Accidental Discharges

[IndyGunSafety]

I like to learn from other people’s mistakes. I often share them with my students to pass along the potential safety isues with gun handling.

There are those that have had an accidental discharge and those who will. I came terribly close about 20 years ago. I posted this thread in the hopes that people would share their experiences with AD’s so that we may all learn from them. Please only post those you have seen or done yourself. If you don’t want to admit you are human maybe you can start your post with “One time a ‘friend’ of mine….”

Give as many details as you can. For those that read this post, try to learn from it rather than judge. We are all human, and the human element induces mistakes into everything we do. If your gut response to these stories is "How stupid! That could never happen to me!", you are in denial. AD's can and do happen to experienced shooters all the time.

 

[shooter521]

Good thread on that topic from last year:
https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/general_firearms_discussion/10552-accidental_discharge.html

 

[VUPDblue]

In my RO duties at various shooting sport events, I've had to DQ VERY experienced shooters for NDs. They are all preventable, but they DO happen.

 

[IndyGunSafety]

About 2 months ago a dear friend of mine (lol...no...really!) was getting ready to sell a S&W model 27 he had. The gun was kept in a safe under his bed and was loaded with .38 +P's. While working on a computer problem and waiting for an item to load, he decided to take a look at the gun and get it ready for the sale. The potential buyer had asked about the trigger pull. So my friend wanted to test it before the sale to give accurate info to the buyer. He retrieved the gun from under the bed and walked back over to the computer only to find his item had loaded on the screen. He went back to working on the computer and it locked up again. So he picked up the gun, aimed it at the wall and squeezed the trigger.

BLAM!

The round went through the wall, into the adjacent bedroom, through the window and out into the world.

Obviously he never cleared it, and THOUGHT he had. He was distracted in the midst of gun handling and did not start from the beginning once he started back. He was very lucky.

A good rule to follow: the gun is loaded... EVERY TIME YOU PICK IT UP! PERIOD! Even if you are the only one around! Why is this so hard for people to implement this concept into their gun handling?!

The NRA teaches instructors to clear every firearm they handle in the classroom EVERY TIME they pick it up. When I start a class I explain that concept to my students: Even though you just saw me set it down and it never left your sight, we are STILL going to clear it EVERY TIME it comes off the table. I remind them that I am human and that they are to remind me should I fail. Hopefully this foundation of safety goes home with them and gets passed on.

Don't get disrtacted.

If you do, start over... clear the gun every time you pick it up!

I have another story I will share later that I was involved in that was as close as I ever want to be to an AD.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

About 3 years ago, now. And only once. Thankfully.

I was meeting a friend of my dad's at my dad's house (dad was there, too). Dad's friend said that he had a pistol that he really didn't know much about and would like some information on, etc etc.

We were sitting around the kitchen table while discussing it, looking at it, etc etc. (was an FEG HiPower copy, if anyone's interested)

I disassembled it, examined it, pronounced it "pretty good from what I can tell" and re-assembled it. I sat there, dad's friend on my left and my dad on my right, while I aimed (out the window) and dry-fired it several times. At NO time did the muzzle of the pistol ever sweep anyone. Even when the pistol was laying on the table.

I then watched dad's friend load THREE rounds into the magazine and insert the magazine into the firearm.

Then I picked up the pistol and then racked the slide THREE times to empty the magazine.

I then dry-fired the pistol one more time.

The resulting BOOM alerted me to the fact that I'd done a things wrong, the least of which was miscounted.

I put a nice .355 hole in the top section of my dad's kitchen window; and about gave a heart attack to all three of us.

What I did wrong: I didn't drop the mag. I didn't check the chamber. I didn't make sure the weapon was empty before I pulled the trigger. This was a NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE. 100% completely my fault.

What i did right: Never once was the muzzle of the firearm pointed at any person, not even outside the window.

So... A few minutes post-facto, I called the local police department and let them know what had happened. That 9mm round went SOMEWHERE, I'd hoped not into the house across the road. An officer came, ran my info and the S/N of the firearm. Determined as best he could that the house across the St. was undamaged. Admonished me (us) to be more careful and then he left.

I lost a LOT of sleep over this. And still do at times, when I dwell on it. Lots of thoughts about "what COULD have happened".

I learned my lesson.

-J-

 

[IndyGunSafety]

Good thread on that topic from last year:
[URL="https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/genera...discharge.html"]https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/genera...discharge.html[/URL]

That is a good thread shooter... I'm hoping to get a few more responses, but the nature of the topic tends to prevent people from posting I think.

 

[IndyGunSafety]

About 3 years ago, now. And only once. Thankfully.

Great post Indy Guy! This is exactly what I am looking for! +1!

 

[Jay]

I've not heard of an "unintended discharge" that could not have been prevented. Hence I use the term negligent discharge. I almost had one long time ago. I failed to clear all the pistols when packing up to head home. I found the loaded chamber when I was clearing the pistols as I unpacked them. Scared me good enough that it hasn't happened again.

 

[shooter521]

I've not heard of an "unintended discharge" that could not have been prevented.

I agree that most are "NDs" and that's a term I use myself, but there's always the possibility (albiet rare) of mechanical failure causing an honest-to-goodness accident. A co-worker of mine once decocked his CZ-52 using the lever on the frame designed for that purpose and the gun fired, putting a round through the brand-new stereo he'd just installed in the dash of his truck.

