Scary Dreams

SigP6Carry · November 15, 2009, 03:12 PM

Have any of you ever had bad dreams concerning firearms? Like a nightmare where your gun fails at the last possible moment or you get into some situation where a gun would help, but all you have is a BB gun?

I had a dream last night that I was somewhere with a bunch of friend where they give you guns loaded with blanks and you play out movies and such. And I was in the staging room and saw a Remington 1858 and decided to play with it. When I checked that it was unloaded (by taking out the cylinder) a bunch of springs and such came out of the cylinder and I spent the rest of the dream trying to reassemble it (until somebody handed me an MP40 for the next "movie"). I was panicking and couldn't get the gun back together for the life of me, though.

SundownRider · November 15, 2009, 04:46 PM

Had a dream once where I was back in the Old West and was in a saloon shootout. When the smoke cleared the only thing that stuck in my mind was the walls had outlets. Couldn't stop looking at them and then I woke up.

Doyle · November 15, 2009, 04:53 PM

About once a year, I'll have a dream about being in a fight of some kind where I try to punch but I have absolutely zero strength so the punches barely touch the bad guy. Occasionally, I'll have a similar dream about trying to defend myself with a firearm. Only, when I go to pull the trigger I don't have enough strengh to pull it.

C Philip · November 15, 2009, 05:12 PM

Guns rarely work in my dreams, either because the ammo is some weird size or the trigger pull is 100 pounds.

Edward429451 · November 15, 2009, 05:39 PM

My guns used to have trouble in my dreams but when I started spending more time at the range and getting better, suddenly guns worked fine in my dreams.
My last bad dream about a gun was I was back in my hometown to visit and got accosted by a bad guy and I had to carefully shoot him twice in my dream. The gun worked fine, the BG did fall down and...no witnesess

So I spent the rest of the dream running through back alleys of hometown burg trying to separate myself from the scene. I was pretty scared in the dream and seemed to make good progress but kept having the bad luck of running into his fam and they somehow recognizing me as his friend and waving wanting to say hello....very weird.

Sevens · November 15, 2009, 06:01 PM

As odd as it would seem to be, I don't have many dreams that involve guns & shooting. On the rare one where I do, it always seems to end up with me holding a 12 gauge at the moment of truth, pull the trigger and a small handful of BB's always roll out of the barrel and tinkle all over the ground.

I'm sure some psychotherapist could make something of that, but it's not a dream I have often enough to concern me!

Funny thing is that I don't see me employing a shotgun in almost any defensive situation I might find myself in. Not that I would refuse to, just that I'd likely choose something else.

gilfo · November 15, 2009, 06:51 PM

Had a dream back when I used to carry a Kel Tec P11. Needed it to ward off a bad guy and kept pulling the trigger back, back back back a it would not fire. Needless to say I got rid of the Kel Tec.

Edward429451 · November 15, 2009, 06:59 PM

It's lack of confidence.

akfedor7 · November 15, 2009, 07:44 PM

Yep, dreamed I was in a shootout and my AK's safety got bent and failed, keeping me from being able to shoot it. When I woke up I took it apart and verified how to handle this situation if it ever happened. So my dream actually helped me out.

Glenn Dee · November 15, 2009, 09:05 PM

LOL I have had those dreams for years... They started when I was a rookie cop, but now not very often. Dreams like the thousand pound trigger pull, the round going off with a soft pop and falling on the floor, or the round that bounces off the guy i'm shooting... Actually it's quite common. A lot of cops have them. My favorite is the realizing I had my kids water gun at work...

Rich Miranda · November 16, 2009, 08:26 AM

The ultra-heavy trigger pull I have had several times! It's scary.

I have also had a dream where I'm being attacked and I pull my SP101. I can pull the trigger just fine, but the ammo is bad because the primer is not igniting the powder! Scary.

