# Accidental Discharge? What's your story



## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

Have any of you gentlemen ever dropped the hammer on a live round that wasn't supposed to be there? Maybe you've witnessed someone else do it. I have a couple of those stories to tell but I will wait to hear a couple of yours first.
GW


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

Never, never, never, never had one. 

At this stage of my life, I don't plan to either.


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## GCBHM (Mar 24, 2014)

I have. And I've learned my lesson.


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## Kimber45 (Dec 31, 2014)

I have not ever! I did meet a guy about 15 years ago that was a senior at the time from what I heard had many. The mans name was Al something{never knew his last name}. I started to hear people call him A.D.. After a few months of seeing Al at the rang I found out he used to owen a gun shop in the area. I then found out why Al was referred to as A.D. . Good old Al had many accidental discharges in his own gun shop. Scarey thought to me any way.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I've been told over and over, if you haven't had an AD or a ND, it's only a matter of time. 

That was over 20 yrs. ago. I'm thinking that you can go thru life without one or the other. 

Anyways, I'm doing fine and have no plans to change my status.


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## SailDesign (Jul 17, 2014)

None yet - but I'm always willing to learn that I can.... It's what keeps me thinking about NOT


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

I have to admit to putting a .308 hole through several layers of my friends brand new Super Duty pick up truck. It was my model 70 Coyote Winchester with a bull barrel and laminated stock. We had just finished a bench rest session at 400 yards and I could not miss. Before casing the gun I dropped the floor plate to be sure there weren't any cartridges in the gun. The bolt was partially open as we usually kept them when they weren't on the bench being fired. I closed the bolt on what I was sure was an empty chamber and somehow I snagged the trigger. The bullet went down through the bed of the truck, bounced off the frame, came up through the back of the cab and came to rest under the back seat of the truck. There were only the two of us there and he was well behind me when it happened. I will never forget it and I will never repeat it!
GW


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## rustygun (Apr 8, 2013)

Never had either. One time I did find a live round chambered in my ruger mkII , I would have bet my life that gun was empty, glad I didn't.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

So far, in nearly 47 years of owning firearms, not yet. I just hope it remains a "not yet".


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Personally.... none yet, and I plan to keep it that way. 

Seen plenty at work (citizens), on ranges and during classes... most are due to trigger finger discipline or not checking the chamber before handling. Seen plenty of injuries that keep me from becoming complacent, safety is always my first concern with anything firearms related.


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## Scorpion8 (Jan 29, 2011)

Once, only when I miscounted the number of rounds at the range once, but I kept the muzzle pointed downrange (as always). Just had a brain-fart moment but the training on safe handling was helpful in keeping the gun pointed safely.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

For the life of me, I'll never understand how some have a discharge while cleaning a firearm. :smt017


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Not "accidental discharge," but more properly "_negligent_ discharge."

I have experienced two:
My first one occurred when I was about 14 years old, was the result of miscounting the remaining rounds in a .30-40 Krag magazine, injured nobody, and drilled a nice, clean hole through a farmhouse wall. I fixed the wall.
My last one occurred when I was about 45 years old, was the result of a "brain fa*rt," injured nobody, and put a .45 pistol bullet into the ground about three feet from the tire of the truck in which I was to ride home. I ate crow for a week for that one.


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## KeithC. (Dec 24, 2013)

I saw a gentleman at the rifle range let loose a .223 between his wife's legs. He had just removed the clip from his brand new mini 14 (the rifle was pointed around her feet) when she looked at him and said "that guns not loaded is it"? "No baby" and he pulled the trigger. 

I then witnessed the ugliest chewing out a husband has ever received in my life. It was loud, long and thorough. The range master watched and never uttered a word.


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## DirtyDog (Oct 16, 2014)

I have not, and I intend to keep it that way.
My brother, on the other hand, has. He was standing in line at the Walmart checkout with a Browning Hi Power cocked and locked in the small of his back. It went off. No impact, just a manufacturing flaw. Put a crease across his butt cheek and scared hell out of everybody around.


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## high pockets (Apr 25, 2011)

I have never seen, or heard of an accidental discharge. I have, however, read about, and witnessed, several negligent discharges, and have, in fact been responsible for two; both at a range, and both into a backstop. Both, however, caused immediate, but temporary, heart stoppages.

Every "inadvertent" discharge I have ever seen, or read about involved some, or several, violations of the well known 4 rules of gun handling.

Remember:

ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

NEVER PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE PREPARED TO SHOOT

NEVER POINT A GUN AT SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY

ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR BACKSTOP

I know this is trite to some, and nit-picky to others but, c'mon guys, how many modern guns have ever discharged, by themselves, without some action by an operator?


