Most of us on here are safe gun handlers, and follow the Four Rules of safe gun handling. But I'll bet most of us have had one go off when we didn't want it to. Happened to me only once.
Back in the early '90s I lived on an acreage and my neighbor and I would occasionally shoot clay pigeons. One day we were doing so and I was using a shotgun I had had for about 15 years and had shot extensively, a Model 12 Winchester 12 gauge that was built in the early '50s. I smoked a claybird and brought the gun down off my shoulder and chambered another round. BOOM!! Shocked, I looked at my hand position, finger was nowhere near the trigger (Rule #3). I looked at my friend and said "boy, I'm glad that wasn't pointing at you!". (Rule #2). He said "so am I". He wasn't far away, and that light load of 8s probably would have killed him. I tried the action again, with it of course pointing in a safe direction, and it worked normally. I took it to a gunsmith, problem was a worn part which kept the firing pin forward as action was closed. Easy and cheap fix and it's never happened again.
My friend owes his life to the training I got as a child to NEVER let the muzzle point at anybody. I honestly had pointed it in a safe direction on autopilot, hadn't even had to think about it. I'm glad for that training.
So, that's my story, what's yours about the time a gun went boom when you didn't want it to?
Jim

About 40 yrs ago, some friends and I were going to go shooting. One of them handed me a Ruger semi-auto he'd just bought saying "it's not loaded". I sighted in on a picture of his wife on the wall, and squeezed the trigger, bang!

Yeah I was stupid. But no one got hurt, andI did learn 2 valuable lessons.
1. Always check & clear a firearm. (pointed in a safe direction)
2. Never take anybodys word that it is safe.

I never, ever touch a firearm without first opening the action and visually inspecting the chamber and magazine or cylinder to assure myself that the gun is unloaded. I do this if someone hands me a weapon, and I do this before I hand someone a weapon, every time.

Years ago in a bullseye match, as a noob I let off two in the low-ready position because I violated that little rule about fingers off the trigger. Bad case of noob nerves. Whatever. The humiliation of doing this twice in front of a bunch of nationally ranked shooters was enough to assure I never made that mistake again.


Bullseye

__________________
Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

Bullseye, I agree with you about Rule #1. It is "All firearms are considered loaded at all times". However, I learned it slightly different. The way I quote it is "There is NO SUCH THING as an unloaded gun". Even if I've checked, double checked and triple checked.
If I'm handling a gun I of course check. If I set it down briefly, I check again when I pick it back up. I've noticed really well trained gun handlers are obsessive about these things. They also rarely have accidents.

The only negligent discharge I have had was at the range. I caused it myself from over tuning the trigger on my .22lr bench gun. The rifle was a Walther UIT Supermatch with a 50x scope. It was in the machine rest pointed toward the target, when I closed the bolt too hard the 1/2 oz trigger released and fired a round down range. I pulled out my tool kit and jacked up the trigger to 2 oz.

__________________
Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Unintentional (or if you prefer, accidental) discharges:


Well....there was this one time at band camp....

__________________
Dave

When I bought my first Thompson, I went to a state range to shoot with a Title 2 dealer. He had a 28 and I had my M1. I handed him my 1911,
Colt I would guess, I told him it had a light trigger. He started to put it up on to the target from low ready. Touched trigger and missed his right foot by about one foot, no pun intesded, I thought he was going to
have to change his pants. Last time I went with him.

There are two types of people. Those who have had an accidental discharge and those that will.

I had a gun go off when no one was near it and it laying on a night stand.

I had one go off a few weeks ago in my hand. I was showing a man the way the safety works. It was unloaded so no problem with a demonstration. I tried pulling the trigger and the safety kept it from firing. With finger off the trigger, I lowered the safety. SNAP. It went off and had it been loaded, there would have been a hole in the ceiling.

There cannot be too much care shown with guns.

I chambered a round in an SKS and had it go off. Like an AR, they have a floating firing pin and inertia along with a downward tilt can set them off unless you are using primers with heavier cups, such as CCI#34's. Factory stuff won't do it, but I was using some handloads with regular CCI LR primers.

It was pointed in a safe direction (the ground) so no harm/no foul, but I have avoided that since by keeping the gun level or slightly above. Handled that way, the regular primers work fine.

Three:

1960's...a gunsmith friend asked me to take a look at the 1928 Thompson that belonged to a local PD. The tag said, "Doesn't work." I put a magazine with about 5 rounds in it, aimed at the in-house backstop with bullet trap and pulled the trigger. The muzzle climbed until all 5 founds were gone. The last time I saw the wall, the holes were still there. Seems the single-shot mechanism was broken.

Late '60's: I was with a group of other LEO's at a roadblock after a bank robbery. Someone handed me a Winchester '97. As we disbanded, the long guns were being emptied onto the ground as was the custom then. With no fingers on the trigger, this one ejected the first shell and fired the second one up into the trees. I don't know whose shotgun it was, but we put a cord through the barrel with a note stuffed inside.

