Discharged a round inside the house

[fatelk]

If there is truly no such thing as an accidental discharge, then there must be no such thing as accidents. Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. A negligent discharge IS an accidental discharge, since accidents are usually caused by negligence. Saying "it was an accident" doesn't absolve one of responsibility; just ask your auto insurer.

Did you intend to fire the gun? If not, it was an accidental discharge, likely due to either negligence or mechanical failure. Simply put, an ND is a type of AD. I know it sounds good to say that there are no accidents, only negligence. It does help drill it into a person's mind that they are responsible for their own safety in a very serious way, but it's really not technically correct.

[NavyVet1959]

When my brother and I were (He 11 me 9) kids. We shared a Model Winchester Model 1890 for our hunting rifle. 22 Shorts only.

Deja vue...

[Blackwater]

I had an elderly friend who collected and restored those 1890's, and he had, he told me, some 150 of them he'd collected and/or worked on for most of his life. He was nearly 90 when he passed, and had pretty bad neuropathy in his hands, but STILL managed to work on them. And even with the neuropathy, when he filed a flat, it stayed flat. He was a dentist and was very adept at making any castings he wanted to, and was quite a hobbyist 'smith! I miss that old man. I spent quite a few hours with him, watching him work and listening to him tell me how to do various things, and how the factory originally did them, and how and why it needed to be done the way it was. He was a very interesting and knowledgeable and informative fellow. And he was GOOD at what he did.

Thanks for making me remember him. Great fellow. He had 3 sons and none knew beans about his wondrous collection, only that they were worth a good chunk of change. That's the sad part. I'd pay a good price for one of his old guns, preferably one I knew he'd worked on, but they're not selling. None need the money, and don't know what to do with it, and I suspect, they've been told that most any vintage Winchesters are increasing in value faster than any other "investment," so ... they're just sitting on them. Fans of that very neat old rifle will cry at this, but it's far from the only situation like this. FAR from it! If they ever decide to sell them, I'll definitely let it be known here. Nobody will know the character of the man who did the work on the ones he worked on, but they'll appreciate these fine rifles anyway, and I think that's all the doc would really want or expect or hope for.

[Tar Heel]

If there is truly no such thing as an accidental discharge, then there must be no such thing as accidents.

You nailed it. Good job!

[Traffer]

You must be a young man.

There is no such thing as an "Accidental Discharge." There are Negligent Discharges and Purposeful Discharges. Negligence is self explanatory and hopefully, we will never get complacent enough to have one. Thanks for sharing your experience with us and letting us all review our own practices to prevent Negligent Discharges.

[Tar Heel]

You must be a young man.

Actually...no. I am educated and experienced. You do not get my age by having a lot of "accidents."

[snowtigger]

What y'all are talking about - the seeming slowing of time - is called "tachycardia," I believe, and it's common among those who don't freeze up as described earlier in the hang glider incident. I've experienced it a number of times, none when something good was about to happen. Some seem to have the ability to focus so acutely that they can enter that state at will, or almost so. I've long wondered if the old time "shootists" of note didn't have that ability? Don't know that, and probably nobody can really know what another really experiences, but if and when it happens, it's amazing how much real thinking can be done in a literal twinkling of an eye! I think it's some sort of momentary victory of intellect over emotion, because those moments seem to be devoid of real emotion, even when we know the emotions are on the way. It's a strange and unenviable phenomena, I think. Nobody wants to experience it because of the events that cause them. And it's probably impossible for those who've never experienced one of those moments to believe they even exist. But they do! I wouldn't wish one on my worst enemy, but they certainly do!

