My Boy Messed Up.....

[andyfr1968 772]

I went out shooting yesterday with my two lads(11 and 14) and my mate Paul and his boy (11).

 

My two have been coming out with me for the last six or so years and they've been hammered by me from day one about basic gun control and how to handle a rifle. One of the most important safety things that I've drilled into them is DON'T PUT YOUR FINGER INSIDE THE TRIGGER GUARD UNTIL YOU'RE READY TO TAKE THE SHOT!!!!!

 

Anyway, whilst doing some target practice before a mooch my eldest somehow forgot all he'd learnt over the years and managed to pull the trigger on his Xocet while the barrel was open and the gun was cocked. Thankfully the only damage was a bent barrel which I've now fixed but the whole thing could have been so much worse. He got a bollocking that he'll not forget and one which I feel so sorry for having to give but it had to be done.

 

He'll never make the same mistake again, I'm sure but I'm just staggered that he made the mistake in the first place.

 

Never take anything for granted, folks.

 

 

[AR177 588]

no harm done thats the main thing

[gouldy257 79]

its just something that can't be messed with,, even thoe it's hard on us to be sore on them it has to be done mate right you were

[the_stig 6,614]

no harm done thats the main thing

and a lesson learnt --sometimes you have to feck up to learn I`m sure it`ll be a lifetime lesson ..

[bobcullen79 1,495]

I was around that age when it happened to me, it wrecked my uncles stock. Now whilst I had no one to answer to, it was a accident thats not happened since.

Im sure he`s learnt his lesson Andy.. Bloody scary as a kid when it goes off.

[fry 209]

accidents happen no one hurt thats the main thing.

[Marksman 934]

Bent metal is better than a mashed finger/thumb

I'm sure he's learnt his lesson!

 

Darryl

[PaulEamonn 37]

Sorry to p1ss on everyone's parade with the psych-babble bit but I suspect it may not be as simple as giving the boy '...a bollocking that he'll not forget...'

 

What I suspect has happened here is that he (like us all at some stage in our lives) has subconsciously automated a process that he has performed flawlessly at the right time a thousands before. However, on this occasion, he performed it flawlessly at the wrong time thus bringing about this apparently 'brainless' mistake. I say 'brainless' on purpose because that was, indeed, what it was. He was simply carrying out a process that he has automated while not thinking about it.

 

Hands up anyone on here who hasn't, at some stage, driven down a well known road and then suddenly realised that they haven't been taking any notice of what they've been doing and have been driving on 'autopilot' for the last 9 miles. This sort of thing usually happens when you're talking to someone or listening to the radio.

 

It's no different to when you are riding a bike or (in some cases) shooting a gun. Much of what we do every day is subconsciously controlled. It's not until something goes wrong with the automated process that we become consciously aware of the cock-up. Maybe we get a bit too close to the car in front and have to brake a bit sharply, we ride over a pothole in the road and nearly fall off the bike or we pull the trigger at the wrong time.

 

Sadly, as the old adage goes -

 

Good habits are hard to make

Bad habits are hard to break

 

The only thing I can recommend for you (and all of us) to do when our kids are shooting with us, is to watch their every move. If you see them do something wrong, simply stop them tell them In a firm tone (no ranting please) to do it again. Make them go through the correct actions two of three times more while they are thinking consciously about it. Then, for a few times more - before they start the erred process - remind them to 'think' about what they are doing.

 

I am reasonably sure that you'll find this will retrain them to think about what they are doing and so to carry out each move as a consequence of a conscious thought.

 

I suggested the same corrective system to a piano teacher once who found that, after a student had played the wrong note (and was allowed to get away with it without any intervention) in a piece of music, they would usually repeat the mistake time and time again and, thereafter, find it very difficult to get out of the 'bad' habit.

 

This happens because the student's subconscious had incorrectly learnt the music and was playing it as it thought it should be played. This resulted in it being played wrongly each time without the intervention of the conscious mind to correct it.

 

I suggest you try it with yourselves as well as your kids, You may find it helps more than the bollocking.

Edited June 18, 2013 by PaulEamonn

[stealthy1 3,964]

Oops! Bet he felt that bollocking

[secretagentmole 1,701]

I am glad to hear he is OK, glad also that the Wobbley is now OK after more TLC (honestly the amount of work you put into that Wobbley)!

 

Bet he woke up when it happened though!

[Ratreeper 441]

Sorry to p1ss on everyone's parade with the psych-babble bit but I suspect it may not be as simple as giving the boy '...a bollocking that he'll not forget...'

 

What I suspect has happened here is that he (like us all at some stage in our lives) has subconsciously automated a process that he has performed flawlessly at the right time a thousands before. However, on this occasion, he performed it flawlessly at the wrong time thus bringing about this apparently 'brainless' mistake. I say 'brainless' on purpose because that was, indeed, what it was. He was simply carrying out a process that he has automated while not thinking about it.

 

Hands up anyone on here who hasn't, at some stage, driven down a well known road and then suddenly realised that they haven't been taking any notice of what they've been doing and have been driving on 'autopilot' for the last 9 miles. This sort of thing usually happens when you're talking to someone or listening to the radio.

 

It's no different to when you are riding a bike or (in some cases) shooting a gun. Much of what we do every day is subconsciously controlled. It's not until something goes wrong with the automated process that we become consciously aware of the cock-up. Maybe we get a bit too close to the car in front and have to brake a bit sharply, we ride over a pothole in the road and nearly fall off the bike or we pull the trigger at the wrong time.

 

Sadly, as the old adage goes -

 

Good habits are hard to make

Bad habits are hard to break

 

The only thing I can recommend for you (and all of us) to do when our kids are shooting with us, is to watch their every move. If you see them do something wrong, simply stop them tell them In a firm tone (no ranting please) to do it again. Make them go through the correct actions two of three times more while they are thinking consciously about it. Then, for a few times more - before they start the erred process - remind them to 'think' about what they are doing.

