By John Farnam
Ft Collins, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- Range Incident:
I normally advise students, when they retrieve live rounds of ammunition from the ground, to check them carefully before stuffing them back into magazines.
Sometimes, I fail to emphasize the “check them carefully” part enough!
Yesterday, during an Urban Rifle Course in TN, a student came to me complaining that the bolt on his AR would not close. Examination revealed the base of a live round protruding out of the chamber. However, the bolt, even with a running start, refused to close on the round.
The student switched to another rifle and continued with our Program.
During the next break, we attempted to knock the recalcitrant round back out of the chamber with a cleaning rod inserted from the muzzle end. We had no success! That round was really wedged in there.
At the shop later in the evening, we finally got the stuck round knocked loose, and the rifle was returned to normal service.
The Problem:
My student had inadvertently picked up a Soviet 5.45×39 round off the ground, and, mistaking it for a 5.56×45 (223) round, nonchalantly inserted it into his AR magazine. When he subsequently reinserted the magazine into his rifle and attempted to close the bolt, the errant round went partway into the chamber, but then became hopelessly wedged with the base sticking out the back, as noted above.
In retrospect, it is a good thing the round did not chamber!
No harm done, and my student successfully completed his training, and his rifle (once we freed the stuck round) was none the worse for wear.
However, had something like this happened during a tactical scenario, the rifle would have been out of action at a critical moment and could have not been returned to service quickly.
Lesson:
Live rounds of ammunition picked-up off the ground during training exercises need to be segregated and examined at a later time, not casually returned to magazines with the intention of immediate reuse. That is the procedure we will recommend from now on!
This important lesson was not lost on me, nor on the balance of our students!
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent and unlawful lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance, if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that their students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or inactions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to the Planet Earth. Mr Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
Story makes no sense. The 5.45 is a shorter case, and the bullet is a smaller diameter. So the bolt would have closed but the round would have been too deep in the chamber to extract or let firing pin strike primer.
Is this story made up for a blog entry?
2 Weeks ago I was at the range with my friend and his 5.56 I had my 300 BLK. We got his 5.56 sighted in, then switched to my 300 BLK after clearing all of his stuff off of the bench. Note, my mags are color coded and were pre-loaded. My range bag is specific for this particular rifle and a different color. Even though I’m absolutely paranoid about mixing my ammo, somehow one of my friends 5.56 got mixed in with my 300 BLK, I WAS paying attention to each and every round and thusly I caught it immediately…that… Read more »
Dave from San Antonio, I disagree strongly about this being “an instructor goof up”. If this student cannot readily see the difference between these two carriages (like you pointed out), maybe he should be taking a basic firearms course and not a combat rifle course for “farmiliarization” of his weapon and ammo. Hell, why don’t you blame the guy at the gun store who sold him his gun for him not being “familiarized” with his weapon and ammo? Why don’t you blame the last student that ejected the “wrong round” in the dirt on the range? Should the instructor load… Read more »
EXCELLENT reminder!
We had a meet and greet, one member inserts his full magazine into the M&P pistol, fires one round and
knows something is not right.
The pistol was M&P .40 and the magazine was 9mm.
Lesson learned, if you use another persons firearm, use their magazine and their ammo or pull fresh ammo
out of your box, never any reloaded ammo.
Ego? Embarrassment? Immaturity? Excessive viewing of “action” flicks”?
You shined; he didn’t. With luck he’ll sell-out and abandon the sport, eliminating future negativity on our sport.