Have you ever accidently discharged your handgun?

[mrnkc130]

personally i have never had an AD...

but when i was about 15 I was at my friends house and he wanted to show me his dads new deer rifle, we went into his bedroom and he pulled a brand new 30-06 out of the closet, then with the barrle about 1 foot in front of my face he just decides to pull the trigger. i never thought i was going to be able to hear again! blew a little hole in the wall and 3 bricks out of the side of the house. very scary, almost got shot in the face at point blank range.

one more, lived with 3 roommates in tulsa, i was out of town for work. one of my buddies had a ruger vaquero 45 LC. i guess he was showing to my other friend (who was in the marines so i would have assumed would be familiar with firearms safety) for some reason right after he gives it to him he cocks the hammer and pulls the trigger! blows a hole in the kitchen wall that exits right above my brothers head as he sits in the couch on the other side of the wall and ends up in the exterior wall. they thought they would hide it from me but i noticed the .45 inch puttied holes in the wall one day...

these 2 incidents taught me to be very cautious with where i point the muzzle of my weapons and also to be extra carefull to make sure weapons are unloaded before i "show them" to anyone, regardless of how proficient i assume they are with firearms.

[Dannyl]

Hi, mrnkc130
I read your post, and these are two perfect examples of incidents that would have never happened if people had the habit of clearing firearms before storing them ( your friends father I assume, or the last person that touched that rifle) and if the rule of checking a firearm when taking it out of storage, when handing it over and when receiving it would have been observed.

It is also a good example of why minors should never have unsupervised access to firearms.

Brgds,

Danny

[mrnkc130]

I agree, to very serious incidents that had no serious consequences thank god, except teaching me valuable lessons that i will never forget, im glad i didnt have to learn them the hard way!

[Madcap_Magician]

One time I was clearing my pistols before going to drill, and I racked the slide on a P32, ejected the round, and forgot to drop the magazine first. Put a bullet into a wall stud in my apartment. Fortunately it was just a .32 and fortunately it hit the wall stud and didn't go into my neighbor's room.

From this I have learned several things:

1. Don't handle firearms without double-checking.
2. Pointing a gun in a 'safe' direction isn't the same as pointing a gun in a SAFE direction, such as at the exterior wall in the basement apartment.
3. The Ian Fleming theory about being able to fire one shot in a public building without anyone noticing is true.
4. I should not own a .32, as its failure to penetrate a single 2 x 4 does not impress.

[Guns Are Tools]

I'm not so thrilled with how easy it is for people to have undesired discharges of firearms, but I'm impressed with the honesty of those who have reported them. It's certainly got to be an eye-opener to those who may not have realized how easy it is. I am one that assumes guns are a lot safer than most people make them out to be, but probably because I have practices in place that make them relatively harmless.

I personally have never had an incident, but I don't handle firearms every day and am absurdly cautious with them. Even when I know without a shadow of a doubt that they are unloaded, they are always pointed somewhere safe, finger off trigger, handled like a bomb.

[BCeagle]

I am suprised there arent more problems at ranges. I went to a public range in NJ the other and I saw some awful awful gun handling. The range master is great and corrects people all the time but I have seen more violations of the golden rules then anyplace else. The other day I was with a friend (a noob but someone who should know better) and I watched him hold the gun in the port pointing directly to the left an at the person shooting next to him.

[robhof]

With over 20 years in the USAF and growing up with an uncle that was a Ranger in WW2, I was taught to Always assume the gun is loaded until proven otherwise. I passed this on to my son when he was young and first showed interest in guns and hunting. He impressed his range officer in Basic by shucking the bolt and viewing the bore as an automatic reaction , when issued his weapon for the range. If you practice it enough; it becomes a habit and one that can save a life. I shucked a 22 auto, that I was handed in a pawnshop and out popped a live round, surprising the clerk as well as me. How many others had been handed that pistol before me? I checked back later to find if the clerk/manager had found out how the gun was loaded; seems the employees were test firing some of the guns out back of the store and one didn't fire all the test rounds. He fired all the clerks and ordered all new hires to not handle any weapon, if he weren't there.

[tmlynch]

I have a Ruger Govt. Model MkII. Once, at the range I had left the safety engaged after I inserted the mag and racked the slide. Good news: didn't fire with the safety engaged if the trigger was pulled. Bad news: if you pulled the trigger with the safety engaged, it fired as soon as the safety was disengaged, even with your finger off the trigger. According to Ruger, a previous owner had gotten a bit too excited trying to slick the action. That "only point a gun at something you are willing to destroy" thing comes in handy, especially during that finger-off-the-trigger-because-you-aren't-ready-to-shoot phase.

