a harsh realization

[dunnington]

Well let me start by saying in my entire life of being around guns, I have never had an accidental discharge until now. Here is the story;

I keep underneath my bed a baikal 153 for HD, not the greatest choice, but its what I have. I had the idea that instead of keeping it loaded to try and fabricate a sort of stripper clip tube to quickly feed the shells if the need arises (still in development stages) previously I had taken all five shells out for measuring yesterday and didn't put them back in. I brought one back up stairs just for comparisons sake and to get a good look at how they feed in and out of the shell magazine tube. upon realizing that my initial design for my speed loader tube was flawed, I attempted to take the shell out. The bakail is a recent acquisition so I am not yet well versed in its operation. I was having difficulty getting the shell out (feebly trying to figure out how to get it out Ironically without pulling the trigger at all). I gave up and pulled trigger so it could cycle and heard a click. I cycled the action again and looked in the tube, and I tell you I could have sworn I saw that shell in the tube still. So I pulled the trigger to hopefully release it this time, obviously believing the chamber was empty, and BOOM!

I know please don't flame. I know the rules, and clearly got careless and and made assumptions I shouldn't have made. And now I have a big hole in my mattress, A blown off bathroom cabinet door, ruined pluming and a hole in my drywall. Thank the good Lord no one got hurt. I should have checked the chamber, not the tube. A really dumb mistake. I guess I am posting this as a warning to the rest of you, just because something has never happened to you doesn't mean it won't. Don't get careless with your fire arms like I did. It is easy when you have been handling Fire arms a lot to, well, do what I did. All it takes is a moment of not thinking before something bad can happen. This was a serious wake up call to me, and hopefully to you to. Don't lose that healthy respect for your fire arms. And more importantly, don't be an idiot like me.

(hope this post made sense, its late and I am tired)

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks for posting. It may save someone's life.

No such thing as too careful.....

 

[Red Label]

Also been around guns all my life and have had exactly one AD. Dropped the hammer on what I THOUGHT was the empty chamber in my SA revolver. Thankfully I was outside, the round hit the dirt about a foot from my foot and nothing was hurt except my pride. It wakes you up real fast! It only takes one lapse in judgement and I hope I never have another one!!!!

 

[19-3Ben]

Dunnington- WOW. Thank you for posting.

 

[Hunterdad]

I'm glad you or no one else was hurt. Thanks for posting, I think we all need to read something like this from time-to-time to be reminded of what could happen.

 

[chas08]

I've never had an A/D, but I've been in the preasance of two. Both were caused by complacency. Neither resulted in injury because the guns were pointed away from bystanders (thankfully). I commend you for bringing this to the forefront, at the risk of personal embarassment, to remind us all that there is no such thing as "too careful". Thank You . But the evil side of me has got to say; I'd have loved to have seen the look on your face.

 

[BullRunBear]

I've never had an A/D and only witnessed one (fortunately the muzzle was pointed down range). I'm fanatical about checking the chamber, to the point where even I think it's over done. Your story reinforces that my obsessive behavior is worth it. Thanks for posting.

Jeff

 

[Fred Fuller]

Thus my frequent admonition to 1) LOOK IN THE CHAMBER and then 2) FEEL THE CHAMBER before dropping the hammer on an "empty" shotgun.

Glad there was no blood, dunnington. Thanks for being willing to share this for the benefit of others.

lpl

 

[huntsman]

And now I have a big hole in my mattress, A blown off bathroom cabinet door, ruined pluming and a hole in my drywall.

lot's of damage what was loaded?

 

[dovedescending]

I notice how every A/D story posted so far includes something along the lines of "thank goodness the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction so nobody got hurt..."

 

[SKILCZ]

I notice how every A/D story posted so far includes something along the lines of "thank goodness the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction so nobody got hurt..."

Thank goodness we have overlapping safety built into the 4 rules.

Thanks for posting, OP. Glad no one was hurt. Hopefully we'll all learn from this.

 

[UKShooter]

Thanks for posting. Out of interest, doesn't the Baikal have a slide release button somewhere? So you can cycle the action without having to pull the trigger? If so, this might have saved your matress.

 

[dunnington]

In answer to a couple of the questions,

I had 3" 00 buck loaded. The shot entered the king size mattress at about a 20 degree angle at the center of the mattress, came out on the side, proceed to blast away the bathroom cabinet door, pierced a hole in the braided hose for the cold water supply to the sink, most of the pellets entered the back cabinet wall, one of them made it through into the other room and dented the wall on the opposite side of the room. A Testament to the effectiveness of the 00 buck I suppose.

Yes, the look on my face I assure you was priceless.

