Accidental Discharges

[powersbj]

I pulled an sks out of the safe a couple years ago to clean it since it hadnt been given any love for a year or so. So on autopilot I pulled the bold and out flew a round. Shocked the crap out of me, I dont store the guns in the safe loaded and only I had handled that gun... It was a nice reminder on why we check every time no matter what no matter how sure you are its empty. Also made pe adjust my process to double check before putting a rifle in the safe... I should hang a sign on the inside of the door.

 

[Phillyfan]

I was a new gun owner, though I had received weapons training in the military, this was my first handgun. The slide was very stiff, and I thought if I worked it that it would loosen up. The only way I could keep working the slide without it locking back, I thought, was to put rounds in the magazine. Being the safe gun owner that I was, or at least thought I was, I pointed the gun at the bed in my room. So I did this for a while until my left hand got sore, so I switched hands. Somehow my left index finger, I am right handed, slipped onto the trigger, and POW!!!!!! Shot a hole through my new $2200 matress. Luckily, I lived in a single story house. I just could not believe I had been so stupid! I considered myself to be very safety conscious, but in hindsight I was complacent. That moment changed how I handled guns for the rest of my life. If this happens to you and you aren't scared and/or embarressed into seriously reconsidering your attitude toward gun safety you should sell all of your guns the next day and pick up another hobby. There are no do overs in life, and "I'm sorry" will not pull that bullet back into the barrel.

 

[MarkAd]

okey, my STD (stupid teenage discharge). I was home alone. Mr. I know how to hanndle guns. took the 22 short, revolver. put the holster on, loaded the gun, put it in hoslter. walked around the house. decided after being bored with just wearing the gun to practise darwing. doing draws i pulled the triger, Bang. put a wee hole in a frame of aa mirroed shelf. I put the gun away and didn't tell anyone for about 25 years. Never told me DAD.
I carry now, but with a sense of the exterm responsibility I have to be safe.

 

[tionico]

And here's another that I was in proximity of: (neither participant is me.)

Very experienced gun guy invites not so experienced gun guy into his bedroom to show his new "nightstand" gun: a .38 revolver. Unloads the gun, shows new guy it's unloaded, new guy checks it again, gun owner invites him to try the trigger (had work done on it recently). New guy points it in a safe direction, pulls the trigger. Click. "Wow! nice trigger!"

New guy leaves the room, looks back over his shoulder to say something, and watches gun owner put the gun on top of the wardrobe cabinet (didn't put it back next to the bed).

Hour or so later, both are in the bedroom again, new guy sees the gun on the wardrobe, and before gunowner can get anything out of his mouth, picks up the pistol and pulls the trigger. Bang! The .38 slug has just enough power to get through the wall, and drop on the kitchen range next to gunowner's wife cooking dinner (along with a healthy dose of "seasoning" in the form of drywall dust).

Gun owner had re-loaded the weapon just before he placed it on the wardrobe. New guy did not see him re-load it, and therefore "knew" the gun was empty when he picked it up. Near tragedy. Dinner was the only casualty, and it was impossible to get the wife back in a cooking mood. New guy picked up the check at the restaurant.

Spitpatch, that one CRACKED ME UP big time. I think it was the bit about the slug dropping into the stove next to the old guy's Wife that did it........ so close to tragedy, yet, the way it came down, hilarious.

Good job New Guy picked up the tab for the tucker..... did he also pick up the tab for repairing the source of the "seasoning"? (that bit added to my laughing fit.....)

 

[tionico]

I'm still pretty new to handguns, though have had long ones for a long time. I've been at Cabelas many hours, looking at and handling different options. I was really impressed at how their countermen would take an unloaded weapon out of their own glass case, first thing rack the slide/drop the cylinder. Long guns, open that bolt. Carefully look (no, I mean REALLY LOOK) at the chamber..... then close it back up and hand it me. After reading some, and watching these guys, I began to work at the same habit. Now, they check it, hand it across to me, I check it again as if I had picked it up from the counter knowing nothing about the gun. Good practice. I've watched them put a gun back, after showing it to a customer, then I want to see the very same gun. Out it comes, slide open, visual.. hey the guy just got done doing all that before he put it back into the case!! These guys impress me with their safety standards. It set a good example for me early on.

I was at a friend's home a couple weeks back... we were going over to a third friend's home, this third friend had brought all his guns and swords over to the second friend's house for storage, seems his adult son, living there, had got into some sort of scrape with the law a couple years back (when he was still a stupid teenager) and thus could not live in proximity to any firearms. So, all Pop's weapons had to find a new home for the duration..... Jim and I were removing all the guy's guns from Jim's safe, to bring back to their rightful home (adult son with record had moved to another city for work.... the coast was clear now). He hands me a nice old Remmington pump twelve bore..... I looked at it, decided, before handling it, to open the chamber for safety check. It didn't come quickly how it released..... (not familiar with that model...) Jim saw me trying, he took it back and showed me the release.... worked the slide.... and out pops one live round onto the floor. We both looked at each other, our eyes about as big as the shot pattern wouild be at fifty yards...... now THAT was a close one, and drove home to me "ALL GUNS ARE LOADED". My impulse was to handle it, including the trigger.... sure, its been in Jim's large safe for more than a year now...... it HAS to be empty. Does it? Did Jim check it before he put it in there? Did its owner clear it before he brought it over? Maybe he had kept it loaded and by the back door, against any maurauding coons..... and, in his haste to clear the house of all weapons failed to check it.