Late '60's: I had a Colt Cobra, my buddy a DS. We were in the station and he said he wanted to compare the weights of each. I unloaded mine and gave it to him, then walked away to take care of something else. Seconds later I heard a single shot. He was standing in the hallway holding both revolvers with his chin on the floor. He hand't unloaded his and put a round thru the wall and into the chief's office...who wasn't in. I don't recall the outcome, but I'd guess some fast patchwork and paint. 35 years as a LEO and that's the best I can do.

I did have an agent in my chain of command who killed his TV in a fast draw contest. Does that count?

__________________
Term limits!

I bought a CZ52 in 2005. I had heard all the stories about the decocker on these pistols being defective/worn out. I tried mine with the old pencil down the barrel test and found that the decocker on mine worked correctly. Fast forward a few years and about 1000 rounds. I'm at the range shooting with a friend. My cell phone vibrates. I decocked the pistol and BANG. Put a round into the concrete floor about five yards down range. My friend looked at me with that "You did a bad thing" look on his face thinking I had pulled the trigger. I immediately unloaded the pistol and got a plastic sight pusher out of my range bag. Dropped it down the barrel and hit the decocker. It launched the sight pusher out the muzzle when I hit the decocker. That's my one and only ND. That day I added another rule to my list of gun safety rules. "It's mechanical. It's man made. It will eventually fail, possibly with catastrophic results".

Class III

I once shot Mr. Whipple. But he deserved it.
Did you know that a 19" B&W TV will stop a 158 gr .357 mag.?
Do you know how LOUD that is in a small room?
I do.

I let one fly during a Bullseye match two years ago. I'm a revolver man and my dad talked me into trying his Springfield Armory 1911. After the command of "with 5 rounds, load", I inserted the magazine and let the slide forward and promptly put a round into the ground about 10 yards in front of me. It seems that dear ole dad hadn't told me that he had someone tweak the springs and that he normally dropped the slide while holding the trigger back. I just can't bring myself to undo all the years of training and do something like that. I did buy him a new spring and asked him to show me how to install it!

Not me, but a guy we hunt with. Four of us were turkey hunting and had just returned to the Jeeps. I unloaded my gun and was slipping it into the case when this guy's shotgun goes off about a foot away from me.

I look over and he's lying on his side motionless, facing away from me, with the shotgun on the ground a few a feet away. I start calling his name as I step over to him. No response. I start to lean down to roll him over, just sure that his face is going to be missing or something. All of sudden, he stands up. Not a scratch on him. Apparently he unloaded the magazine but forgot about the one in the chamber. Not something any of us will forget any time soon.

I vote this thread winner.

On an early-season AZ bear hunt, when it was still very hot, in preparation to lure a bear with a predator call, sneaked up onto a rock outcrop, donned my camo-mesh face mask and camo-mesh, slippery, synthetic fabric gloves, levered open the action on my Browning Lever Rifle, dropped a round into the chamber, levered the action closed, then, while holding the hammer spur back with gloved thumb, squeezed the trigger to lower the hammer to the "uncocked" position, during the course of which the hammer slipped from under my thumb, discharging the rifle. Yikes! No harm done, so far as I know, but this scared the bejeezus out of me, and I soon thereafter got rid of that rifle, concluding that it was inherently and unnecessarily dangerous. I know folks don't like the crossbolt hammer-blocking safeties now routinely furnished on traditional lever guns, but they're there for a very good reason.

In Kosovo in 1999 I watched a fellow Major (and infantryman) put a round from his M9 into a clearing barrel; seems he's skipped the "drop the magazine" step in his clearing procedures.

The *really* bad part: he gave his pistol a funny look, pointed it back into the barrel, and fired it *again*.

I was in a small unit in Germany that didn't have a clearing barrel. We were unloading our .45's in the hallway outside the arms room. My boss is busy jawing, not paying attention to what he's doing. He racks the slide, THEN drops the mag. He's just about to pull the trigger on a loaded chamber when he absent-mindedly racks the slide again, ejecting the live round. We both look down at the gun, which is pointing at my belly. He kinda shrugs and says, "Oops." Took everything in my power not to yank the gun out of his hand and beat him to death with it.

I was in college, and lived in a 2nd floor apartment. A little old lady lived in the apartment beneath me, and she never, ever left her apartment. One day I was sitting in my bedroom, fondling a Colt SAA, which I positively KNEW without a doubt was unloaded...so, I thumbed the hammer back, pointed it at the floor, and pulled the trigger. The gun went off with the loudest BOOM I have ever heard in my life! Man, I was completely shook...and I felt absolutely stupid....how hard is it to see if a revolver is loaded or not?

After a couple of minutes, when I had settled down a bit, I started looking around the floor...my bedroom had this really thick shag carpet (this was the early 70s) and I couldn't find the bullet hole. So, I thought I had better go downstairs and see if it had cracked the ceiling or anything in the old lady's apartment below me. Well, I rang the doorbell, knocked, called her name...nothing. I was getting really scared, so I ran to the manager's office, and told him I might have killed the lady below me! He came with the keys, and we opened the door and looked around...no sign of a bullet hole in the ceiling, and no sign of the little old lady. We were still in the apartment when she came home...her daughter had taken her to a doctor's appointment.

