycle the bolt which would catch this problem - but otherwise!

Y'all be careful out there.

 

[John828]

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
won't you be my,
won't yo... <<<<<kaboom>>>>"

Just kidding Mr. Rogers. I'll be your internet neighbor.

Yes, I am careful. Supposedly, I am the only one in the house who handles my guns, but I check them every time I pick them up. I do not care if it has only been an hour and I just stripped and cleaned it. If I pick it back up for some reason an hour later, I check it.

 

[Mr_Rogers]

Jokes on me John.

Perhaps a senile old has-been shouldn't be allowed near a firearm on his own. I need a gun-bearer.

Still, I did make it to "senile old has-been" intact so I must have done something right so far.

 

[John828]

I've never unloaded that type of .22 before, so I can't really comment. I have only had under barrel tubular magazine .22's and magazine fed.

I can see how it could happen though. Heck I can feasible see how it could happen on my Ruger MKIII. But I usually rack the bolt three or four times and give it a decent visible look.

Just glad you caught it.

 

[jrfoxx]

good catch! Thats why we all need to remember watch carefully, look and feel in the chamber, and be paying attention to detail before pulling the trigger. Mr.Rogers just showed how you can d things the right way, in the right order, but still have someing unusual and unexpected happen, that could be disasterous if you dont double check before pulling the trigger thinking its unloaded. Ammo can be sneaky like that, and bolts drop closed pretty fast, and a round can be real easy to miss. He caught it by carefully watching, thinking, and then checking. Good lessson. it's REAL easy to get lazy/complacent and not do that extra little bit, and someday it's liable to get you.Good job,and good eyes.

I've seen that happen a couple times with tube feed .22's. The rounds are harder to spot being so small, and seem to get hung up kinda easy sometimes.

 

[rcmodel]

It's very common for a tube-feed .22 to leave one round in the innards when you dump them out of the tube.

Without the spring & plunger to push the last one through the action, it will usually hang up in there.

ALWAYS cycle the action a few times with the spring tube locked in place to get the last one out!

rcmodel

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Similar thing happened to me with a 10/22 when I was about 12. Cycled the action a few times with no mag in, went to dry fire it...wait I better check one more time. Sure enough, an unfired mini-mag was sitting in there staring at me, stuck in the chamber.

 

[Starship1st]

After reading about the poor kid finding his dad's pistol and accidently shooting his sister because the adult failed to check the round in the chamber it is good to hear someone taking safety serious.

Thank you for sharing a safety tip and reminding us to check-check and recheck. Safety must always come first.

 

[MinnMooney]

It's good that you're watching what you are doing so as to catch a glimpse of brass as you're about done and thinking it's "empty".

I have a Browning using the same type of feed (thru a hole in the side of the stock with a spring-loaded rod in from the butt plate) and the only way to see anything in or around the chamber is by having the .22 up-side down.

Given the hidden nature of any feeding rounds, I always turn the gun over and aperate the bolt block............. just to make sure. I do it for safety and so I won't get a fine for a loaded weapon in the trunk!

 

[moooose102]

my new henry 22 l.a. does this all the time. only it keeps 3 of them in the tube. to unload it, i remove the rod and empty what will come out, then cycle the gun 5 or more times to make sure its empty. am i going to send it back? no, i know what it does, and how to resolve the problem. besides, safety is the first part of gun ownership. i have sucsessfully taught my 6 year old son to check every gun i hand him (which i have already checked) to make certain it is empty, and i am working on my 4 year old daughter. she is up to about 50%. not that i will trust them entirely until they are much, much older. but this is the first step in my opinion to teach them good gun safety.

 

[dmazur]

I have a Browning SA22 and I'm nervous about the tubular magazine and the fact that the action ejects to the bottom. It requires a new type of motion to flip that thing upside down and check its anatomy.

When I do, I can see that its empty.

I really miss a "bolt hold open on last round", but John Browning did everything else right on this rifle...

 

[1911 guy]

My "other" squirrel rifle (I really like popping them with a .36 flint) does this, it's a Marlin tube feed. It's handy because one fill-up lasts for a whole day of tree-rats, as it holds 17. But pulling the plunger and dumping the rounds always leaves one in the feed mechansim. My routine is to open the bolt, dump the mag, reinsert the plunger and cycle the bolt and look for the red plastic end of the plunger.

First tube fed rifle I've ever owned and it caught me off guard the first time I unloaded it, cycled the action out of habit and out popped a fresh round!

 

[madcratebuilder]

Mr Rogers. It's much better to be a 'has-been' than a 'never-was'. I see some folks with great safety skills on centerfire, but when they handle a rimfire, it's like a toy, scary.