Unsafe firearm incidents. - Page 2

Tejicano · June 13, 2013, 05:29 AM

In the past I used to take neophytes out to shoot for their first time. Sometimes it would be in groups of five to ten people (not all newbies but sometimes two or three at a time).

I had one guy, while shooting an AK with me standing to one side and behind him, start turning to ask a question with the safety off and his finger still on the trigger, pointing the AK towards me. I burned my hand on the barrel rather than wait to see if he might stop before bumping the muzzle into me.

I also had some guy - without asking – run some reloads he had brought out with him. One was a squib load which stopped in the barrel and the next was a full powered load which punched the squib out and bulged the barrel on what had been a nice, late 70’s Colt Trooper.

After that I never take more than one newbie out at a time and they only shoot what I load for them.

I allow myself to be as anal and compulsive about firearms handling as I feel. I don’t care if I’ve just set a gun down a few seconds before – if I pick it up the first thing I do is check the chamber.

Aaron1100us · June 13, 2013, 06:05 AM

Two stories here. One was a friend and one was mine.

20+ years ago, a friend of mine and I were out at a near by public hunting area shooting our .22's. His was a single shot bolt action. It had rained earlier so the ground was muddy. He was holding the gun in his right hand and slipped goimg down a hill. His right foot went up and so did his gun. Didn't have the safety on and pulled the trigger from just holding onto the gun.

Shot himself in his right foot. Blood started shooting out of his shoe. Got him back to his car and I drove him to the hospital. Luckily the bullet went between the bones. But they had to clean the hole out with something that looked like one of those pipe cleaners. That looked painful. The police came to the hospital, took a report and I had to show them my friend's gun that he had shot himself with that was in the car.

Crazy thing is, he told me his Dad shot himself in his left foot with the same gun when he was our age.

My stupid unsafe gun incident happened around the same time back in the Highschool days. Don't ever try this.

The only gun I had was an antique Stevens Favorite model 17. I came up with a stupid idea to get more power out of a .22lr. I'd take apart loaded .22 rounds and dump the powder out then load up a shell clear to the top and put the bullet back in. Shot it with no hearing protection and could not hear for a half an hour. Good thing that old gun was built lile a tank, I'm suprized it didn't blow up. So stupid.

Mikef262 · June 19, 2013, 02:18 AM

Shooting at my friends cabin. My friend and I were shooting our sks's. Well I also had my .223 at 15 there. The cheap white boxes got mixed and both my friend and I mixed .233 and 7.62X39. Well in all he fired 2 .223's through his and I let 1 go through mine. Both of ours jammed and had metal from the area around the primer caught in the bolt. Mine considerably worse.... Got his fixed in a couple of seconds. Mine took a knife, a piece of my fingernail, and 5 minutes.

allaroundhunter · June 19, 2013, 03:40 AM

While shooting a USPSA match about a month ago there was a guy in my squad who must have gotten his shirt in his holster because on his draw he got a little snag and ended up sending two rounds out the bottom of his holster before the trigger was ever clear of the kydex... Thankfully his leg was clear of the bullet path, but he did have powder burns on the right thigh of his pants. Scary moment for sure.

Venom1956 · June 19, 2013, 04:20 AM

My uncle brought his son over to shoot last summer. He tried a ruger 22/45 lite under the supervison of his father while I was dealing with my guns. Came back to the line and he turned handed me the pistol muzzle first which was a shock. I took this in stride and calmly took it because I was more concerned with him squeezing if I shouted or something.

"its out" He said. Still skeptical i pointed it several feet down range proceed to fire 3 more shots into the berm. Showing him the bolt hold open and safety I explained. Most pistols tell you when they are out by locking back. Always make sure the safety is on. NEVER point a gun at something your not prepared to destroy.

All in all this was quite shocking since my father and I are huge enthusiasts. I just assumed his brother would teach his son the same... to say my cousin was clumsy and irresponsible with a firearm would be an understatement and I'm no safety freak either.

Wyoredman · June 19, 2013, 10:29 AM

My story takes place some years ago in Elk camp in the Absaroka range of Wyoming. Camp was a horse camp, wall tents and all. Being bear country, we all carried our pepper spray and a sidearm. Mine was my S&W 686. Six rounds in the cylinder.

As nature called one morning, I made my way to the latrine. Upon arrival, I undid my belt and britches, leaving the 686 hanging in the holster. Just as I was about to sit, the pistol fell from the holster and landed directly on the hammer, muzzle pointing directly at my face!

