Accidental discharges

[Goatwhiskers]

Figured I'd put this here, had the stuffins scared out of me today. Never had one of those in over 50 yrs. Shooting an old Martini, served its original career as 577/450, then was converted to .22RF, I got it back in '68 and rebuilt it to 30/40AI. Guess that is a lot of rounds thru it. Anyway, shooting from a bench, shoved a cartridge in, closed the lever, BANG! At least it was pointed at the backstop, a habit of mine. Tried another, same thing. Un-nerving. Went in and broke it down, turns out the trigger pivot screw was completely unscrewed allowing the trigger to slip. Checked everything else out, ran dummies and tested every way I could think of, all tight now. It pays to be careful. GW

[bangerjim]

You NEVER know. Safety is key!

[parson48]

Thank the Lord for "good habits". We all need to develop and maintain safe gun handling practices. Some folks seem to be chagrined by continual reminders, but your recent experience reinforces the need to be careful. Thanks for the sharing.

[knifemaker]

Might be a good idea to Loc-tite that screw in so it will not back out in the future. Blue Loc-Tite will prevent it backing out from vibration, but will allow you to remove it with a screwdriver if needed.

[JWT]

Just used your post as a teaching opportunity with my 10yr old. Thanks.

[smoked turkey]

Good post. Thanks to your built in safety awareness no one was injured and it is just that..a good learning experience for us all.

[country gent]

I always keep the muzzle down range when loading just in case something lets go or an accident does happen. To be honest there are no true mechanical safteys as anything mechanical can fail, the only real saftey is the person behind the trigger. Saftey is between your ears if your not thinking and paying attention your probably not as safe as you should be.

[nagantguy]

Thanks for sharing, my only AD was in the mid 90s and the pistol was pointed down range, wasn't ready for the slick hair SA trigger, hit the target but did not mean to fire the shot; the fear of that stays with me and I keep it in mind every time we shoot.....yours was a equipment failed mine was pure negleince and I never plan to repeat it.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It pays to be careful, but it is careless that sends in its bill. Another point to watch out for in an elderly Martini is that the firing-pin can crack on one side of the sear slot. If the other side goes when the rifle is cocked (with a very heavy striker spring trying to make it happen), the rifle fires.

Wear on the mating surfaces of sear and trigger needs to be watched out for, too. Those surfaces ought to be tiny flats. Imagine if you could extend a line from them. If that passes through or very slightly above the sear axis, you should be all right. If it runs below the sear axis, an accident is waiting to happen when the rifle is jarred by some impact.

The British army says there are no accidental discharges, although material flaws unknowable to the soldier might be a let-out. Otherwise there are negligent discharges, for which they incur substantial stoppages of pay. The only time it happened to me(an excessively innocent-sounding verb to use, really) was with a Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver and the eggcup-nosed hollow-point bullet. For when you have just fired a double-action revolver, it is OK to keep your finger resting lightly on the trigger... But the Webley-Fosbery is self-cocking. Still, I wasn't dim enough to have it pointing anywhere dangerous. If you can't avoid mistakes, make them one at a time.

[TXGunNut]

Never had an accidental discharge, only negligent ones. I'd categorize your experience as a mechanical failure. I dislike the term "accident" as it has succumbed to misuse and lost it's original meaning. It's difficult to learn from an "accident", a negligent act provides a good teaching opportunity. Good safety rules as you employed add a layer of protection and came in handy for you. Good job!

[GaryN]

I have a 22 LR. that when you had it cocked and the safety on, if you pulled the trigger it wouldn't shoot, but when you took the safety off it did. I had it fixed.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

That happens when the safety doesn't lift the cocking-piece or hammer just a tiny distance off the sear. Pull the trigger, and it is left hanging on the safety, without space for the sear to rise back into place. When you remove the safety, it fires.

[Light attack]

I was a range safety officer back in 1978, watching a sniper school with troops from my regiment. I watched a marine pull the trigger on a remington 700 sniper rifle with the safety on. He paused, thumbed the safety off and the gun went off. Suprised us all to say the least!

[FISH4BUGS]

I shot myself with an unloaded 22 Ruger RST 4. I KNEW it was unloaded, right?
Had one in left the chamber and dropped the clip. Clip was empty so the gun was empty, right?
No magazine cutoff safety. Touched the trigger while reloading the magazine and BANG! I still have the bullet in my leg down by my ankle after 45 years!
You really cannot be too safe.

[captaint]

As the rule book at my range states (and about EVERY other range, I'm sure) "always keep all firearms pointed downrange at ALL times". Glad no one was injured.

[WILCO]

Glad you're okay. Thanks for sharing this.

[smokeywolf]

I was taught that, until a firearm is rendered mechanically incapable of firing, it is always loaded. The other lesson, always keep the muzzle pointed in a direction where a bullet exiting the muzzle could not by direct trajectory or ricochet, strike anything or anybody that you don't want dead.

I congratulate Goatwhiskers on his careful handling of his firearm.

[MBTcustom]

It's not a matter of if, but when. Where will the bullet go when it happens? Pays to think about that when dealing with firearms, whether they are in your control or not.
I have had 3 ADs. Unnerving to say the least, but every time, the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction.

Most gents in my trade have seen the same.
Several years ago, there was a good smith who built really nice BPCR rifles who managed to shoot himself with a 45-90 as he was pulling it out of the car. He died as a result of this small mistake.

Last year, a friend of mine (a gunsmith also) went shooting with a friend of his, and when they got back, his friend was unloading a 9mm handgun of some sort, and had an AD that shot the smith in the hand seriously hindering his ability to ply his trade.
There are many many examples to be had.