A close one, and it certainly drove the rules home solid. I had kept it in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, and the first thing I tried to do was open the slide and check it. I have to admit I HAD assumed it was clear...... even so, observing all the OTHER rules before I could check it prevented a stupid discharge...... I can still remember the sight of that large yellow shell taking its nosedive onto the floor in that very small room....... I hope I never forget it, too.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I pulled an sks out of the safe a couple years ago to clean it since it hadnt been given any love for a year or so. So on autopilot I pulled the bold and out flew a round. Shocked the crap out of me, I dont store the guns in the safe loaded and only I had handled that gun... It was a nice reminder on why we check every time no matter what no matter how sure you are its empty. Also made pe adjust my process to double check before putting a rifle in the safe... I should hang a sign on the inside of the door.

Had the same thing happen with a safe queen stainless mini 14.. the round had been in there so long it was corroded ! If you follow all the rules an incident like this will end with no harm, no foul

 

[Motornoggin]

Good read.
I was a teenager and Dad and I were out hunting Blacktail in his 72 Blazer. My weapon of choice then was a Marlin lever action .30-30. I would always set the butt on the floor, between my legs, open the chamber, remove the round and feed it back into the rifle, leaving the chamber open. The window was always rolled down, with the barrel pointed skyward out the window opening.
We hit a rather large pothole and I heard a familiar click. In about as much time as it took for me to register what had happened, we hit another large pothole and that Marlin lit off. The whole time, I had one hand on my knee, and the other on the forestock, never once did I tough the trigger. The echo in the old Blazer was incredible and my ears rung for days.

 

[JohnnyCauc]

Two tales, fortunately, as I'll leave out every time I've yelled at someone to check his/her weapon or remove a finger from a trigger guard.

I was 19, one of the first few times out with my Mossberg Persuader, having driven down Redland Road (back when there were places to shoot fairly close to Portland) with a friend (I'd grown up with my father's 500A, and was completely familiar with this platform's mechanics) I deemed it a perfect time to actually fill the Persuader to capacity (7+1), having removed the magazine tube “restricting” dowel the day prior. I already had a few rounds in the tube when I racked the slide, chambered a round, and placed the butt on my right hip, failing to engaged the safety. As I loaded more shells in the mag tube, I kept my finger off the trigger but rested across the trigger guard. From the minor movement of the shells loading, and the right leaning cant of the shotgun against my hip, my finger flexed slightly and my mid IP joint just grazed/bumped the trigger enough to fire. When it discharged, I wasn't even caught off guard by my first and only negligent discharge. I was instantly aware of what had happened and why, and my friend just looked over at me and asked if I had intended to fire the shot.
Needless to say, I've been much more conscious of trigger guard length/finger ergonomics on every firearm I've handled since. The instructor of my first CHL class was adamant about that same issue, and as he had pretty stubby fingers, couldn't abide by anyone leaving a finger across the trigger guard of the “class” Glock.

The only other discharge I've been present for was about 6 years later, out at the quarry in Tillamook State Forest with an ex-friend and his girlfriend with his recently acquired Maadi AK. To reflect slightly on this individual, he was the type of person who would garner advice from someone, then promptly ignore it in favor of his habits/preferences/preconceived notions. This carried over to firearms, and I was more than once remiss to see him avoiding repeated advice of mine, with regards to his safety and that of others.
Having just fired a half dozen rounds or so from the gun, which had a 30 round mag in it at the time, he stopped. The magazine had not emptied, the gun had neither failed to fire nor clicked on an empty chamber. He proceeded to drop the magazine, turn back towards his truck, and pull the trigger as he walked (this individual had a habit of always dropping the hammer).
The round hit about 2 inches from his foot, blasted at least one small rock in half, and sent dirt and rocks onto his vehicle, and that of two men shooting nearby, both of whom became aware of what had happened.
He was very embarrassed by what had happened, and insisted that we leave the area immediately, despite the fact that I felt it pertinent to check on the other shooters to explain what had happened and see if their vehicle had sustained any damage, as it had sustained the brunt of the spatter.
I'm now the owner of the rifle. Make of that what you will.

 

[Squidly]

25 years ago I was showing my new 22 semi auto pistol to my dumb a$$ brother in law at my sister's house. I removed the mag, locked the slide back and handed it to him. He asked for the mag and I handed it to him. He popped in mag and dropped the slide and before I could say wtf, he pointed at the wall and fired. He got this dumbfounded look on his face like he couldn't figure out what happened. The bullet ended up in the exterior wall of the neighbors house. Some people should not be allowed to play with dangerous objects - knives, scissors, sharp pencils.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.Some people should not be allowed to play with dangerous objects..

How about eight year old threads?

 

[Squidly]

Still very relevant.