That is something I have never, ever forgotten...and to this day, I do not assume a gun is loaded or unloaded. I absolutely verify it before handling it any further than the steps necessary to verify its condition. Even in a gun shop, when I see the clerk check the gun before he hands it to me, I check it myself.

Haven't had one and hope I never do. I try to be as conscientious as I can and never forget it can happen to anyone. The best way to increase the chances of avoiding one is keeping safety as my #1 priority.

As an NRA instructor I really like the new Safe Gun Handling rules. After years of using (and teaching) the 4, three rules seems easier and makes more sense.

Rule one (ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction) is all about muzzle control. If you comply with that violating the others will still keep you from hurting somebody. Your's is a perfect example.

Munster

__________________
GO NAVY!

In early summer of 1974 I was shooting my .357 Auto Mag in the back pasture and after shooting a final magazine, had one round left in my ammo box. Instead of removing the magazine and loading the single round into it, I dropped the round into the chamber and hit the bolt release.

Mistake.

The inertia firing pin had enough energy to set off the primer when the bolt slammed home and the gun fired into the ground five feet in front of me.

From an unlocked bolt.

The case head separated, leaving the front half of the case in the chamber. The gas that dumped into the action blew the barrel release lever off the gun and into my left leg, about 3” below my groin. I limped back to the shop, got my pants down, and inspected the damage. The latch was under the skin about 1/8”. Bleeding wasn’t much, so I sterilized a screwdriver with a propane torch and managed to dig the latch out. Bleeding worsened so I heated the screwdriver up again and cauterized the small wound. I don’t mind admitting my eyes watered a bit when I did that…

I tried to get the barrel off, but with the latch sheared, I couldn’t. I called Kent Lomont and he said to ship the gun to Harry Sanford. He’d tell him what happened and that it was coming. Harry called me and said the frame was ruined—the rear projection that the bolt went through was stretched ½” rearward, but hadn’t sheared. The barrel assembly was undamaged. He stamped a new frame with the same serial number, built up a new gun, and charged me $50.

The next week, I was shooting trap with my Uncle Graves, Larry Gravestock, and gunsmith Harry McKay. I was using a breakopen custom single barrel trap gun that McKay had designed and built from scratch: A MonoMac, one of three owned by my uncle. I went 24 out of 25 from the 16 yard line on our warm-up round. Larry and Uncle Graves both went 25 straight. On about the third station of our second round, I stepped up to the line, dropped a shell in the chamber, and closed the gun. It fired into the ground in front of me.

“Keep your finger out of the trigger guard when you close the gun,” Larry said. “No harm done. Load your gun again. You’re still up.”

“My finger wasn’t in the trigger guard,” I said as I opened the gun and put the fired case in my belt bag. “The gun fired when it closed.” Larry started to protest, but my Uncle cut him off.

“Larry’s probably right, but let’s have Mac check the gun out. Harry, see if you can get it to fire on closing.” McKay took the empty gun, looked it over, and opened and closed it several dozen times. The hammer never fell. “Looks like the gun’s okay,” my uncle said. “Like Larry said, no harm done. You had the gun pointed in a safe direction. Just watch that trigger finger.” McKay started to hand the gun back to me but I didn’t take it. I held up an unfired shotgun shell.

“That chamber’s empty right now. Try it a couple dozen more times with the gun loaded. Might make a difference.” The gunsmith took the round, dropped it in the chamber, and began closing and opening the gun. The look on his face told me that he thought he was probably wasting his time humoring me, but guys who build complete actions want to make sure the job is done right.

On about the fifth or sixth closing, the gun fired.

My uncle laughed and looked at Larry Gravestock. “Looks like the kid’s got more sense than you thought.”

“No harm done,” I said with a slight smile. “Let’s finish the round. I’ll make sure the gun’s pointed in a safe direction when I close it.”

“And I’ll put more sear engagement in it as soon as I get to the shop,” Harry promised.

Almost 200,000 rounds fired in nine years without an AD, and then I get two in a week. Go figure…

__________________
JR, the 500 Specialist

I was visiting a friend of mine. I had a Dan Wesson .357 and he had a Rossi .357. He loved to fondle my Dan Wesson. I unloaded it and handed it to him and this went on back and forth for a little while. Then I reloaded it and layed it down and walked out on the front porch. While standing on the porch........... BOOM, I heard a gun fire. I sheepishly peeped back inside the house to see my buddy with his jaw and eyes wide open. He had a picture of a centerfold on his fridge and there was a .38sp hole in her breast. He looked at me and said "why didn't you tell me it was loaded. I was surprised to find that his ND was my fault.

Years ago I very stupidly took aim at my cat, finger on the trigger and everything. The gun was empty so no big deal, and I almost squeezed the trigger. I lowered the gun and racked the slide and out popped a live round. I learned a lot that day and almost killed my cat in my own living room.

