moonpie
Member
bucket $3.00--sand free---- piece of mind PRICELESS
Sand Bucket for ND's
- Thread starter Packman
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answerguy
Member
peace of mind is nice too
VA27
Member
This must be an east coast/west coast thing. Here in the heartland, I don't recall seeing even one 'clearing barrel' at any agency. In fact, the only one I've seen since the chow hall at Da Nang, is one on a brand new police range just completed last year. And it's there more for the armorer working on guns during a range session, than for officers clearing weapons, since we clear our weapons before leaving the line.
Around here, officers don't unload and load every time they go into and out of the building. Even when going into the jail they don't do that, they just unholster and place the handgun in the lockbox and take the key, and that's just if they're going into the lockdown area, not in any other part of the facility.
I could see where you'd need those barrels if you have all that gun handling going on, but if you leave the gun in the holster where it belongs you don't need 'em.
Stevie-Ray
Member
Well there's some in the Midwest. Our local PD has a fire barrel used for loading/unloading; I've even seen the oncoming shift using it.
AKElroy
Member
Gunsmiths commonly have one. Gun stores & pawn shops as well; some guns are a little more challenging to clear definatively, like muzzle loaders. They are handy to check function in a misbehaving arm as well.
AKElroy
Member
Brilliant. Hindsight and spackle. I love it!
U.S.SFC_RET
Member
All it takes is one tragic ND, you can never take it back. Let it pass the common sense test if you want one. They are designed for traffic use as people come and go. If you want a sand bucket to clear a weapon then do it. However be 100% consistent about it.
They work quite well and I have seen one or two rounds go off into couple.
They work quite well and I have seen one or two rounds go off into couple.
mortablunt
Member
I've used sand whenever I'm given my guns a disassembly, field stripping, or if I think something might have gone wrong. They've saved my life a few times.
stickhauler
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I'm pretty sure my wife would tell me a 5 gallon bucket of sand doesn't go with her design motif. And our furniture is likely what some would consider "hillbilly" design, we have furniture that doesn't match ANY color scheme. We buy what's comfortable!
kingcheese
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the use of one of thoose buckets is common with shooters who carry something like a 1911, with the hammer down, and one in the chamber
i personally have seen a tin can full of sand stop a 9mm at 20 feet(gallon size soup can)
i personally have seen a tin can full of sand stop a 9mm at 20 feet(gallon size soup can)
bcp280z
Member
I dont see a point in it personally, I'd prevent a ND by typically triple checking the chamber. The local AFB Eglin and at Fort Polk, LA, two major installations, so I'm sure others share, has metal bins for discharges, still don't understand the point but I guess it is needed.
I think on most semi autos the bucket filled with 4-5 gallons of sand would suffice, if not, well ya got a nasty dent in your floor don't ya.
I think on most semi autos the bucket filled with 4-5 gallons of sand would suffice, if not, well ya got a nasty dent in your floor don't ya.
dmazur
Member
Our local PD had a clearing pipe at their indoor range. Strangely, the rangemaster didn't require civilian shooters to use the clearing pipe because the range rules required you to carry guns in/out cased and unloaded.
It was for their officers, who were supposed to clear before entering the range and then load on command during the training exercise.
Apparently they just weren't that practiced at dealing with the "round still up the pipe" condition and every month a few would rack the slide, drop the magazine and pull the trigger with the muzzle in the clearing pipe...Bang.
I don't own a DA semi-auto, but I would imagine it should have been drop the magazine, rack the slide, then pull the trigger.
If someone had some kind of daily routine like that (which would introduce questions of bullet setback from repeatedly chambering the top round, how to rotate it, etc.) I could see some benefit from having a clearing bucket located where the individual "cleared" the gun when they got home.
Otherwise, it seems a useful device for institutions that deal with large numbers of armed staff, and the placement seems to be at boundaries where their operational rules require guns to be cleared for some reason.
It was for their officers, who were supposed to clear before entering the range and then load on command during the training exercise.
Apparently they just weren't that practiced at dealing with the "round still up the pipe" condition and every month a few would rack the slide, drop the magazine and pull the trigger with the muzzle in the clearing pipe...Bang.
I don't own a DA semi-auto, but I would imagine it should have been drop the magazine, rack the slide, then pull the trigger.
If someone had some kind of daily routine like that (which would introduce questions of bullet setback from repeatedly chambering the top round, how to rotate it, etc.) I could see some benefit from having a clearing bucket located where the individual "cleared" the gun when they got home.
Otherwise, it seems a useful device for institutions that deal with large numbers of armed staff, and the placement seems to be at boundaries where their operational rules require guns to be cleared for some reason.
45_auto
Member
In my military days, every installation where I served (nuclear weapons installations) had a sand bucket beside the arms room. We were issued weapons and ammo (M16's & .45's) from the arms room before pulling our shift, and turned them in afterwards. Before you turned in your weapon, you were required to clear it in front of the armorer then dry fire it into the sand bucket.
Every one of those sand buckets had been shot multiple times.
Every one of those sand buckets had been shot multiple times.
45_auto
Member
The only one I ever witnessed in person was when coming in off a 20 hour patrol in -10 degree weather. The sergeant who did it had been carrying the front end of a stretcher with his dead lieutenant on it for about 5 hours straight. Probably wasn't at the height of his mental acuity at the time. I really wish you could tell him in person that he wasn't qualified to handle a firearm and was poorly trained, it would be interesting to watch.
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Any one that is properly trained as a chef knows not to let a grease fire get started. Therefore, anyone that has a fire extinguisher in their kitchen is a moron.
That seems to be the level of analysis being presented here.
Yes, safe gun handling <<should>> prevent a negligent discharge. But if you accidentally turned out to be human and made a mistake, that sand bucket could stop that mistake from becoming a tragedy.
Think of it as redundant engineering.
That seems to be the level of analysis being presented here.
Yes, safe gun handling <<should>> prevent a negligent discharge. But if you accidentally turned out to be human and made a mistake, that sand bucket could stop that mistake from becoming a tragedy.
Think of it as redundant engineering.
"If you don't even understand how to clear a gun how well are you going to be able use it?"
I frequently handle firearms, of all sorts, that I have never seen before. I may not "know" how to clear that model, and I definitely don't "know" how well that weapon has been maintained, or whether it has been modified or improperly repaired.
And every one of my mystery guns gets cleared over a big ol' 55-gallon drum of sand. 27 years without a negligent discharge, and counting down towards retirement.
I frequently handle firearms, of all sorts, that I have never seen before. I may not "know" how to clear that model, and I definitely don't "know" how well that weapon has been maintained, or whether it has been modified or improperly repaired.
And every one of my mystery guns gets cleared over a big ol' 55-gallon drum of sand. 27 years without a negligent discharge, and counting down towards retirement.
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