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Old August 31, 2007, 11:40 AM   #51
gonz
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My hunter safety teacher made us repeat "A safety is a mechanical feature that will fail" about a zillion times, lol.
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Old August 31, 2007, 01:32 PM   #52
mattro
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This is a post by a good friend of mine. He posted this on another forum regarding NDs. He is a "master istructor" trained by Col Cooper himself.

Quote:
The safety rules are something that we emphasize all the time, and we should. As I mentioned we have a tendency to disregard things we know very well.

Another very important thing to learn is that when we do mess up we need to get back on our feet and walk like a man. Past mistakes and improper or sinful choices of yesterday do not deliver us from the duties of today. People sometimes do not do what they should do because of what they've done. They feel that they are unworthy, hypocritical, or stupid. Those are the whisperings of satan, don’t listen to the liar! There is work to be done, let’s be about it.

Regarding negligent discharges –

Be careful in handling firearms when fatigued or inebriated. (Just don't handle the gun, your judgment is impaired.) I remember seeing a man (drunk) who drew his pistol and press checked it and all the while the .45 was pointed right at his thigh. He was sitting almost directly in front of Col. Cooper while practicing this perfect asininity.

Be careful while handling firearms with which you are unfamiliar.

Be careful if you are doing something unfamiliar with a firearm, ie attempting to recreate a malfunction.

Guard yourself against complacency.

Guard yourself against arrogance.

Good friends help you in all these areas through accountability.
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Old September 9, 2007, 11:21 AM   #53
3 weelin geezer
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Yes, a couple of times with my sks lately. I let the bolt fly and BANG! Next shot was fine then again the shell got stuck in the chamber so I cycled it and once again, BANG! without a trigger function. Needless to say, its not getting used anymore until I can fix that sloppy sear that seems to be able to be moved about 1/16-1/8" when the rifle is still out of battery as it shoudn't do that. Not to mention getting the empty shell stuck in the chamber so bad I almost have to use a mallet to open it. Good thing I kept the rifle pointed at the targets so the bullet went in a perfectly safe direction.
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Old September 9, 2007, 11:52 AM   #54
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Quote:
Which ever direction the arrogant and unread choose to split a hair, AD or ND is a reality and noone should be judged if it has happened to them! One who has experienced one of these events in now Better trained than the arrogant clowns who think they are superior because "they have never" and "they would never". The possibility and reality of ND/AD is why we follow the "basic four"! Karma has its way of getting around to those who need it!
Thank you Silentarmy, you said that beautifully! It is a reminder to all of us that one second of distraction can have dire consequences. That is why the Big Four is so important
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Old September 10, 2007, 01:45 AM   #55
SpectreBlofeld
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Quote:
Does it count if I was asleep when I pulled the trigger? I can tell you from experience that a 10mm Silvertip fired in your bedroom will wake you up in a hurry. I'm still not sure what I was dreaming about that made me grab the G20 off the nightstand, rack the slide and then touch one off into the wall. Now I sleep with my HD pistol on the top shelf of the closet.
Wow, that's a scary prospect. Don't even want to think of that one happening!



There are some interesting lessons to be learned from the stories of mechanical failures in this thread.

After reading these stories, I will no longer trust my decockers. I will now use two hands, one thumb on the hammer and the other operating the decocker lever.

I don't think I'll be letting any slides or bolts snap home, either, when chambering. I'll lower slides and bolts down gently any time I am chambering a firearm that is not pointed downrange.

(There are sometimes feeding issues when a semiauto's slide is lowered slowly, so in that scenario I will drop one in the chamber first to ensure that it is "fed" before slowly letting the slide down, then insert the mag.)

You don't often hear of safety techniques to prevent an AD from mechanical issues - other than frequent inspection - but these sound like good starts to me.

I'm one of those people that live in an upstairs apartment with neighbors below and with homes on all sides - no real safe direction to point a gun. Safest is up, and there are still danger issues there. As such, I don't even chamber my semiautos at home. I don't want to move even that small amount closer to the possibility of an AD. Bright orange snap caps sit in the chambers (makes it nice and obvious that it isn't loaded when slide is pulled for inspection - it pops out or falls through the magwell, and then is put back in). I understand that I must chamber the round when the Hamburglar kicks in my door looking for cheeseburgers.

When I move to a home with good solid dirt beneath, I will feel better about chambering indoors.

