ND Incident report: A serious look at dummy rounds and dummies in general

[Darth_Uno]

I'm now also considering painting the body of the mag(s) I use all the time for dry fire a different color. something bright and obnoxious I think.

All my Glocks are 19's or 17's. I horse traded around for a 22 which I only wanted for the frame, painted the mags pink and pulled the followers out. They're my dedicated dryfire/reload mags.

[Gater]

Very glad no one was hurt, and thank you for sharing this with us--it is an excellent reminder to us all.

They aren't perfect and they seem expensive for what they are, but I bought weighted Rings blue gun magazines to use for dry fire--many models are available through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rings-Trainin...weighted+glock

I have one for a G19 and one for a G26: I believe the newer one of the two was molded with the follower pinned.

As discussed in another thread, I also use a Laserlyte laser training cartridge: https://www.amazon.com/LaserLyte-LT-...iner+cartridge

Different schools of thought on the utility of the lasers in dry fire, but on the safety front it is chambered, does not look like a conventional cartridge due to the rubber base, and (unlike a dummy round) does not extract until you manually push it out with a tool (pencil, etc.). In addition to all the other dry fire rules, I start a session out by locking the slide to the rear and verifying the blue follower and then pressing the "primer" of the chambered laser cartridge with my finger and verifying the laser splash in the safe direction. They make it in .45, 9mm, .380, and 5.56mm.

[Cory]

Rethinking a silencer for home defense? Every time I've fired a weapon in doors it has left my bell ringing for days, of course I was too good for ear pro. Probably why I now have tinnitus. The fact most of it was 5.56 blanks probably didn't help.

I keep all my ammo outside the room I practice in. Right now, that is my biggest safety precaution.
I use bright red snap caps in my Glock.
I verify snap caps (or clear with my 1911) before every dry fire.
My plan moving forward is a dedicated dry fire weapon, that isn't my carry or HD gun. I do not yet have that safety measure in place.

My current home doesn't allow for a safe backstop in any direction. I'm currently saving for a safe, which will become one. Perhaps in the meantime, I should consider moving my bookshelves around. If you don't mind me asking, was this 230gr ball? I'm kind of surprised with your bookshelf performance as a backstop.

This is hard stuff to post. I wouldn't have. You were a jackass, and nobody knows it better than you. Do your best to get as close to this routine as possible. It's the best anyone can do.

Robust Dry Practice Safety Principles and Procedure (the closer you follow this, the fewer opportunities you will have to ND)


Principles:

Allow no distractions – focus exclusively on the task at hand

Keep muzzle in a safe direction

Use correct trigger finger discipline

Verify no live ammo in gun, on person, or in the dry practice area

Use dedicated dry practice targets that are put away until you consciously choose to begin dry practice, and taken down when you consciously end dry practice

Use dedicated dry practice magazines and dummy rounds/inert training cartridges that stay in the dry practice area (if you use any magazine or cartridges)


Procedure:

Unload gun in a location other than the dry practice area

Leave live ammo, and magazines with live ammo, completely outside the dry practice area

Enter the dry practice area

Verify gun is unloaded, that any magazines do not contain live ammo, and that any cartridges present are inert/dummy cartridges

Consciously choose to begin dry practice

Put up dry practice targets

Do your dry practice

Take down dry practice targets and put them away

Consciously choose to end dry practice

Exit the dry practice area and do something unrelated for a few minutes

Return gun to location and condition of your choosing

[Leroy]

Dedicated magazines for dryfire, dummy rounds colored, never use those mags for anything else, leave them loaded.

[Lester Polfus]

Thank you for reminding me that anybody can fuck up, including me.

I'm glad you're ok.

[Dave J]

Thanks for sharing this as a reminder, and good on you for being diligent enough to use a solid backstop.

FWIW, I've made a few weighted training mags in the past by putting a chunk of rectangular steel rod down in near the bottom (secured by epoxy or RTV), with a shortened mag spring and follower resting on top of the steel, so it's still functional for snap caps, albeit at a much reduced capacity (which I don't see as a problem for dry fire). The ones I made that way were for Glocks, but the concept would work be for most other guns.

[Cool Breeze]

Glad everyone is OK.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[45dotACP]

Rethinking a silencer for home defense? Every time I've fired a weapon in doors it has left my bell ringing for days, of course I was too good for ear pro. Probably why I now have tinnitus. The fact most of it was 5.56 blanks probably didn't help.

I keep all my ammo outside the room I practice in. Right now, that is my biggest safety precaution.
I use bright red snap caps in my Glock.
I verify snap caps (or clear with my 1911) before every dry fire.
My plan moving forward is a dedicated dry fire weapon, that isn't my carry or HD gun. I do not yet have that safety measure in place.

My current home doesn't allow for a safe backstop in any direction. I'm currently saving for a safe, which will become one. Perhaps in the meantime, I should consider moving my bookshelves around. If you don't mind me asking, was this 230gr ball? I'm kind of surprised with your bookshelf performance as a backstop.

This is hard stuff to post. I wouldn't have. You were a jackass, and nobody knows it better than you. Do your best to get as close to this routine as possible. It's the best anyone can do.

It was a handloaded 230gr coated bullet. Probably chucking 750fps and the round traversed two physics books (life isn't without it's irony) from the spine forward.

The concrete wall behind had a smudge of the Blue Bullets polymer coating but no other signs of cracks or dents so I think the books absorbed most of the velocity. But it would've punched through dry wall I think.

I might suggest a dry fire gun or slide with a deactivated firing pin? Lord knows that's what I feel I ought to start doing.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Darth_Uno]

It was a handloaded 230gr coated bullet. Probably chucking 750fps and the round traversed two physics books (life isn't without it's irony) from the spine forward.

God has a sense of humor. I'm certain of it.

[OlongJohnson]

I've contemplated loading up some of my own dummies, but having the cases look the same as live ammo just doesn't pass my personal Murphy filter.

I've tried to find some kind of durable conversion coating that would change the color of copper or brass, but not come up with anything. Bright blue cases would be a good clue.

Until I figure that out, I'll continue with the orange or blue plastic snap caps.