Time does, in fact, stand still. The wife and I were on a trip to Anchorage from Fairbanks. The roads were icy, but not too bad. About 100 miles out we ran into a blizzard. I slowed down to 45 or 50 miles an hour. Traffic was very light, but I could see the headlights of an oncoming car in the distance. Suddenly, in my lane there was a car sitting, dead, without lights.Facing me so there were no reflectors. So close I knew we were going to hit it. The oncoming car meant i had to go right into the snowbank. In that fraction of a second, I realized that IF I missed that parked car, I could miss the oncoming one as well. I turned hard left, knowing it was useless, but at the last second, it turned. We missed the parked car by, literally inches. The guy coming the other way saw my sudden move and began to slow. I managed to get back in my lane in time to miss him.
Now I, like most guys always considered myself a pretty good driver, but I know I am not THAT good. The whole incident took less than 2 seconds, but it seemed like i was in slow motion. It has been more than 25 years, but I remember every detail like it was yesterday. I have been in accidents, but I have never been that scared.

[snowtigger]

Nope, Blackwater, not "tachycardia". That has to do with the heart -cardia - and is the feeling that your heartbeat is shaking your whole body. It is fascinating - take your blood pressure when it is happening and it is fine - I've done it. Count your pulse, it is normal. But you feel as if your heart is beating right out of your body.

The wife used to suffer from SVT( Supra ventricular tachycardia). The bottom half of the heart is beating normally, while the top half is racing at 200 beats per minute. Scary. A doctor fixed it by doing some surgery in her heart.

[molar]

Not to say it'll never happen to me. It's human nature to make errors. I do however try to rack the slide Atleast ten times and check the chamber every time and make sure I see daylight down the barrel. Call it ocd or whatever but I try to be as careful with a deadly tool as much as HUMANLY possible.

I'm OCD as well and this is one of the few times it comes in being handy. LOL

[Blackwater]

Wayne, you're right. I looked it up! Can't rely at all on the memory any more! Thanks for the correction. Now what IS the word for that sensation of "slow motion????"

[leeggen]

At the time it is happening to ones self it is also a nightmare.
CD

[FISH4BUGS]

I still carry a 22 bullet in my right leg from an AD when I was 22 - some 46 years ago. I had one in the chamber and dropped the clip in my Ruger RST4 - no magazine cutoff in those early guns. Touched the trigger when reloading the magazine and BANG!
Again, no reason for an AD ecept for a momentary lapse in attention. I was lucky. I missed my femoral artery by a fraction of an inch.
Scares me remembering it.

[kryogen]

Dude come on, clear the pistol before you clean it... Jesus.

[FISH4BUGS]

Dude come on, clear the pistol before you clean it... Jesus.

Just a momentary lapse in judgement. That's all it takes. It could happen to you too.

[kryogen]

Just a momentary lapse in judgement. That's all it takes. It could happen to you too.

no, really, it could not.
its like saying that I could forget to remove my underwear before I shower.

Seriously, before you handle any gun, make sure it's clear, its not like you can just forget that, sorry.

[NavyVet1959]

no, really, it could not.
its like saying that I could forget to remove my underwear before I shower.

Seriously, before you handle any gun, make sure it's clear, its not like you can just forget that, sorry.

What? You've never woken up in the shower with just your underwear on?

*Anything* can happen...

[leeggen]

That is deffinantly a BROKEN ARROW. OOOOOUCH. Kryogen it will happen to you some day and, as in my case I hope no one gets hurt. You sir are just to sure of yourself, but if it did you would probably not let anyone know because it will be totally an accident It was posted as a helpful reminder stuff happens when you let the guard down for just an instant.
As with other trheads people post some try to take it to the far side instead of what it is for.
CD

[GhostHawk]

He is right, anything CAN happen and someday will.

I had my first one about 2 months ago. No one injured, only causualty was my wifes remote control fan that I was using as an aim point. Thanks to sheet rock over plaster and lathe, then 1.5 inch thick douglas fir sheathing then stucco nothing came through. Totally blew my mojo for a couple of weeks though.

FYI I would have sworn that was my homemade snap cap with primer pocket replaced with hot melt glue I loaded.
I still have not figured out where that loaded round came from, or why it was where I always put my snap caps.

Brain fart is the only defense I have.