Yeah it has a slide release, but it doesn't release the shells in the magazine tube. it would be nice if it did.... if any one knows a way to empty the magazine tube without pulling the trigger, please share.

I also submit that i have the best wife in the universe. the only thing she said was "thank goodness you aren't hurt" and gave me a hug.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Thanks for posting, its good to remember that these things can happen.

I would get a different gun for your HD shotty. You will spend about as much for a mattress as a MB500 that has the handy dandy button to rack the slide.



Off to double check guns.....


Thanks!

 

[Schofield3]

just because something has never happened to you doesn't mean it won't. Don't get careless with your fire arms like I did. It is easy when you have been handling Fire arms a lot

Amen

 

[Sauer Grapes]

Do yourself a favor, don't try and reinvent the wheel. The gun was designed to work one way. Learn how to operate the gun, go out and shoot it at some type of targets. Get use to working the slide and shooting it. In a high stress situation you don't want to be trying to load your gun.

12ga. close range, WOW what a mess. I'm glad your ok. Please read the owners manual or get one if you don't have one. To be of any use, you need to be able to work that firearm in your sleep.

Good job posting your experience, most guys couldn't or wouldn't have done so. I give you a lot of credit.

 

[Kush]

Just a suggestion, if you want to continue i recommend you take already fired shells and recrimp them. That's what i used when i wanted to practice loading a shotgun faster. Also when you finish your design you should post pictures of it.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I notice how every A/D story posted so far includes something along the lines of "thank goodness the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction so nobody got hurt..."

Not all of them... (Warning- Graphic pictures)

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=509990

lpl

 

[huntsman]

I also submit that i have the best wife in the universe. the only thing she said was "thank goodness you aren't hurt" and gave me a hug.

that is cool, I hope you can get things repaired quickly.

 

[Al LaVodka]

Dunn;
Thanks for posting. We needed that. Glad u r OK. It musta scared the hell out of you, and the Mrs.

You'll be a better handler in the future despite you knowing and largely doing the right things -- in the final analysis you had it pointed in a safe direction (and keep the gun unloaded and your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot). As for the comments, I agree, KISS.

Thanks again;

Al

 

[Fishman777]

Thanks for sharing...

There seems to be an almost arrogant attitude with some shooters about this subject. They think their training will somehow prevent them from ever making a mistake. Training helps people to perform under pressure, it doesn't prevent mistakes. No amount of training can completely eliminate the chances of having a lapse. People are fallible and this sort of thing could happen to even the most experienced shooter.

Heck, I'd argue that the more experienced a person is with firearms, the more likely they are to have a negligent discharge. I think that experienced shooters sometimes become too comfortable around loaded guns.

I'm just glad to hear that nobody got hurt. Take care and be safe...

 

[Virginian]

I have had 3 ADs. The first was with a single action revolver 36 years ago, and I was a dumbass and miscounted and did a fast draw and shot a hole right thru a 55 gallon drum in my backyard out in the country. There will never even be anything close to that again.
The second two were much scarier. We were dove hunting, and a dove came over the trees, and I drew down on him, but he went low so I decided not to shoot and as I was raising the gun back up, it went off. I couldn't believe I had pulled the trigger, but it wasn't that close, so no harm no foul. A while later we were taking a break standing in the shade, and I had my gun in the crook of my arm, nothing near the trigger, and it went off. Safe direction or not, it scared the devil out of me and a couple of other people. I immediately emptied it and proceeded to take it apart - a Remington 1100. As I looked at the trigger group, I couldn't believe it. A tiny piece of brass from a shell base had gotten wedged right in the little notch where the sear engages the hammer, and the hammer was only engaging by a hair. Had to be a million to one - literally. There is no substitute for keeping it pointed in a safe direction.

 

[19-3Ben]

Last night I read this post.

Today in the gun shop, a customer was checking out a pistol while talking to the clerk.
Here are the Cliff's notes:

Clerk handed pistol to customer without checking to see that it was empty.
Customer took pistol and didn't check to see it was empty.
Customer rested finger on trigger.
Customer pointed the gun at me repeatedly while I was about 6 feet away.
I asked him to kindly not point it at me while finger on trigger.
He and clerk laughed.
I left store.

I'm not gonna be someone's lesson. Forget that.

 

[zhyla]

I had one AD when I was a teenager. Finger off the trigger, pointed in a safe direction, never pulled the trigger. Unfortunately nobody ever explained that SKS's have floating firing pins and I got really unlucky. Crater in the concrete, carpet fuzz and concrete debris embedded in the walls and everyone sitting around me a little stunned.

I tend not to rack live ammo thru guns except at the range now unless it's a modern pistol design.

 

[jlv08]

I feel your pain. AD's aren o fun at all.