When I was about 15 my buddy and I ordered a .22 auto from an ad in a sportsmans magazine. We were in his room and I pulled the slide off the gun. There was unknown to me a round chambered. The gun was striker fired and pulling the slide released the striker, and fired the gun. It was fortunately pointed at outside wall and house was brick. We also bought an MP40 with a plugged barrel. Same magazine sold barrels.

__________________
SOS USA

Hi:
Back in the "Day" issue patrol shotguns were Winchester Model 97s, Model 12s, or Ithaca Model 37s. These Models did not have automatic disconnecters therefore would "slam fire". Unloading these models by running the rounds through the action would result in ADs if the officer kept the trigger depressed or the trigger was stuck back due to improper maintanence. A number of patrol vehicles developed "Skylights/Sunroofs" before auto manufacturers invented them.
One AD that I remember was a outside door's bottom panel at a drug store was kicked in and a possible suspect was inside. A skinny officer (Me) was selected to crawl inside and unlock the door for entre. As I was half way through the door a "Desk Bound Commando" out with his wife and friends for dinner decided to come to the scene. Jumping out of his vehicle he grabbed a issued Ithaca Model 37 12ga and racked a round in the chamber with his finger holding the trigger back. The fired round took out a overhead security light and at least three years off Jimmy's life span.

i personally have never had an accidental discharge happen to me and i hope it never does happen

Have a few, but the gun was pointed in a safe direction, and all were "lessons learned".

First one was my first time shooting a Krag rifle, didn't know there was a "hidden" round where I couldn't see it in that sliding magazine.I checked the mag, opened the bolt, closed it, and pulled the trigger......BANG.....put a hole in my rifle case. The range was "hot", there was no one down range, and no one noticed because there was so much shooting going on anyway. The rifle was pointed down range

In my basement years ago, I was about to clean my CZ85 after a range session. I was tired,it was hot out...I had spent all day in the sun shooting........ I had a brain fart and checked the chamber while a mag was in the gun, that had 1 round left in it.....opened the slide, chamber was clear, closed the slide....unknowingly chambering a round.Took the mag out, which was now empty......pointed the gun at the concrete floor and pulled the trigger "POW" the 9mm skipped off the concrete and hit a cinderblock wall. A little spackle and some strategic placement of a carpet, no harm done. Lesson is, don't play around with guns when you're half suffering from heat exhaustion......

I've only had two "oops" incidents in over fifty years of shooting.

First one was when I was high school at a friends house. This kid had a .22 rifle hanging in a rack on the wall. I asked if I could see it. He said yes, I took it down and opened the bolt.....it was loaded!

Now that's not a particularly "outstanding" example, but I was appalled that he would have a loaded gun in a rack?

Other incident....I was at a range...nearly thirty years ago....in the winter....with snow on the ground....shooting my 1911.

It was colder than blue blazes. This was also the only time I've "seen" bullets in flight. The .45 230 gr. slugs could be seen all the way from the muzzle to the target, over the snow.

Well, on this occasion, I put in the loaded magazine, dropped the slide with the slide release, and raised the pistol to vertical in front of me to "bring it down" on the target.

I distinctly remember looking at the top of the 1911, the ejection port right in front of my face....when it went BANG!

My first thought was "I guess I'm not dead?" It was so close to my face and totally without warning.

What had happened was in the cold, my gloved finger was on the trigger as I was "bringing it down on target"......and I fired it!

It scared me more than I've ever been scared with a firearm.

Honestly, those are the two "oops" moments that I remember.

__________________
G.P. Charlie

I had an "AD" in basic training at Ft. Benning, oh, I meant to fire, but I fired at the wrong time. I had ear plugs in and couldn't hear, I was on the firing line at the Known Distance qualifying range, and we were all laying in the prone. I guess over the garbled speaker we were told not to fire, they were testing the 25 meter pop up target, I didn't hear it, I saw that "fast freddie" target come up,leveled my M16A4, got a quick sight picture, flicked the switch to semi and "POW" put a 5.56 right through it......then I hear "YOU are an _______ retard!!" and I knew I had done something wrong

I bought a beautiful CZ Ringneck SXS 20 gauge and had it in my truck when I was at work. One of the guys who worked there talked about being a big quail hunter so I thought I would take it inside and show it to him. As I handed it to Jeff he immediately aimed it at the wall and pulled the trigger twice. I said "good thing it wasn't loaded" and he just smiled and said "that's nice!" and handed it back. He never asked if it was loaded or checked it, and I now am much more careful who I let handle one of my guns.

Not a criticism, but the way I was trained, and the way I've always taught others, is that before I hand someone a weapon, I remove the magazine (if applicable); open the action (semiauto, lever action, pump), or expose the cylinder on a revolver, or break the piece open (single or double barrel); check that the chamber/cylinder is clear; apply the safety (if applicable or possible); and then hand it to the person who has just witnessed that I have personally checked the weapon. I expect the person who is inspecting the weapon to do the same before handing it back to me, and if they don't, I go through the same steps of checking and making sure the piece is unloaded and safe before putting it away. I do this all the time, even at gun shows, which has earned me some strange looks, as well as a few compliments for safe gun handling.