 

[Crohnos01]

Since someone resurrected the zombie thread and I didnt see it 8 years ago, I will add my experiences. Before I was old enough to drive, I would strap a pellet rifle on my back and ride my bicycle to my friends house. This was so long ago that Taxidermy was a class in school and we needed critters for projects. After hunting in the morning we were walking back to the house and my friend has his 12 ga shotgun pointed at my head. I realize what he's doing, and drop back a step so I am not in direct line of fire, at the same time saying "watch your dammed muzzle". He laughs and tells me its unloaded...uh-huh. An hour later, after lunch, the same friend with the same "unloaded" gun, blew a hole through his parents garage roof. It was of course raining and as the rain is pouring in, I say something to the effect of "You asshat! You had a loaded gun pointed at my head!".
The best part of the story is that 20 years later he is getting married and I am in the wedding. I have little ones at home and a wife myself by now and just before the rehearsal dinner my wife and I get into an argument about my guns and being safe. I told her I have never had a ND or an AD (I really haven't) and that I have found people in the woods who accidently shot themselves (another story) thus I have a healthy respect for guns. That quiets her down.. a little. During the rehearsal dinner, stories are flying around abou my buddy and I as kids when his mother says "and then there was the time Dwight shot a hole through our garage rood".... I was halfway to my mouth with a bite of food and froze.. I looked sideways at my wife who has the "YOU LIED TO ME" look on her face. I then look at my soon to be ex-buddy who is playing with his food. Thankfully his mother picked up on all of this and said "wait...who shot the hole through the roof?" Thankfully my friend came clean...

 

[Redneck-18]

Seem how everyone is sharing I guess I will as well. When I was 16 I had a 22lr ruger that the slide got stuck on. So I decided that I was going to take my brothers 22 apart to figure out what was wrong with mine. I was sitting in the living room my dad was sitting in the kitchen directly to my right lucky enough I didn't have the barrel pointing towards him. I started taking off the trigger guard and slide it back which in turn pulled the trigger causing it to go off shooting thru my house in the Neighbors house hitting their garage door ricocheting off and busting the glass of their stove in the kitchen thank God no one was living there at the time because they were in the process of selling. I didn't touch a gun for 10 years after that and finally started to get back into always making sure I check the chamber first before I do anything. Im only 27 now.

 

[wired]

Went out shooting one day. Had some 300 BO brass made from Armscor .223. Really thick walls and it was sticking in the chamber and really not running well at all. When I got home I pulled everything out of the bags. No mag in the rifle, pulled the charging hand back and didnt see the stuck unfired round in the chamber, released the charging handle and pointed the rifle at the ground in my garage and pulled the trigger. Boom. Blew a big pile of disintegrated concrete up in my face. I assume a bullet too. Felt like I got his with a baseball bat. Lumps all over, ringing ears etc. Learned a good lesson .

 

[762mm]

I almost had an accidental discharge last October. I took my backup deer rifle to the range to shoot it before deer season, mainly because I have only shot about 20 rounds through it so I wanted to refamiliarize myself with it. I put the rifle in the sled, loaded 3 rounds in the magazine, chambered a round and put the rifle on half safe. I then thought to myself that I wanted to dry fire it a couple times to get a feel for the trigger. I opened the bolt, put the ejected round back in the magazine, pushed the rounds down into the action so I could close the bolt without picking up a shell. I put the rifle on safe and settled in to dry fire. Once on target, I took the safety off and the rifle fired (on an empty chamber). It really startled me. I emptied the mag and I could duplicate every time. I sent the rifle back to the manufacturer and they had to change out the factory installed Timiney trigger.

 

[Mikej]

I thought this thread was going to be about us guys as pubescent teens and the embarrassing moments we suffered through at times....

 

[Aero Denezol]

Never had an AD or ND, knock on wood. Can't say it's impossible, but I've done well for many years now just following the simple shooting commandments they teach kids.

I agree with those who say complacency is the biggest challenge to an experienced shooter. I guess that's why it's called a "negligent" discharge instead of "ignorant" discharge.

 

[EPS]

Years ago I had a rem. in 308, i was out hunting had the gun on my hip pointing up
flipped the safety off and it fired.Scared the **** out of me.

That's part of the reason rem. Is in trouble now there most popular hunting Rifle had a huge safety problem people got shot and people got killed and rem. Got sued over and over again and come to find out they knew there was a problem but had no recall there is a documentary about it called REM.UNDER FIRE

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

I have come exceedingly close when I was de-cocking a sig p238. The hammer slipped out from my thumb and hit the pin harder than I ever wanted it to. A small indentation on the primer was proof of my stupidity. The gun was pointed down in a safe spot, but it still would have meant a hole in the floor, and a damaged ego.

 

[Squidly]

Never had an AD or ND, knock on wood. Can't say it's impossible, but I've done well for many years now just following the simple shooting commandments they teach kids.

I agree with those who say complacency is the biggest challenge to an experienced shooter. I guess that's why it's called a "negligent" discharge instead of "ignorant" discharge.

I've never had a ND, but I have muzzle swept before. Not a good feeling once you realize what you did. Distracted while handling deadly devices is no excuse.