From the School of Unload And Show Clear Tactical


bofh

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From TFB | Watch Your Hands When You Unload And Show Clear:

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A shooter was unloading his handgun when this happened. From what Scott relayed to me, was that the shooter cups the ejection port to catch the round to save time from picking it up off the floor. Now to clarify, this was not a malfunction. It was not a FTF and the primer was never struck. What happened was that during the unloading process the shooter’s hand covers the ejection port. The round most likely ejected into the hand but since the hand was so close to the ejection port it got caught between the slide and barrel.

Take a look at the picture below. You can see the primer lacks any hammer mark. However there is a clear crease from the edge of the slide cutting into the headstamp of the casing. If you look at the photo at the very top, you can see the bullet has a vertical line cut into it as well.

By cupping the round as it ejected out and it getting caught on the slide as the slide tried to close, the round went off in the shooter’s hand.

Here is what Scott relayed to me:

...

Read the rest of the story at TFB. My comments on this:

  1. When a gun actually needs to be unloaded, eject the magazine and lock the slide back (or bolt open).
  2. When you lock the slide back during unloading or rack the slide during loading or malfunction clearance, never have your hand fully over and close to the ejection port.
  3. Never try to catch a round, because that's when negligence happens.
  4. Never use ammunition picked up at a range in a gun, even if you think it is yours.
  5. Don't unload and show clear. Unload your gun only when required for transportation or storage.
  6. Don't attend any, so called, firearms training school that enforces unload and show clear at the range.
  7. Never carry an unloaded gun, ever!

 

Never try to catch a round, because that's when negligence happens.
Never use ammunition picked up at a range in a gun, even if you think it is yours.
Don't unload and show clear. Unload your gun only when required for transportation or storage.
Don't attend any, so called, firearms training school that enforces unload and show clear at the range.

Wow. I'm not going downrange to check targets until every gun is unloaded and shown clear, you can kiss my a$$. And your refusal to unload and show clear when ceasefire is called will justifiably get you permanently banned from every range I have ever been at. And when I do unload and show clear, I'm picking up that round that just popped out of the chamber and using it.
 
I don't think unload and show clear was the issue here. I think the issue was trying to catch the round.
Having said that I don't unload when I'm going down range I reholster but I don't unload.
 
Wow. I'm not going downrange to check targets until every gun is unloaded and shown clear, you can kiss my a$$. And your refusal to unload and show clear when ceasefire is called will justifiably get you permanently banned from every range I have ever been at. And when I do unload and show clear, I'm picking up that round that just popped out of the chamber and using it.

My gun stays loaded and in its holster when a ceasefire is called! I will not disarm. I will certainly not go downrange unarmed either. A ceasefire means that all handling of firearms stops, loaded or unloaded. That unload and show clear procedure is pure security theater and only exists because some shooters do handle their "unloaded" firearms during a ceasefire. At no point in time do I consider a firearm that someone else handles unloaded. If I see someone handling a firearm during a ceasefire, he will banned permanently from the range.

Since I will refuse to disarm, I am not attending firearms training classes that contain unload and show clear procedures.

I just recently witnessed a kaboom with a picked up round. The shooter was really convinced that it was his round that he picked up, until we found another round that could have been his nearby.
 
I don't think unload and show clear was the issue here. I think the issue was trying to catch the round.
Having said that I don't unload when I'm going down range I reholster but I don't unload.

This happened "during an unloading evolution", whatever that really means. Since the TFB writer took the liberty to add the "Unload And Show Clear" procedure to this story, I took the liberty to additionally comment on the use of said procedure in firearms training classes.
 
K. So I agree about the firearm that is being carried in a holster. When I that range I normally have a fully loaded firearm in a holster on my belt as well. But I don't take just 1 firearm to the range. I take multiple firearms to the range. I was referring to the firearms that are left at the firing line.
 
K. So I agree about the firearm that is being carried in a holster. When I that range I normally have a fully loaded firearm in a holster on my belt as well. But I don't take just 1 firearm to the range. I take multiple firearms to the range. I was referring to the firearms that are left at the firing line.

I could write a long reply about those firearms too. Let's put it this way, I have been to multiple firearms training classes where all my firearms for the class were always loaded according to training instructions. I have been to ranges for practice that enforce all kinds of rules due to the stupidity of their untrained customers. Fortunately, there is still a tactical bay somewhere. One just has to keep the stupid people out of it.
 