Regards,

Dave

I was 18 or 19 and home alone, my dad and siblings had gone to canada to fish. I was in my room and I was plating with a nickel 6 inch Colt Trooper. I thumbed back the hammer and squeezed, it went off all the way through the house my room was in the back and it went through the walls into the kitchen killing Mr. Coffee and was stopped by the brick wall of the house.

I was scared witless, I bought plaster paint and a new Mr. Coffee and fixed what I thought was everything. About 5 years later I was home on leave and my dad's wife and he asked me about a hole on the inside of th ecloset wall that I neglected to find.

I am way more careful now.

__________________
Stan

Dave, That brings back a memory that proved my training sunk in that I received when I was knee-high to nothin'. When I was about 13 my Dad told me he was going to be gone and I would be home alone and a friend of his was going to be stopping by to look at a rifle. When this older gentleman arrived I let him in and went upstairs, found the rifle, checked to make sure it was unloaded and walked back downstairs. Before I handed him the rifle I opened the bolt and handed it to him with the muzzle pointing in a safe direction. He never said a word about that. Later that day Dad got a call from him. When he hung up he said to me "Roy was really impressed with you". I asked why and he said "he told me before you handed him the rifle you opened the bolt, that showed how well trained you were". I didn't really think it was that big of a deal, that was just the way I knew I was expected to act with a gun. Needless to say my Dad was very proud of me. He should also have been proud of himself, cause he taught me that.

WOW, your post gave me the most goosebumps so far reading each of these. I know we all know them, but two particular rules that come to play here are 1) for your friend: there is no such thing as an empty gun always check and 2) in your case, never ever point your gun at something you would be very upset about destroying



glad both these instances were casualty-free , seriously got goosebumps when I read about your furry friend!

Had one last week that scared me so bad I had to go sit down. Purchased a WWII Walther PP at gun show. Everything checked out for function. Everything worked correctly. I live out in the country so I went outside to back pasture. Loaded magazine with five 32 acp rounds. The decocker was in fire position. I pulled back the slide to charge the chamber. My finger was not on the trigger. When I did so this thing went full auto. Five rounds fired so fast you could not distinguish between the rounds. Just a short rip. Scared me to death. Never had one go full auto before and I have been shooting for over 40 years. Thank goodnes it was not a 45 1911. I went and sit down on back pourch for a few minutes and then picked this pistol up and looked at it. Slide was locked back and magazine was empty. Took it apart and found that the hammer block, plunger and spring was completely missing. Some call these parts the disconnector assembly. Ordered the parts and replaced them. Pistol now works correctly. It just goes to show you have to do more than safety and function checks. You have got to look inside for missing parts. If you mess with firearms long enough you will have a mishap. It is not if but when. I have talked with gunsmiths and they all confessed to accidential discharges. Just have to load a unfamiliar pistol outside.

I was 11. Found a topbreak 32 with a box of moldy ammo that my dad had hidden in a cigar box behind some books in the bookcase. Loaded it up, stuck it in my pocket, and walked around with it for a while. Was out on the porch, pulled it out, and was in the process of just intending to point it out into the yard when "bang!!!" Put a hole in one of the columns that supported the roof over the porch. Patched the hole with putty, put the gun back in the cigar box behind the books, and was never called on it. About 25 years later I had occasion to visit that house again, and I could see the hole clearly as the putty had shrunk into it.

One lesson I learned from that is that there is no point in hiding your guns in the house and thinking your kids won't find 'em. They will.

I've had it happen to me 3 times. Two times on the same day shooting my 617. I'd installed a 12 lbs. rebound spring in it and that resulted in the SA trigger pull dropping down to about 1.5 lbs. I was shooting from a rest and had the 617 mostly aimed at the target and went to put my finger on the trigger prior to refining my aim, BANG. Happened twice. Went home and put a 14 lbs. rebound spring in it which took the SA trigger to 2.5 lbs. where it's enough I can actually feel the trigger without firing the gun.

The other time was after doing weak hand practice with my model 67 in double action. Ran 100 rounds downrange and was shooting pretty darned well at the end. So, I decided I'd do some weak hand shooting with my Springfield Armory XDm. Another case of having the gun loosely aimed at the target and moving the finger to the trigger, gun went BANG. That one was a bit of a close call, shot was on paper but missed the target carrier by only an inch, which at that particular range is a 100 dollar fine for damaging range equipment. Those high tech flipping target carriers may be cool for training but they do get expensive when you hit the hardware. Since then I've learned to do a bit of dry firing with the semi's after doing a lot of DA shooting with the wheelguns, it helps to reinforce the difference in the trigger weights.

Not yet, but the wife had an "unexpected discharge" at the range with her Mosquito.

