[walking arsenal]

Ok, so here it goes. First off let me start by saying "I am a human being, and human beings make mistakes'. This particular mistake ended with me blowing up two porcelain dinner plates in my sink, and sending myself into a cartiac event. heres the story, i will point out the mistakes as i go. One day i decided i needed a new carry peice so i went down to the local gun shop and bought (actually dad bought it cause i wasnt 21 at the time, state law said you could carry at 18 but not buy the gun or ammo, go figure) a S&W 9ve, a fobus holster, and some pmc ball ammo. MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: 125 GRN BALL AMMO. MISTAKE TWO: i then loaded it in the shop, dropped it into the holster and left without proving to myself that the weapon wasnt a dud or getting proficient with it. i then went back to my one room apt and while sitting at my kitchen table unholstered the gun to have a look at it. I drop the mag unload it (and the gun) and put the spare mag (still loaded) on the table next to the empty. i then proceed to strip the pistol down, the process is similar in the take down method of a glock. drop mag, rack slide, squeeze trigger, pull back slide slightly, flip lever, remove slide (repeat until you can do it in your sleep) IMPORTANT!! up until then i had been carrying a taurus .38 special revolver. anyhoo, after 5 repititions of this i decide if had enough but decide to do it once more, as near as i figure here is what happened, throughout the whole thing i had been going through the strip procedure entirly INCLUDING dropping and reinserting the mag. heres where i go into a little more detail to magnify my momentary bout of idiocy.

1. i pick up the loaded mag and put it in the gun.
2. i grasp the gun with my right and and place my left on the slide and rack the slide by pushing it back with my left hand.
3. i release the slide, loading a round.
4. with both hands still on the gun (right on grip, left on slide) i squeeze the trigger.
5. gun goes BLAAAAMMMMM!!!!!!! bullet exits muzzle, flys under my left elbow, travels five feet to my sink, vaporizes one plate (think death star and alderan) and shatters a second, jacket seperates from bullet and flys past my face along with peices of dishwear and strikes the window curtain 6 feet behind me, the bullet lead with all its energy spent on the plates bounces off my leg and lands on the floor a couple feet away (i dont notice this) my ears ring.
7. i do this :what: and assume i just blasted my neighbor who just came over here from bohemia. failing to look for a hole in the wall first i run to his apartment and hammer his door with fists and feet. he's fine and wondering why im pounding on his door, he didnt hear the shot.:scrutiny:
8. i explain, he nods, calms me down and sends me back to my apartment with a cup of herbal tea.:scrutiny: to be continued

[walking arsenal]

right, so i go back to my place to survey the damage. heres what i find, the smoke is just starting to clear, my ears are still ringing, there is porcelin plate everywhere and a jammed pistol on the table (still smoking). and im wondering how im gonna tell this to the land lady.

K so i know i screwed up, in fact i knew i was, more than once i said "you shouldnt do that" and did it anyhow even though i knew better. COMPLACENT? YOU BET, NOT ANY MORE THOUGH.

heres what we learned
1. i can be lowder in my apartment than i thought, in fact i can target practice without the neighbors hearing it (sigh)
2. porcelin plate dust is hard to get out of your hair, it will also provide enough backstop to keep a 9mm round from ventilating your neighbor.
3. pay attention to what the hell your doing.
4. when stripping a gun repeatedly check to see if its loaded, keep ammo way far away.
5. when you get a new carry piece test it, before you carry it. this particular gun never fed anything reliably and was sold a week later as a paper weight.
6. get familiar with your gun.


a couple things of note, this was a major eye opener for me, and i finally decided that the world needed to hear this one so they could learn from it, a lot of people wouldnt confess to that much stupidity in one sitting. Apart from the things listed above i also learned that after mentioning somthing like this to your best friend (phantom warrior) theyll never let you forget it.

so has anyone else ever had anything like that happen? any comments?

being doubly vigilant
W.A.

[winstonsmith]

Everybody gets a brain fart every so often. Glad you and your bohemian neighbor came out ok.

Look on the bright side, you wont be doing something like that anytime soon!

[wardog]

W.A.,

Glad to hear you (and your neighbor) are OK. Although this was a disturbing incident, your narration was very humorus.

