I had an ND today. I pulled the trigger on a gun that I had not checked, and nearly shot a friend. It was, I think, the stupidest and most terrifying thing I've ever done.
They - and I earlier this very day! - say that all guns are always loaded, and that unitentional shootings are only ever made with "unloaded" guns. Well, THEY'RE RIGHT! You can't assume it's unloaded, ever.
Here's the gun I fired, a Colt M1895 "Potato Digger":
I took that photo a year ago - it's a gun in a private collection that belongs a friend of a friend. I had the privilege of looking through collection last year, and again today. This collection is a veritable museum of rare and exotic guns, but the owner does shoot them, so I was careful to check everything I laid a hand on. I was fiddling with all the older mounted machine guns - they're all really interesting in their different mechanisms. I'd just finished wrangling with a Hotchkiss, and was distracted from some conversation by the 1895. It has a funky swinging underlever operation that I'd never seen up close. The gun was dusty, and I don't think it had been moved in the year since I took that photo. There was no belt in or near it, and I treated it like an antique rather than like a gun. I operated the underlever to see how it worked, and then simply pulled the trigger to drop the bolt and relieve the mainspring.
I had a moment of sensory overload from the totally unexpected detonation, and opened my eyes to a minor cloud of smoke and ringing ears - through which I could make out someone yelling, "what the ____ was that!?"
I was pretty stunned and useless, and one of the other folks there asked if anyone had been hit. I must be blessed by something, because nobody had been - but barely.
As you can see, the 1895 is next to a wall of guns. In front of its muzzle was a Russian 1910 Maxim gun on a wheeled, armored Sokolov mount. I have read accounts of people claiming that armor plate is rather flimsy, and only protection against errant shell fragments. Those people are wrong. That shield will stop a rifle round point blank, and it's the only reason my friend isn't in the hospital - he was sitting about 10 yards down the hall, right in the bullet's line of travel. My bullet made a nice shiny pockmark in the shield and deflected into the ceiling instead of hitting him.
I completely disregarded every single safety rule, and nearly killed someone as a result. I sure as ____ won't be so unforgivably stupid again, and I urge you to take heed from my errors.
For the record, the 1985 is one of those machine guns that can retain a live round in the action after the belt is removed. If I had thrown the lever a second time, that round would have fallen out the bottom - but only cycled it once. Just right to chamber that orphan round. I suspect that the gun hadn't been moved or fired since the last time I saw it, so it's probably loaded in that photo. *shudder*
They - and I earlier this very day! - say that all guns are always loaded, and that unitentional shootings are only ever made with "unloaded" guns. Well, THEY'RE RIGHT! You can't assume it's unloaded, ever.
Here's the gun I fired, a Colt M1895 "Potato Digger":
I took that photo a year ago - it's a gun in a private collection that belongs a friend of a friend. I had the privilege of looking through collection last year, and again today. This collection is a veritable museum of rare and exotic guns, but the owner does shoot them, so I was careful to check everything I laid a hand on. I was fiddling with all the older mounted machine guns - they're all really interesting in their different mechanisms. I'd just finished wrangling with a Hotchkiss, and was distracted from some conversation by the 1895. It has a funky swinging underlever operation that I'd never seen up close. The gun was dusty, and I don't think it had been moved in the year since I took that photo. There was no belt in or near it, and I treated it like an antique rather than like a gun. I operated the underlever to see how it worked, and then simply pulled the trigger to drop the bolt and relieve the mainspring.
I had a moment of sensory overload from the totally unexpected detonation, and opened my eyes to a minor cloud of smoke and ringing ears - through which I could make out someone yelling, "what the ____ was that!?"
I was pretty stunned and useless, and one of the other folks there asked if anyone had been hit. I must be blessed by something, because nobody had been - but barely.
As you can see, the 1895 is next to a wall of guns. In front of its muzzle was a Russian 1910 Maxim gun on a wheeled, armored Sokolov mount. I have read accounts of people claiming that armor plate is rather flimsy, and only protection against errant shell fragments. Those people are wrong. That shield will stop a rifle round point blank, and it's the only reason my friend isn't in the hospital - he was sitting about 10 yards down the hall, right in the bullet's line of travel. My bullet made a nice shiny pockmark in the shield and deflected into the ceiling instead of hitting him.
I completely disregarded every single safety rule, and nearly killed someone as a result. I sure as ____ won't be so unforgivably stupid again, and I urge you to take heed from my errors.
For the record, the 1985 is one of those machine guns that can retain a live round in the action after the belt is removed. If I had thrown the lever a second time, that round would have fallen out the bottom - but only cycled it once. Just right to chamber that orphan round. I suspect that the gun hadn't been moved or fired since the last time I saw it, so it's probably loaded in that photo. *shudder*
