The Dream

[xxjumbojimboxx]

So I keep having this stupid dream, where I'm in an obvious self defense scenario and the gun will not work, or jams, or doesn't hit, or some kind of failure. Often times I'll clear the obstruction, or fix the problem pull the trigger and it still wont work! I realize this is a pretty unlikely scenario all together. But those dreams have changed the way I carry. I almost exclusively carry some sort of revolver now.

Anyone else had the dream?

Did it contribute to changing your carry habits?

 

[CoRoMo]

Yep.

In mine, the bullets usually don't penetrate the guy's shirt. They just stick to it like velcro and he keeps coming. And the trigger is usually a 15 lb. long double action chore.

Never had a jam in any of those dreams though!

No, I wouldn't alter my waking life because of what went on in the unconscious world.

 

[Browning Guy]

I can't say that I've ever had that dream, but it's a heck of an excuse to get a new revolver. "Honest Honey it's divine inspiration"!

 

[Garrobo]

Sounds to me like

someone needs an intervention.

 

[Liberty1776]

My dream involves grizzly bears in the house, stalking me. The only rifle I have is my 7x57, and I can't find the ammo. When I do find the ammo, the bolt disappears...

 

[ironworkerwill]

The magical misplaced pistol

That ^ is funny.

I had a good cough syrup dream. Some how I was invited to a match where some one supplied me with a pistol to compete with. I kept loosing/finding/misplacing the thing. Well, it was more like a nightmare.

 

[Bexar]

I've had two dreams of not having any ammo during a Chinese Red Dawn type attack. But that was years ago. Some dreams you do remember.

The other one I haven't had in a long time is being in a rickety six story house being held up by wood braces and a bad tornado is approaching. I know both were centered around a father/husband being concerned about protecting his family.

 

[19-3Ben]

I have those dreams. Probably 3-4 times a year I get one, at least that I remember. who knows how many i don't recall when i get up!

Usually the gun is jammed and the BG (or multiple BGs) are baring down on me with no way to get my gun back in action quickly enough to do anything about it.
Alternatively, I'll pull the trigger and just keep pulling and pulling and it never breaks.
Sometimes I make my way through a magazine, and don't realize that I shot the gun empty. I keep pulling and pulling the trigger and nothing happens. Then i look at the gun and realize the slide is locked back.

Of course, they are just dreams. The guns I use for SD have good trigger pulls, and operate reliably so I have no doubt they would work in a grave extreme. The dreams do not change my real life practice at all.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Just to have some clarity. I have a cz75 compact that doesn't fail. I had a ruger sr9c that never failed with quality ammo. And a host of other good reliable autos.

This stupid dream killed my will to carry one though. Albeit irrationally, but I don't see it as a bad thing because revolvers rarely fail...

 

[19-3Ben]

Oh, there's another one too. I go to draw my gun, and it gets caught on my shirt as I draw and i can't pull it free. The BG is right on me, and I can't get the gun free to bring it into action.

I seriously hate gun dreams. About 1/3 of the time, I end up on the losing side.
Heck, even when i win, i lose. I had a dream a few weeks ago where I shot some mad woman who was shooting up a block party on my street. I was hailed as a hero locally, but was still arrested, and the prosecutors charged me with murder because I didn't know that she was only shooting to scare people, but not to murder them.
Of course, dreams don't always make sense. But it sucked to plead out to manslaughter rather than face a life sentence, all for doing the right thing.

 

[bannockburn]

That's not a dream...that's a nightmare. My recurring one has the gun, usually a semi-auto, working fine only the BG isn't going down. I mean they're all center of mass hits and still they keep on coming. Always wake up before they get to me though.

Maybe it's really my subconscious trying to tell me I need to move up in caliber or else bring a little more firepower to my surreal dream world gunfights.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

That's not a dream...that's a nightmare. My recurring one has the gun, usually a semi-auto, working fine only the BG isn't going down. I mean they're all center of mass hits and still they keep on coming. Always wake up before they get to me though.

Maybe it's really my subconscious trying to tell me I need to move up in caliber or else bring a little more firepower to my surreal dream world gunfights.

It is pretty terrible. Usually results in a wake up.

 

[mgmorden]

I have a similar dream. I think double action triggers did it to me.

I dream quite frequently (though not as much as I used to) that I'd need a gun, and would have it, but the trigger was so unbelievably heavy that I couldn't pull it.

The other variation is that the gun will (supposedly) be fine, but empty. I go to load it and every box of ammo that I pick up is the wrong type for that gun.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Interesting to see we all have variations of this dream.

 

[dmurdach]

Heavy trigger nightmare

I have also had the dream where the trigger was to heavy to pulll or too long and I just couldnt pull it back far enough.