I could write a long reply about those firearms too. Let's put it this way, I have been to multiple firearms training classes where all my firearms for the class were always loaded according to training instructions. I have been to ranges for practice that enforce all kinds of rules due to the stupidity of their untrained customers. Fortunately, there is still a tactical bay somewhere. One just has to keep the stupid people out of it.

Let's put it this way - if you can't safely unload your firearm that is going to stay on the firing line when people go downrange to check/change targets, then you need to be outside the gates of the range complex until you learn how to do so. I don't care who you are, walking in front of a loaded firing line is just plain stupid. I will continue to gladly keep my range shooting confined to those ranges that require all firearms on the firing line to be unloaded before declaring the range clear for shooters to move forward. You can keep your "tactical bays" to yourself.
 
Let's put it this way - if you can't safely unload your firearm that is going to stay on the firing line when people go downrange to check/change targets, then you need to be outside the gates of the range complex until you learn how to do so. I don't care who you are, walking in front of a loaded firing line is just plain stupid. I will continue to gladly keep my range shooting confined to those ranges that require all firearms on the firing line to be unloaded before declaring the range clear for shooters to move forward. You can keep your "tactical bays" to yourself.

As I said, I could write a long reply about those firearms too. I purposely deleted a part of that sentence in the prior post before posting it. I clearly shouldn't have done that.

I could write a long reply about those firearms too, but that will just aggravate you more and it will take another 5-10 posts till you get it. Who said anything about walking in front of a loaded firing line? What if all guns are not pointed downrange? What if there is no firearm at the firing line? What if there is no firing line?

As for tactical bays, if you don't know what I mean and what they are used for, then you will not understand the rest anyway. Ever heard of shoot, move, communicate, or shooting from behind cover, or close range engagements? You can't train and practice that on a 180-degree range with a fixed firing line and with other untrained shooters next to you.


I wonder where Keanu's firing line is in that video. Oh no, Keanu violated the 180 degree rule with his rifle. That's unsafe gun handling. He is disqualified!
 
K. So I agree about the firearm that is being carried in a holster. When I that range I normally have a fully loaded firearm in a holster on my belt as well. But I don't take just 1 firearm to the range. I take multiple firearms to the range. I was referring to the firearms that are left at the firing line.

I belong to a gun club with a private range. Generally speaking my wife and I have a bay to ourselves when we go. When I go to the range it's usually to practice something I learned in a training class and I find that I do better if I limit myself to 1 or 2 guns per trip.

My training dictates that I never holster an unloaded gun. When I get done shooting I immediately reload the gun. If the gun I'm shooting isn't the gun I'm carrying that day I reload and put it on the bench. If I go to check targets my wife (who is also armed) stays on the line and keeps an eye on our stuff.

The fact that there's a loaded gun on the bench doesn't bother me. Newton's first law of motion: An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

I wouldn't do that at a public range but I wouldn't go to a public range either
 
I agree unconditionally with your first 3 bullet points. I agree with point #4 at least conditionally. I disagree with bullets #5 & 6. I don't have a problem with unload and show clear. If you shoot competitively (USPSA, IDPA, etc.) it is a required part of the stage shooting sequence. If you are unwilling to do this, you will not be allowed to compete or even allowed on the range. Most of the law enforcement training I've done, some of which was very good, required unload and show clear between stages or at certain points while training or qualifying at the range. Some of the more advanced tactical training venues I have attended did not utilize this procedure, but some did. They were all quality training. There are a number of excellent commercial civilian training venues which also utilize this procedure, and for most people to forgo that training over this issue would be their loss. It is a useful way to ensure safety on the range with beginner to intermediate level students and multiple shooters. Also, in my experience, a lot of shooters who believe they're "advanced" simply aren't. True, unload and show clear is not a tactical action. But it's just not that big of a deal to me in a training/qualification or competition environment. Though an instructor with many years of military and law enforcement experience, I have no problem with complying with the range regs at any training venue I attend, and I do not use "unload and show clear" as a descriminator when choosing what training to attend.
 
Makes me glad me and my buddies just go out in the desert and always have a hot "range."

What boggles my mind the most is that someone would attempt to clear their weapon in the manner the OP said but NOT lock the slide open. WtF good does it do if you UNLOAD but don't show that it's clear?

When clearing my weapon I ALWAYS hold my hand over the ejection port to catch the chambered round. And I always will. But I will also always hold the slide stop up so it locks the weapon open.
 

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