Your worst failure to fire

[Pronghorn]

What was your worst/ most embarrassing failure to fire? it does not necessarily have to be mechanical or in a serious situation.

ex. This last weekend I stalked a herd or pronghorn with my father in Wyoming. We had just driven 18 hours to get there. I had already filled my tag on my buck but still needed a doe. We crept for about two hours after the herd which included a large buck for my father to shoot. Just as we crest the final hill we line up our shots with the animals we had selected. He shoots and kills the buck, but all I end up with is the loud click of a dry fire.

when I loaded the clip of 30-06 into my Savage 114 I didn't push it all the way in :banghead: so when i closed the bolt I never loaded a round into the chamber.

I got to walk for another two hours because of that

 

[Sawblade]

I was about 15 rounds into a trap match with no lost when on the next shot, BLOOP! The wad and shot load hit the ground about 10 feet in front of me. To that point none of my thousands of rounds of reloads had ever FTFed.

 

[essayons21]

Shoot-off at army master gunner school, tied with 2 other guys for title of M16 "top gun." One was a 11B sniper with 2 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the other a tabbed out SFC who was an instructor at mountain warfare school. Shoot-off was 10"x30" moving target at 200 yards from prone unsupported, iron-sights, off the rack M16A2s. Target exposure was 6 seconds, at a walking pace (there was actually a guy holding it on a stick from behind the berm). 6 seconds, and 3 shots.

First round all three of us hit 2/3, so we went for another round. Sniper hit 2/3, tabbed out SFC hit 0/3, and I was in the zone ready to get 3/3. Target exposes, focus on front sight, breathe, squeeze, *CLICK*... uh oh. Tap-rack-bang, and still manage to get off 3-shots before the target disappears... only hit it on the first shot. Still don't know if the bolt overrode the first round or I just forgot to chamber a round... doh!

Consolation prize was that I still ended up overall top gun and honor grad, apparently the sniper couldn't shoot a pistol

 

[Holiday]

Down range, Camp Shelby Mississippi, Loader on M-60A3 Main Battle Tank circa 1992. I was new to Armor, this was my first time in a live fire. We had made several runs that morning when the "three man crew" senario came up. Normaly the crew consists of a commander, gunner, loader and driver. In this senario either one of the crew is missing, dead, ect, and the commander fires from his position. As we go downrange I'm waiting for the commands from the commander that signal me to put the gun on fire. As I said, this was the first time in this type of fire mission and due to a miscomunication I failed to flip the safty lever up and the commander thought we had a missfire. My fault but there was a lack of communication as well. The 105mm gun was the biggest "click, no bang" I ever experienced!

 

[hey_poolboy]

My worst only cost me a couple of coyotes. Went out to call coyotes on my birthday a couple years ago and was heading into some brush. I elected to take my Rem870. After about 10 min. in my stand two coyotes came in on my weak side. I turned around to take the shot and heard only a loud CLICK. Needless to say both ran off w/o me getting a shot off. One of the magazine tube retainers had broken and not allowed the round to come out of the magazine when I cycled the action.

 

[Pronghorn]

I was shooting in my winter trap league. I get a failure to fire from my semi and i open the action. I watch in horror as a small spring from the action falls into the snow, and as we all know springs/screws/nuts/bolts/washers/etc dissolve on impact with the ground and are never seen again =)

 

[rocky branch]

I was moving a platoon of Montagnards through the old rubber plantation near my camp to occupy and hold the abandoned workers village, Phuoc Thienh, until 3 corps Mike Force arrived.

The plantation was unattended and lots of vegetation had grown up in the normally clear lanes between rows of trees.

We were taking a break when a bunch of fresh NVA blundered into our little group.

One broke out of a spot between some trees about 30 feet from me, headed for a ditch and cover.
He had a new green uniform with a yellow bandanna and a floppy hat-looked like a 1930s boyscout, loaded with gear and an AK.
Clear shot-dead center-CLICK!-he was in the ditch and gone.

I had just fired a couple rounds and the last one had not cycled the action enough to pick up a fresh round.
Only M 16 problem I ever had.
That was one lucky guy. I was lucky he was bent on escaping.
This was about 9 AM, the day continued to deteriate.

 

[lwknight]

I sure can't compare to these stories.
My worst ftf just wasted a range trip when I stuck a squibbed bullet in the barrel
and had nothing to beat it back out with .

 

[FROGO207]

Big monster 12 point buck wandered into my field and advanced to me at a steady pace. I hold my position until he is almost on top of me. Aim slowly, pull trigger, CLICK, buck vanishes in to thin air. First time in a hunt with black powder, PRIMERS left on the dashboard in truck!!!!:banghead: 4 hours carrying a crowbar for nothing.

 

[jonmerritt]

The worst failure to fire I have ever experianced was in combat. Don't want to go into details, but it is a moment I will never forget. I was lucky, he missed.

 

[RimfireChris]

My worst was in a tree stand, with a 6 point buck about 7 feet right below me.

 

[neededausername]

I was shooting in a small bore silhouette match and my Ruger 22/45 jammed. I had to cycle the action. So I lost a shot at a target because you are only allowed to load enough for the amount of targets.

 

[killchain]

Forgot to flip the slide latch on my Beretta M9.

Dropped the slide to chamber a round, and the slide flew into the dirt.

My one mulligan.

 

[hardworker]

Well I was hanging out with this girl...

long story short I'm on here instead

 

[627PCFan]

Hardworker, better to FTF than misfire-

 

[Sky]

Not sure this is true, I was not there.

The low bird of a hunter killer team was shot down. Observer/gunner was killed and the pilot got away from the bird and headed into a bamboo thicket on the edge of the forest.

The bird had been on fire so when he exited the aircraft all he had was a survival radio and his shoulder harness which carried a .38 and a few extra rounds.

The bad guys moved fairly unimpeded under the triple canopy jungle. Our pilot heard them searching and cocked his .38 thinking he would empty his weapon except for one round which he would save for himself (normal procedure). A rather young enemy parted some bamboo and there they were face to face. Our pilot was smiling and pointing directly between the eyes of the teenager with his pistol. Enemy smiled back and closed the bamboo like a curtain and left. Some kind of honor thing was formed; u no kill me I no get u killed?? Our pilot spent two days in the jungle before being rescued. Funny what a smile and a weapon pointed between the eyes of someone can do.

This story was relayed to me when I was in jungle survival school by one of the instructors. You could kinda call it a misfire, no?

 

[Zach S]

I once went to the range with only my carry gun, a 5" 1911, and two spare mags, for my compact...

 

[Dulvarian]

I was going to tell an amusing story about the one time that my mouth failed to go off... but it never fails.