 

[CoRoMo]

I have also had the dream where the trigger was to heavy to pulll or too long and I just couldnt pull it back far enough.

You have to get mean with it. I've found that if I use both index fingers, and just wring the snot out of the pull, it'll break... but it's a long way back there before it does.

hth

 

[1911 guy]

All joking aside (and yes, I've had "the dream" a few times), this is usually a subconscious indication of a need to get some training and sharpen skills.

My dream was getting in my car at a department store parking lot. Dude would approach from the front and begin firing a long gun of some sort. I would return fire to no effect, reloading twice and then waking up.

I had this dream several times and mentioned it to a friend. He told me of the theory of subconscious need for training. I took a few classes and haven't had the dream since. I try to take them often enough to avoid it again.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

I've got my degree in psychology. We studied dreams, and Freud extensively in one of my classes. Dreams, in my opinion, are indeed the gateway to the subconscious. Some argue that point all together. But for those of us who do entertain that school of thought, its widely understood that subject matter of dreams does not have clear cut symbols, and meanings. I could see how the desire for training could be a valid pretense for "the dream" in that case. But I don't in any way feel insufficiently skilled to where I think I need more training. Not that it would hurt or anything.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

ive had the stalking grizzly bear dream many times. except im outdoors and whatever firearm i have is too small and the bear keeps soaking up well placed shots and advancing.

very odd as ive never hunted bear of any kind or even seen one in the wild.

i always wake up before the bear kills me.

i never knew anybody else had similar dreams involving either bears or bad guys.

 

[spencerhut]

Lack of training. Get more training and the dream will turn into you killing all the bad guys. Been there, done that.

 

[rcmodel]

Ive never had a dream like that in my life.

Sounds like a personal problem too me.

Ever had your squirt-gun run out of water when you were a kid??

Rc

 

[captain awesome]

ive had the stalking grizzly bear dream many times. except im outdoors and whatever firearm i have is too small and the bear keeps soaking up well placed shots and advancing.

very odd as ive never hunted bear of any kind or even seen one in the wild.

i always wake up before the bear kills me.

i never knew anybody else had similar dreams involving either bears or bad guys.

that's amazing you described one of my versions of "the dream" pretty well, I don't have them often, and there have been variations of it but this is my most memorable one, though I have only had this version once;
An Enormous Super Grizzly Bear is stalking me, even toying with me with pretend charges, pushing me to a place I will be cornered, the gun is difficult to deploy and fire, everything short of it braking that can go wrong with it goes wrong, the gun I am using (44 mag Anaconda) just seems like a puny wimpy sissy gun, and when I do manage to empty the cylinder on him the bullets have no effect, and I am wondering where the heck my 500 mag is and why I never bought the 458 Lott or 460 Weatherby..... And for some reason I live in a crappy trailer. I Can't figure out how that one factors into the equation....

(no offence intended if you live in a trailer, this one really was a POS).

 

[lxd55]

I don't have a degree or anything but the common thread in all the posts is fear.
Scared of not being able to preform or scared of having to pull the trigger. Idk.
Never the less the common denominator is fear.

A guess on the trailer would be that you feel you have not done adequately in your life,
never lived up to _____ ? So to speak.

 

[caribou]

I once awoke in a terrible dream, some one was stealing my ride, ......but they reallly were......on a crisp -35 morning to the sound of my snowmachine being started. I ran out, 9mm in hand, boots and a coat to confront a drunk neighbor revving a very cold motor, but getting nowhere.

He laughed at me when I yelled at em, and told me I cant shoot him,......... so I did a quick evaluation of the matter and , indeed I could not shoot him, as my life was in no danger......but my property was, he was burning my belt trying to accelerate on my still frozen track, so I applied the safty, changed my grip and pistol whipped his face. When he got up a bit confused and asked me if I had hit him....I dint answer, but I shut off the ride as he had decided to walk to wherever it was he was going....

About 1/2 hour late a Trooper called me and asked what happened, I told him. He responded that all gun involved injury's are reported at the local clinic and that he had asked the neighbor over the phone why I did that to him, and he had told the Trooper that he was "borrowing" my ride......."Not at 4am he dont" was my reply, and the Trooper responded, "I thought so....Good night ." I went back to sleep I slept like a baby....

 

[MedWheeler]

I don't have them anymore, but did frequently in law enforcement. The usual scenario is that I'm walking a beat at night and come across someone breaking into a business. As I confront, he pulls his gun, I fire first, and he goes down, dropping his gun.

But, as I cover him, he starts reaching for it again, ignoring my commands not to do so. I fire again, and this repeats until I run out of ammo (I started in LE in sixgun days.)