When I was about 16 I was already a gun nut. I lived in CA, and managed to get a hold of several guns even though my folks were anti-gun and wouldn't buy them for me. Anyway, I had a Taurus 9mm, a Jennings .22, and an AMT .380 Backup. I always kept them unloaded except for my .380 which I always carried loaded. We were having a party at my buddy's house, and they wanted to see um. So, I carefully ensure that the normally unloaded 9mm and .22 were unloaded, and passed them around. Then I unloaded the .380 and let everyone look. When we were all done, I put them back into the bag, loading my .380 before putting it away. We standing there talking and all of the sudden BANG!!!!! All of our ears are ringing like crazy since a 2" .380 had just gone off in a small room.

It turns out one idiot who had wandered in just as we were done looking decided to 1. open the bag, 2. pull the AMT out of the holster, 3. take off the safety, and 4. pull the trigger. When it went off it was about 3 feet from a friend of mine's head. The bullet was lodged about 2" below a window. If the idiot had shot just a little higher it would have shattered the window, and (probably) gone through the window of the house next door.

So, that was my brush with ND.

[longtom4570]

So the plates stoped it huh,well it looks like i can save money and buy some porcelen plates for body armor and if i get hungry i'm set:D On a serious note glad your all right

[schadenfreude]

Glad to hear everyone is okay. Thank you for sharing your story.

All too often you only hear the good stories on these boards. I've just gotten back into shooting and pistol ownership after a long hiatus and it's the most probable time that I will do something stupid. I remember that I used to be proficient so I can skip some of the formalities. Your post reminds me that I shouldn't relax.

[mcole]

http://pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/emoticons3/referee.gif


Post deleted by moderator. Mcole, you have PM.

[Jim K]

Hi, mcole and guys,

I seem to recall something about having to be without sin to go casting stones. There are few of us who have not had an accidental/unintentional (or whatever they are calling it this week) discharge. Yes, me too.

But they will be harmless if the gun is kept always pointing in a safe direction. Harmless to people, at least; porcelain plates may suffer.

Jim

[El Tejon]

Two kinds of people: 1. those who have had NDs; 2. those who have not yet had NDs.

I'm in #2, fearing my entry ordeal into #1.

FOUR RULES! They are life.

[oldman]

You think all the previous postings are bad (well guess it is), but read this. When I was a range master and manager, I had this young kid who knew everything (as all young kids do). One day I look over at him and see him with a cocked pistol and knowing that he doesn't own a 1911, ask him what's going on. He thought it would be nice to have a cocked Beretta 92 ready at an instants notice. Yeah right, a cocked 92 with no safety like a 1911 in condition one. This is also the same guy who lets the same 92 drop from his pants when he tried a mexican carry. We also had another worker who had one AD inside the shooting range in front of other shooters, this same person then had a second AD in the public area IN FRONT of our owner. After we all recovered from our heart attacks, he got fired faster than you could say AD. Lucky that in both instances no one got hurt from the AD's. Shooters in general might get complacent with their toys now and then but it seems like those who work in gun stores are even worst.

[gbelleh]

Thanks for sharing your story, it reminds us all to always be careful.

It always freaks me out to disassemble guns like Glocks that require the trigger to be pulled. Before pulling any trigger I check the chamber 4 or 5 times, then a 6th and 7th time before pulling (pointed in a safe direction).

I have FOCD (Firearm Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I hope it's enough to keep me from sharing a similar story someday!

[WonderNine]

My ND story, I pulled the hammer back and did the twirly thing with a loaded Ruger Single Six.

My excuse: I was loaded.

[schadenfreude]

It always freaks me out to disassemble guns like Glocks that require the trigger to be pulled. Before pulling any trigger I check the chamber 4 or 5 times, then a 6th and 7th time before pulling (pointed in a safe direction).

I have FOCD (Firearm Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I hope it's enough to keep me from sharing a similar story someday!


That's me to a T :D

[manwithoutahome]

WonderNine, I've used that excuse before.

So far, I've been lucky. I've pulled the trigger on my GP one day while practicing in the back 40 (I was really young, 22 or so when this happened) as I was bringing the gun down to aim and shoot. I don't know how close to my head my hand and the gun were. The gun was pointed away from me TG.

I was curious (this was just last weekend) if my decocker on my CZ-52 worked. It "looked like" it worked when I tried it unloaded so I loaded it and tried it. Yes, I did and have read the CZ sites that tell you that the decockers don't always work. I did this in the house, muzzle pointed at floor, but still, stupid.