The S&W transfer bar safety saved my life that day! The 686 just lay there, me staring at it with the blank look that only someone who knows they escaped death can have.

I learned that day that every time I undo my gun belt, the gun it is carrying MUST be removed first!

Dashunde · June 19, 2013, 11:24 AM

I was cleaning and reassembling my 1911 and USP45 a the same time while also kind of watching TV.
Somehow I confused the operation of the HK and hit the decocker and pulled the trigger at the same time poking a hole in the ceiling... I suppose I thought I was half-cocking the 1911 (trigger pull) AND decocking the HK... I mixed their operations together

Its ok to clean them while watching tv or whatever, just unload and reload in another room free of distraction, and of course leave all the ammo there.

Pahoo · June 20, 2013, 02:53 PM

We have seen these in various numbers. One I can recall was 14. I can't hardly remember what I had for dinner yesterday, let alone 14 safety rules. At our Hunter Safety classes, we teach the Cooper-four (4). Of those, the one that has the last word, is muzzle control. All else can be ignored or taken for granted except this one. ......

As diligent as we can be, there are times when our attention gets drawn away from muzzle control. It happens to all of us. ....

Incidents
Buckskinner next to me, had a misfire. Right off, his eyes and attention fell to the breech end as he swept his muzzle over our heads. Did not go off but the yelling from the other guys sure put him back in reality. ....

On one Party-Hunt or deer drive, one of the pushers shot a deer in front of him. The deer went down and the guy was so excited that he swung his muzzle around and this time, it went off and the slug hit the ground in front of us. He just shrugged his shoulders. .....

Be Safe !!!

SC4006 · June 21, 2013, 04:40 PM

I've never had any real dangerous accidents yet, and hopefully never, but I've had an incident at an indoor range that was I guess part my fault, and part bad luck.

My brother had just bought his WASR 10/63 at the range we go to, which also sells stuff, and so we went into the actual range to try it out. Well I was wearing shorts and somewhat short socks since it was summer, so a good deal of my leg skin was exposed. It was now my turn to try out his rifle, and what do you know as I'm shooting it a casing that got ejected bounced off the right lane dividing wall and lands right in my shoe, high enough that its touching my skin not the sock. I knew there were only a few rounds left in the magazine so I quickly, but safely, fired those off, cleared the gun, and got the thing out of my shoe as quickly as possible. That was a few years ago and I still have a slight mark where I got burned from the hot casing.

I now wear pants to the range

Garycw · June 21, 2013, 05:38 PM

While squirrel hunting once with my dad when young, we became separated briefly by a ravine. I took a shot at a squirrel, but missed. Nothing noticed by either of of at the time. Later that night when home my dad noticed there was a buckshot firmly wedged in the hardwood buttstock at a angle. Judging by the velocity it would have taken to imbed into stock at that angle, it could have been tragic.
Another time while living at a farm house with some buddies, I was showing a friend a rough rider in the living room. He pulled the hammer back to see the action as I told him to be careful that it had a hair trigger, it went off, much to our surprise. We looked around and at each other to make sure everything was ok. Almost 3 min later one of the rabbit ears on top of the TV dropped in slow motion. It had nicked about 1/3 deep notch it it.

Boomer58cal · June 22, 2013, 12:47 PM

So my Bro calls me up and says, "I just picked up some ammo cheap!" I responded, "lets do it!" Well we get out to the ranch and he hands me a box of .44 mag and I load up the old( 3 digit serial number

) Super Black Hawk. Well I've been shooting this this since I was 7 and I've never seen a. 44 kick like that. It numbed my arm to the elbow. The recoil unseated the other rounds in the cylinder and the gun had to be disassembled to clear the rounds. Well when I asked where the ammo came from he said... "A yard sale. "

On later inspection of the ammo, I pulled the bullets and about half had NO POWDER! and the other half a FULL CASE! of what looked like unique. Good thing the Hawk is a tank.

Never and I mean never use ammo you don't know the history of.

