Confess your accidental discharge here:

[flyingmonkey35]

I have been next to two.

1. I was down range as the RSO giving a safety briefing for a black powder shoot.

Some one came up to the line to clear the cap. And kaboom.

I sent him home.

2. Talking to a buddy at the range and admiring his 22. Which he swore was unloaded. He pulled the trigger and off it went. Thank god it was pointed down range. I still give him hell.

Never check to see if the gun is unloaded by pulling the ttigger.

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[DiverJay]

50+ years of shooting. 23 years as an LEO. Never had an accidental discharge in my life. Follow the rules of safety and accidental discharges are the thing of unicorns.

[jmort]

Seems like some might want to choose the member name Titanic
Love the never, never-ever, I be perfect....

[Don1357]

I had any accidental discharge but I don't quite consider it negligent.

We have a public range that in the early mornings it is empty most of the time. I went one morning to practice drawing and shooting my .44, the rationale is that no matter how good I got at carefully aiming and shooting it, if that ill fated day came where a bear or moose was charging I had 0 muscle memory on drawing and firing. For starters I learned that my holster needed some serious adjustments, it wasn't stable enough to draw fast. Then I drilled on draw; cock hammer, aim, shot. That went fairly well if the bear was big enough of a target... Then I discovered that apparently I can walk and chew gum at the same time but I can't walk, draw, and shot at the same time; a round went off about six feet in front of me.

All in all a very enlightening experience. Heck I need to do that on a regular basis. Not the trying to blow my toes but that sort of practice.

[BigBore45]

Closest I got was I loaded 3 rounds in a friend's sks that had sit in his farm truck for a long time. Anyways jacked the slide and low and behold the firing pin rusted solid in the out position. She went full out. Luckily I had it pointed safely down range like your supposed too. Nothing hurt but some ground and maybe a tree.

Only thing I've had happen to me luckily.

[Walks]

When I had My AD, it was in a house lived in by only My Mother.
I wouldn't have expected someone to come along and take My Revolver from it's holster rig, leave the .38Spl RN loads in the belt loops and load the Revolver with .357Mag JHP's from an ammo can in the Other Half of the Closet.

However it taught me a Severe Lesson.
Check The Blasted Gun EVERY Time you pick it up.
The next time I saw my brother-in-law I told him "IF you EVER TOUCH ONE OF MY GUNS AGAIN, I'LL BUST IT OVER your head".

My sister didn't appreciate it, but I didn't care.

[MN91311]

When I was about 18, 55 years ago, we had some pigeons (flying s*i*h*u*e*) that kept raiding the bird feeder we had in the back yard for the smaller birds. We chased them, but they always came back. Made a mess, and too lazy to go find food away from people, I guess. I was sneaking up on them with my Sears JC Higgins .22 bolt rifle. (Made by Marlin, I later found out.) I still have the rifle. I was holding the rifle pointing down, with my finger on the trigger. (Didn't realize it at the time; dumb, I know.) Got distracted by something, and the rifle went off, using regular lead bullet. Into the ground just inches from my right foot. Wow. That ended my shooting day in a hurry. After that, I used a Havahart live trap to get rid of them.

[dogrunner]

My take is that you can rest on your laurels of never having an AD......call it NG if you wish.......all you will, but in my book there're two kinds of shooters...those that haven't experienced it yet ...........and those that will.

I have done it and scared myself.......I've been there when it happened and was even more scared!

I managed to blow a neat .357 diameter hole in the access door to a municipal jail facility........I was in a dispatch area after working a nasty vehicular accident and wound up having to wade thru a muddy canal in a rainstorm.........when that was over I went back to my station to change. Found that my new model 19 was sitting in about an inch of muddy wet crap in my Jordan BP holster......I was in a dispatch area and asked for some tissue to wipe it down with and during the wipedown I some how stroked that DA trigger enough to cycle the gun.....how, I dunno. At the least my lifelong training of never pointing the damn thing stuck and it only killed that door.....dead center thru a limited access sign attached thereto..............I also noted that my dispatcher reflexibly fell over backward in his chair!

Embarressed the hell out of me.....called my Lt. and he just chuckled and said something about that was kinda loud, right? Adding that I....me the rookie....would have to come in and explain it to our Chief........

That was not a nice thing....never did anything like that again, I assure you!


The other, and scary as hell incident, involved a night fire exercise while in the army.......groups were ran thru exercise at squad level and then regrouped in a staging area.....As is not unusual there was a lot of 'horsing around' following and some fool managed to touch off a live round from h is Garand in that tightly grouped bunch............dead silence, followed by every NCO present screaming get that rifle in the air, and individually checked by them...............Can't imagine just how many an AP round would've penetrated in that mix!