And my excuse for both bouts of stupidity: I was loaded as well :banghead:

M

[foghornl]

My ND story, I pulled the hammer back and did the twirly thing with a loaded Ruger Single Six.

Did something similar with my .357 Blackhawk, at least it was loaded with shotshells. A new picture frame, a can of spackle and a gallon of paint fixed the wall. (I was trying the finger-in-the-trigger-guard-&-fake-hand-it-over, then snap it up, cock and quick-fire, like in some of the 50's-60's TV westerns).

Teen-aged hunting buddy shot a hole in tail-gate of another buddy's pick-up. Made sure that his Ithica was empty by cycling action...3 shells out. "...See, it's empty....BOOM! ! ! (Yes, a 'heavy field load' of #5's will go through both sides of a '63 Chevy tailgate when fired from inside the bed of truck.)

[45+]

We have all done dumb things. Thanks for having the courage to share your story to remind us all 1) always be safe, and 2) fill the house, car, and range with porcelain plates.

Be safe...

[rappa]

Obviously, you've learned your lesson. Thankfully, it didn't cost you your elbow or your neighbor! Thanks for sharing and keeping the rest of us on our toes. Stay safe.

[New_comer]

Glad you and the neighbor weren't hurt.


The four rules of gun safety...


Boon to those who observe them, but bane to those who ignore... ;)

[ksnecktieman]

I am 54, and I have had two nd's in my life. The first was very young, after wounding a pheasant I tried to run after him across the rows of picked corn, predictably I fell on my face, luckily, I landed with my single shot shotgun pointed straight up, unluckily, I had my thumb on the hammer, and my finger on the trigger. :uhoh: I learned many lessons.

The second was after showing some friends a beretta 92f I reloaded it, and instead of using the decocker, I grabbed the hammer between thumb and first finger, pulled the trigger and the hammer slipped. I was sitting cross legged on a bed, with it pointed down a few inches in front of me, so no one was injured. I am still learning:o

[walking arsenal]

Thanks for your posts i apreciate your concern and comments, thankfully this is the only accident ive had. hopefully the only one. keep it up.

W.A.


Post edited by moderator. W.A., you have PM.

[cosmonick]

Even though this doesn't count as a accidental discharge, it still was not one of my brighter moments:

All of my guns are stripped and cleaned promptly after being shot, so I never have a loaded gun in my safe (yeah, that was what I thought, anyway). I still always (well, I thought always) checked each firearm, whenever I pulled one out. Well, my brother was having problems with the front sight on his MAK-90, so he dropped it off for me to check out (you can see where this is going). After jacking around with his front sight for a few minutes (which included me looking at the rifle from the muzzle end), it dawned on me that I never checked the chamber. I racked the slide, and what do ya know, out popped an unfired round! I've always been very big on saftey, and still can barley believe my lapse of sense. Needless to say, I have a new system: I never pick up a firearm without clearing the chamber, period. I thank God that what could have been, never was.

[WonderNine]

Wasn't one of your brother's brightest moments either IMO.

[Black Majik]

Two kinds of people: 1. those who have had NDs; 2. those who have not yet had NDs.

I'm in #2, fearing my entry ordeal into #1.

This reminds me of a motorcycle saying...

"There are 3 types of riders, those that have crashed, those that will crash, and those that will crash again"

[cosmonick]

WonderNine, I agree. Actually, my brother agrees also :)

[SnWnMe]

WA,

Your misfortune is a wake up call for me to pay closer attention to what I am doing when I have the toys out. I admire you for having the cojones to come out and share your ND story with us.

I have yet to experience an ND but all that means is that the odds are stacking against me.

The silver lining of all this is: Now you know that the 9mm is a feeble round that is stopped by dinner plates ;)

[ikd2]

Thank God I've not had an AD/ND that wasn't aimed down range. I did one time attempt to replace my loaded pocket pistol (Kel-Tec P-32) into the holster while the holster was in my pocket. I SUDDENLY thought *** am I doing as I realized that the top portion of the holster was pressing against the trigger! Now every time I place a pocket pistol into the holster I pull the holster from the pocket, Place the gun into the holster & then place the whole thing into the pocket. Thank God there wasn't an AD/ND.

