Another Episode in the Continuing Saga of "It's ALWAYS Loaded"

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  • Mark 1911

    Grandmaster
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    12   0   0
    Jun 6, 2012
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    Schererville, IN
    Thought I would share this with the group here.

    I will say that I think I got lucky this time, because although I thought I was being careful, I think there was an element of carelessness involved.

    As many of you know I've been working on a field assignment in Minnesota. I got the word through my supervisors that my Minnesota assignment will be wrapping up around mid-January.

    Last Friday was my last work day of 2018. Knowing that I would only have two more trips out of Minnesota to get all my stuff moved out, I loaded up the truck with as much stuff as I could, including my Remington 552 Speedmaster and my Remy 700 .243 win.

    Preparing to pack the rifles, I opened the bolt on the 700, confirmed empty, packed it into it's travel case. I've been using my .22 to dust squirrels and rabbits from the kitchen window, so I knew I had some ammo in the magazine, and I thought that I had one chambered and the safety on. Removed the magazine follower and emptied the 10 or 12 rounds that were in the magazine. I worked the charging handle a few time to make sure the chamber was empty. Nothing ejected. I paused in my mind for a second because I thought I had one in the chamber. My key mistake, I didn't stop to visually confirm the chamber was empty. It was a little dark in the kitchen and for those of you familiar with the 552s, you have to tilt them down toward a light source to get enough light into the chamber to see if there is a round in there or not. It's not as obvious with this rifle as it is with most firearms, you really have to make an effort to see into the chamber. Shame on me, I skipped that step.

    I got home late that night after a 7 hour drive and unpacked the truck. I finally got around to cleaning the .22 today, Tuesday, before putting it away. It had been sitting on my work bench in the basement, still in the case, since I got home last Friday night.

    Before disassembling the rifle I cycled the action a few more times, nothing ejected. Again, in the back of my mind that didn't seem right to me. This time I tilted the rifle so I could get some light down into the receiver, sure enough, there was a live round in the chamber that for whatever reason, did not eject even though I had cycled the action at least half a dozen times between the time I packed the rifle away and now after unpacking it. I tried a few more times to engage the chambered round with the ejector but it would not eject. Finally, I had to hold the charging handle open to back the bolt away from the chamber, and then used a cleaning rod to push the round out from the muzzle end.

    Although this was a non-accident that ended well, I have been kicking myself all day long for not visually checking the chamber to confirm it was empty. And the fact that I drove all the way home from MN with a live round in the chamber of my .22 is really something I can't kick myself enough for. Even experienced people can make stupid mistakes. I will never make that mistake again. Always, always, always perform a visual confirmation that the chamber is empty. I know all of you do. Even when you think it's empty, sometimes things don't work the way they should.

    MORAL OF THE STORY: IT'S ALWAYS LOADED!!
     

    mmpsteve

    Real CZ's have a long barrel!!
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    Nov 14, 2016
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    ..... formerly near the Wild Turkey
    I did the same thing with a Winchester pump 22 short. Cleared it, was showing to my uncle. He cycles it, and out pops a live round. Both our eyes got big, and now he thinks I'm an idiot. He's probably right, but a great lesson to remind people of. I don't know if it was in the chamber or stuck in the tube, but same result.
     

    Bapak2ja

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    Dec 17, 2009
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    Fort Wayne
    ive started using chamber flags more and more. my mossberg 715T has failed to eject rounds a couple times...

    I have chamber flags in the gun cases just for this very reason.

    Thanks for the warning and reminder. Visual check is essential.

    Regarding the chamber flags. Bear in mind that one should not inadvertently close the action on a chamber flag. I did this with my Marlin 336 and bent the ejector so that it would not eject the spent shell. I was able to take my first boar on that hunt, but having made the mistake of closing the lever action with the chamber flag installed before that shot I had to remove the spent shell by prying it out of the chamber. I had to borrow a friend's 336 in 35 Remington to finish that hunt. I was later able to straighten the ejector so that my 336 (in .30-30) now works very well. But I have learned to be very, very careful with chamber flags installed.
     

    MarkC

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    Mar 6, 2016
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    Mooresville
    Thank you for sharing this experience.

    What struck me most is that although the weapon was not perfectly cleared, you were still cognizant that something wasn't right and your adherence to other safety procedures prevented any damage or injury from happening. Too many times so many things have to go wrong for a disaster to happen.
     

    Mark 1911

    Grandmaster
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    12   0   0
    Jun 6, 2012
    10,931
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    Schererville, IN
    So... did you have a broken extractor, broken spring, stuck case..?????

    Glad nothing happened.

    Can't explain it. Everything is working fine. The rifle didn't seem all that dirty when I cleaned it, but there was some grit in the receiver, powder residue. Didn't seem like enough to gum up the ejector. There is a small channel that fits into a slot cut out of the side of the barrel, the ejector slides through that channel. Probably wouldn't take much to foul it.

    The round that was stuck was fed after a fired round, not manually. I'll have to see what happens on the next range trip. Semi-auto .22s can be a little finicky. I probably put two or three hundred rounds through it since the last cleaning. Doesn't seem like that much.

    When I pushed the round out of the chamber with the cleaning rod, it came out easily, didn't feel stuck at all.
     
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