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

Kimber45 said:


> I have not ever! I did meet a guy about 15 years ago that was a senior at the time from what I heard had many. The mans name was Al something{never knew his last name}. I started to hear people call him A.D.. After a few months of seeing Al at the rang I found out he used to owen a gun shop in the area. I then found out why Al was referred to as A.D. . Good old Al had many accidental discharges in his own gun shop. Scarey thought to me any way.


Maybe it was Al Gore? Think he had a lot of accidental "discharges" too.


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

goldwing said:


> I have to admit to putting a .308 hole through several layers of my friends brand new Super Duty pick up truck. It was my model 70 Coyote Winchester with a bull barrel and laminated stock. We had just finished a bench rest session at 400 yards and I could not miss. Before casing the gun I dropped the floor plate to be sure there weren't any cartridges in the gun. The bolt was partially open as we usually kept them when they weren't on the bench being fired. I closed the bolt on what I was sure was an empty chamber and somehow I snagged the trigger. The bullet went down through the bed of the truck, bounced off the frame, came up through the back of the cab and came to rest under the back seat of the truck. There were only the two of us there and he was well behind me when it happened. I will never forget it and I will never repeat it!
> GW


And probably never got a ride in THAT truck again.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

paratrooper said:


> For the life of me, I'll never understand how some have a discharge while cleaning a firearm. :smt017


It is impossible to have a firearm discharge on someone when cleaning it because it is impossible to clean a chambered firearm. I have also wondered the same thing you mentioned here and the only thing I can come up with is the person wasn't actually cleaning the gun. He was preparing to clean it and it fired.

I used to work with a gentleman in my last job, who lived within about six or seven miles of where I live, who had a 1911 (think that's what it was) discharge on him when he was "cleaning" it (that was the story we heard) in June 2010. The round entered his head and killed him. Nice guy who looked a lot like Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

^ This.... it seems like a "story" so the person fondling a loaded gun dosen't look like an idiot to others... although we all know better, lol.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

I always clean ,lube the trigger first.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

SouthernBoy said:


> It is impossible to have a firearm discharge on someone when cleaning it because it is impossible to clean a chambered firearm. I have also wondered the same thing you mentioned here and the only thing I can come up with is the person wasn't actually cleaning the gun. He was preparing to clean it and it fired.
> 
> I used to work with a gentleman in my last job, who lived within about six or seven miles of where I live, who had a 1911 (think that's what it was) discharge on him when he was "cleaning" it (that was the story we heard) in June 2010. The round entered his head and killed him. Nice guy who looked a lot like Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.


My point was to more or less point out the fact that some injure themselves or others by preparing to clean a firearm.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

paratrooper said:


> My point was to more or less point out the fact that some injure themselves or others by preparing to clean a firearm.


Yes they do. But what you tend to see reported in the news is that the owner accidentally killed himself, or someone else, while cleaning his gun. It is my contention that that act of cleaning had not begun but rather what the owner was doing was probably unloading the gun and had a fatal slip-up.


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## SailDesign (Jul 17, 2014)

SouthernBoy said:


> Yes they do. But what you tend to see reported in the news is that the owner accidentally killed himself, or someone else, while cleaning his gun. It is my contention that that act of cleaning had not begun but rather what the owner was doing was probably unloading the gun and had a fatal slip-up.


Or had forgotten that they had forgotten to unload it.....


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## DirtyDog (Oct 16, 2014)

SouthernBoy said:


> Yes they do. But what you tend to see reported in the news is that the owner accidentally killed himself, or someone else, while cleaning his gun. It is my contention that that act of cleaning had not begun but rather what the owner was doing was probably unloading the gun and had a fatal slip-up.


You cannot really expect that level of accuracy from the news. Do you know how many stories I've read about diving incidents that referred to "oxygen tanks"? Here's a hint... breathing O2 deeper than 20 feet is pretty much a death sentence... And while you are technically correct, I've never yet heard a patient say they were "getting ready to" clean their gun. In the minds of most, "cleaning the gun" starts when they pick it up.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

DirtyDog said:


> You cannot really expect that level of accuracy from the news. Do you know how many stories I've read about diving incidents that referred to "oxygen tanks"? Here's a hint... breathing O2 deeper than 20 feet is pretty much a death sentence... And while you are technically correct, I've never yet heard a patient say they were "getting ready to" clean their gun. In the minds of most, "cleaning the gun" starts when they pick it up.


Okay, so maybe I missed the boat and it's already pulling out of the harbor. Too late now to do anything else, but watch it disappear into the sunset.

BTW.....where did a patient come into the conversation?


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## rustygun (Apr 8, 2013)

I always thought saying someone"shot themselves cleaning a gun" was to protect family members when someone eats their gun. It would also help with life insurance policies.


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## BigCityChief (Jan 2, 2013)

No - thankfully.