The only thing that stays 'chambered' in my apartment is my revolver. I really wish that the cylinder on my .357 could be swung open while the hammer is cocked. It'd be MUCH more comforting to know for certain that there was nothing for the hammer to strike down on. Not that I *EVER* cock it while loaded, but there could be a close-call situation with a threat, and I'd need to decock afterward, and probably be a little shaky, etc.

Last edited by SpectreBlofeld; September 10, 2007 at 01:47 AM. Reason: edited for redundancy :)
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Old September 10, 2007, 05:47 PM   #56
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i found a good one!

check this one out....kinda scary for the suspect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g_ffroqhMc
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Old September 12, 2007, 04:37 PM   #57
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I've had two. My first happened when I put a .25 I used to have in my vest pocket when I heard my daughter come down the hall. She wanted me to go to a restaurant and get something for her. As I was walking towards the restaurant, I remembered that I had the burner in my pocket. I reached in, touched the trigger with my finger and it went off. The round went through my pocket, hit a nickel on the way out, hit the pavement, and then hit the bldg. No one was injured because I was the only one in the parking lot. No one heard it.

The other happened when I went to the attic to check a serial number on my 30-06. Don't ask my why I pulled the trigger. I don't have an answer for you. The muzzle was pointing towards the ceiling when it went off. My daughter was at the bottom of the stairs and my wife was just pulling into the drive way. I stood there, ears ringing, imagining all of the things that could have gone terribly wrong. Thank God none of them happened.

I'm very conscious about checking weapons. I always, always check anytime I touch one. Just goes to show you dosen't it?
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Old September 12, 2007, 04:53 PM   #58
dwatts47
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heard it said that "a police station with out a bullet hole from an ND, is a brand new police station."

guess that means we've all either done it, or lied about it.
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Old September 12, 2007, 05:01 PM   #59
Manedwolf
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Quote:
My first happened when I put a .25 I used to have in my vest pocket when I heard my daughter come down the hall. She wanted me to go to a restaurant and get something for her. As I was walking towards the restaurant, I remembered that I had the burner in my pocket. I reached in, touched the trigger with my finger and it went off.
What gun was that?!

Why I don't ever cock my Jetfire when it's in a pocket as a BUG. It's SA, and utterly dormant unless cocked.
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Old September 14, 2007, 11:55 PM   #60
Hawg
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When I was 13 I had gone hunting with a 7.65 Argentine Mauser. Got home and ran all the cartridges thru the action to unload it. When it was empty I pulled the trigger to let off the spring tension on the firing pin. I didn't know at the time to hold the trigger back while closing the bolt. Anyhow I blew my bedroom mirror to smithereens. No other harm done cept a small hole thru the wall and nothing but woods behind the house. No I didn't fess up as to how the mirror got broken.
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Old September 15, 2007, 01:10 AM   #61
teejhot.40cal
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Quote:
heard it said that "a police station with out a bullet hole from an ND, is a brand new police station."
I heard a famous gun writer quote this in a magazine. "Show me a police station with no holes and I will show you a place that isn't dedicated enough."
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Old September 15, 2007, 05:08 AM   #62
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My friend came down from Arkansas to get married and i was his best man well one night about a week before his wedding he showed me his Parker longslide 45 he had recently bought. When he gave it to me we were all sitting at the kitchen table it was in a case loaded (chambered round) so i removed it and unoaded it looked it over for a while.

When i was done i began to load it back, I locked the slide back inserted a round in the chamber, released the slide, and bang. Thankfully i always point guns that im handeling in a safe direction when loading and unoading and all that was damaged was the kitchen table. When he got back home his local smith had a look it had a worn sear.