Glenn Dee · November 16, 2009, 08:59 AM

Hmmm we get in a pinch and our guns dont work... I wonder what Freud would say... LOL

Skans · November 16, 2009, 09:01 AM

Quote:

As odd as it would seem to be, I don't have many dreams that involve guns & shooting.

Me neither. I can't remember one dream or nightmare involving guns.

stephen426 · November 16, 2009, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Hmmm we get in a pinch and our guns dont work... I wonder what Freud would say... LOL

Freud would say performance anxiety

but they have pills for that.

I had dreams that the trigger on my HK USP was flexing and prevented the fun from firing. I'm still a little wary of polymer triggers, but everytime I pull the trigger in real life, the guns go bang.

I actually had one dream that caused me to start carrying pepper spray on my weak side. I dreamed I got in my car and some guy popped out of the back seat. I reached for my gun which was on my strong side, but the guy just grabbed my arm. The guy was much stronger than I was and just laughed at me. When I woke up, I analyzed the scenario and decided to start carrying pepper spray on my weak side or in the driver side door compartment. I also helps to always check your back seats before you get in.

huchahuchax · November 16, 2009, 10:16 AM

I don't recall having any significant shooting dreams or nightmares. Most of my nightmares consist of me getting drafted, or having to be in the military again.

Strange thing though, about a week or two ago, a work friend of mine that is in the military suddenly blurted out that he had finally had a dream where he pulled a gun and it did not fail, allowing him to save the day. In real life he had recently purchased a Winchester '94, 30-30. In his dream, Iran's AquaDinnerJacket was flying over his property in a helicopter, causing problems. My buddy dreamed that he pulled out the Winchester and shot him down.

ZeSpectre · November 16, 2009, 10:35 AM

My dreams with regards to firearms tend to fall into three broad categories.

1) FAILURE - In some way either the firearm or the operator (me) fails to perform. My most common repeat is that the gun is absolutely WELDED into the holster and I can-not get it out. I've also had the "gun falls apart" as you try to use it dream where you are frantically trying to hold springs and stuff in place just long enough to get the damned thing to fire.

"Failure" dreams almost always tell me that I'm overdue for range time though sometimes they just seem to represent me trying to juggle too many things at once in my life. (The alternative "failure" dream usually involves a malfunctioning automobile or, strangely enough, having a giant wad of bad tasting bubblegum stuck to my teeth and I can't get it all out).

2) Showboat - In these dreams I'm like the old lone-ranger, or like "the kid" from blazing saddles. Every trigger pull hits a target and every trick shot works. HOWEVER, like Blazing Saddles, nobody gets hurt, nobody dies, no blood is shed. Just a lot of shooting through the rope, or shooting the gun out of the hand, silly hollywood stuff.

I always wake up from "showboat" dreams thinking to myself how unrealistic they are and reminding myself the seriousness of firearms in my real-world life.

3) Target - In the "Target" dreams I am the one being shot or shot at. Interestingly enough, every time I've been "shot" in a dream (it is exceedingly rare that I have this dream) there is a moment where I seem to say to myself "this will kill me if I LET it, so I'm NOT GONNA LET IT" and then I have a sort of "Hollywood" action hero recovery.

The "target" dreams almost never actually have anything to do with guns, they are usually about me facing a big challenge and needing to get mule stubborn and plow my way through. The other variation on the "Target" dreams I have consists of facing a HUGE set of river rapids with a leaking kayak and no life jacket....talk about symbolism.

rantingredneck · November 16, 2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

trigger pull is 100 pounds.

Used to have that one a good bit when I first got into shooting handguns. Hasn't happened in many years though.

Skans · November 16, 2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

trigger pull is 100 pounds.

Ugh!!! I need to stop reading this thread for fear of my dreams being influenced by such horrific thoughts. This thread should be rated XXX.

Brian Pfleuger · November 16, 2009, 11:33 AM

I don't think that I've ever had a dream involving firearms. Except about hunting, wherein the firearm was more incidental than the actual focus.