[FerricOxide]

The only one I've had was shooting clays with a crusty old .410 shotgun that had not been used in a long time. I believe it was a mossberg bolt action. I shot at least a box of ammo until one time I closed the bolt and it fired on it's own. I was being safe that day, muzzle pointed in a good direction into the air. I never did figure out if the firing pin stuck, or some other problem, but I could not replicate it. The safety never worked, and I am certain I did not pull the trigger. I simply put it away, never to be fired again, and took the good reinforcement that I was doing something right.

My grandpop had a mossberg bolt action in 20ga that decided it liked firing when the bolt was locked closed, long ago. He put it away and never used it again. I inherited it, I've tried to make it drop the striker without the trigger but I have yet to have it do it again. never ran a shell though it because I just don't think I could trust it. The only thing I've noticed is the sear engagement area on the striker is pretty soft steel and is quite worn and damaged, so it might just slip off when handled some specific way.

He also had a Montgomery wards branded 16ga bolt gun. No negligent discharges but it's safety doesn't inspire a lot of confidence and it's probably the worst built, handling shotgun I've ever used. Only saveing grace with the terrible safety is that the trigger has, i'm not exaggerating, 3/8" of creep before it does anything and a 12lb pull. I've only used it on the clays range to burn though old 16ga shells I had.

Imo, those old bolt action shotguns seem to have been shoddily made and arn't worth anything side from gunsafe curiosities.

[Burnt Fingers]

My take is that you can rest on your laurels of never having an AD......call it NG if you wish.......all you will, but in my book there're two kinds of shooters...those that haven't experienced it yet ...........and those that will.

I have done it and scared myself.......I've been there when it happened and was even more scared!

Millions of gun owners will NEVER have a ND/AD. Keep your head screwed on, follow the four rules and you won't have a ND.

[David2011]

Millions of gun owners will NEVER have a ND/AD. Keep your head screwed on, follow the four rules and you won't have a ND.

Are you splitting hairs between AD and ND? I only ask because they are not the same thing. An AD can be due to a mechanical failure. I knew someone that had the nose of the sear break off in a 1911 with a full magazine. I have had a floating firing pin stick in the forward position due to a burr on the firing pin in a Ruger Mk I. Man, do they shoot fast when that happens. It just felt like a vibration. Funny thing is that it was in the middle of a magazine; not the first round fired. I had the hammer follow the slide on a new high end custom USPSA pistol. It had less than 1000 rounds through it when that happened. Both of my incidents happened on guns that had never been disassembled since they left the manufacturers.

You can follow the four rules or the ten rules and still have something break. If you're following those rules nobody will get hurt.

OTOH, I was at a pistol match where someone had a failure to fire in a revolver. After he shot the stop plate he pulled the trigger to run the dud round through again but failed to point the muzzle down. The RO didn't stop him fast enough. He had a deliberate and negligent discharge right over the berm into a populated area. There were no reports of someone being shot. He was very stupid and very lucky.

[slim1836]

Never had an accidental discharge in 54 years (I’m 66) of firearm ownership. I count my blessings.

Now watch me have one dove hunting Saturday. Lord help me make it through the day.

Slim

[lightman]

Mine was a Remington 700. I got to my deer stand early one morning in the dark, got settled in, closed the bolt to load a round and it went off. I'm positive that I was not on the trigger. I can't blame the trigger. I had just returned from a hunt in Wyoming and everything that I owned was covered in red dirt or dust. I went back to camp, took the trigger and bolt out and washed them out with solvent, and was never able to get it to do that again. For the record, I had the muzzle pointed up and out of the stand when this happened. Also for the record, and somewhat besides the point, most of my Remingtons are wearing a Jewell trigger nowadays.

This is not intended to slight Remington or to rekindle the old Remington trigger debate.

[Burnt Fingers]

Millions of gun owners will NEVER have a ND/AD. Keep your head screwed on, follow the four rules and you won't have a ND.

Are you splitting hairs between AD and ND? I only ask because they are not the same thing. An AD can be due to a mechanical failure. I knew someone that had the nose of the sear break off in a 1911 with a full magazine. I have had a floating firing pin stick in the forward position due to a burr on the firing pin in a Ruger Mk I. Man, do they shoot fast when that happens. It just felt like a vibration. Funny thing is that it was in the middle of a magazine; not the first round fired. I had the hammer follow the slide on a new high end custom USPSA pistol. It had less than 1000 rounds through it when that happened. Both of my incidents happened on guns that had never been disassembled since they left the manufacturers.