She was pointed downrange & all but doing her Sergio Garcia waggling around & such getting ready (AARGH!) and "POP!" Did I mention the Mozzie has about a 10# SA trigger pull?

No harm no foul & I really had hoped it would cure that *(##&$@(# waggling around she does. Drives me crazy & makes me VERY nervous. I even pointed out the holes in the ceiling & barriers.

No such luck.

She IS better, tho at keeping the finger off the trigger until that time that mercifully she is FINALLY ready to touch one off.

Would the gun have been a post 1964 Winchester Model 70?

15 to 20 years back I figured my pre-64 M70's were becoming too valueable to actually take out hunting, so I bought a 1978 Model 70, 30-06, to use for hunting. The difference in the stock was evident after the first shot as the kick was rude.

But here was the real kicker with this push feed wonder. The second time I took this gun out on a hunt, my nephew was curious why I was using this thing and not one of my pre-64's. We were loaded up and began walking along a logging road and he asked more about the gun and asked if it at least had the 3 position safety. We stopped and I un-shouldered the gun and showed him the safety and such and I put it through the 3 positions and then with my thumb I push it off in one motion. The gun fired. Gun safety I learned as a boy, from my Dad, paid off that day.

We tried it a few more times, on an empty chamber, and around every 3 rd or 4th time we flipped the safety off in one motion, the gun fired. When I got home I took the gun down and the problem with this post 64 M70 was; the trigger and sear was not made from machined steel like the pre-64 M70's, but made from cast steel. Over time the trigger and sear had worn the sharp edge off and when the safety was released in a brisk motion the trigger jumped right over the groove of the sear and fired. If the safety was let off nice and easy like, the trigger remained in contact with the sear.

How I fixed this ordeal was easy, I bought another pre-64 M70, as a go-to hunting rifle, and replaced the trigger and sear in the post 64 and sold it at the next gun show at very reasonable price with full disclosure.

Rod

Not to me but to a friend at an indoor IDPA-like match. This guy was an experienced shooter. The SO told him to make ready, he charged the gun, and it discharged when he dropped the slide. Pointed downrange, nobody hurt. The SO took the gun, cleared it, and my friend was done for the evening. He swore that his finger was nowhere near the trigger, but we had a good time needling him, nevertheless.

After talking to him and the SO about exactly what happened, I took his gun home with me to figure out what happened. It took a while to get it to happen again (no ammo). Here's the unlikely thing that occurred.

My friend was shooting a new Dan Wesson (pre-CZ) with adjustable sights and an external extractor. When he first tried to charge the gun, it jammed. He locked back the slide, removed the mag, and saw that the round was almost chambered. He jiggled it a bit to get it chambered knowing that it wouldn't hurt the external extractor to close over the rim. When he dropped the slide the gun fired. It turns out that the firing pin had been held forward by its stop and functioned like a fixed firing pin. The stop was allowed to move up (it can't go down) and trap the firing pin because Dan Wesson had milled the slide for the adjustable sights, and there was no closed top to prevent the loose firing pin stop from moving. When the slide closed again, the pin popped back in its hole leaving no trace of what happened. At the end of the previous stage, my friend had dropped the hammer as required at the end of a stage, and the blow had driven the firing pin forward and trapped it. Luckily, all the safety rules were being followed, and nobody was hurt.

The primary cause for this strange sequence of events was Dan Wesson's improper installation of the adjustable rear sight and improper loose installation of the firing pin stop. They hadn't been making 1911's for very long at that time and this was their first 1911 with adjustable sights. What bothered me the most was the absolute nonchalance they showed when I called them about the incident. They didn't seem to be the least interested in a flaw that could have killed someone. On that day, I vowed to never buy any Dan Wesson product, and I never have, or will.

Buck

I had an add at the range. Buddy of mine handed me a tricked out 22 ruger 10-22. We were looking at it and admiring when it rubbed against my knee. Bang. Pulled out the magazine and it was fully loaded. racked the slide back and out came another round. Don't remember the brand but the trigger was set so light a light breeze would have set it off. My mistake was not checking to see if it was loaded when given to me. No one hurt, but a few oh's. never forget that one. Had a navy gunner's mate in the ships armory above our engineroom one day rack the slide and drop the mag. Points it at the overhead and pulls the trigger. BOOM Well they must have had about 6" of heavy duty insulation on the overhead, plus the overhead was an armoored deck with about 3" of armor. He never did find that 45 bullet. Frank

Wow, now that's disappointing!

...


