Then there was the time....

[WILCO]

I pulled the wrong trigger, on my post war factory Mauser with dual trigger set.
Chambered in 7x57 on a K98 action.
Stock is ugly but functional.
Thank God the muzzle was in the right direction.
Accidental discharge caught me off guard!
In the ten years since the event, this is the second time I'm mentioning it.

[405grain]

On older style firearms like Remington rolling blocks, 1885 Winchesters, and 1874 Sharps you can have the hammer in the half cock position when you set the trigger. The situation that you described is the reason that I prefer a single stage trigger on a bolt action. There is no half cock on a bolt action, and if you accidentally "set" the trigger by pulling the front trigger the gun will discharge. Just another reason to always have your firearm pointing in a safe direction.

[Harter66]

Having had both an empty pistol that I personally emptied and an SKS slamfire I can appreciate the surprise of an unexpected discharge.

There is a modern expression about trigger fingers , "keep your booger hook off the bang switch if the sights ain't on the target" .

Safety via admission of error as an example of how quickly even a well seasoned veteran can have things go wrong in a moment of inattention is golden .

[stubshaft]

I hear you WILCO! In my 58 years of hunting and competitive shooting I have had exactly ONE accidental discharge. I wish I could say that it wasn't my fault since it was on a release trigger for a shotgun...BUT, it wasn't the first time I shot it!

[Rockindaddy]

Had a guy bring an Astra Model 1921 to me when I had an FFL. He said the gun needed "fixed". It was a cold wintry day in SE Pennsylvania. I decided to check out this old pistol to see what needed fixed. I loaded the magazine with 5 rounds of 9mm and proceeded to insert the magazine into the gun before I stepped outside into the cold behind the gunshop. As soon as I dropped the slide all 5 rounds went off!!!! Two rounds hit the floor, the next two went into my shop door and the third hit the ceiling of my shop. My heart was pumping CoolAid by now! Yes this AD caught me by surprise. Tearing the gun apart I found that my customer attempted his own trigger job and throughly screwed the gun up. I did manage to repair the ground sear and hammer and advised my customer what his fine gun smithing resulted in. Accidental discharges happen! You just don't know when!

[imashooter2]

I had the sear fail on an old Mossberg bolt action shotgun. It fired when the bolt closed. Rule 2 kept it an embarrassment instead of a tragedy.

[Hickok]

About some odd 40 years ago after using revolvers, I finally scrapped up enough money to buy a Colt 1911.45 ACP.

On the first outing to shoot the pistol, I fired 6 rounds, figured it was empty, pointed the Colt off to my right side at the ground and pulled the trigger. COLT 1911 HOLDS 7 ROUNDS!!!!

Thank the Good Lord I had the pistol pointed away from me and into the ground.....and I was out in the woods. I stood there frozen like statue with the Colt and the slide locked back and empty.

No excuse...I knew the pistol was 7 rounds, I just had a "revolver 6 shot mindset."

Again, absolutely no excuse.

[MrWolf]

Was 17 and deer hunting with my Charles Daly 12ga over/under skeet gun. Hunt with what you had. Climbing into tree stand, icy conditions, etc. I just slipped slight and my thumb hit the safety off and finger found the trigger. Scared the hell out of me and luckily no injuries, etc. One way to have gun safety ingrained into you.

[super6]

I was on a pleasure boat shooting my hump back 12 shot gun and had to go back to my quarters to reload, Well, the third shell I loaded auto loaded on its own and fired, my hand was no where near the trigger! It cost me 400$ to replace the air mattress I shot. Lesson learned! Could have been worse.

[popper]

I can appreciate the surprise of an unexpected discharge.
Full power 308W is even better.

[Texas by God]

Switching the double set trigger from my 98 Mauser 22-250 to my 98 Mauser .358 Norma Magnum was a good idea.
Until it wasn’t.
They got switched back soon thereafter!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HWooldridge]

I had a Bernadelli double barrel 12 that started firing occasionally when the action was closed. It did it twice - once when I was shooting a sporting clays course and once while dove hunting. There were other people around both times but I had instinctively pointed the muzzles in a safe direction so no injuries. I got rid of it after that, but told the buyer about the problem so it wouldn’t be an ugly surprise.

[pworley1]

Things like that are real eye openers.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have one also, but it only enforces the imperative for keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.