Thank you Lord and thank you Mr. Ruger

Boomer

June 13, 2013, 06:05 AM	#27
Aaron1100us Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2011 Posts: 235	Re: Unsafe firearm incidents. Two stories here. One was a friend and one was mine. 20+ years ago, a friend of mine and I were out at a near by public hunting area shooting our .22's. His was a single shot bolt action. It had rained earlier so the ground was muddy. He was holding the gun in his right hand and slipped goimg down a hill. His right foot went up and so did his gun. Didn't have the safety on and pulled the trigger from just holding onto the gun. Shot himself in his right foot. Blood started shooting out of his shoe. Got him back to his car and I drove him to the hospital. Luckily the bullet went between the bones. But they had to clean the hole out with something that looked like one of those pipe cleaners. That looked painful. The police came to the hospital, took a report and I had to show them my friend's gun that he had shot himself with that was in the car. Crazy thing is, he told me his Dad shot himself in his left foot with the same gun when he was our age. My stupid unsafe gun incident happened around the same time back in the Highschool days. Don't ever try this. The only gun I had was an antique Stevens Favorite model 17. I came up with a stupid idea to get more power out of a .22lr. I'd take apart loaded .22 rounds and dump the powder out then load up a shell clear to the top and put the bullet back in. Shot it with no hearing protection and could not hear for a half an hour. Good thing that old gun was built lile a tank, I'm suprized it didn't blow up. So stupid.

June 19, 2013, 03:40 AM	#29
allaroundhunter Senior Member Join Date: May 6, 2012 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 1,670	Re: Unsafe firearm incidents. While shooting a USPSA match about a month ago there was a guy in my squad who must have gotten his shirt in his holster because on his draw he got a little snag and ended up sending two rounds out the bottom of his holster before the trigger was ever clear of the kydex... Thankfully his leg was clear of the bullet path, but he did have powder burns on the right thigh of his pants. Scary moment for sure.

June 19, 2013, 10:29 AM	#31
Wyoredman Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,374	My story takes place some years ago in Elk camp in the Absaroka range of Wyoming. Camp was a horse camp, wall tents and all. Being bear country, we all carried our pepper spray and a sidearm. Mine was my S&W 686. Six rounds in the cylinder. As nature called one morning, I made my way to the latrine. Upon arrival, I undid my belt and britches, leaving the 686 hanging in the holster. Just as I was about to sit, the pistol fell from the holster and landed directly on the hammer, muzzle pointing directly at my face! The S&W transfer bar safety saved my life that day! The 686 just lay there, me staring at it with the blank look that only someone who knows they escaped death can have. I learned that day that every time I undo my gun belt, the gun it is carrying MUST be removed first! __________________ Go Pokes! Go Rams!

June 20, 2013, 02:53 PM	#33
Pahoo Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Location: IOWA Posts: 8,783	Safe Gun handling rules We have seen these in various numbers. One I can recall was 14. I can't hardly remember what I had for dinner yesterday, let alone 14 safety rules. At our Hunter Safety classes, we teach the Cooper-four (4). Of those, the one that has the last word, is muzzle control. All else can be ignored or taken for granted except this one. ...... As diligent as we can be, there are times when our attention gets drawn away from muzzle control. It happens to all of us. .... Incidents Buckskinner next to me, had a misfire. Right off, his eyes and attention fell to the breech end as he swept his muzzle over our heads. Did not go off but the yelling from the other guys sure put him back in reality. .... On one Party-Hunt or deer drive, one of the pushers shot a deer in front of him. The deer went down and the guy was so excited that he swung his muzzle around and this time, it went off and the slug hit the ground in front of us. He just shrugged his shoulders. ..... Be Safe !!! __________________ 'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing. Last edited by Pahoo; June 22, 2013 at 03:47 PM.

June 21, 2013, 05:38 PM	#35
Garycw Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2011 Location: Ohio-Kentucky - florida Posts: 1,221	Unsafe firearm incidents. While squirrel hunting once with my dad when young, we became separated briefly by a ravine. I took a shot at a squirrel, but missed. Nothing noticed by either of of at the time. Later that night when home my dad noticed there was a buckshot firmly wedged in the hardwood buttstock at a angle. Judging by the velocity it would have taken to imbed into stock at that angle, it could have been tragic. Another time while living at a farm house with some buddies, I was showing a friend a rough rider in the living room. He pulled the hammer back to see the action as I told him to be careful that it had a hair trigger, it went off, much to our surprise. We looked around and at each other to make sure everything was ok. Almost 3 min later one of the rabbit ears on top of the TV dropped in slow motion. It had nicked about 1/3 deep notch it it.