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## DirtyDog (Oct 16, 2014)

paratrooper said:


> Okay, so maybe I missed the boat and it's already pulling out of the harbor. Too late now to do anything else, but watch it disappear into the sunset.
> 
> BTW.....where did a patient come into the conversation?


Well, when people shoot themselves "cleaning their gun", they often end up in the ER. As a patient. Since I've spent some 30 years in the ER, I've probably heard this story more than most.

The point I was making was twofold. 
1 - The media is not terribly accurate.
2 - The period included in the statement "cleaning my gun" is somewhat nebulous.


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## DirtyDog (Oct 16, 2014)

rustygun said:


> I always thought saying someone"shot themselves cleaning a gun" was to protect family members when someone eats their gun. It would also help with life insurance policies.


Not really, since most of the wounds are not remotely lethal. Mostly it's hand or leg wounds.


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## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

Accidental discharge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

The one I'm familiar with was a "cleaning the gun-shot". Funny/interesting thing was the bullet went thru his left hand and into his right thigh.
In the intensive care unit, his wife was very apologetic.
Perhaps he was trying to protect something important with his hand and the family jewels had been wandering?
Who knows?


(The Shadow Knows)


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

DirtyDog said:


> Since I've spent some 30 years in the ER,


How did you manage to escape?  (worked there 29 years myself. They left the door unlocked one day and I moved on.)


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

DirtyDog said:


> You cannot really expect that level of accuracy from the news. Do you know how many stories I've read about diving incidents that referred to "oxygen tanks"? Here's a hint... breathing O2 deeper than 20 feet is pretty much a death sentence... And while you are technically correct, I've never yet heard a patient say they were "getting ready to" clean their gun. In the minds of most, "cleaning the gun" starts when they pick it up.


Yes I can expect it, but it won't be coming any time soon. News journalists are supposed to have studied the English language in college to a greater extent than most of us. Yet they constantly make mistakes of all kinds. Case in point.

How often do you hear an anchor say, "So bring your car to your dealer for this recent recall"? You can't bring your car there but you can "take" it there. These two words are so frequently used incorrectly on the news, TV shows, papers, and even websites. You have to wonder what happened to their most basic elementary education?

So yes I do expect more. I expect accuracy in the language and their reporting. But there is one other factor that is missing, and it is a big one. Most news people know little to nothing about the language and the world of firearms so alas, you are correct and it is truly a shame.

And yes, I have also heard SCUBA tanks referred to as "oxygen tanks" and have taken the effort to correct those who do this when I am able. I was once a diver, too and I still have my NAUI card (from 1965). The sad thing about news people is when they don't know the intimacies about subjects, they makeup things and substitute things and their audience believes what they say to be fact because after all, they should know.... right?


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

Several years ago, on a different gun website, a man was describing what had happened to him when he was preparing to clean his Glock. He removed the magazine then somehow put his hand in front the muzzle, I imagine in preparation of moving the slide back that little bit to operate the slide lock tabs. As most know, you must pull the trigger before doing this and that is apparently what he did.... sending a .45ACP bullet through the web of his hand between his thumb and index finger and into the wall.

He had the presence of mind to take pictures of this right after it happened; his hand and the wall!! Now that takes some fortitude.... among a few other things mental. Made a nice hole with some chewed up flesh in his hand.


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## Kimber45 (Dec 31, 2014)

BackyardCowboy said:


> Maybe it was Al Gore? Think he had a lot of accidental "discharges" too.


No he was dumb just not THAT dumb.


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## hillman (Jul 27, 2014)

I had an elderly hammerless shotgun with a tang safety go off when I hit the stock on a log. Different subject I guess. Anyway, that gun never got loaded again (although I have, including after that experience).


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

The fellow who owned the new Super Duty pick up truck that I accidentally shot was not new to guns going off unexpectedly. When he was a young teenager watching Bonanza in a recliner chair, he shot his big toe with his Ruger single six .22. In another incident while deer hunting a friend hopped in the the pick up with him while carrying a loaded .270. While unloading the gun the friend took out the floor board and the right front tire. Oooopsy!
GW


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## shootbrownelk (May 18, 2014)

I've had 2 that I remember vividly. Both with a Model 700 Remington. Muzzle was pointed in a safe direction. One closing the bolt, one taking off safety. Timney was the answer, I installed it immediately after. Sold it. Bought another 700 and the first thing I did to it was install another Timney trigger/safety.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

SouthernBoy said:


> ...News journalists are supposed to have studied the English language in college to a greater extent than most of us. Yet they constantly make mistakes of all kinds...


I once asked a friend, a very literate and well-educated journalist who wrote for _The Los Angeles Times_, why he made so many errors of English grammar in his stories.
"I don't," he replied. "It's the re-write men. They slip in some terrible errors as they condense my work to fit the available column-space. I always complain when it happens, but it doesn't do any good."

