Perfect Record?

[roy reali]

How many folks here have never had an accidental or negligent firearm discharge? You never had a gun go off that you did not mean to?

I am far from perfect. I have been involved in traffic accidents. I have accidentaly hit my thumb with a hammer. I have accidently bit into food that was a bit too hot and burnt my mouth. But I have never had a gun fire that I did not intend to fire.

On some other threads, some folks make AD's/ND's sound like a common occurrence, something that happens to everyone. It hasn't happened to me. I suppose in time it might. However, I do not think it happens as often as some make it out to be.

I want to hear from shooters that have never had an accidental gun discharge.

 

[MO. Shootin]

Ok this is the only time I ever had a gun do something unexpected.

I bought a new SKS and the Gun shop I got it from said he had cleaned all the cosmoline out and me not being familiar with the gun and no manual with the gun took him at his word.

Well I went to shoot it and I had the gun pointing down range finger off the trigger and I racked a round in and the thing fired when the bolt closed. It had some cosmoline in behind the firing pin. I took it to a gunsmith and he fixed cleaned it and it has been perfect. I am glad I only had one round in that thing.

Since that happened the only thing I really worry about is having a high primer on one of my reloads. I know that a high primer was not my problem with the SKS but it makes me wonder if that could happen with another gun.

 

[ISC]

I've never had a negligent discharge. I have had a couple of semi autos double on me though, and I guess you could technically call that an accidental discharge. I've been shooting for 20 years and have fired hundreds of thousands of rounds.

It's not that hard. Keep your weapon on safe before shooting and finger off the trigger.

I have had a couple fender benders though.

 

[DanThaMan1776]

I'm not sure what you call this but I was working on follow through with my Glock, so I would hold the trigger back and only release it enough for the sear to re-set then fire again. It was semi-rapid training and on this occasion I fired the gun, and as it was coming down back on target my finger twitched and I fired again right over the target.

 

[RETG]

Never, and I handle a weapon everyday and have for the past 40+ years. However, I still (hopefully) have many years to go, so in twenty years, I'll report back.

 

[MO. Shootin]

Yeah Dantheman I have had that happen also and it did surprise me for sure.

 

[DanThaMan1776]

It sure is a surprise.. it got my adrenaline going. Luckily I was at an indoor range and the ceiling was designed to safely catch bullets like mine. There are dozens of holes in the ceiling so it's comforting to know I'm not the only one who does this

Although I guess that's not a legitimate comfort...

 

[Sensai]

Never have. I have a few double set trigger rifles that you never know exactly when they will fire, but you are squeezing the trigger when they do. That's as close as I want to get to a suprise like you mention.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I've never had a negligent discharge. If you bear in mind every gun is a lethal weapon and don't just learn, but live the four rules, you'll never have a safety problem with a gun.

When I hear people say, "You've either already had a negligent discharge or you will," I know I'm listening to an excuse.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Sometimes I get flinchy shooting a big magnum riife at the range and my groups suffer a little, other wise I have never had a gun discharge that wasn't when I intended it to.

 

[Tom Servo]

When I hear people say, "You've either already had a negligent discharge or you will," I know I'm listening to an excuse.

Agreed. Usually, it's in the context of explaining away a negligent discharge they've had.

"Oh, well you just haven't had one yet." Sheesh.

 

[zukiphile]

On some other threads, some folks make AD's/ND's sound like a common occurrence, something that happens to everyone. It hasn't happened to me. I suppose in time it might. However, I do not think it happens as often as some make it out to be.

This sounds very much like the motorcycle aphorism that there are two kinds of riders -- that who have been in an accident already, and those who will. Understood correctly, it isn't an excuse, but an admonition to ride knowing that you could see pavement at any time.

I've never been in an accident on a motorcycle, but I've ridden them very little.

I have had a rifle discharge only to realise just after that I had my finger on the trigger when I thought I did not. If people would always handle a loaded arm as if it will discharge, the NDs that do occur would only be scary lessons.

