Adam reloading not firing whole magazine

Why he did that? Is it because he was so afraid of being jumped?

PredBull wrote:

Why he did that? Is it because he was so afraid of being jumped?

It's always better to reload before emptying the whole mag. It prevents jams and the need to close the bolt because a round is already in the chamber.

Another theory that circulated online about why he did not completely use up each magazine before switching to a new one is that he had imitated the common practice of switching magazines early like in first person shooter games. This was also a possible explanation for it, although I think TheSpiral's explanation is more likely.

I agree with the above answers, but I think there's another part to it; Having to reload in the middle of shooting could allow some time for victims to escape. With how meticulous Adam was I would imagine he would consider this.

PredBull wrote:

Why he did that? Is it because he was so afraid of being jumped?

Exactly.

Wirely wrote:

Another theory that circulated online about why he did not completely use up each magazine before switching to a new one is that he had imitated the common practice of switching magazines early like in first person shooter games.

Both are true. In "Bullet Time" we have a sort of a spoof scene. In the scene a guy is playing an FPPS game and using that to illustrate spree-killing tactics and he says: "Never allow yourself get caught wioth your last round in the chamber, always be mindful reload your gun".

Lanza was a big fan of "Bullet Time", so I guess it might be one of those few sad instances where he took the film literally.

Sabratha wrote:

PredBull wrote:

Why he did that? Is it because he was so afraid of being jumped?

Exactly.

Wirely wrote:

Another theory that circulated online about why he did not completely use up each magazine before switching to a new one is that he had imitated the common practice of switching magazines early like in first person shooter games.

Both are true. In "Bullet Time" we have a sort of a spoof scene. In the scene a guy is playing an FPPS game and using that to illustrate spree-killing tactics and he says: "Never allow yourself get caught wioth your last round in the chamber, always be mindful reload your gun".

Lanza was a big fan of "Bullet Time", so I guess it might be one of those few sad instances where he took the film literally.

What do you think about TheSpiral's comment?

PredBull wrote:

Sabratha wrote:

PredBull wrote:

Why he did that? Is it because he was so afraid of being jumped?

Exactly.

Wirely wrote:

Another theory that circulated online about why he did not completely use up each magazine before switching to a new one is that he had imitated the common practice of switching magazines early like in first person shooter games.

Both are true. In "Bullet Time" we have a sort of a spoof scene. In the scene a guy is playing an FPPS game and using that to illustrate spree-killing tactics and he says: "Never allow yourself get caught wioth your last round in the chamber, always be mindful reload your gun".

Lanza was a big fan of "Bullet Time", so I guess it might be one of those few sad instances where he took the film literally.

What do you think about TheSpiral's comment?

Lanza had guns, known guns and he was raised with guns. But on the otehr hand, he was a recluse and he didn't spend much time going out and didn't spend his days at the shooting range. Its hard for me to gauge if he had enough actual shooting experience to assess if this would reduce the amount of jams.

I know he watched movies a lot and a series of movies about spree killings (in particular "Stalking Laura", "Bullet Time" and "Zero Day") were a very big part of his world. He quoted and mentioned them many times online. It is rather morbid to think about it, but Lanza directly mentioned my film in the last two forum posts he ever made.

As such, I think he probably watched all these movies many times and they got into his way of thinking. There's two specific moments.

1. "Zero Day" has a scene where the characters are making a self-styled "Home gun review". There one of them is reloading a break action shotgun, afterwards he notes how long it took and says: "Now, before I am done with this, two football players have already tackled me to the ground and bashed my head in with a chair. NOT good!"

2. "Bullet Time" has the scene I already mentioned, where the Character says: "Never allow yourself to be caught with the last round in the chamber. Always reload your gun."

Knowing Lanza, he prolly paid far too much attention to fiction and thus "overinvested" himself in the reloading becauyse that's what the guys in the films did.

(Deleted)

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

majipan wrote:

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

I have no idea. I suspect that he either:
- Tried cleaning them, but did not know how.
- Experienced the jams because of a different reason. Like bad technique and lack of practice.
- Or he experienced little to no jams and this part of the story is overblown by armchair investigators.


What I found most odd is that did not frequent the range, wasn't practicing. For someone as detail-focused as he was, he did not seem to have practiced that much with actual live shooting.

Maybe his social anxiety was too much for him to actually go and book the range?

.

.

Mr Bubbless wrote:

Sabratha wrote:

majipan wrote:

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

I have no idea. I suspect that he either:
- Tried cleaning them, but did not know how.
- Experienced the jams because of a different reason. Like bad technique and lack of practice.
- Or he experienced little to no jams and this part of the story is overblown by armchair investigators.


