First ND (eek)

[Yohan]

I'm sure a lot of you guys who don't hold a high opinion of me saw this coming, but I had my first ND today. Fortunately, it was with an air rifle and the pellet didn't hit anything fragile. Good thing I had a jacket lying on the sofa or it might have gotten ripped up real good. Completely took me by surprise, but now I'm going to be more careful. I should like jump in the air, do a DOUBLE flip in mid air and kick myself in the butt. If I fail, at least I'll have fallen on my butt, which would be the equivalent of getting my butt kicked. I was pumping the air rifle when I decided to make the rifle safe, which basically means opening up the pump of the air rifle and pulling the trigger so the bb round comes out without any pressure behind it, safely rolling out of the barrel. But somehow, the pump wasn't pulled back all the way and it went off. :banghead: I'm in the ND club now I guess.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

Yohan,

I am willing to bet that even some of the guys that do not have a high opinion of you have had a ND. It happens to a lot of people, they just might not talk about it! Let this incident be your lesson. Run through situations in your mind where the outcome could have been worse and you will be a safer individual.

-SquirrelNuts

 

[cool45auto]

Yeah Yohan, at least it was an air rifle!

 

[Blackhawk]

That's the "There Are Those Who Have & Those Who Will Club."

Your entrance fee was easy on you!

 

[S_O_Laban]

Yohan, sorry to hear about the ND, but it appears you learned a very valuable lesson for a very nominal fee. Thanks for having the honesty to share. I find I learn more from reading about others mistakes than their successes. You never know when your post may save a life.

 

[Justin]

Hey Yohan,

I should like jump in the air, do a DOUBLE flip in mid air and kick myself in the butt.

You wouldn't happen to be a big fan of The Official Ninja Website, would you?

 

[Matt G]

The Four Rules are of course paramount. A decent corrallary to them is: Always Know And Understand The Condition Of Your Weapon.

I see this one violated (and indeed, have violated it myself by assumption ) most with pump-action shotguns that are passed on from one shift to the next. I personally keep the SG with chamber empty, mag full, off safe, uncocked. I feel this is the fastest way to deploy a shotgun after carrying it safely. Another offcier likes to keep them chamber empty, cocked with the safety on. Thus it takes two more actions (releasing the slide and taking off the crossbolt safety) to get it into action. Another officer likes to keep the chamber full with the cross-bolt safety engaged. Still another keeps it cocked with the chamber empty, with the safety off, so that if he misses the slide release, he can just click to dry fire and release the slide. (!)

Now, you tell me if there's not a potential for danger, should an officer not know the condition the shotgun is kept in!

 

[El Tejon]

Matt G makes an excellent point. Know how to press check, however the four rules always apply.

Yohan, 2 kinds of people, those that have and those that will. Inexpensive lesson.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

Wifey didn't like the nice little half inch hole in the front door, but now its a peep hole just a bit off center and you have to stoop down to look through it.......... . (NOT FUNNY !)
My lesson: never practice dry fire exercises with a fully loaded mag in the vicinity. You WILL (occasionally) forget you just charged the weapon. I seem to recall someone on the board doing the same thing and needing a new T.V. after the ND !
Now that's funny !

 

[brownie0486]

Yohan,

If you handle firearms long enough you will eventually have an ND somewhere down the road of life.

Training and skills have nothing to do with brainfade which we all suffer from at times. It's when the fading occurs as we are handling a firearm.

Have had one or two myself. Fortunately I was practicing safe muzzle direction at those times.

You live, you learn, you make mistakes, if you are lucky you learn from them or you are bound to repeat them.

Lesson learned, no harm done, make it a lesson well learned [for free].

Stay safe

Brownie

 

[spacemanspiff]

why didnt you just shoot at your backstop to make the air rifle 'safe'?

speaking of air rifles, it took four shots before i realized that the bb's were going through the cans i was shooting at. now there are four bb's embedded in the drywall.

now my backstop is a box filled with phonebooks, magazines and styrofoam.

 

[cratz2]

Luckly I haven't yet. God willing, it'll stay that way.

I know of two friends that have, one with my gun.

Like has been said, good thing it was with a pellet gun. It'll still
stick with you for a long time, I bet.

 

[Matthew_Q]

Good to share, Yohan, I'm sure many have done similar with more devastating effects, but don't speak up. They are part of the "There Are Those Who Have & Those Who Will Club."

I am glad to say I have never had a ND... Hopefully I'll be one of the lucky ones and never will.

It's a good reminder for all of us to pay attention to all of the basic rules of safety... it only takes a moment of neglect to have serious consequences.

 

[publius]

On topic:

I've let one fly. Just lack of familiarity with the feel of the D/S action on a gun. I shot it the first time, then surprised heck out of myself by almost immediately firing again.

Off topic: you wanna shoot your TV, but you don't have Elvis money? Beeman felt cleaning pellets are the answer. They won't harm the screen. They will, however, go through vinyl siding on your house if you shoot it from close enough.

Duct tape to the rescue.

 

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Hasn’t happened yet (cross fingers, knock on formica) but I’ve come close a couple times; putting away a handgun in the safe or taking it back out again, checking the cylinder or the chamber and finding a live round- after ‘KNOWING’ in my head that the gun wasn’t loaded.

 

[Mal H]

Yohan - Welcome to the infamous club! A lot of us here have had one and a lot of us will have one. Mine was with a shotgun and it could have been much more tragic than shooting a sofa or a TV. Always following rule #2, I only shot Mother Earth and not two buddies walking right next to me. I was about 14 at the time and that lesson has stuck with me forever.

Keeping in mind your own personal ND now might make you think twice about posting one of your famous "what an idiot" posts in the future.