 

[Jay]

Well, I s'pose there's an exception to almost everything..... except dyin'.....

 

[IndyGunSafety]

A co-worker of mine once decocked his CZ-52 using the lever on the frame designed for that purpose

That's a good point! The NRA Basic Pistol Course tries to drive home that a SAFETY is a mechanical device designed to prevent and accidental discharge and that it is subject to FAIL! But no such mention is made in their material about de-cocking levers. It should be hand in hand I guess but it's worth mentioning in class.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

It was about 1991 or so in Fountain Square . I was at a new years eve party and we had been drinking for almost an hour .

We (about 8-9 of us) were all sitting around a friends table and my friend (the homeowner) decides to unload his 9mm which had been in his holster all day .

After dropping the mag , he used an overhand method and his left hand was too far forward on the slide . The slide slammed forward causing the round in the barrel to discharge .

The bullet blew a nice hole in his left hand about an inch below his pinky . He almost shot his niece in the head as she was sitting to his left .

The bullet missed her head by about 3 " , it went through his hand , and a 6" thick plaster lath wall finally stopping in another interior wall .

I remember saying " jeez man your a effing accident waiting to happen" ! I dressed his hand and 911 was called , the police and medics arrived , checked him out and left .

Afterwords we all agreed that this was a prime example of why you don't drink and play with weapons . We unanimously declared him an idiot and went back to drinking .

 

[Lucas156]

This was posted previously but I thought I should put it here since this is for learning.

"I had an incident at a private property My cousin and i were out shooting our rifles; his ar15 and my mosin. I left it loaded but didn't put the safety on and went to lean it up against the tree while he was loading the magazine for the AR. I guess there was a couple small shrubs sticking out from the tree and while I was setting the gun down it pulled the trigger and fired into the air. It was loud as hell and about two feet from my head not pointed in my direction though. I looked at my cousin because I thought he was shooting the tree but then realized I had done it. It had been a while since I felt like that much of a *******. lol"

 

[Bubba]

I have been fortunate enough to avoid discharging a weapon anywhere except downrange at a valid target, a practice assisted by a great deal of self-induced paranoia. However, I found this person's account fascinating (warning: pics of actual wounds throughout the story) Negligent discharge

 

[IndyGunSafety]

Thanks for the web site post Bubba! +1!

 

[oldfb]

pics and brief description in my album of my bout with a case of the stupids.

 

[Jeronimo]

My dad always tells a story about this guy he knows.

This guy had just finished cleaning his double-barrel .45 long colt derringer and was about to put it back in the safe. But before putting it away, he put a round in each chamber. Little did he know that the hammer was down and the top firing pin was out. And as he shut it, he shot a hole right through his palm.

And to make things worse, this guy's wife was standing next to him. The bullet missed, but she fainted and collapsed on the floor. This guy didn't know he had shot his own hand. And in panic, began checking his wife for a bullet wound, thus smearing his blood all over her clothing. For a few seconds, he thought he had just killed his wife. But she eventually came to and they made a trip to the hospital.

 

[Fargo]

I was around 16 yrs old and was shooting a 10/22 in an indoor range. The gun misfed, exactly how I don't remember, but I do remember pointing it upward and failing to put the safety on or take my finger out of the trigger guard. Cycled the bolt and put a .22 hole through the fluorescent light fixture above. Dad was not pleased.

 

[IndyGunSafety]

I was working as a paramedic/firefighter about 20 years ago and a guy stopped by the station with a .38 revolver he was trying to sell. I told him I'd look at it. He unloaded it in front of me, handed it to me and I cleared it. After a few minutes of looking it over I handed it to him and made an offer. After about 20 seconds of discussion he declined and stuck to his price. I asked to see the gun one more time and he handed it to me. It was never out of my sight. I aimed it at the floor away from everyone and put my finger on the trigger. From behind me I heard the words: "You know that's loaded, right?!" In the few seconds we talked about price he slid the rounds back into it.

Almost counts this time! That was WAY to close. I'll never forget the feeling in my gut. I did buy the gun, lol!

Clear the gun... every time you pick it up!

 

[j706]

I guess this could be considered a ND. After cleaning an AR15 at a range,I reassembled the bolt and carrier. Put the weapon together,loaded a magazine,walked to the firing line, pulled the charging handle with the weapon pointed at the ground and released it...boom! WTH? Thinking it was a slam fire from a soft or high primer I fired the remainder of the mag with no problems. As I thought about it I decided to return to the table and take it back down. In doing so I found a small piece of cleaning rag that had came off inside the bolt carrier during cleaning. Best I could tell was the piece of rag had put enough pressure on the firing pin keeping it from floating properly.
Not really sure though.

Something to think about, most all US martial semi/full auto long guns and their clones have floating firing pins. When a round is chambered,the firing pin actually strikes the primer of the chambered round. Anything that changes the firing pin resistance,length spring tention ect. Primers (To soft) not intended for semi auto rifles,improperly seated primers,possibly very dirty bolts might cause a slam fire.

Thankfully and as always,my weapon was pointed in a safe direction. I was alone but embarrassed never the less. I learned a good lesson. One I will never forget.