I tell people "just think of your gun as a really powerful mousetrap" because that's what it is.
Familiarity breeds complacency. Do not underestimate the power of a really fun firearm to ruin your life. An AD is a very small mistake that can have disastrous consequences.
Be careful.

[Goatwhiskers]

On the bright side, I didn't nail my chrony. BiS, I appreciate the advice about the sear angle, a bit of info I didn't know. Will take it down again, check, and correct if need be. My first and only custom rifle, Ackley barrel, and crotch cut walnut, got to keep it going till I get too darn old. GW

[EMC45]

Guy I used to go to church with was clearing a pistol (9MM) when he shot himself in the hand and blew his left hand ring finger off. I asked him if he touched the trigger and he said he didn't and was trying to rack the slide and his finger happened to be right in front of the muzzle. Finger gone. I used it to remind myself and my kids to ALWAYS keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

[popper]

negligent act Proper term. I had one from an improperly sized 308W, pointed at the ground when I released the bolt. Go change shorts, look at large crater in the concrete. I only load live rnds, drop bolt, safety off in a shooting situation now and pointed down range.
Txgunnut - got your boat built yet? Kids in Houston emailed this morning - water at the back door, kids out of school.
Just decided to make a few chamber flags. Loop of weed eater orange wrapped with thread and glued together. Couple years ago I found I'd left a live one in when I got home from the range. AR is difficult to see in the chamber. Now I can poke this in and close the bolt.

[MtGun44]

Is this what happens to your car battery if you leave the lights on?

[funnyjim014]

I watched my friends SKS firing pin hang up..... 3 rounds in full auto, all hit the backstop. After that we found that the bolt needed a stipdown and good cleaning

[country gent]

In my dining room is a large flower pot probably 20" deep and slightly bigger around. It just sits there full of dirt (cheap Plasti tree in it some times) It sits there and occasionaly I add a little water to it. This is where carry guns get loaded and unloaded. Enough dirt to stop most handgun rounds easily and in a corner it makes a very safe secure place if an accident would ever happen.

[FISH4BUGS]

I once did some work for the Suffolk Country Jail in Boston. I worked with their in house lawyers, and in order to get in to the facility you had to go through all kinds of security.
One of the things they had was a large "unloading bullet stop" thingy. Basically you stick the muzzle into this large opening and drop the magazine then rack the slide to unload the gun. I was told not a week goes by without someone performing an AD.
Must be Glocks, no?

[country gent]

You would be surprised how many forget the mag in semi autos jack slide and catch round pull trigger to verify cleared and boom.

[TXGunNut]

negligent act Proper term.......
Txgunnut - got your boat built yet? Kids in Houston emailed this morning - water at the back door, kids out of school.
Just decided to make a few chamber flags. Loop of weed eater orange wrapped with thread and glued together. Couple years ago I found I'd left a live one in when I got home from the range. AR is difficult to see in the chamber. Now I can poke this in and close the bolt.

No boat, too late to build one. Not getting any use out of my riding mower lately, may trade it for a jetski.
Brother and his kids live in Houston, good thing that bayou is capable of holding lots of water.

[dakotashooter2]

I've had/witnessed 2. One was mine. Checking out my brothers Mark II, pulled the mag pulled the bolt back and all looked good. Pulled the trigger and put a bullet in the floor........lesson...Make sure you have adequate light when checking the chamber...

The second was hunting with my son. Got out of the truck and loaded his savage 110 rifle. He closed the bolt and boom (into the air). He looked at me like "it wasn't my fault". I know it wasn't his fault because I was watching and his finger was nowhere near the trigger. Took the gun and 2 of 3 rounds I closed the bolt on discharged. Discovered the trigger was out of adjustment. But my son learned a valuable lesson.

[Multigunner]

A relative brought over a very rusty Savage .32 auto pistol.
After cleaning it up I found that if you pressed the trigger with safety on it didn't fire but if you then disengaged the safety it fired without further touching the trigger.
I found that this was due to the reversed frame rails having spread. I cut a hardwood block as a spacer and squeezed the rails back to the proper fit and there was no more problem.

[Beagle333]

I have a 22 LR. that when you had it cocked and the safety on, if you pulled the trigger it wouldn't shoot, but when you took the safety off it did. I had it fixed.

I have a .22 that will do that. I could hear it click if I pulled the trigger and I knew that the trigger had then become the set trigger and the safety was now the real trigger, 'cause she would fire at the instant I flipped it off.

[jonp]

I put a pistol back in the safe with the magazine in but no round in the chamber. Still not sure why I did that. I grabbed the gun a few weeks later, pointed it in a safe direction and pulled back the slide to make sure it was empty and promptly blew a hole in the bed. I felt like a complete fool and have been double safe since.

The only thing I did right was point it down in a safe direction.

Firearms never make a mistake, it is always operator error unless a catastrophic failure of parts occur.

[Gar]

I put a pistol back in the safe with the magazine in but no round in the chamber. Still not sure why I did that. I grabbed the gun a few weeks later, pointed it in a safe direction and pulled back the slide to make sure it was empty and promptly blew a hole in the bed. I felt like a complete fool and have been double safe since.

The only thing I did right was point it down in a safe direction.

Firearms never make a mistake, it is always operator error unless a catastrophic failure of parts occur.

^^^^^^^^
I did the EXACT same stupid move about 4 weeks ago in my vault room. Feel the same way as you did. The only difference is the weapon was aimed at the wall corner and the steel barely dented.
First negligent discharge I've had in 40 years.