Shotgun Unintended Discharge: Bringing the Range into the Classroom
Unintended discharges are no joke. With a shotgun, things get real very quickly. Everybody hates the rules, especially safety rules. Cool firearms instructors post videos on YouTube breaking the rules. Sometimes, you can bend the rules and get away with it and sometimes exceptions will bite you.
I have learned much of what I know about the rules from mistakes, mostly the mistakes of others.
Which rules? Why Jeff Cooper’s rules of course, as copied faithfully from the sacred text; Cooper’s Commentaries volume 6 number 2.
RULE 1
ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
RULE 2
NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
RULE 3
KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
RULE 4
BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET
What about situations off the range, outside the rule book? These rules don’t apply with dummy cartridges, right? When I practice weapons manipulations at home or demonstrate them in a class, I use dummy rounds. I prefer the ST Action Pro rounds because their distinctive bright orange plastic and empty primer pocket makes them obviously different from live rounds. I like them even more now, for reasons I will explain below.
When I demonstrate in front of others, I some one else check each round. I won’t point a gun at anything I am not willing to shoot, even using dummy rounds. When I need to point at things I do not wish to destroy, I use a dummy gun.
Recently, a federal law enforcement agency was conducting shotgun training in the classroom at a local range. The firearms instructor brought an ammo can full of clear dummy rounds with him. Spoiler Alert: Almost all of them were dummy rounds.
The instructor loaded his Remington 870 shotgun from the ammo can and began to demonstrate its operation. There was a loud noise and a hole appeared in the wall in front of the shotgun.
Some instructors like dummy rounds of similar appearance and weight to live cartridges, stunt doubles. They look cool and feel just like live rounds. Take a look at the dummy training rounds, and the live round that got mixed in.
In a room filled with trained investigators, it was quickly deduced that an unknown party had introduced a round of live ammunition, specifically bird shot, into the ammo can. My theory is that someone had a stray round of shotgun ammo and stuck in a can of similar looking ammo. The round had probably been cycled through a dozen shotguns before one unlucky instructor pulled the trigger and went on to internet fame.
I hope the instructor took a moment to talk about shotgun penetration in residential walls. This was a teachable moment. None of the pellets made it to the class full of students across the hall. Anything other than bird shot would have probably produced casualties.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned here. My favorites in no particular order:
Don’t be afraid to challenge safety and check things for yourself.
Don’t let anyone point an empty gun at you, especially in training.
No live ammo in the class room.
Check your dummy rounds, then check them again.
Have some one else check your dummy rounds.
Use orange dummy rounds.
NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO SHOOT
by Marcus Custer
Marcus Custer served as a Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations and has a broad base of law enforcement experience including gang investigations, drug smuggling investigations, cross border tunnel exploitation, high risk warrant service and tactical medicine. Marcus has been a law enforcement trainer since 1996 and has taught a wide variety of leadership, investigative, tactical and use of force topics. He has provided training to law enforcement officers at all skill levels from the basic academy to in-service training and Special Response Teams. As a Senior Firearms Instructor, he was responsible for all weapons training, defensive tactics and use of force training for SAC San Diego, an office with 400 armed Special Agents.
Marcus served in the U.S. Army with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea and as a Green Beret (Army Special Forces soldier) in 3rd, 7th and and 19th Special Forces Groups training indigenous soldiers in South America, Asia, and the Middle East. He was awarded Combat Infantryman’s badges for service in El Salvador, Panama, Kuwait and Afghanistan. He earned U.S. Army Distinguished Marksman badges with both pistol and rifle.
Marcus is an Emergency Medical Technician and certified instructor in handgun, patrol rifle, precision rifle, submachine gun, and shotgun and holds certifications as a tactical shooting instructor, tactical medical instructor, and rangemaster. He is an instructor trainer for both the NRA Law Enforcement Division and the National Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor association.
Co-author of the best selling book, “Red Dot Mastery”, Marcus has developed a dynamic coaching class which integrates recent discoveries in vision and neuroscience with proven coaching methods from law enforcement and Special Forces. His company Law Enforcement Options specializes in teaching instructors to provide highly effective coaching to shooters facing high risk situations.
