hard post to make about a stupid mistake

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richrd

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I've been shooting for 60 years, taught shooting and big on safety with never a mishap.

Until....

I bought a new 617/2 home today. first thing I did was load 10 rounds and head to the back yard. So far so good. One ftf, spun the cylinder and tried again, bang.

Opened the cylinder and all ten shells had hammer marks. Next stop was the kitchen with the trigger scale. I left the empties in to cushion the firing pin. checked the single action three times, (way too heavy) then went on to measure the double action.

Click, BANG! Yeah, you saw that coming. Bullet went about 4 feet, thru the side of my Sneaky Pete carry holster that was laying on the counter, and hit the top of the slide on my sig365. Luckily the bullet fragmented, only leaving a small splash on the slide but no damage.

I've always been serious about safety and have never done anything wrong. (???).

The thing is, it was a very stupid mistake that we all know better, and if it can happen to me, there's a chance it could happen to you. It'll be another 60 years before I do anything that dumb.

Even when you know the gun is empty, check anyway.
 
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Thanks

OP, what you describe does not seem at all that improbable to happen. Glad that you did not get more damage from this and thanks for sharing as a reminder for everyone to be safe!

Happy New Year!
 
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Thanks for posting. I'm glad nobody got hurt. I appreciate an occasional wake-up call. Even the best of us can fall to complacency, inattentiveness or whatever.

In my own case, I had pulled down some 44 Mag rounds that were loaded with Speer half jacket bullets. I even looked in each case before popping the primers in my model 29. I didn't notice that the lead slug in one had separated from the jacket when I used my inertial bullet puller. The jacket was still in the case over a full load of 296. It looked like an empty case mouth.

You can figure out the rest. The gun was pointed at the basement foundation - a safe direction. Thankfully, the worst of it was a divot in the foundation and a need for clean shorts.
 
Some things are hard to post, however when you do it might help others from doing the same.
A couple of weeks ago I was letting a friend shoot my 44, I said just keep pulling the trigger until it doesn't go bang any more than you will know it is empty. Thats what he did and I put the revolver away. when I got home and emptied the cases out one was a round that never fired but had a dimple in the primer. This must have been the last of 6 rounds, its always the EMPTY gun that goes bang when it shouldn't.
Glad you didn't get hurt .
 
Rich, You kept it pointed in a safe direction.

Now you have a good story to tell about how your SIG 365 saved the day without firing a shot.

And you raised awareness of those of us open minded enough to apply what they've heard. So some good came of your near miss.
 
Another 617 FTF story, how common are FTF's with Ruger and Colt 22LR double action revolvers?
 
Thanks for posting. I recently bought some 22 snap cap dummies. In the past, I have used fired rounds as 22 snap caps. I am glad you reinforced my decision to switch. Yeah, I know you can use those dry-wall screw thingies, but they do not fit very well and they look cheesy.
 
We all make mistakes, those who claim they never do delude themselves and others. And yes, it's good to learn from others mistakes.
Here are some of my safety practices:
1. I am a big believer in snap caps, drywall anchors No. 5 for 22 RFs, and centerfire and rifle snap caps.
2. I store my most frequently fired/handled guns with snap caps.
3. The only handgun I keep loaded is my bedside one. And I am VERY careful with that one.
4. For dry firing semiautos I use dedicated magazines, blue ones for nickel/stainless handguns, nickel/stainless for blue ones.
Yes, the dry-wall thingies look cheesy, but at $5/100...good for 5-10 dryfires, the yellow ones I use really stand out. I load them in the magazines of my bolt action 22s and Ciener units to tell me when I have emptied a magazine.
 
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Nobody got hurt, as you kept the gun pointed in a safe direction. You reminded us to always wear our seatbelts pertaining to gun safety. (Yinz know what I mean, I hope.)
It reminds me of a few chunks of lead & copper that have hit my cellar wall or floor with a flat mark from concrete. A couple went through a stack of beverage boxes on purpose.
Thanks for the post, and reminder to not drink the pickle juice out of the jar until all the pickles are gone!
Seriously thank you. JT
 
Glad you are not injured and there was no serious damage, but instead of using empty shells as snap caps, consider using the yellow colored drywall anchors. There is no way of confusing a drywall anchor with a live 22LR round.
 
AJ said:
When I taught Combat Handgun in the Corps, I use to tell the students. "When you handle guns long enough you probably will have an accidental discharge, hopefully it is down range!".
Click to expand...
I have a friend who was an armorer for the US Army in Viet Nam and has kept at it ever since. He takes exception to me when I say this. He has never had one. No negligent discharge of any kind in over 50 years.
"No excuse!" he says.
I scratch my head. It IS possible.
He does not dry fire practice!
He does not care about marksmanship either.
My NRA certified instructor back in 1999(?) shot a hole in the ceiling at the Grandview Firearms Training Center in front of the owner and a room full of clients. I never saw him again. I always felt it was a mistake to fire him because he was so personally connected with the people and brought in a lot of business.

Kind and Good to You,
BrianD
 
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Brian Parrish said:
I have a friend who was an armorer for the US Army in Viet Nam and has kept at it ever since. He takes exception to me when I say this. He has never had one. No negligent discharge of any kind in over 50 years.
"No excuse!" he says.
I scratch my head. It IS possible.
He does not dry fire practice!
He does not care about marksmanship either.
My NRA certified instructor back in 1999(?) shot a hole in the ceiling at the Grandview Firearms Training Center in front of the owner and a room full of clients. I never saw him again. I always felt it was a mistake to fire him because he was so personally connected with the people and brought in a lot of business.

