It JUST happened to me

[Dr_2_B]

I didn't have an AD, but I had the recipe for one. I was eying my CZ 75 so I can order a different holster for it. I took it out of the safe and saw there was no magazine in it. I was SURE it was unloaded. No question in my mind. But I decided to check it just out of abundance of caution... and guess what dropped into my hand? A single 9mm round.

ALL guns are loaded ALL the time.

 

[burningsquirrels]

yup. my habit is to rack the slide any time i pick up a gun.....

 

[f4t9r]

Check everytime,Everytime,Everytime !!!!!
Good thing you trained yourself to check the chamber.

 

[brin747]

Until I check and recheck, I always know my gun is loaded when I pick it up.

 

[CapnMac]

and guess what dropped into my hand? A single 9mm round.

So, have you erase the mental image of what was behind the front sight yet?

 

[jimsmith]

matheath... at least you checked regardless of what you thought. I learned the lesson the hard way.

When I was nineteen, I became the proud owner of a .45 1911. After a weekend of shooting, I sat down at the kitchen table to break it down and clean it. I knew it was unloaded because I packed it away unloaded. I pulled it out of the holster with the hammer back and the safety off, dropped the empty mag and 'accidently' pulled the trigger. The round that was in the chamber went through the wall of my apartment and lodged in the opposite wall across my neighbors living room. As pure luck would have it, my neighbors were not home.

I did not load the gun or fire it until the shooting portion of the firearms safety course I went to afterward. I did not go to the range or shoot the gun on my own until after I completed the second course.

I now have twenty-five years of water under the bridge since that happened and I have never forgot that day, the people I could have killed, or the repairs that had to be made to those walls.

I check every gun, every time, regardless of what I think or what I am told. You can clear a gun while I watch and I will clear it a second time when you hand it to me. I might even do it a third time just for fun. I will never allow that to happen to me again.

 

[Hostile Amish]

Rack the slide 3 times. I always do.

 

[wankerjake]

I've been surprised a few times myself, luckily my dad taught me to always check, and it is just a habit. I can't stand it when I hand someone a gun and they don't check first...which is why I always check for them and leave the action open. Good reminder thread.

 

[Dr_2_B]

So, have you erase the mental image of what was behind the front sight yet?

Well, I guess I'd kept the gun pointed in a safe direction. But when you're indoors, what really constitutes a safe direction anyway? I mean I believe the gun was pointed down at the corner of a room, but the bullet woulda gone through my couch & wrecked a wall or - even worse - ricocheted into an adjacent home. Whew!

JimSmith you've heard 'that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger.' I bet you're one of the safer gun handlers around now.

I also like Amish's approach. I think I'm gonna adopt that principle & become a 3X guy.

 

[Matrix187]

I always rack the slide a few times and feel the chamber with my index finger. I shot my .22 rimfire pistol into my floor once, merely missing my dogs head by about 1-2 feet. NEver will happen again.

First of all, no one/animal was hurt. Secondly, it didn't cause much damage. I'm glad it was a .22 LR and not a bigger caliber.

 

[3pairs12]

ALL guns are loaded ALL the time.

Exactly. Glad you knew enough to check it. I have the same good habbit as I am sure most here do. Guns I know for a "fact" that are unloaded get checked evrytime, always.

 

[Flea]

If I'm going to be storing a pistol for a while, I leave the slide open (I should really get a chamber empty indicator). I picked up a habit of racking the slide a good 4-5 times before visually checking, then doing whatever I intended to do -- guy in the US Marshall's service showed me that.

 

[lanternlad1]

I had a similar thing happen this weekend. I was cleaning my Marlin 60, I emptied the tubular magazine and thought it was safe to clean, but I checked the chamber...

and there was a single .22 round in there.

It hadn't been actually chambered yet, as not yet in the breech, but I chambered the round and then ejected it, and the gun was good to go. Definitely need to check the chamber when you pick up a gun.

 

[SwampWolf]

Particularly true when unloading and/or storing any .22 rifle that has a tubular magazine.

 

[Yo Mama]

I was told to put my finger into check by feel as well as racking the slide, as rounds can sit in farther down the chamber, and may miss being extracted.

 

[WTBguns10kOK]

+1 for feeling for a chambered round. It was something I never thought about until told once, but a dark gun in a dark room, you could miss a dull looking round in the chamber.

 

[JDGray]

Great save!!
When doing dry fire drills with my carry gun, I'll drop the mag, eject the chambered round, and knowing the chambers empty, I still gotta look again Great habbit to have!!

 

[gwnorth]

I didn't have an AD, but I had the recipe for one. I was eying my CZ 75 so I can order a different holster for it. I took it out of the safe and saw there was no magazine in it. I was SURE it was unloaded. No question in my mind. But I decided to check it just out of abundance of caution... and guess what dropped into my hand? A single 9mm round.

ALL guns are loaded ALL the time.

That's why they don't actually call them AD's (accidental discharge), but instead use the term ND (=negligent discharge).

You were diligent and followed the rule to always check the chamber itself, hence no negligence and no ND. Good on ya'

 

[sohcgt2]

My habit is a little different, I lock the slide back, release the magazine, visually inspect from the breach then hold it to the light and look down the barrel at the breach face. After that I secure all the ammo and repeat the process. Its kind of anal I know, but I've never had one "go off" unexpectedly.

 

[ultradoc]

I allways check.