I know, everyone here is perfect, but for the rest of us, what was your worst "oops" moment while at the range, or at a gun course, etc?
My personal "oops" moment happened almost 10 years ago. My grandfather had just died. He was a veteran of 3 wars, and over the years, he had accumulated a nice arsenal of arms. My father, understandably took all the good stuff; Colt 1911, M1 Garand in good condition, 44 Magnum revolver, etc. The one gun he let me take was my grandfather's old J-Frame DA/SA .38 special. It was the gun my grandfather carried when he worked as a security guard to help pad his pension, and also just get out of the house according to him.
It was actually in good condition, not a lot of scratches, nice grips, no obvious holster wear. I was kind of happy to have it to be honest. So shortly after, in remembrance of my grandpa, I took it to the local indoor range along with some other handguns. Now, I had almost zero experience with DA/SA revolvers before, but I knew the basics. Thumb the hammer back for SA, else a long DA pull.
So I load up some 38 special in my booth, I get set to shoot. When I'm shooting I usually start with the gun slightly pointed down (like a 40-45 degree slant), and then I try to practice getting my sight picture, and then take a few shots, repeat. Always pointed down range of course. So I thumb the hammer back, and I try to lightly and gently place my finger on the trigger before raising to hit paper, and BANG. A round goes off to my complete shock.
The round bounces off the floor of the range, and I literally see it ricochet into berm at the back of the range. It scared the sh** outta me. Suffice to say, the 4 universal rules saved me, and I'm glad no one got hurt. At the end of the trip, I wanted to see what was up with the gun. Took it to my workshop, and got my trigger scale out. Make sure the gun is clear, and thumb the hammer back, and pull.
Pull #1 - 1.7 pounds
Pull #2 - 1.4 pounds
Pull #3 - 1.9 pounds.
Pretty much everything under 2 pounds. I had never really shot anything much under 3 pounds before, so seeing 1.4 shocked the heck out of me.
I didn't realize these j-frame triggers were so damn light in SA. I don't think my grandpa modified the trigger (or maybe he did, who knows?). I never owned another J-frame, or shot another one, so I never had a frame of reference to compare.
But that was my one oops I've had over three decades of being in shooting sports.
My personal "oops" moment happened almost 10 years ago. My grandfather had just died. He was a veteran of 3 wars, and over the years, he had accumulated a nice arsenal of arms. My father, understandably took all the good stuff; Colt 1911, M1 Garand in good condition, 44 Magnum revolver, etc. The one gun he let me take was my grandfather's old J-Frame DA/SA .38 special. It was the gun my grandfather carried when he worked as a security guard to help pad his pension, and also just get out of the house according to him.
It was actually in good condition, not a lot of scratches, nice grips, no obvious holster wear. I was kind of happy to have it to be honest. So shortly after, in remembrance of my grandpa, I took it to the local indoor range along with some other handguns. Now, I had almost zero experience with DA/SA revolvers before, but I knew the basics. Thumb the hammer back for SA, else a long DA pull.
So I load up some 38 special in my booth, I get set to shoot. When I'm shooting I usually start with the gun slightly pointed down (like a 40-45 degree slant), and then I try to practice getting my sight picture, and then take a few shots, repeat. Always pointed down range of course. So I thumb the hammer back, and I try to lightly and gently place my finger on the trigger before raising to hit paper, and BANG. A round goes off to my complete shock.
The round bounces off the floor of the range, and I literally see it ricochet into berm at the back of the range. It scared the sh** outta me. Suffice to say, the 4 universal rules saved me, and I'm glad no one got hurt. At the end of the trip, I wanted to see what was up with the gun. Took it to my workshop, and got my trigger scale out. Make sure the gun is clear, and thumb the hammer back, and pull.
Pull #1 - 1.7 pounds
Pull #2 - 1.4 pounds
Pull #3 - 1.9 pounds.
Pretty much everything under 2 pounds. I had never really shot anything much under 3 pounds before, so seeing 1.4 shocked the heck out of me.
I didn't realize these j-frame triggers were so damn light in SA. I don't think my grandpa modified the trigger (or maybe he did, who knows?). I never owned another J-frame, or shot another one, so I never had a frame of reference to compare.
But that was my one oops I've had over three decades of being in shooting sports.