Confess your accidental discharge here:

[Crash_Corrigan]

Yeah this is the elephant in the room with a buncha shooters during a jawing session over coffee or possibly a beer or two. We pretty much in the past years may have had an accidental discharge along the way.

I am sure that none of us are proud of it and we may not want to discuss it but at least for me it was a real strong wake up call about gun safety.

I was 12 years old and I had been allowed to utilize my dad's .22 for two years already. It was a Savage Model 23 bolt action rifle in .22 lr with a 5 round magzine. This was not a lightweight gun at all. It was well worn when I got my paws on it and I must have fired 10,000 rounds thru it from '55 to '61.

One day a pair of friends and I decided to go to a nearby neighbor's field to bag a woodchuck or two.

My older friend was allowed to drive his dad's '55 Ford SW and we all piled in on the way to the field. I had a round chambered and 5 more in the magazine and the safety was engaged. During the ride the bolt was jostled a mite open and when I noticed that I pushed it closed. The rifle fired and I about made a mess in my pants. Good fortune smiled as the snout of the rifle had been pointed up and now we had a hole in the roof to explain. We found some glue and mixed it with some rough sawdust and formed a plug to fit and formed neat repair. A little black paint on the roof and we were good to go. We stuck a piece of masking tape over the hole in the headliner and it matched the color of the fabric. My friend's dad was only about 5' tall and the roof was higher than his eyes. We swore ourselves to secrecy and kept on with our lives.

Further examination of the rifle reproduced the malfunction again and again. So I learned that this rifle must never have a round in the chamber until you are ready to shoot. I pretty much never ever carried a loaded rifle inside a vehicle again. And I never had another AD again.

Many years later a friend was showing me his colt .25 ACP when he mishandled it and it fired a neat hole in his floor. We found the slug in the basement spattered flat on the concrete floor about 3 feet away from his wife who was washing clothing. We had a few exciting minutes there and he had some serious fence mending to do.

I am sure that some of also might have an interesting tale of woe.

[Lloyd Smale]

ill narc on my buddy. We were bird hunting back in the 80s and he blew a hole in the floor of my pickup with his 12 guage.

[Hickory]

I have a S&W model 60-15 that has a hammer that has bit more of a down turn than my earlier model 60's.
Plus, I have nerve injury to my neck that have left my thumb, pointer and middle fingers partially numb on my right hand. I sometimes sandpaper my trigger finger for better feel when shooting a handgun. I have to be more aware of what I'm doing when using this handgun. I shoot rifles left handed.

[UKShootist]

I've had six. All boys.

[Petrol & Powder]

I've had six. All boys.

[GhostHawk]

Only 2 here, one was the result of too much oil on a Ruger 10/22 bolt and very cold hunting trip. Got out of the truck, loaded up, released the bolt and missed my left front tire by 6 inches. That one was long ago and far away.

Some 3 years ago I was doing some dry fire practice with a Hipoint C9 9mm. I kept a dummy cartridge with hot melt glue in the primer pocket for dry fire practice by my coffee cup. Where and how my fingers came up with a fully loaded factory round I still have not figured out.

So the gun was aimed, hit just were I was aiming, one of buttons on momma's big remote controlled fan.

I instantly ran outside, figured where the hole should be. Stucco house, 5/4 doug fir sheathing built in 1916. No hole on the outside.
Dog and cat were significantly shook up. I was sitting on the back steps shaking when momma came home from work. She knew instantly that something was wrong. So I fessed up.

No more dry fire practice. That last one scared me.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My adult grandfather about took out his mother's second husband with a handgun he was fiddling with. His hands did shake a bit his entire life, not sure if that caused it or not. Despite the shakes, he could shoot a rifle quite well.

One of the neighbor kids (or so the story goes) put a .22 hole in my grandparents ceiling/roof.

[Hickory]

I've had six. All boys.

Sounds like more of a miss handling of something other than you trigger finger.

[JimB..]

I was adjusting the trigger stop on a ruger mk2 pistol. It’s a trial and error thing that should be done with dummy rounds, but I was at the range. Insert mag, chamber, test trigger, drop mag, clear chamber, adjust trigger, rinse and repeat. About the 4th time I was super close and failed to drop the mag and clear the chamber. Adjusted the grub screw a hair and bumpfired the 3 rounds left in the mag. All rounds went neatly down range onto the dirt.

[Sig556r]

Lawyers call that "negligent" or "reckless" discharge, regardless...won't talk about it...

[jmort]

Had a 9mm go off in garage
Ears ringing for a few days
Good thing I followed Cooper rule #2
Was aiming at some dirt outside the garage

[RU shooter]

I was just a young lad of 21 working as part time patrolman in a little town . Got off work one Saturday night at 3am took my colt commander out of the holster as was sitting in my driveway at my parents house .my routine was to drop the mag and rack the slide to empty it and lower the hammer and re holster before I went in the house. A cocked and locked 1911 made my dad nervous is house his rules!
Dropped the magazine as usual snicked the safety off and went ride the hammer down with my thumb . Well the hammer slipped and the next thing I was sitting there stunned from the concussion of a round going off in that small car with the windows up ! Took me about 10 seconds to regain my senses and make sure I didn't shoot my self in the leg ! Ok all good no pain or blood! Then it hit me ohhh **** I just shot my car ! The 45 cal black talon round went into the dash right at the corner ofthe radio yes it still worked ! Then I though ohhh no the motor !!! Popped the hood and got out my light iwas relieved when I saw that quarter sized dent in the fire wall but no hole . I'd had enough went in and went to bed . Next morning crawled under the dash to see what was damaged . Luckily there was only a hole through the plastic duct work and found the slug stuck to the firewall . Fatigue and being tired got the best of me that night as I forgot to rack that round outa the chamber like I've always done before dropping that hammer . I was very lucky and stupid !