I have had two, both in the same year with the same gun (in photo), and both were my mistake. Both occurred in my second year of gun ownership. it's been about five years since then. The gun in my incidents is a J.P. Sauer & Sohn/Hawes "Texas Marshal" a .45LC SAA. This particular .45 has an amazingly sensitive trigger pull, it's more than one pound but less than 3. Being an SAA the gun will not fire unless the hammer is pulled back, so the rules are don't pull the hammer back until you are aimed at the target, and don't even touch the trigger unless you are going for your shot. The sensitivity allows for very easy accurate shots. I'm very careful with the pistol and even more-so with who I let shoot it. The first of my mistakes happened during my second time bringing this gun to the range since purchase. It was my thirty-somethingth shot with this gun in one sitting, and I drew from my traditional cowboy-style holster, and began pulling the hammer back as soon as the muzzle cleared the shooting bench and entered 'down range.' Sure enough I shoot the darn floor just under my target, as I hadn't paid attention to keeping my bleepin trigger finger clear of the guard. The friendly stranger next to me saw it happen and I wish i had photos of the looks on both our faces. I haven't made that mistake since. However, my second was pretty much the worst mistake of my life thus far, I think about it every night and can't believe how lucky I was. At the time, that very same single action .45 was one of only two center-fire handguns I owned, and certainly had the better stopping power of the two. I liked to keep it loaded, in a small but mounted safe. After a trip to the range (I think it was the very next trip to the range after the floor shoot as mentioned) the gun needed cleaning, so I cleaned it all up, practiced my dry fire with snap caps for a little while, then proceeded to load it up to put in the small mounted safe. After I had loaded it, my finger prints were now all over it from turning the cylinder to load each round one by one. This gun has a nickel finish. Unlike stainless, fingerprints are very bad for nickel and don't take long to hurt the finish. I reached for my Hoppe's gun & reel cloth, wiped any prints off the frame, and here's where I messed up. I wiped the cylinder, then cocked and 'decocked' the hammer to rotate the cylinder to wipe any prints that were hidden by the frame and topstrap, only problem is my thumb slipped right off the hammer and it fell home. I bet the lube from cleaning didn't help, but it was my mistake, I thought I had a good hold on that hammer and didn't. I can not describe what a .45LC sounds like in a ten by 15 foot bedroom. My jaw hit the floor. There were three other humans in my home when this happened, none in the room I was in. Fortunately my safety discipline prevented any injuries. Due to the fact that I would never want anyone to get hurt I had made a rule that if I or anyone handled a gun in my room, it was pointed at the wall that was the actual side of the house only, as in none of the walls that separated other rooms, and only at a 45 degree downward angle. I had a room-mate that lived in the basement and neighbors upstairs so floor and ceiling were out of the question. After the unexpected bang, I immediately just put the gun in the safe with out manipulating it further. The smoke hung in the air, and there was a new hole in my wall. I left the room expecting the other humans in the house to be frightened and angry, or at least concerned. Turns out two of the three were both asleep, and the third was playing a computer game with headphones on. I don't know HOW the heck none of them woke up or heard the shot, but I shook the heck out of the friend playing video games, who fortunately was the one of the three with the most firearms experience. he could tell something was wrong, I explained what happened and asked him if I should call the police since someone was bound to and I might as well come clean. He advised me not to, instead took me outside to take an exterior perspective. Fortunately the house next to ours was up for rent at the time and no one was living there. My spirits were so low at this time this was and still is the biggest mistake of my life. I took a look at the side of my house and there was a dime sized hole in it. I walked up to the fence between properties and there were several knot-holes, but sure enough I found a dime-sized perfect circle that I knew wasn't a knot in the wood. I hopped the fence and with a flashlight found the hole in the neighboring house 8-O It was about 6 inches from the grass (due to me holding the gun at a downward angle) I pulled my knife and pried the bullet out of the house, I can't ever describe how awful I felt, I still do. I patched up all the damage to both houses properly, and painted the spots. I've kept the shell and bullet to remind me of how easy that potentially fatal mistake was, and I always will. Who knows, that house could have been inhabited, I could have hit a window, so many bad things could have happened, and didn't, and I don't take that lightly at all. I've never made that mistake again. I haven't stored that gun loaded at all and haven't considered it fit for anything besides recreation ever since either. It only gets loaded at the range or on a shooting day when about to use it. Another thing I do now is if loading for carry, or storage in the home defense-safe, first I wipe the gun before loading while it is still empty, then I load the gun while holding the gun with the hoppes cloth, so there are never any potentially harmful fingerprints on the finish. This discharge was VERY DUMB of me, and i can't believe nothing worse occurred. I am grateful, and do not take firearms handling lightly. I remember that shot every night, and think about how different life could have been as a result.

I don't know if this one will count I was at the local range shooting my 22/45 MK III. I have done extensive mods to it so its one of my favorites to shoot. I got finished and started packing up and dropped the mag out. The thing was I checked it and safety could still be engaged so that told me the trigger was still cocked. I point the gun down range at the back stop and pull the trigger and heard BOOM. The gun still had one in the chamber scared the **** out of me because I was sure it was unloaded. Obviously it was pointed in a safe direction and no one was hurt just me startled. I don't even think anyone noticed because I was following rule #1 Treat it loaded. I still worry about the what effs what would have happened if I gotten sloppy.

The last thing I do when finished for the day at the range is to be sure the firearm is unloaded then pull the trigger while pointing down range. One day I had finished sighting in a model 70 and was sure I had fired all the rounds that I had brought with me. I started packing up everything then picked up the rifle and out of habit, pointed it down range just to be sure, pulled the trigger and bang!
Yep, definitely got my attention. Now, I still do the same thing but first I double check the chamber before pointing down range and pulling the trigger.