But the way his now wife nags him i should have just put him out of his misery
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Old December 28, 2007, 03:36 PM   #63
bestbod85
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dang it!!!!!!, i read this post a few months back and at the time i had NEVER had an ND, well guys, guess what...........Thats right it happened today. i was unloading my mossy 500 12ga when the phone rang and i got distracted, well after the phone call i guess i thought i had gotten all the rounds out when i decided to release the trigger spring (like i've done a million times before cleaning) pulled the trigger and BANG my ears were ring like crazy, to make matters worse i had my slug barrel on and a slug ripped upwards towards the top of my wall....went through every wall in my house through the garage ceiling and lodged into the top of a tree outside the garage (my garage is connected to the house), thank god i was pointing the shotgun upwards otherwise i'd be willing to bet it would have continued into the neighbors house!!!! i will never again become complacent... let the flaming begin, i deserve it.
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Old December 28, 2007, 04:04 PM   #64
Tanzer
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Since this thread is as old as my dog, I'll go back almost twenty years to a very embarrassing moment. Not a ND, a SD (stupid discharge). This is really embarrassing.... When I was learning to shoot a handgun, I was at the range with a buddy. The guy in the next stall must have hit a hanger or something, because it knocked a flourescent tube-bulb loose at one end. The thing came down swinging side to side. With my ears on, I though my buddy yelled "Get it!" it was actually the other guy yelling "[color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]". Being a newbie, I thought it was some kind of drop down swinging target - didn't recognize it as an extremely long bulb, so....yeah, I got off two shots - both missed. I looked to both sides & saw about five guys staring at me, one with his finger on the switch for the warning light, jaw agap. The silence was broken when the bulb let loose & crashed to the floor. I just said; "That wasn't me".
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Old December 28, 2007, 04:14 PM   #65
hogdogs
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The only AD I was a part of was the other day I was sittin' here at the computer sick as a dog and tried to fart and had an AD
Seriously though I had an ND as a kid with a buddy and I shooting sparrows with a pellet gun and we were taking turns.. He missed and wouldn't hand it over so we were tussling over it and it fired. Hit an 8ft fluorescent light dead center (they seem to attract projectiles)... In slow motion I watched it fall the 20 feet from the ceiling to crash at our feet.
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Old December 28, 2007, 04:21 PM   #66
Spade Cooley
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Yes and it happened this year. I took my 1911 45 Auto to the range to test fire a few shots to test out the new trigger. I dropped the loaded magazine and thought I had jacked open the slide. Evidently I had jacked the slide before dropping the mag. I pointed the pistol down range and pulled the trigger and it went boom. I was in shock and so were others on the range. The range was cold and no one was down range when I pointed the pistol in that direction. That was my first accidental discharge and I will take steps to see that it never happens again. About the only thing I did do right was make sure the pistol was pointed down range when I squeezd it off.
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Old December 28, 2007, 05:43 PM   #67
FM12
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I let the slide go forward into battery on a Colt Gold Cup and the round fired on chambering. Seems a sear/trigger engagement problem. So, was that not an AD, even though mechanical failure?
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Old December 28, 2007, 06:55 PM   #68
Edward429451
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That would be a true AD (accidental) because of the weapon malfunction. Most others are ND's (negligent).
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Old December 28, 2007, 07:03 PM   #69
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To say that you can't have an accidental discharge, in my opinion is wrong. I've seen AR15's and M16's slamfire during reloading. The firing pin taps the primer everytime you release the bolt onto a new round. If you have a soft primer or a round that has been chambered too many times BAM! Design flaw or bad round. Whatever you want to call it. It's accidental and the only thing you can do, is make sure you're pointing the rifle in a safe direction everytime you chamber a round. This happened at work, and I work for a corporation that's willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to prevent accidents like this at work. After months of investigating, the only answer they had was 'muzzle awareness"
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Old December 29, 2007, 01:42 AM   #70
tarkio
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I've never had a ND yet.

Like others here, I have had an "Oh [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]" moment when I realized I almost screwed up. Like the time I was shooting a friend's revolver, trooper special or some such thing, loaded it, cocked the hammer and then swept my friend's legs. When I raised the pistol to fire, the trigger was amazingly light. I realized how easy, with that trigger, it could have been to blow a hole in my buddy's leg.

I did witness an ND that scared the crap out of me. Was at a friend's ranch where there were 6 guys hunting. My friend and I were visiting and all 6 hunters loaded into a 4-door pickup about 40 yards away. All the doors close, and a moment later, kabooooom! Like fricken artillery went off and the rear window just disintegrated. We looked at each other and thought, no way we are going up to that pickup. About that time, all 4 doors are thrown open and the 6 guys bailed out.

Come to find out, a 16 year old in the back had a .300 mag, butt down, barrel up in the back middle seat. Leaned the barrel back between him and guy to his side. Somehow he torched it off. Luckily, it went off between the two and right out the back window.

The kid's dad could not comprehend why my buddy told him he and his hunting buddies had to leave that afternoon.

My friend explained that where we lived and what we do, firearms are tools used everyday. With our families around us constantly, we do not abide by people who make mistakes with firearms. Too much at stake. I'm sure that guy still doesn't get it.
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