Tom

[warrior poet]

It was many years ago- I was a young teen learning off of an older cousin (who I NOW know isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer)- and I LEARNED. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Safety is so ingrained in me that I think the USMC "Four Safety Rules" RESIDE in my Brain Housing Group. After it happened, Gramps 'beat the rules in,' my DIs drove it home again, and after working as range personnel, I think I could forget my own name before I'd forget weapon safety.

[vince972]

i had a 1911 and i had just gotten it and i kept playing with it... dry firing it.. drawing it an i remember sitting down to "play", dry fire it some more and i "remember" taking the clip out and emptying it and when i went to pull the slide back it went forward, it felt completely different like when u know 100% sure theres no bullet in the chamber and when u know u loaded a live round... so i noticed it was different so i pulled the "empty" slide back only to reveal a live round..... so that scared me so i dont play with them like i used too....but i havent had one go off.... luckily

i just updated this and i feel so incredibly dumb but when i was 8 my i was at a friends house and we were playing with his bb rifle and at one point i pointed to his eye "SO EMBARRASSING NOW" and he knew what i was doing and i said say i wont and he then said i know theres no bb in it so i then cocked it back so he can see a bb..... so i show him the bb but then only cocking it halfway, and i thought since its only cocked half way theres no way it will shoot... so like a moron i point it back at his eye literally about 4 inches from his eye and i pull the trigger....and POP!.... right into his eye..so what had happened is when i only left it cocked half way it pushed its self up with the force of pulling the trigger and the bb went off and well he started to cry....and kept blinking and out of no were the bb fell out...so it went right between his eyeball and the little point towards your nose....I WAS LIKE ****!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! so that was the worst feeling ive ever had and i am so embarrassed still... even though this was more than 20 years ago... please dont bash me lol i was 8..... but hes been fine...


i wrote this from my ps3 so it might be misspelled or some letters missing..

[Come and take it.]

Around 15 years ago.

Was sitting on the toilet playing with my new fangled Para-Ordinance 1911 with 13 round magazine.

To make a short story shorter I accidentally fired it into the wall tiles. Bullet penetrated the tile but never made it past the wall. Typical thought the gun was unloaded but due to the hammer being back after working the slide I decided to dry fire instead of release and ease the hammer down.

Owned one other 1911 since than, but have never been a big fan of the safety mechanisms on 1911s.

[NRAhab]

Owned one other 1911 since than, but have never been a big fan of the safety mechanisms on 1911s.

That's what we like to call "a training issue", not a mechanical issue. The same can be said of 90% of the NDs had with Glocks.

[Firepower!]

Glad to hear that so far AD/ND are less than 1/3rd of the members. And if we belive in sampling tham this reflective of the gunowner community.

[Tom Servo]

Glad to hear that so far AD/ND are less than 1/3rd of the members. And if we belive in sampling tham this reflective of the gunowner community.

A few weeks ago, we witnessed a negligent discharge on the range that nearly endangered people in the adjoining store. The offender was booted, and we were all a bit shaky for a bit afterwards.

Over dinner that night, we got to talking. Everyone at the table but me has had an ND. This includes instructors, competition shooters and combat veterans. Every one of them took it very seriously, and it made all of them more conscientious about safety.

But I took one very important lesson from the conversation: if you shoot long enough, you're going to have one. Among that sampling group, the rate was 100% if you don't count me.

I'm doing my damnedest to beat those odds, trust me.

The one unifying factor in all their stories was complacency. It's very easy to get caught up in routine to the point that you're not watching what you're doing.

One thing that everyone agreed on: obey the Four Rules, and should something happen, nobody will be endangered.

[Bigjim3]

YES YES In the courthouse. I was cleaning a Grendel and for got to tighten up the trigger screw with a allen wrench after I loaded it. And when you tighten up the trigger screw it pulls the trigger so P.S. never do that. My bullet ended up in the raido room I was lucky no one was there..

[rdmallory]

Yes, I had a 1911 some one had done a "trigger Job" on, and at times if I was not careful it would double tap if you did not have a firm grip. Scary at best but it was pointed down range about 5 feet above the target.