KLRANGL · November 16, 2009, 12:09 PM

I remember listening to the CD Col Dave Grossman put out, and it had a bit where he talked about the "gun failing" dream. Something about your middle brain telling your upper brain that its scared (IE not confident). I thought it was dumb when I heard it, but it certainly makes sense now. I had those dreams all the time when I first started carrying, but rarely get them now after putting in the practice time.
And come to think of it, the "punch that does no damage" dreams never started until I stopped doing martial arts when I got to college...

powergunner · November 16, 2009, 06:11 PM

I had a dream that im being hunted by the predator (The Arnold Schwarzenegger movie) and he cut my right arm, I tried to shoot him off with my left one but I didn’t make it. it was extremely difficult to shoot with the other hand!

Since then im going to the range and train in both hands shooting, just in case

Rian · November 17, 2009, 12:13 AM

Hate to admit that my first handgun was a jennings. Always had dreams that it wouldn't fire. Wait, was that a dream, or reality?

Now that I've upgraded, seems that the biggest issue in dreams is that the trigger pull seems way too heavy.

chris in va · November 17, 2009, 12:39 AM

I had a dream just the other night that I couldn't shoot my Kahr accurately due to the DAO trigger. Kept missing this BG slowly heading toward me.

In real life I do quite well with it, so it must be a subconcious thing.

Pathfinder45 · November 17, 2009, 03:43 AM

My recurring gun dream involves going deer hunting in a favorite remote location only to find that it has been developed with houses, highways and people crawling all over the place. When I wake up, I'm bothered that humanity is over-running the planet and wonder if the wild places are doomed to development. Sobering.....

jgcoastie · November 17, 2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

In real life he had recently purchased a Winchester '94, 30-30. In his dream, Iran's AquaDinnerJacket was flying over his property in a helicopter, causing problems. My buddy dreamed that he pulled out the Winchester and shot him down.

It's completely doable... I saw Gibbs do it on NCIS once...

November 15, 2009, 03:12 PM	#1
SigP6Carry Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2009 Posts: 1,086	Scary Dreams Have any of you ever had bad dreams concerning firearms? Like a nightmare where your gun fails at the last possible moment or you get into some situation where a gun would help, but all you have is a BB gun? I had a dream last night that I was somewhere with a bunch of friend where they give you guns loaded with blanks and you play out movies and such. And I was in the staging room and saw a Remington 1858 and decided to play with it. When I checked that it was unloaded (by taking out the cylinder) a bunch of springs and such came out of the cylinder and I spent the rest of the dream trying to reassemble it (until somebody handed me an MP40 for the next "movie"). I was panicking and couldn't get the gun back together for the life of me, though. __________________ -liberal gun nut = exception to the rule- -1.24274238 miles, because Russians don't need scopes- -Gun control was the Klan's favorite law, how can you advocate a set of laws designed to allow the denigration of a people?-

November 15, 2009, 04:46 PM	#2
SundownRider Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2006 Location: Illinois Posts: 509	Had a dream once where I was back in the Old West and was in a saloon shootout. When the smoke cleared the only thing that stuck in my mind was the walls had outlets. Couldn't stop looking at them and then I woke up. __________________ " Of every One-Hundred men, Ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are nothing but targets, Nine are real fighters... We are lucky to have them...They make the battle. Ah, but the One, One of them is a Warrior... and He will bring the others back." - Heraclitus (circa 500 BC)

November 15, 2009, 06:01 PM	#6
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	As odd as it would seem to be, I don't have many dreams that involve guns & shooting. On the rare one where I do, it always seems to end up with me holding a 12 gauge at the moment of truth, pull the trigger and a small handful of BB's always roll out of the barrel and tinkle all over the ground. I'm sure some psychotherapist could make something of that, but it's not a dream I have often enough to concern me! Funny thing is that I don't see me employing a shotgun in almost any defensive situation I might find myself in. Not that I would refuse to, just that I'd likely choose something else. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