I used to shoot an informal .22 50 foot indoor benchrest shoot every Sunday. We used 'squirrel' rifles, most of which were the then new Marlin 800 SQ's. Fired nine single shot stages with the 10th being a five shot group.(Milk bottle cap targets-aiming for .000 dead center) I always used a 5 round capacity magazine, though I had seven and ten rounders for the gun too.
We had finished up the final round, tallied the scores (I was 4th out of 12 shooters that day) and were in the club social hall packing our guns.

I cycled the bolt on my 880SQ and removed the empty magazine. I then pointed the muzzle at the floor and pulled the trigger preparing to remove the bolt. BANG!! ***. I could not believe what just happened. Accidentally I had used the seven round mag. and loaded six rounds instead of five. Why in the heck I didn't LOOK AT THE CHAMBER when I cycled the action that last time. At least I had the muzzle pointed in the safest direction I could have. Made me feel about as stupid as anything I've ever done.
One guy accused me of shooting the wall right beside his head, so we did a CSI search, found the bullet impact mark on the floor and recovered the flattened bullet from the corner of the room on the floor-proving I didn't put the nice, neat .22 caliber hole in the wall at head level. Some other idiot had done that in the past...

not to me, but a friend always had to check the trigger pull on a gun by holding it to his ear.he said you can hear how smooth it is.well one day he came over while i was in my reloading shed and as I was seating a bullit I hear a bang.he had grabed a model 27 I had sitting there loaded with full wadcutters and listened to the trigger pull. I bet his ears rang for a bit.his wife said he did that at their home with a model 59 showing his brother the trigger pull.shot a hole in the roof.he learned to check to see if a gun was empty.now at our range for my dept a deputy was feild striping a glock and when he pulled the trigger bang in the hand.lucky no one was hit in the room.

__________________
God save the SOUTH

I have only had a few times where a firearm went bang when I was not intending were my Marlin 882, had a delayed fire on a .22 WMR cartridge--waited a few seconds after pulling trigger, and lifted muzzle & it went bang. The most recent was w/my brother-in-law's S&W 1911 who has the pull on his trigger greatly reduced and had a double tap that I wasn't expecting--at least both bullets were on target.

Entering a gun show with my grandson, and son in law-I'm telling them to watch out for unsafe handling-and that we need to "cover" one another and ....BANG (from someplace in the show)-Thats the second occasion its happened in this gun show! My 8 year old grandson said "Well, do you want to leave? That sounded pretty close"

Having used firearms for a period of time rapidly approaching 50 years and having worked as a gunsmith for 35 of those years, mostly I plead the Fifth. It can happen very easily whether through operator headspace issues or mechanical failure. Safety rules and common sense are paramount.

Been handling firearms for about 32 years, but only 27 years of my own personal guns. In that time I've had 2 NDs, that I can recall...anf they were both definitely due to my NEGLIGENCE!

The first was when I took my Father shooting with me, when I was stationed in upstate NY. I wanted to show him my latest acquisition...my HK91. I had owned and used it for awhile, so I can't blame it on unfamiliarity with the firearm. I had loaded the last 13 rounds of .308 ammo that had been in the box...I still remember that it was 13 rounds. I handed it to my Dad, showed him how to slap the bolt handle to release it and chamber a round, and how to disengage the safety. Everything went well...he fired off the rounds, with both of us keeping count. After 13 rounds had fired, he engaged the safety and handed it back to me. I removed the 20 round mag, which was empty, of course. Then, I casually flicked off the safety as I shouldered it, aimed at the target we'd been shooting at, and squeezed the trigger, anticipating the "click". Instead, I heard a loud *BOOM* as the round discharged. To this day...I have not figured out where that 14th round mysteriously appeared from. I must have had a very sheepish look on my face as I professed to my Father that that wasn't supposed to happen. He said, "At least you pointed it in the right direction", but I still felt horrible that it had happened.

The second time I came a bit closer to cutting flesh. My buddy and I were out shooting our Cobray M-11 9mms. We were running some drills, and I had noticed that he was beginning the drills with his safety disengaged. I mentioned to him that the safety was easily disengaged on the M-11 with the trigger finger at the moment you wish to fire, with the trigger finger then just sliding right inside the trigger guard. When he asked me to demonstrate exactly what I meant, I did...with my fully loaded M-11. We were standing about 2 feet apart, angled slightly towards each other, while I flicked the safety off, and my finger slid inside the trigger guard...with more force than I'd intended. The gun discharged into the ground, about a foot away from our feet. Neither of us moved, and then he slowly swiveled his head to look at me, and he asked if I'd intended to do that. Of course, I hadn't. While the gun was pointed in a more-or-less safe direction...it was way too close to be considered "safe" gun-handling.

I got lucky in both of those instances. I make every effort now not to depend on luck.

Tim