Kind and Good to You,
BrianD
Click to expand...


A lot of folks that I know that are gunsmiths, owners of gun shops and collectors hardly ever to never fire a firearms. It just amazes me that they do not.

I visited some friends at a local PD when I was stationed in Southern Ca. In the locker room were holes in walls, overhead and lockers. All were circled with initials and a date in the circle. They were accidental discharges and left there to remind the officers to be careful!
 
I was going to post this a few days ago and changed my mind, but since you brought it up...
I was in my walk in vault looking over the kids and saw a 12ga. shotgun that was retired from bedroom duty. It was a little dusty, so I grabbed a rag to give it a wipe down. I opened the action (it's a pump), checked the bore, closed it up and began wiping it down. BANG! Nice one inch hole in the ceiling and a ringing in my ears. Apparently I had never unloaded the magazine after removing it from the house. I don't know where my mind was (thankfully it wasn't on the ceiling at that point), but I always check my weapons for clear when I pick them up. Fortunately, rule two prevented a tragedy while I broke the other three. There are no "accidental" discharges, only negligent ones. Glad to hear no real harm was done to the OP or his family.
 
I take my16 year old granddaughter shooting from time to time. She wanted to shoot the Luger I had, so as I was showing her how to load the gun and chamber a round. When I dropped the toggle, BANG, the gun went off. Fortunately I had it pointed downrange as I had drilled into hear head from the moment she first touched a gun. That unexpected bang sure reinforced that lesson.

Fifty years ago I had another ND when out hunting with my brother. We had just shot at some wild dogs on our club property, I was shooting a model 94 Winchester. When we finished missing all the dogs, I closed the lever. Apparently my finger was still in the trigger guard and the gun went off. I had the muzzle pointed skyward, so nothing bad happened.

If you are around these things long enough a slip up can happen. THank goodness only your holster was wounded.
 
seasoldier85 said:
I was going to post this a few days ago and changed my mind, but since you brought it up...
I was in my walk in vault looking over the kids and saw a 12ga. shotgun that was retired from bedroom duty. It was a little dusty, so I grabbed a rag to give it a wipe down. I opened the action (it's a pump), checked the bore, closed it up and began wiping it down. BANG! Nice one inch hole in the ceiling and a ringing in my ears. Apparently I had never unloaded the magazine after removing it from the house. I don't know where my mind was (thankfully it wasn't on the ceiling at that point), but I always check my weapons for clear when I pick them up. Fortunately, rule two prevented a tragedy while I broke the other three. There are no "accidental" discharges, only negligent ones. Glad to hear no real harm was done to the OP or his family.
Click to expand...

I was assigned to Naval Station Long Beach, Ca. as an security/firearms instructor. We had a SWAT team member clear his M1911 and dry fire it into a clearing barrel. Only problem was he forgot to drop the mag before racking the slide. He dropped the mag after racking the slide and dropped the hammer. You guessed it, he had loaded another round into the empty chamber and the gun worked as advertised and went bang. Took his M1911 away from him and gave him a Ruger Security Six to carry as a side arm.
 
Our local range had a accidental discharge. As I hear it a shooter was shooting a lever rifle in .22 LR. He open the lever and he and a range officer verified the chamber was empty. He moved the rifle off the firing line and put it in his rifle case. To get it in the case he had to close the lever, he then noticed the hammer was back so he pulled the trigger.....it went bang a shooter a couple of stations down said "I think I have been shot!". No one checked the tube to see if anymore rounds were in there. The shootee was somewhat lucky as it was a through and through with no damage to bone or arteries.
 
I appreciate your willingness to stand up and speak about an embarassing incident as a lesson for others. Mine occurred 50 years ago when I was 17 and involved a pump 12 gauge that I thought I had emptied but miscounted the ejected rounds. I came close to killing my best friend who was walking across the room and was 3-4 feet away from passing in front of the muzzle. I have been anal about checking the chamber/magazine/cylinder ever since.
 
There are so many crazy ways to get into trouble with a firearm that we would never anticipate that it's a minor miracle those of us who have been active users for a long time haven't made more mistakes than we have. That is why muzzle discipline is so critical. A ND may be embarrassing, but if nothing or no one is harmed, it's mostly a stunning lesson in humility. :o
 
AJ said:
I was assigned to Naval Station Long Beach, Ca. as an security/firearms instructor. We had a SWAT team member clear his M1911 and dry fire it into a clearing barrel. Only problem was he forgot to drop the mag before racking the slide. He dropped the mag after racking the slide and dropped the hammer. You guessed it, he had loaded another round into the empty chamber and the gun worked as advertised and went bang. Took his M1911 away from him and gave him a Ruger Security Six to carry as a side arm.
Click to expand...

Had a similar event occur in Hawaii at West Loch. It's a long story, but basically this Marine was goofing around with his 1911 while on post. Did the same thing, racked the slide then dropped the mag. Ended up putting a round through his trousers in a most sensitive location. Admittedly, THAT was pure recklessness, not negligence.
 
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