What I found most odd is that did not frequent the range, wasn't practicing. For someone as detail-focused as he was, he did not seem to have practiced that much with actual live shooting.

Maybe his social anxiety was too much for him to actually go and book the range?

In the released documents from the Lanza household, it is apparent that they had scarce cleaning equipment for their firearms, especially for his AR15 as it requires frequent cleaning due to carbon build-up.

I don't think he ever cleaned the rifle look at his front sight post and barrel.
No wonder he had issues
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Koltin wrote:

I don't think he ever cleaned the rifle look at his front sight post and barrel.
No wonder he had issues
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That rifle looks as messed up as his mind.



...no wonder he had issues with both.

majipan wrote:

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

Same, it’s indeed weird that he was so obsessed with cleaning in general and yet his guns were filthy. You’d think they would have been more than properly maintained.

morgenroede wrote:

majipan wrote:

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

Same, it’s indeed weird that he was so obsessed with cleaning in general and yet his guns were filthy. You’d think they would have been more than properly maintained.

I assume Nancy allowed him less access to the guns than is commonly believed.

Most of the pressures of the AR15 are not in the barrel but in the upper receiver they tend to blow up that way. There is about 52 000 to 55,000psi in the chamber, that's 358.5 to 379.2 mpa in metric.
But if the front post and barrel are THAT  corroded...  yeah.. reliability goes down the gutter.
This usually happens when AR's explode.
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Sabratha wrote:

I assume Nancy allowed him less access to the guns than is commonly believed.

The gun safe was in Adam's computer room though.

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Mr Bubbless wrote:

Koltin wrote:

Most of the pressures of the AR15 are not in the barrel but in the upper receiver they tend to blow up that way. There is about 52 000 to 55,000psi in the chamber, that's 358.5 to 379.2 mpa in metric.
But if the front post and barrel are THAT  corroded...  yeah.. reliability goes down the gutter.
This usually happens when AR's explode.
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AR explosions terrify me, was Adam's bushmaster chambered in 5.56? I distinctly remember reading somewhere that he used .223 and 5.56 in the shooting but I'm not 100% sure.

both .223 and 5.56 is listed for the XM15-E2S.
sidenote
.223 and 5.56 is more or less the same cartridge but the 5.56 has higher pressures 62,000 psi vs 55,000 and the bullet stick out a little more about .125”, you can shoot .223 in a 5.56 rifle but you'll have less accuracy.

Koltin wrote:

(...) you can shoot .223 in a 5.56 rifle but you'll have less accuracy.

One doesn't need much accuracy shooting 6 year olds point blank.

Apologies for sounding grisly.

Sabratha wrote:

Koltin wrote:

(...) you can shoot .223 in a 5.56 rifle but you'll have less accuracy.

One doesn't need much accuracy shooting 6 year olds point blank.

Apologies for sounding grisly.

No worries.

Koltin wrote:

Mr Bubbless wrote:

Sabratha wrote:

majipan wrote:

I always found it weird that Adam didn't clean his guns (or at least clean them regularly). He was a real neat freak and surely he would be aware it could cause jams?

I have no idea. I suspect that he either:
- Tried cleaning them, but did not know how.
- Experienced the jams because of a different reason. Like bad technique and lack of practice.
- Or he experienced little to no jams and this part of the story is overblown by armchair investigators.


What I found most odd is that did not frequent the range, wasn't practicing. For someone as detail-focused as he was, he did not seem to have practiced that much with actual live shooting.

Maybe his social anxiety was too much for him to actually go and book the range?

In the released documents from the Lanza household, it is apparent that they had scarce cleaning equipment for their firearms, especially for his AR15 as it requires frequent cleaning due to carbon build-up.

I don't think he ever cleaned the rifle look at his front sight post and barrel.
No wonder he had issues
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Actually it had been believed by a retired marine that the white powder on the end of his barrel and muzzle brake was actually baked evaporated blood , quoting "A less experienced observer might have thought that it was concert dust from bullets hitting the walls.But Dan was sure, from his time in the marines, that the chalky residue was baked evaporated blood.

Why feel the stress of potentially getting jumped by a bunch of 5 year olds when you can just reload early and make your worries go away. Always prepared for the possible

joaingo wrote:

Why feel the stress of potentially getting jumped by a bunch of 5 year olds when you can just reload early and make your worries go away. Always prepared for the possible

He probably would've enjoyed that very much :pedobear:

Aside from the obvious answer of “he didn’t count his shots” I agree with the idea that he didn’t want to be caught flat footed and run out of bullets.