Shot myself with a .45 caliber last night.

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For sure. It could've so easily been so much worse. I'm actually very very lucky. There's not many places or ways in the human body you can take a bullet without sustaining serious damage.
 
Thank You for sharing this-helping the rest of us avoid complacency. I'm glad you are still with us to post.
 
Back about 12 years ago, I responded to a house where a gentleman was cleaning his .357 revolver. He too thought that it was unloaded. The gun discharged and he was hit in the upper thigh/groin area and the bullet hit an artery. I got there in time basically to watch him bleed out in front of his wife. Fortunately, the kids were asleep and didn't see their dad die. He was a very nice, well loved family man that just made one mistake and it cost him his life. I will never forget watching him past and the horror on his wife's face.

So personally, while I know we've never met, I'm glad this went the other way and you're still with us.
 
Glad to see that it was not worse than it was. At a recent Glock school the course of unloading a Glock for field stripping was gone over it detail. Remove mag, eject any round that may be in chamber, lock slide to rear, double check be looking and feeling for a mag and a round in the chamber. Drop the slide and dry fire with a 2 hand hold in a safe direction. That would be preferably at a kevlar back stop. Then pull the slide back and remove it using the little takedown thingys.
 
Whether concerned for our own hides or sickened by the prospect of harming an innocent bystander this serves as a reminder for us all that the rule "Treat all guns as if they were loaded" is there for a reason.
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Basic rule is do not point a firearm at your person and pull the trigger. Always point it at a safe backstop. There are certain exceptions to this rule, that do not apply to the most of the readers of this forum. But in anycase a firearm that is not pointed at anyone can not shoot someone regardless of other circumstances.
 
Good post. I dotn think you will get the ridicule that some have for this, you are obviously humbled from the experience and have learned from it.

Glad you are OK, it could have been a lot worse man!
 
Ouch, I am glad you are doing OK. We all get complacent/stupid from time to time. This is a good teaching story for the Always loaded rule. I bet you'll never forget.

I am also glad you had the courage to share the story even knowing the beating you would get from THR members.
 
That is a BIG hole in your leg. Definitely opened my eyes to treating firearms as always loaded no matter what. Visual learner.
 
Me too, very glad you're OK! But I'm sure the pain and soreness will come around to see ya eventually.

BTW, where did the bullet end up?
 
This thread should serve as a good reminder to follow the four firearm safety rules! Thanks for being humble enough to admit your mistake to everyone else... you may have unwittingly saved someone's life in the future!

A sgt in my department had a similar incident a number of years back, and told me the details of his incident. He was at our department's range, and was in his vehicle with his Glock. If I recall correctly, he was attempting to clean the weapon, and had a mental lapse as he unloaded the gun (racking the slide, then removing the magazine, thereby leaving a round in the chamber). Anyway, he points the gun at his thigh and pulls the trigger.

In his case, he probably would have died right there, except for the fact that another officer heard the shot and administered first-aid while radioing for an ambulance. His shot was a direct hit, and I believe severed an artery and struck bone. To this day the officer has problems as a result of this incident. He is also humble enough to talk about it, and may have saved someone's life by doing so.
 
Wow, what a story huh? I'm a little nervous about Glocks. I recently purchased one and I really didn't connect the "pull trigger then..." with the possible outcome of such a stupid tear down procedure.

I'm going to remember this and be very careful with all of my weapons but that one in particular. ... it I don't sell it first.

I'd like to tell a story myself...

A few weeks back my Grandfather and his wife were moving from their home to an apartment (they are losing their home) and with that comes the "cheap mover" which happened to be the neighborhood alcoholic. The first thing my Grandfather wanted moved was his weapons. Well, before I got there, they had moved them all, like 15 of them. As we were packing I noticed that all of the cases seemed to still be in the home. I also noted that my Grandfather had a handgun (he's a long gun kind of guy) and asked my Grandmother who told me, "it's all taken care of." So... we finished moving, I packed all of the ammo, cases, cleaning kits, etc... up and we went over to the apartment.

