Grace under pressure...

K

K80Geoff

New member
Somebody in one of the gun mags...may have even been SWAT...once remarked "Expect the unexpected"

I had to learn this the hard way the other day.

It was around 11PM and cold outside, 1.7 degrees F said my indoor/outdoor thermometer. Snow all over. When my dog decides it is time for her evening Poop and sniff :rolleyes:

I usually tie her on but chain is frozen solid, so I put on my cold weather gear and drop my Commander into the pocket of my coat and take her out. Never know up here what is out there.

Dog suddenly goes into agressive mode, hair on neck up, tail out straight, teeth showing, and charges off towards barn. I follow to see what is up. Notice door open and dog just outside snarling into open door.

At this point I realize Colt is not C & L, so I pull it out and rack slide. As I do so the slide catches glove on left hand as it goes forward and naturally doesn't go into battery. I quickly try to clear and of course the round in chamber pops straight up causing major jam. At this point motion activated security lights go on and illuminate me standing in driveway trying to unjam colt and cussin' like a drill Sgt.:o

After a short comical interlude I get colt in proper C&L condition. Dog is sitting quiet giving me puzzled look. Tree rat that had caused commotion jumps out of open door and dissappears in the dark. Gloves have been discarded and live round is somewhere in the snow.

So much for all the range practice!


I wonder if gunsite or thunder ranch has a "Barn clearing course"

:p
 
And if you had gone inside the barn, sitting on a bale of straw would have been old Murphey, . . . laughing up a storm. :eek:

Part of living I guess, . . . glad things turned out to only become a good object lesson. :D

May God bless,
Dwight
 
Yes, they are called "The Fun House" and "The Terminator" respectively.

Maybe you could create "The Barnator"? :D

Snow and cold? Wow, it's in the 50s in this part of Yankeeland. Go figure.
 
Thanks K80

Maybe this story about how things can go to hell in a hurry will enlighten the critics of some police shootouts. (Hollywood) These I can hit at 100yds with my handgun bull---t people burn my a--. Sure you can, at a nice safe range. (In your dreams)
 
Your carring the Commander in case.So why was the chamber empty? This should be a good lesson to all those who carry with a empty chamber and belive if they need it they will just lock and load then. Think if that would have really been a BG wanting to hurt you. The only defense you would have had, is he would most likely have been laughing so hard ,he couldn't have went on with his attack. :D
 
Add that to the list of faux pas I committed that night. Usually I carry the commander C&L but do not leave it in that condition when it is in the safe. Usually load it when I go out the door, my memory failed me until the dog started barking.

Note to self: leave gun C&L at all times!

If a dirtbag had been in the barn he would have wet himself at my antics.
 
K80...I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who messed up under stress before. I know we should all train more...and I know that messing up can get us killed...but at least you had your weapon...and a good choice in weapons too IMO...I think I will go train a bit more...Thanks.
 
Well, when the Col. was running Gunsite, I know they had reprimands for "conspicuous stupidity in a public place". :D I don't know that you would have qualified, mind you, but you would have at least been admonished, to a lesser degree, for letting the rat get away.
 
Let us pray we each have enough of these experiences before the balloon really goes up that we can remain humble enough to continue learning.

Fear this: the know-it-all who can do every self defense movement with perfection and accuracy, on the range, and who is sure to let you know it, all the time.

I'll take the quiet competence and confidence of a combat vet over a braggard for my companion in a tough situation. Real strength is an internal confidence, not an external swagger.

Thanks for sharing the true life story of what has surely happened to almost all of us in some similar way--if we could just admit it.

CB3
 
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CB3, and others

Right you are, CB3 :)

"There's an old saw in the Army which teaches that you can never know a man until after having made a scout with him in bad weather. All the good qualities and bad in the human makeup force their way to the surface under the stimulus of privation and danger, and it not infrequently happens that the comrade who at the military post was most popular, by reason of charm of manner and geniality, returns from this trial sadly lowered in the estimation of his fellows, and that he who in the garrison was most retiring, self-composed, and least anxious to make a display of glittering uniform, has wept all before him by the evidence he has given of fortitude, equanimity, courage, coolness, and good judgment under circumstances of danger and distress."

Capt. John G. Bourke, Third U.S Cavalry, 1891. From the Preface to "On the Border With Crook" Bison Books 0-8032-5741-4 ISB

Bourke rode along side of Gen. George Crook after the Apache, the Souix and Cheyenne, and the Apache again. His account of the Rosebud fight is superb. About the character of men in dangerous situations, he knows of what he speaks, and is as applicable today as it every was. :cool:
 
Well I could always sling my 870 over my shoulder, I know it can be operated with gloves on :D


Fact is, if I had the Colt on proper C & L as it should be, I probably would have had a problem with the gloves anyway.

I was wearing ski gloves that cover the wrists, with thick fingers. Finger material got caught in the slide and started the chain of events.

Next time I will wear gauntlet type gloves that can be shook off by flicking the hand downward instead of ski gloves that require a hand or teeth to remove. (I actually went out today and tried this, works for me)

'Nother thing, how many folks carry their piece holstered under a heavy coat. Try to get it out in a hurry in cold (single digit) weather. I wear a coat with huge pockets that I can drop my colt into to get at it quickly. Rather than trying to undress to get at my protection. Just don't hang it up and forget, I only use this method when traipsing around the ranch, or when going places where I will not remove the coat.
 
"'Nother thing, how many folks carry their piece holstered under a heavy coat. Try to get it out in a hurry in cold (single digit) weather."

Good point. I carry my SIG under my heavy coat and would unzip it if I had enough warning. If not--well, that's what the 640 S&W is for in those nice warm cargo pockets which negate the necessity for gloves, and allow me to keep my hand on my revolver with nobody having a clue. :D
 
Master Blaster got it right: "revolver" ;)

I have a short coat (in tactical red :p ) that I wear for these "check-out" situations. 357 mag in OWB. No gloves, just keep hands in coat pockets if really cold, so they are warm and ready to use.

More likely, right hand will be on gun with thumb ready to pop the snap, and 2D Maglite in left hand (reverse grip and over the shoulder so ready to swing). It's not like you're going to be out there all night, and attention to possible threat takes your mind off the cold.
 
K80,

Thanks for sharing this. At least you were successful in scaring the "intruder" off.

:p


R/fiVe
 
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