 

I am reasonably sure that you'll find this will retrain them to think about what they are doing and so to carry out each move as a consequence of a conscious thought.

 

I suggested the same corrective system to a piano teacher once who found that, after a student had played the wrong note (and was allowed to get away with it without any intervention) in a piece of music, they would usually repeat the mistake time and time again and, thereafter, find it very difficult to get out of the 'bad' habit.

 

This happens because the student's subconscious had incorrectly learnt the music and was playing it as it thought it should be played. This resulted in it being played wrongly each time without the intervention of the conscious mind to correct it.

 

I suggest you try it with yourselves as well as your kids, You may find it helps more than the bollocking.

 

Crikey we are talking about a 14 year old lad, so we could start a debate about if we really have free will and the moral consequences of placing any blame etc or just say that everyone makes mistakes for one reason or another and he has now learned his lesson. Even if it was just a subconscious process, the point is to be consciously aware of what you are doing with a firearm and possibly the best way to be reminded of this is a bad experience when something goes wrong, I think the OP did the right thing and has been doing the right thing or something like this wouldn't be a surprise.

 

Or could just be a bit of 'don't press the red button'

[PaulEamonn 37]

 

Sorry to p1ss on everyone's parade with the psych-babble bit but I suspect it may not be as simple as giving the boy '...a bollocking that he'll not forget...'

 

What I suspect has happened here is that he (like us all at some stage in our lives) has subconsciously automated a process that he has performed flawlessly at the right time a thousands before. However, on this occasion, he performed it flawlessly at the wrong time thus bringing about this apparently 'brainless' mistake. I say 'brainless' on purpose because that was, indeed, what it was. He was simply carrying out a process that he has automated while not thinking about it.

 

Hands up anyone on here who hasn't, at some stage, driven down a well known road and then suddenly realised that they haven't been taking any notice of what they've been doing and have been driving on 'autopilot' for the last 9 miles. This sort of thing usually happens when you're talking to someone or listening to the radio.

 

It's no different to when you are riding a bike or (in some cases) shooting a gun. Much of what we do every day is subconsciously controlled. It's not until something goes wrong with the automated process that we become consciously aware of the cock-up. Maybe we get a bit too close to the car in front and have to brake a bit sharply, we ride over a pothole in the road and nearly fall off the bike or we pull the trigger at the wrong time.

 

Sadly, as the old adage goes -

 

Good habits are hard to make

Bad habits are hard to break

 

The only thing I can recommend for you (and all of us) to do when our kids are shooting with us, is to watch their every move. If you see them do something wrong, simply stop them tell them In a firm tone (no ranting please) to do it again. Make them go through the correct actions two of three times more while they are thinking consciously about it. Then, for a few times more - before they start the erred process - remind them to 'think' about what they are doing.

 

I am reasonably sure that you'll find this will retrain them to think about what they are doing and so to carry out each move as a consequence of a conscious thought.

 

I suggested the same corrective system to a piano teacher once who found that, after a student had played the wrong note (and was allowed to get away with it without any intervention) in a piece of music, they would usually repeat the mistake time and time again and, thereafter, find it very difficult to get out of the 'bad' habit.

 

This happens because the student's subconscious had incorrectly learnt the music and was playing it as it thought it should be played. This resulted in it being played wrongly each time without the intervention of the conscious mind to correct it.

 

I suggest you try it with yourselves as well as your kids, You may find it helps more than the bollocking.

 

Crikey we are talking about a 14 year old lad, so we could start a debate about if we really have free will and the moral consequences of placing any blame etc or just say that everyone makes mistakes for one reason or another and he has now learned his lesson. Even if it was just a subconscious process, the point is to be consciously aware of what you are doing with a firearm and possibly the best way to be reminded of this is a bad experience when something goes wrong, I think the OP did the right thing and has been doing the right thing or something like this wouldn't be a surprise.

 

Or could just be a bit of 'don't press the red button'

 

Always presses someones (red) button when I start on this sort of thing............and, yes, I always put on my seat belt before I do!

[pianoman 3,587]

Ahhh Poor old Oscar!

 

He'll not forget the experience let alone the bollocking Andy. A hard lesson; but we've all had a spring rifle where this has happened. I've bent a slipped HW80K barrel myself in the past as you know mate.

 

Better than the experience of Jim Hogan (The man behind the Logun PCP series). He runs the gunsmiths' workshop over at Red Beck now. He was showing me his mashed, scarred thumb after working on an HW77 some years ago. He touched the trigger off, with his thumb pushing a pellet in the breech and half of it was crushed to almost severed. He passed out. His surgeon was on form in saving it.

 

The rifle had a faulty safety catch but he was on Paul Eamonn's auto pilot and didn't check it out before testing it on the chrono to see what it shot like.

 

Oscar's alright if a bit more alert as to what happens now, the rifle can be fixed and no harm to anyone.

 

Let that be the only hard lesson he needs to learn on handling safety. Give him a hug from me mate and tell him it's not the end of the world.

 

Let's have a meet up, a shoot and a beer soon Andy old pal. The 97's a beauty!

 

Simon

[The one 8,504]

Who know's why he did it maybe just the excitement of being out but as said no harm done and you easily fixed it

[bigmac 97kt 13,807]

We all have made mistakes at some point in our sport some more than others if they would admit it but the main thing is he is ok i learned the hard way three and a half hour,s in surgery with a big hole in my hand. So it could of been a hell of a lot worse off just be thank full that he or no one els was hurt stop his pocket money until the barrel is payed for hitting him in the pocket will hurt him more than a bollocking even at his age atvbmac