Guess what I find at the apartment? My Grandfathers beretta shotgun, trap guns, deer rifle, pristine m1 garand; sitting on the floor, without cases, covered by a blanket. I immediately went and got the cases and talked with my Grandmother insisting that she tell me immediately where the handgun was and how they transported those weapons. This is the story...

"we loaded them all in the truck wrapped up in the blanket and drove them over here and the handgun is in the old radio." Well, they set the guns on the center council of their s-10 and drove them over and we brought the old radio in the trailer we were using to move with, magazine full, one in the chamber, and one extra magazine in the holster. To make matters worse as I angrily started to wipe down my Grandfathers weapons with oil (because they had finger prints all over them) I checked the chamber... boink! there goes a shotgun shell, the next weapon, BOINK - there goes a shotgun shell. 3 OF THE SHOTGUNS WERE LOADED AS WAS HIS GARAND!

I shuttered as I realized that all of those weapons were first transported that way and that they were now facing towards the neighbors apartment as I was wiping them down. The friendly mover fellow simply laughed and said, "I didn't think to check the chambers" while earlier telling me how much of a hunter he is...

Needless to say the experience scared the daylights out of me and made me think twice of EVER trusting anyone to handle firearms around me.

I'm so very glad you are ok Sir. The Lord has truly blessed you that you have another day. Please don't let it pass without putting your trust in Jesus. We never know when it could be our last.

Regards,
Beau
 
Whoa that pic is pretty nasty, to be honest though I was expecting much worse. Glad you're ok.

Stories like this always remind of my grandfather, he was shot through both of his thighs by a German just because he was out in the street retrieving his bike. Grandma Van Herwynen tells the story like it was yesterday.
 
Putz! No offense, but negligence is negligence. Doesn't matter what firearm.
Glad you're ok.
"...I'm a little nervous about Glocks..." They're no different than any other handgun. Mag out and check. It isn't rocket science.
 
Glad you're still with us. Lesson learned for me. I, for one, will take your advice. And I've shown it to my boys, so they can see that accidents can happen to people that have been handleing guns for a long time.
Like my mom always told me, if you save one person from this or worse it was worth it.
 
I think that this happens more than people want to admit. The cop in our CHL said that he used to carry a 1911 until accidental discharge.
 
I have had the misfortune to have witnessed two accidental- self inflicted GSW's. One was my older brother who was trying to get an old German poket pistol to chamber a round with the with the muzzle on his thigh and when it finally did he had his finger on the trigger and POW!!!
Luckily the .32 ACP went into his thigh at an angle, ricoched off of his femur and exited just above his knee and into the wall, with out doing any real dammage other than the hole in his leg.
The other involed a friend of a friend playing " cowboy" with a pistol grip pump shotgun, the outcome was dissasterous, and something that I will never forget.
PLEASE EVERYONE, CHECK THAT WEAPON!!!!!!!!
Not a lesson that anyone should ever have to learn, thanks for sharing this and I am glad that you are OK, I know that it was hard to do but if it prevents one accident it it's worth all of the pride in the world.


This is tihs! It's not something else, it's this![/

Don't pull it if you don't plan to use it, and don't use it if you don't plan to kill!

ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR MEN AND WOMEN OVER THERE.
 
SOMEBODY not only loaded it but chambered a round. Who? You or the friend you're storing it for? Who hands a loaded gun to a friend to store?
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That's what I was wondering. If your friend passed the gun along to you in that condition, he bears some of the responsibility.

One was my older brother who was trying to get an old German poket pistol to chamber a round with the with the muzzle on his thigh and when it finally did he had his finger on the trigger and POW!!!
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I'll never understand why people want to put their fingers on the trigger when they're not ready to fire the gun. That's what triggers are for--don't touch it if you're not ready for the POW!!! And even if you're using snap caps for dry-fire practice, etc., keep it in a safe direction only, please. No dry-firing at thigh, head, TV set, neighbor's window, etc.

Maybe it's a bad habit that comes from too much playing with toy guns as a kid? And then failing to grow up?

Sorry, I don't mean to be smug. I know that a ND could happen to me too if I'm not vigilant. That's why these threads are important. Thanks for having the courage to post it.
 
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