You can follow the four rules or the ten rules and still have something break. If you're following those rules nobody will get hurt.

OTOH, I was at a pistol match where someone had a failure to fire in a revolver. After he shot the stop plate he pulled the trigger to run the dud round through again but failed to point the muzzle down. The RO didn't stop him fast enough. He had a deliberate and negligent discharge right over the berm into a populated area. There were no reports of someone being shot. He was very stupid and very lucky.

Take your time and read what I wrote. There's no way to prevent an AD due to equipment failure. However it's very easy to avoid a ND.

People who say there are only those that have and those who haven't YET are trying to massage their bruised ego. Millions of gun owner will NEVER have a ND.

[mjwcaster]

I check a firearm, any firearm every time I handle it. The only exception is my carry gun, I don't have to check it as it's always loaded. It goes from holster to nightstand and back, with muzzle awareness always.

up.

I used to know my carry gun in its holster was always loaded and stopped press-checking it.

Until on day in the Wendy’s drive through I asked my daughter to check her door for some change.
She said theres no change but there is this, holding up a 380 cartridge.
And there were 7 more in the door.

A day or two before in class I unloaded my 380 to use in the classroom, and then just put it in its sticky holster and pocketed it.

I also had a Glock on my hip from the range portion of class.
I reloaded the Glock before leaving, but not the 380.

After that I always check my carry gun every time I pick it up.
Press check for loaded chamber
Drop mag and check that’s it’s full
Insert mag and pull on it to verify its seated correctly.
Quick inspection of pins/levers whatever can come loose. And for general condition, dirt/filth.

So I now inspect guns EVERY time I pick them up, either to confirm they are unloaded or loaded and ready to use.

I am also paranoid about dry firing, I will clear the gun before starting, then take aim and then press check one last time before pulling the trigger.
If it has been more than a few moments since it was checked I will check it again before pulling the trigger.

Only takes a fraction of a second to check it vs a lifetime of regret.


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[mjwcaster]

Since the SKS has come up a few times I will share my buddies story, I wasn’t there for this adventure.

It was during the time of $89-$99 SKSs and <$100 cases of surplus ammo.

My buddy had the first one in the group/family, everyone laughed at that commie junk.
Until they shot it and found out the price, then many of them bought one or two for a truck/tractor gun.

I don’t remember who’s gun it was, but it was the latest purchase.
The boys were out hunting and the SKS locked up somehow.

So mistake #2 was my buddy trying to clear it in the backseat of the truck.

Mistake #1 was not being familiar with the gun,
nor familiar with semi auto rifles
and definitely not familiar with cosmoline soaked surplus.

The muzzle was pointed forward, between the 2 front seats

My best guess is that he somehow got it to slamfire, with the firing pin stuck forward.

The boys had to head back into town for fresh drawers and a new windshield.

Although trying to clear it in the truck was stupid at least the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction.

Not sure what ever happened to that gun, I never saw it.




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[Bazoo]

I check my carry for loaded occasionally, but not normally when I grab it in the morning. I often inspect it for loaded, rust/dirt when I walk the dogs first time though.

[303Guy]

2. Talking to a buddy at the range and admiring his 22. Which he swore was unloaded. He pulled the trigger and off it went. Thank god it was pointed down range. I still give him hell.

Never check to see if the gun is unloaded by pulling the trigger.

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But it was unloaded! After he pulled the trigger.

Ja! All guns are always loaded. And we all make mistakes. Guns are damned dangerous and should be treated with the utmost respect at all times - and may I never forget that!

[Bagdadjoe]

Not mine...but interesting..
My friends friend had an original M10 .45 back in the day he was gigging around on trying to make it full auto. He had a full mag in it and let the bolt go...in his mom's garage. Open bolt. Emptied the 30 rd. mag in 2.1 seconds...up the side of his mommas Lincoln, the deep freeze, garage wall and ceiling.
Success!!

[303Guy]

I just remembered my 22 Remington going off uninvited. I was aiming it but waiting for the other fellow to fire first when it went off. I thought I had touched the trigger but then it happened again as I closed the bolt - also pointing downrange. I replaced the trigger and sear.

I have one or two Lee Enfields with modified sears that could go off uninvited. Those bolts don't get used but I am reminded to correct them before they get accidently used. These are the old single stage triggers that someone wanted to lighten the trigger pull on. Very dangerous practice.