Doug

[DRice.72]

I had a misfire the first time I fired a .38 special it was a S&W detectives gun. Double action revolver. The owner of gun had demonstrated how to load and fire the weapon. I had gone through the motions several times getting used to the very light trigger. When it was time for live fire. I lost my concentration for split second after firing the. First round. I turned to say something to my friend and BOOM! I so gald we had observed all the other rules for shooting. There was noone near the muzzle of the gun. The shot went down range, but I as well as my friends were very lucky.

[jimbob86]

I had a cheap .22 auto when I was a kid....... Erma "Excam"....

It slam fired once when I racked the slide...... puting a hole in my wall and a dent in the floor.... I found this today when I was trying to remember the model name:



ERMA/EXCAM
MODEL RX22,
22 CALIBER, PISTOL

WARNING: The Erma/Excam, 22 caliber, model RX22, pistol may SLAM FIRE. With the magazine loaded and the safety in the on position, the slide is pulled to rear and released to load a cartridge into the chamber of the pistol. As the slide moves forward, feeding a cartridge into that chamber, the pistol may discharge. Examination of cartridge cases have revealed the absence of a firing pin impression. Whenever loading a firearm the muzzle should be pointed in a safe direction.

Excam Inc.
4480 E. 11 Avenue
P.O. Box 3483
Hialeah, FL 33013

Source:

AFTE Journal, April 1985; Volume 17, Number 2:56-57


That was and AD.

I had an ND with a Uberti .44 cap and ball revolver: Cocked it and had my finger inside the trigger guard before I brought the gun down on the target. Rule 2 and 3 Violations: ND.

[riggins_83]

I ALWAYS carry one in the pipe. I've never had an accidental discharge.

Get a quality holster made specifically for your gun. Not one of those one size fits all deals.

+1 for that. Cheap flimsy IWB Uncle Mikes holsters and Glocks don't mix.

I develop a specific procedure for clearing each semi automatic I have based on the safest method. I won't clear it while anybody is talking, the radio is going, etc etc. Each time I make 100% sure I follow my procedure when clearing inside.

[tranks]

i guess technically i've had one and i did learn from it.

i was at the range shooting my .22 pistol. the trigger was pretty sloppy on it and i was starting to make a bad habit of taking up the slack before shooting. i took a shot and then squeezed the trigger to take up the slack while aiming for the next shot and it went off. i wasn't expecting it to, but i was aiming at the target already. after that i decided that wasn't the best idea.

i always double and triple check while handling handguns. my tube fed long guns kinda scare me though, i check them often while handling those.

[armsmaster270]

No AD but I had to put down a Rapist who was tryin to escape through me with a knife. Report at : http://www.armsmaster.net-a.googlepages.com/negrete

Hi, mrnkc130
I read your post, and these are two perfect examples of incidents that would have never happened if people had the habit of clearing firearms before storing them ( your friends father I assume, or the last person that touched that rifle) and if the rule of checking a firearm when taking it out of storage, when handing it over and when receiving it would have been observed.

All mine are stored loaded in the safe, that way if I need one it is ready and it reinforces unload before handing it off as you don't guess its empty or loaded you know it's loaded..

[FORKLIFT352]

I shot my floor.....once. And really got the point.I thought I was purty safe.
And for the most part I was.Now I'm uber safe because I don't want any
one hurt because of my stupidity.

[XD Gunner]

Not a handgun. I had a bolt action ruger m77 go off when closing the bolt.

REALLY? My brothers M77 took it's first victim, our ford explorer, when we was removing rounds from the magazine, through the bolt. He closed the bolt on the last one, blew a hole in the roof of the explorer (from inside the explorer) and I was temporarily deaf and blind. Not too mention sick. Damn, I saw the muzzle blast.....still makes me feel bad...It wasn't pointed at me, but I was looking right at the tip of the barrel when it went off.

To the OP.

Yes, I AD'd a shotgun. I bumped a JC Higgins Bolt Action 20Ga against a picnic table at my Aunt/Uncles house. I was sitting it down and the butt-stock bumped the end of the table first, not hard, just a bump. Killed a vase and a napkin dispenser. It hasn't had a shell in it since.

[Ryder]

I have never accidentally pulled the trigger of a firearm. I have intentionally pulled the trigger on what I thought was an empty firearm twice when it wasn't. That's no accident. Not as bad as it sounds however considering that over the same 46 years I have NEVER swept another person with a muzzle. It sure is a huge surprise when you get a boom instead of a click

[zombieslayer]

My best friend had to re-surface his pool table after an idiot with a keltec and fresh carry permit decided to "dry fire" it pointed at the pool table. People from DeLand...