June 13, 2013, 05:29 AM	#26
Tejicano Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 2013 Posts: 168	In the past I used to take neophytes out to shoot for their first time. Sometimes it would be in groups of five to ten people (not all newbies but sometimes two or three at a time). I had one guy, while shooting an AK with me standing to one side and behind him, start turning to ask a question with the safety off and his finger still on the trigger, pointing the AK towards me. I burned my hand on the barrel rather than wait to see if he might stop before bumping the muzzle into me. I also had some guy - without asking – run some reloads he had brought out with him. One was a squib load which stopped in the barrel and the next was a full powered load which punched the squib out and bulged the barrel on what had been a nice, late 70’s Colt Trooper. After that I never take more than one newbie out at a time and they only shoot what I load for them. I allow myself to be as anal and compulsive about firearms handling as I feel. I don’t care if I’ve just set a gun down a few seconds before – if I pick it up the first thing I do is check the chamber.

June 19, 2013, 02:18 AM	#28
Mikef262 Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2011 Location: Missouri Posts: 350	Shooting at my friends cabin. My friend and I were shooting our sks's. Well I also had my .223 at 15 there. The cheap white boxes got mixed and both my friend and I mixed .233 and 7.62X39. Well in all he fired 2 .223's through his and I let 1 go through mine. Both of ours jammed and had metal from the area around the primer caught in the bolt. Mine considerably worse.... Got his fixed in a couple of seconds. Mine took a knife, a piece of my fingernail, and 5 minutes.

June 19, 2013, 04:20 AM	#30
Venom1956 Senior Member Join Date: October 4, 2008 Location: WI Posts: 3,656	My uncle brought his son over to shoot last summer. He tried a ruger 22/45 lite under the supervison of his father while I was dealing with my guns. Came back to the line and he turned handed me the pistol muzzle first which was a shock. I took this in stride and calmly took it because I was more concerned with him squeezing if I shouted or something. "its out" He said. Still skeptical i pointed it several feet down range proceed to fire 3 more shots into the berm. Showing him the bolt hold open and safety I explained. Most pistols tell you when they are out by locking back. Always make sure the safety is on. NEVER point a gun at something your not prepared to destroy. All in all this was quite shocking since my father and I are huge enthusiasts. I just assumed his brother would teach his son the same... to say my cousin was clumsy and irresponsible with a firearm would be an understatement and I'm no safety freak either.

June 19, 2013, 11:24 AM	#32
Dashunde Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2004 Posts: 2,021	I was cleaning and reassembling my 1911 and USP45 a the same time while also kind of watching TV. Somehow I confused the operation of the HK and hit the decocker and pulled the trigger at the same time poking a hole in the ceiling... I suppose I thought I was half-cocking the 1911 (trigger pull) AND decocking the HK... I mixed their operations together Its ok to clean them while watching tv or whatever, just unload and reload in another room free of distraction, and of course leave all the ammo there.

June 21, 2013, 04:40 PM	#34
SC4006 Senior Member Join Date: June 27, 2012 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 525	I've never had any real dangerous accidents yet, and hopefully never, but I've had an incident at an indoor range that was I guess part my fault, and part bad luck. My brother had just bought his WASR 10/63 at the range we go to, which also sells stuff, and so we went into the actual range to try it out. Well I was wearing shorts and somewhat short socks since it was summer, so a good deal of my leg skin was exposed. It was now my turn to try out his rifle, and what do you know as I'm shooting it a casing that got ejected bounced off the right lane dividing wall and lands right in my shoe, high enough that its touching my skin not the sock. I knew there were only a few rounds left in the magazine so I quickly, but safely, fired those off, cleared the gun, and got the thing out of my shoe as quickly as possible. That was a few years ago and I still have a slight mark where I got burned from the hot casing. I now wear pants to the range

June 22, 2013, 12:47 PM	#36
Boomer58cal Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2013 Location: closer than you think Posts: 967	So my Bro calls me up and says, "I just picked up some ammo cheap!" I responded, "lets do it!" Well we get out to the ranch and he hands me a box of .44 mag and I load up the old( 3 digit serial number ) Super Black Hawk. Well I've been shooting this this since I was 7 and I've never seen a. 44 kick like that. It numbed my arm to the elbow. The recoil unseated the other rounds in the cylinder and the gun had to be disassembled to clear the rounds. Well when I asked where the ammo came from he said... "A yard sale. " On later inspection of the ammo, I pulled the bullets and about half had NO POWDER! and the other half a FULL CASE! of what looked like unique. Good thing the Hawk is a tank. Never and I mean never use ammo you don't know the history of. Thank you Lord and thank you Mr. Ruger Boomer