 

[booker_t]

Never had an AD/ND in 15+ years of shooting. Although I have had a double as another poster mentioned, I suppose you can classify that as an AD. I spent eight years directly working with explosives, many times in prototype form and systems that haven't been tested or even used before. I was intimately involved in generating SOPs and safety/hazard analysis, so I'm pretty anal when it comes to procedure, which I think has contributed to my near-perfect, if not perfect record.

That said...

Never been in an auto accident that was my fault or that I could have avoided. Rear-ended twice, both minor. Once by a cop who was following way too close and failed to see my turn signal and brake lights as I was slowing down to parallel park.

Have burnt my mouth with food or coffee more times than I care to think about. This morning included! haha

Only dropped a cell phone twice in my life. Stubbed my toe a bunch, never slipped in the shower...

By my worst firearm mistake? Indoor range, I went from shooting a Glock to a Ruger.. and without thinking, used the same high-grip on the Ruger. Had 10 mags loaded up, slammed one in and flicked the bolt release as I pushed the gun out towards the target and the ear of the bolt pinched the skin like a coiled viper, right between my thumb and index finger, cleanly removing a circle-shaped layer of skin about 3/16" diameter. It bled like a mother for at least an hour and I still have a scar years later.

Now, every time I hold a gun I see that little dark spot, and it reminds me to be ever diligent regarding safety, and to trust nobody to ensure my safety especially when firearms are involved.

 

[BerettaCougar]

i never had one, but my father almost took off his thumb from holding a semi auto pistol the wrong way.

No such thing as an AD in my book. Just ND and gun failures.

 

[booker_t]

BerettaCougar... what if you're shooting a semi-automatic (or automatic) rifle and you pop off 2 rounds instead of one? or 4 instead of 3? Do you classify that extra round as an ND?

 

[chris in va]

I can't say 'never' as it will probably jinx myself. I did encounter an indirect ND when my friend set off the rifle I handed to him. It was my fault, shouldn't have been one in the chamber. At least he knew of the four laws which saved my life.

 

[Skans]

I've never had a round go off when I didn't intend it to go off. About the closest thing I can recall to this is when I was shooting my very dirty Ruger Mark II. I was aiming down range, pressed the trigger multiple times......then one more time and it actually fired, somewhat to my surprise. I don't think this counts though, because I knew a live round was chambered, my gun was pointed down range and I was just having some mechanical difficulties.

 

[BerettaCougar]

BerettaCougar... what if you're shooting a semi-automatic (or automatic) rifle and you pop off 2 rounds instead of one? or 4 instead of 3? Do you classify that extra round as an ND?

Weapon failure, if you pull the trigger once (on a semi auto) and it shoots more than one round.

 

[jtmckinney]

I've Had 3

I've had 3 that I can remember. All with the same gun. My stepfather had a H&H 22 Hornet that was dead accurate but had a hair trigger that was in my opinon dangerous. He gave it to my sons and when I coudn't fix the trigger I gave it back.

One of these was when a rabbit ran from a gate we pulled up to and by the time I got out and got the gun up the rabit was I thought out of range so I was just watching it run through the scope with my finger on the trigger when it went off. Shot the rabbit in the back of the head, at least 250 yards.

The other 2 were true accidental discharges when I was fixing to use the gun but should not have had my finger on the trigger yet. No real damage but a reminder every time.

These 3 incidents happened over a 20 year time span where I used this gun many times without incident.

Be safe,
James

 

[ISC]

I would say that when a semi auto doubles that is an accidental discharge, which happens. There's not much you can do about it and since you're already in the act of firing there is no way it can be considered something to be held against the shooter.

I like the term negligent discharge much better, as it describes what happened much more accurately.

I see my students running around with their fingers in the trigger guards way too often, I also hear N.D.s during the night time patrols way too often. Fortunately we only let them carry blanks. It happens alot less now that we do more immersion training.

Whenever I see an actor stick his finger in the trigger guard I immediately know that either their technical advisor is no go or the director and actors don't care enough to learn proper gun handling skills. It's as big a giveaway that someone is a newbie as calling a magazine a clip.