safe slide load setup for home

D

Dusty Rivers

New member
I have read several posts about accidental discharge due to malfunction when letting the slide slam home over a loaded magazine. That got me to thinking I need a small container to put the muzzle in when loading in the house, rather than my mattress.

I was thinking of a large coffee can with some ratio of sand and clay. It may need to stop a 45 ACP or a 6.8 SPC rifle slug. That way I could just put a lid on the coffee can and set it in the corner till needed.

Any thoughts on this?
 
I could see your can stopping a .45 but a 6.8 at contact range?, eh... You may need a 5 gallon bucket. You could test your setup. Do you have access to a private, out of the way, country property?

You may get splash back from the can. If this makes you nervous then your idea is probably not a good one.

I sometimes take my pistols outside to load them. My back deck is out of view of neighbors and if I do get a negligent or "accidental" discharge the bullet is in the dirt rather than through my mattress and in the floor boards.
 
Coffee can sounds dicey. There is a vid on youtube about a guy who made a "test fire" can from a plastic drum full of rubber tire shreds. You may be able to use a 5 gallon pail, but I would not expect a coffee can to stop anything, especially with the rifle.
 
My old test fire box is only a foot square and holds about 4 inches of sand; it has stopped .45 ACP and every other pistol round (and some rifle) I fired into it.

FWIW, I never use it when loading or unloading a gun; if your guns fire when you release the slide, there is something wrong with the gun or with your gun handling practices.

Jim
 
Agree. I keep my 1911 45s at home in condition 4 (no round in the chamber, full magazine). If the need arises, I rack the slide then click the thumb safety up and go investigate. Never had an issue in several decades. Both my 1911s are Springfields.
 
no issues just trying to be as safe as possible

I've never had ANY issues with loading an semi auto of mine, but like I said I have read several posts where people have stated that they had discharges due to firing pin issues when racking the slide to strip a round off the mag and into the chamber.

Sounds like there are not many people using some sort of safety can to load and unload. One of the course I went to had an unload 5 gal can set up outside the classroom. guess I will get a 5 gal can, fill it with clay and test fire from a distance. Any other ideas out there that are in use?
 
No coffee can of sand will stop an 6.8. MV of a 120 is 2460 fps with 1612 ft-lbs. of energy. Biggest coffee can you can normally get holds 2 kg.(Bit under 4.5 pounds).
"...malfunction when letting the slide slam home..." That would indicate improperly loaded ammo.
"...vid on youtube..." HeyBubba.Watchmehurtmyself.com.
 
I've never heard about slide release causing a discharge. Maybe some specific defect could cause it, but it would be rare. Guns are designed to NOT do that. Fingers on triggers....those cause dischages.

Anyways... a 2' section of 6-8" diameter iron pipe with 1/4" walls holding about 10" of dry sand with Maybe the same thickness of hamster bedding or crushed corn cob on top to avoid splash back. A screw on iron top and bottom. That wouldn't be too costly and should stop the bullets. But, I think it's unnecessary.
 
No offense sir, but that coffee can ain't gonna get it. Smallest clearing trap I ever used was the Actiontarget floor mounted type trap constructed of heavy armor steel, filled with composite rubber,etc. Weighs about a hundred pounds and costs several hundred $. Perhaps one of those binder sized III-A soft armor clearing pads would serve your purpose?
 
Box O' Truth found that most bullets will be stopped in about 6" of sand.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-7-the-sands-o-truth/

Based on that, a coffee can might be pushing it. Might need to step it up to a milk jug :p. I'm only half kidding.

Seriously, though, I think 849ACSO and cougar gt-e have the right idea.

But it would be real interesting to pop a couple rounds into such a sand filled coffee can the next time you go shooting. Just saying.
 
I would suggest a 5g bucket of dry sand.

I had a slamfire one evening after I had loaded some rounds for a .300 AAC AR. I was testing them to ensure they would feed and even though my finger was nowhere near the trigger and I think the safety was even on, when I released the slide, the round it picked up fired. Best I can tell, the primer was a bit proud on that round. Luckily, I had the barrel resting at an angle on the floor, so it just took out a small piece of carpet and a small chunk of concrete. I couldn't find where the bullet disappeared to though, so I think it just turned to lead dust and dispersed itself under the carpet pad. :)
 
Well, you did ask for "any thoughts on this?"

First suggestion I would make is figure out WHY you need to load in the house so often that you are trying to come up with a discharge drum?

Dedicated home defense gun? Loaded and accessible OR loaded and locked in the safe.

Carry gun? LOADED. Always loaded. Defense ammo removed on the firing line at the range, range ammo loaded, carry ammo back in the carry gun at the range.

Cleaning the carry gun seems like a legitimate "need" for loading in the home. But this constant or excessive loading/unloading simply (by the raw numbers) increases the chance of an ND. It also does no favors whatsoever to the ammo.

That's where I would start... and a large drum of sand is somewhere down the list.
 
As I said above, I have used a pasteboard box with sand to stop .45 (also 9mm, .38 and .357, and .44 Magnum) bullets. None required more than 3-4" of sand to stop the bullet; all but the Magnum loads required only about 2". Somehow, I doubt very much that 100 pounds of steel and sand would be required to stop a bullet from any handgun that could be hand held.

Jim
 
And you believe that crap? You don't think the IDIOT had his finger on/near the trigger when he the gun went off? Come on man, THINK!
 
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