November 16, 2009, 08:26 AM	#11
Rich Miranda Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2008 Location: San Antonio, not San Antone... Posts: 1,203	The ultra-heavy trigger pull I have had several times! It's scary. I have also had a dream where I'm being attacked and I pull my SP101. I can pull the trigger just fine, but the ammo is bad because the primer is not igniting the powder! Scary. __________________ Read this!: I collect .38 Special and .357 Mag cartridges and I will PAY CASH for the headstamps I don't already have! Please PM me. Please donate blood, plasma, and platelets - people's lives literally depend on it.

November 16, 2009, 10:35 AM	#16
ZeSpectre Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Shenandoah Valley Posts: 3,276	My dreams with regards to firearms tend to fall into three broad categories. 1) FAILURE - In some way either the firearm or the operator (me) fails to perform. My most common repeat is that the gun is absolutely WELDED into the holster and I can-not get it out. I've also had the "gun falls apart" as you try to use it dream where you are frantically trying to hold springs and stuff in place just long enough to get the damned thing to fire. "Failure" dreams almost always tell me that I'm overdue for range time though sometimes they just seem to represent me trying to juggle too many things at once in my life. (The alternative "failure" dream usually involves a malfunctioning automobile or, strangely enough, having a giant wad of bad tasting bubblegum stuck to my teeth and I can't get it all out). 2) Showboat - In these dreams I'm like the old lone-ranger, or like "the kid" from blazing saddles. Every trigger pull hits a target and every trick shot works. HOWEVER, like Blazing Saddles, nobody gets hurt, nobody dies, no blood is shed. Just a lot of shooting through the rope, or shooting the gun out of the hand, silly hollywood stuff. I always wake up from "showboat" dreams thinking to myself how unrealistic they are and reminding myself the seriousness of firearms in my real-world life. 3) Target - In the "Target" dreams I am the one being shot or shot at. Interestingly enough, every time I've been "shot" in a dream (it is exceedingly rare that I have this dream) there is a moment where I seem to say to myself "this will kill me if I LET it, so I'm NOT GONNA LET IT" and then I have a sort of "Hollywood" action hero recovery. The "target" dreams almost never actually have anything to do with guns, they are usually about me facing a big challenge and needing to get mule stubborn and plow my way through. The other variation on the "Target" dreams I have consists of facing a HUGE set of river rapids with a leaking kayak and no life jacket....talk about symbolism. __________________ "The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on"

November 15, 2009, 04:53 PM	#3
Doyle Senior Member Join Date: June 20, 2007 Location: Rainbow City, Alabama Posts: 7,167	About once a year, I'll have a dream about being in a fight of some kind where I try to punch but I have absolutely zero strength so the punches barely touch the bad guy. Occasionally, I'll have a similar dream about trying to defend myself with a firearm. Only, when I go to pull the trigger I don't have enough strengh to pull it.

November 15, 2009, 05:12 PM	#4
C Philip Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2005 Location: USA Posts: 784	Guns rarely work in my dreams, either because the ammo is some weird size or the trigger pull is 100 pounds.

November 15, 2009, 05:39 PM	#5
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	My guns used to have trouble in my dreams but when I started spending more time at the range and getting better, suddenly guns worked fine in my dreams. My last bad dream about a gun was I was back in my hometown to visit and got accosted by a bad guy and I had to carefully shoot him twice in my dream. The gun worked fine, the BG did fall down and...no witnesess So I spent the rest of the dream running through back alleys of hometown burg trying to separate myself from the scene. I was pretty scared in the dream and seemed to make good progress but kept having the bad luck of running into his fam and they somehow recognizing me as his friend and waving wanting to say hello....very weird.

November 15, 2009, 06:51 PM	#7
gilfo Senior Member Join Date: February 29, 2008 Posts: 307	Had a dream back when I used to carry a Kel Tec P11. Needed it to ward off a bad guy and kept pulling the trigger back, back back back a it would not fire. Needless to say I got rid of the Kel Tec.