The _American Rifleman_ used to be a paragon of excellent written English-in the 1950s. That was its Editor's doing. More recently, I catch several errors in every issue.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> I once asked a friend, a very literate and well-educated journalist who wrote for _The Los Angeles Times_, why he made so many errors of English grammar in his stories.
> "I don't," he replied. "It's the re-write men. They slip in some terrible errors as they condense my work to fit the available column-space. I always complain when it happens, but it doesn't do any good."
> 
> The _American Rifleman_ used to be a paragon of excellent written English-in the 1950s. That was its Editor's doing. More recently, I catch several errors in every issue.


Editing; it can be the bane or the saving grace of the written word. I used to edit my daughters' high school papers when they asked to to do this (to this day I still edit my wife's writing at her request). I would ask them if they wanted content only or content and grammatical editing performed. They trusted me because I do write well when I take the time for formal writing. Learned some of this in college but most just seemed to come naturally. On websites it is easy to screw up and most always for me, it's typos. My mind has to wait while my fingers play catch-up and that tends to cause silly little errors.

I do expect more from news commentators, newspapers, magazines, and even books but I frequently see basic errors made in these instruments. When you see teenage kids on TV giving information to a reporter about some news event, listen to them speak. Listen to their use of the language. At times it is downright appalling. One has to wonder how they managed to get through elementary school.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

I have had two negligent discharges, both with the muzzle pointing in a safe direction, and one near ka-boom.

The first was when I was about 14, squirrel hunting with my brand new Mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun. After shooting a squirrel, I jacked another round in the chamber and aimed at another squirrel, but didn't fire. I forgot to put the safety on and carried the shotgun around for an hour or so with the safety off. After a while, I sat down to rest with my back against a tree, and dozed off, with the gun upright (muzzle pointed up). I somehow managed to get my gloved finger on the trigger and tripped it. It was a rude awakening, but no injury.

The other ND was with a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 M1 Carbine, about 40 years ago. I had been showing my wife how to shoot it and letting her dry fire it. When finished, I reloaded the chambers and replaced it in the holster, and started to put it away. My wife asked me to show her one more time, just to be sure. I removed the revolver, cocked the hammer and pointed it at a tree in front of the living room window...and fired - probably the absolutely stupidest moment in my life, before or since. My wife was 8-1/2 months pregnant with our first child, and it's a wonder she didn't deliver, right there. For anyone who has fired a .30 Carbine round through a 7-1/2" barrel, you can imagine what it was like in an enclosed space, without ear protection, not to even mention the shattering glass.

The near ka-boom occurred while shooting a .357 revolver rapid fire, and having a 'squib' load lodge in the barrel. I registered the weak report and no recoil just barely in time to keep from sending a full power .357 round down the plugged barrel.

I've been around guns all of my life, and was safety trained by my infantry 1st Sgt. father, but I have still made mistakes. Remembering the cardinal rule about always pointing the muzzle in a safe direction will save you from your mistakes.


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## SailDesign (Jul 17, 2014)

Bisley said:


> I have had two negligent discharges, both with the muzzle pointing in a safe direction, and one near ka-boom.
> 
> The first was when I was about 14, squirrel hunting with my brand new Mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun. After shooting a squirrel, I jacked another round in the chamber and aimed at another squirrel, but didn't fire. I forgot to put the safety on and carried the shotgun around for an hour or so with the safety off. After a while, I sat down to rest with my back against a tree, and dozed off, with the gun upright (muzzle pointed up). I somehow managed to get my gloved finger on the trigger and tripped it. It was a rude awakening, but no injury.
> 
> ...


Yup - that last paragraph especially.

I got into higher-powered rifles at school in England in the school Cadet Force and then the rifle team, I must have been 14 or so. Those 303's were a blast, and our QM was a VERY strict guy.. Nice as you could wish for (for a QM) but Heaven help you if you strayed! Range discipline was drilled mercilessly into you. We had one kid who tried to hold back one live round, and his workd fell apart. Wilf (the QM) had him sent home directly from the range (this was a boarding school, and "home" was 60 miles away) but Wilf waited there until his parents came for him. We never saw him again. 
Apart from the 303's, the teams' ones being well stroked by Parker-Hale, we had a few racks of "service" No.4's and a slew of No.8s (IIRC, the .22 trainer) Also buried in the vault were a Luger Army, a couple of Sterling SMGs and amazingly, a working Spitfire cannon. Luckily, no ammo for the cannon  We did have about 50 rounds for the Luger and Sterlings, so the entire team (8 being the required number) were allowed 5 shots each, with Wilf showing us how the Sterlings worked using the last 10. 
This was JUST before the IRA's bombing and terror campaign started in the UK, and I don't think those "out-of uniform" arms ever saw use again, much less the light of day.


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