[gwpercle]

I've had six. All boys.

One girl ... in the backseat of my 1968 Chevelle at the drive in movies .

The second , a boy , was " planned" 6 years later.

Gary

[Pb Burner]

Mine was actually on purpose. More stupidity than an accident.
Years back, I had bought a "cheap" inline muzzle loader, just so I could deer hunt an extra week. I hadn't had a chance to shoot it since the last season, had been a busy year. The evening before going hunting I decided to go ahead and get everything ready for the next morning, to save time. I decided to go ahead and load the rifle, so I took it out on my front porch to snap a cap to make sure the nipple was clear. Outside I spot a leaf on the edge of the porch(concrete). I pointed the muzzle at the leaf about 8" in front of my flipflop clad feet. I wanted to confirm that the flash channel was clear into the barrel by seeing the leaf move. Holding the rifle in one hand with the muzzle about 3" from the leaf, I pulled the trigger and BOOM! Well the leaf sure moved, in a cloud of smoke, and there was recoil! I was stunned for a second. There was a good sized chip out of the concrete where the leaf had been, and a big cloud of smoke slowly drifting away.
I hadn't fired it since the last time I'd been hunting with it the previous year. I'd intended to disassemble it to unload and clean it, and had never gotten around to it and forgot I'd left it loaded.
It was a blessing I didn't catch some shrapnel in my bare toes. The wife was rather unhappy with me too. But now there's a chip out of the porch and a good sized dent in the gutter to remind me to put the ramrod into the barrel to confirm a muzzle loader's barrel is empty before snapping a cap.
I got lucky, and learned a big lesson that I'll never forget.

[osteodoc08]

I was probably 14 or 15 and went to take the butt of my shotgun and strike the squirrel I just shot that was still squirming. Gun went off when I struck the butt on the head of the squirrel. How it didn't hit me I don't know but thank God for watching over me that day. Never again will I do that.

[Bazoo]

Two, once with a Henry golden boy. I had it pointed up while walking, I was playing with the hammer and it slipped off the safety knotch and the round fired.

Next, had an AK and it jammed. I was trying to figure it out and had turned around towards the neighbors. Pulled the trigger and let a round go. Thankfully it was pointed down and hit the ground about 15 yards out.

Got a friend that shot out the taillight on his car and shot my entertainment center. Both because he failed to check the chamber before dry firing.

With the car, We was plinking and using his trunk for a table. I fired and reloaded mommas single six. As I handed it to him I said "loaded". I turned back around and heard pop. I turned back and he said I thought you said it wasn't loaded. He didn't check and dry fired it and blew out his taillight.

With my entertainment center, he'd brought down a new pistol, a Jericho 9mm. I was in my chair and he was across from me on the couch. Well he was carrying it so it was loaded, half loaded as he had an empty chamber. So I handed it to me to inspect. I cleared it, played with it a while and returned it to him with an empty chamber but loads mag, same as he had given it to me. I'd been comparing it to my 1911, so I was looking down at my gun when an earth shattering kaboom was heard. I said what heck are you doing? He started apologizing and explaining. He said he didn't think it was loaded, he had racked the slide and a cartridge didn't come ok of the ejection port. He didn't verify visually or check the mag.

He is my only shooting buddy but is still unsafe. He had been in the navy and grew up with guns, and gets all bent if you suggest he needs a safety update. When we go shooting, he always leaves the safety off when he's done shooting, rarely action open. Often finger on the trigger when it shouldn't be. He's fidgety with guns. Been thinking about running him off but he's been a friend for 15 years and I'm friends with his son. He didn't get back into guns until 7-8 years ago. Not sure what to do so I'm real causious when he comes over. Since his AD in the house he's somewhat more careful in that he unloads his gun before coming in the house to show it off. On the range, I stay behind him and alert so I'm in realatively safety.

[Mytmousemalibu]

When I was about 10-12 I neglected to heed the rule of firearms, always assume it is loaded. I was strolling back to the house after burning some 22LR down at the creek. I swore I had emptied the last magazine, the bolt locked back too. As I neared the house, I dropped the bolt and pulled the trigger..... Bang!

I was stunned, stopped dead in my tracks with shock! The round sailed off to the right, impacting the dirt in my moms garden, about 10-15ft from where she was working. I was grounded from shooting for a couple weeks, I was okay with that too.

[MrWolf]

I was about 17 and went deer hunting for the first time. Wooded area, snow and ice and was in a small tree stand. Thinking about coming down and slipped. My shotgun went off and I near wet myself. Got back to the car and another guy asked if I got one as he heard the shot. Nope, not me. You get real careful after that.

[osteodoc08]

I was at the shooting range a few weeks ago when one of our group started shooting at 300 yards. This is an F class, well placed, local shooter and always adheres to safety, even down to the empty chamber indicators. What went through his mind is beyond me. He likely was just looking through his scope and at 36x was having tunnel vision. He had just spoke to everyone and saw my 2 friends drive down range to place targets at 200 yards. He shoots suppressed and I heard a round go off and thought, certainly not, there are 2 people AND A VEHICLE downrange. I ran over to him yelling and cursing. Once he realized it, he started shaking uncontrollably and I could see him choke up. He apologized profusely and packed up his stuff and left. One of the 2 downrange was a Korea and Vietnam vet and shrugged it off. The other a Vietnam Pilot was slightly torqued so to speak. After everything had calmed down and the three of us were cold range we joked about running zig zag patterns downrange next time and we were gonna carry his bolt downrange with us next time he was out there with us. I haven't seen him at the range since.

[megasupermagnum]

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.