November 15, 2009, 06:59 PM	#8
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	It's lack of confidence.

November 15, 2009, 07:44 PM	#9
akfedor7 Senior Member Join Date: November 1, 2009 Location: North Mississippi Posts: 125	Yep, dreamed I was in a shootout and my AK's safety got bent and failed, keeping me from being able to shoot it. When I woke up I took it apart and verified how to handle this situation if it ever happened. So my dream actually helped me out.

November 15, 2009, 09:05 PM	#10
Glenn Dee Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Location: South Florida Posts: 1,560	LOL I have had those dreams for years... They started when I was a rookie cop, but now not very often. Dreams like the thousand pound trigger pull, the round going off with a soft pop and falling on the floor, or the round that bounces off the guy i'm shooting... Actually it's quite common. A lot of cops have them. My favorite is the realizing I had my kids water gun at work...

November 16, 2009, 08:59 AM	#12
Glenn Dee Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Location: South Florida Posts: 1,560	Hmmm we get in a pinch and our guns dont work... I wonder what Freud would say... LOL

November 16, 2009, 10:16 AM	#15
huchahuchax Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2007 Posts: 298	I don't recall having any significant shooting dreams or nightmares. Most of my nightmares consist of me getting drafted, or having to be in the military again. Strange thing though, about a week or two ago, a work friend of mine that is in the military suddenly blurted out that he had finally had a dream where he pulled a gun and it did not fail, allowing him to save the day. In real life he had recently purchased a Winchester '94, 30-30. In his dream, Iran's AquaDinnerJacket was flying over his property in a helicopter, causing problems. My buddy dreamed that he pulled out the Winchester and shot him down.

November 16, 2009, 11:33 AM	#19
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	I don't think that I've ever had a dream involving firearms. Except about hunting, wherein the firearm was more incidental than the actual focus. __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

November 16, 2009, 12:09 PM	#20
KLRANGL Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: Fredericksburg, VA Posts: 958	I remember listening to the CD Col Dave Grossman put out, and it had a bit where he talked about the "gun failing" dream. Something about your middle brain telling your upper brain that its scared (IE not confident). I thought it was dumb when I heard it, but it certainly makes sense now. I had those dreams all the time when I first started carrying, but rarely get them now after putting in the practice time. And come to think of it, the "punch that does no damage" dreams never started until I stopped doing martial arts when I got to college... __________________ And it's Killer Angel... as in the book Last edited by KLRANGL; November 16, 2009 at 12:18 PM.

November 16, 2009, 06:11 PM	#21
powergunner Junior Member Join Date: November 11, 2009 Posts: 14	I had a dream that im being hunted by the predator (The Arnold Schwarzenegger movie) and he cut my right arm, I tried to shoot him off with my left one but I didn’t make it. it was extremely difficult to shoot with the other hand! Since then im going to the range and train in both hands shooting, just in case

November 17, 2009, 12:13 AM	#22
Rian Junior Member Join Date: April 1, 2009 Posts: 10	Hate to admit that my first handgun was a jennings. Always had dreams that it wouldn't fire. Wait, was that a dream, or reality? Now that I've upgraded, seems that the biggest issue in dreams is that the trigger pull seems way too heavy.

November 17, 2009, 12:39 AM	#23
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	I had a dream just the other night that I couldn't shoot my Kahr accurately due to the DAO trigger. Kept missing this BG slowly heading toward me. In real life I do quite well with it, so it must be a subconcious thing.

November 17, 2009, 03:43 AM	#24
Pathfinder45 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2008 Posts: 3,224	This thread really made me laugh. My recurring gun dream involves going deer hunting in a favorite remote location only to find that it has been developed with houses, highways and people crawling all over the place. When I wake up, I'm bothered that humanity is over-running the planet and wonder if the wild places are doomed to development. Sobering.....