[Atticus]

Glad to hear that no one was injured and that you have (hopefully) become a compulsive safety nut. Your story sounds hauntingly familiar to me. I did nearly the same thing, but I had racked the slide of my G30 from the front end, and my second to last knuckle was in front of the muzzle when I pulled the trigger. Gold dot .45acp HP's work as advertised. As terrible as my experience was, I consider myself to be very lucky, and I have become a MUCH wiser shooter as a result. Now, in addition to following the 4- rules more closely, I never practice dry firing when I am not 100% mentally alert- I have no ammo or mags within reach while I'm practing - and when I'm finished dry firing, the gun is put away (stops, starts and interuptions are a recipe for disaster). Be safe.

[FourDeuce]

In the Army when you test for the Expert Infantryman's Badge you have to do a 12-mile march, then you go immediately to the M16 station for that test. You have to disassemble & assemble the weapon and then do a function check. If you fail the disassembly part you have to repeat the 12 mile march again. The first step in the disassembly process is to remove the magazine and make sure the weapon is safe and unloaded. That's a good motivator, if nothing else is.
I've never had an AD/ND, and plan to do my best to make sure I never do. A related question I've had, though, is How many admitted AD/ND's do you think it would take before you'd question whether a gun "expert" is REALLY a gun expert? I've heard of one person who claims to be a Master of the Gun who has actually shot himself accidentally and almost shot himself a bunch of times.

[oldman]

A few ND's and AD's when I was working the ranges.

1) a security guard shooting for re-qualification shoots his left finger tip off

2) a girl who was being taught how to shoot has a jam, the friend tries to
clear it himself instead of having us do it. He shoots himself in the right
leg.

3) a son shoots his father in the butt when he moves his .22 rifle from one
pistol stall to another

4) a girl taking a shooting lesson has a hot shell go down her shirt, she
naturally jumps around and then puts a round in her right knee.

This is just a few of the scary ACCIDENTAL shootings while working a range. You wouldn't believe the deliberate ones.

[fourdeuce82d]

Posted it before, but willing to show my @$$ again in support of someone who 'fesses up.

put a 9mm triton +P HP down through my groin and out the back of my right leg trying to remove a mini glock from IWB frontside.

Missed everything important, just went through fat/muscle, but with a really neat example of a near-contact wound-much, much bigger than the exit wound.

Worst thing about it was hearing my wonderful girlfriend screaming "Oh God please don't die I love you."

That, and the whole wondering if I'd shot off one of my testicles- muzzle blast down the shorts HURTS- going down to Ben Taub, having a stranger stick what felt like his entire hand up my fundament, wearing a cut-up Kotex over the open wound for a week or so till it stopped bleeding, still winding up with blood all over my pants in a restaurant, the smelly infection weeping pus, etc..

No lasting damage, and it hurt less than you might think. Still sucked rocks however.

Took a whole lot of wind/pride out of my sails. Kept remembering the GF screaming, kept remembering that second or two wondering if I was going to see arterial spurting, whether or not I'd lost one of my little friends, etc.

Had a fear of carrying, made the decision to start carrying 24/7 (I carried maybe once or twice every three months before) 4-5 o'clock IWB...switched to a 1911!


Shiite happens...learn from it.

And never, ever forget there are no brakes, no resets, no mulligans, no swerving back into your own lane, no rewinds. When you hear the bang, it's already over.

Glad nobody got hurt- learn from it.

[wardog]

fourduece82d,

Wow! Sorry to hear about that. Horrifying.

Reinforces my thinking that a manual safety on a Glock would be a very good thing.

(not trying to flame any Glock fans here, just a thought.)

[BluesBear]

Reinforces my thinking that a manual safety on a Glock would be a very good thing.
Well you can install a Cominolli Safety on a Glock. (www.cominolli.com)

It operates just like a 1911 safety.

[wardog]

BluesBear,

Yeah, I've read about those, but never had a chance to see / feel one in person. When I heard about them I pictured a 1911 style pivoting type lever. Not sure I'd like that one. Would want to try one first.

[N3rday]

Damn, i see people have actually shot themselves here...good thing it missed the arteries and the family jewels!

Even having only shot about 100 rounds I have a reflex for keeping my finger well away from the trigger, and I always knew whether or not my chamber was clear. However, I never had to CLEAN the gun or store it, so I never had to worry about that stuff