UPDATE: Negligent Discharge at the deer camp

[Faulkner]

It's a shame it was a pre-lock body guard, my 25 year old Marlin 30/30 has the crossbolt safety which many people hate but it doesn't bother me like the lock on a newer Smith revolver. I always leave the cross bolt safety on while loading/unloading but click it off when the hammer's down and I'm in my hunting position.

I hate a crossbolt safety on a lever gun and I installed a safety delete kit on my new Marlin 336Y to get rid of it. The Glenfield M30 in this situation is pre-safety by a couple of decades, but I have to concede that had a cross bolt safety been utilized in this instance it would in all likelihood have prevented the AD.

 

[ladder13]

Good for you to keep calm throughout the incident, it sure helped things afterwards.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

It is not a matter of if but when. That is why the number one safety rule is muzzle control! Above all else. It will happen but no one gets hurt.
Never ever let the muzzle point at anyone. When called on it people always say "but it's not loaded". Even gun store employees.

 

[6518John]

It would be interesting if one could compile all the unintended discharges and determine the percentage caused by poorly designed/installed slings, trigger shoes, holsters and other gun "add ons" or "improvements." I would bet they would comprise a huge percentage.

 

[Rule3]

Not to "nit pick" and certainly glad that no one was injured or worse, but..


The rifle was NOT pointed in a safe direction, the barrel(muzzle) was "pointed" at something he did not wish to shoot or destroy. Sorry but its the facts.

 

[Univibe]

I hear a lot of stories from East Texas deer hunters about the considerable quantities of whiskey consumed in deer camps, deer blinds, and other such areas. Even if I were interested in deer hunting, I think that would scare me off.

 

[Faulkner]

Good for you to keep calm throughout the incident, it sure helped things afterwards.

Ha, that comes from years on the LE range with new recruits, many who don't have a prior history with firearms.

I've worked with LE trainers who scream and holler and cuss at recruits when they make mistakes as part of their training style, and that may work for them but not really my style. I was working recently with a group of half a dozen new reserve officers and while on the 15 yard line I called for the shooters to draw their weapons and go to low ready. One of them drew his gun, went to low ready with his finger on the and squeezed off a round into the ground.

I looked over at him and in a firm but calm manner told him, "okay, now that you have test fired your firearm, put it back in the holster, slowly count to five and redraw it and go to low ready without your finger on the trigger."

He did as I instructed and then I told him, "now that you have demonstrated that you can go to low ready correctly my expectation is that you do it that way from now on, am I clear?" They call it training for a reason.

Not to "nit pick" and certainly glad that no one was injured or worse, but..


The rifle was NOT pointed in a safe direction, the barrel(muzzle) was "pointed" at something he did not wish to shoot or destroy. Sorry but its the facts.

At this point I think Mr. John would agree with you.

I hear a lot of stories from East Texas deer hunters about the considerable quantities of whiskey consumed in deer camps, deer blinds, and other such areas. Even if I were interested in deer hunting, I think that would scare me off.

I'm sure there are deer camps with that culture. I've never seen so much as a beer in the 30+ years I've been hunting in our camp.

 

[SFC Rick]

The snubbie just needs a barrel replacement if that's the only damage.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[ColbyBruce]

I own a rifle just like that; I drilled the stock for a sling swivel stud and slid a band around the magazine tube for the front swivel. If he would rather not drill his stock, he could try this method. My brother made this for his Remington 81 .300 Savage.

 

[Univibe]

You hear and read about the military in Vietnam late in the war. Poor morale mixed with drug use and everybody carrying an M16. Accidental discharges?

 

[woodsltc]

Faulkner, first I want to thank you for sharing this with us.

Second, what an object lesson & safety reminder for all of us.

And third, so glad no one was injured.


Don

 

[ColbyBruce]

The snubbie just needs a barrel replacement if that's the only damage.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

The damage is a bit more intense.

 

[Gaffer]

Having been a competitive shooter all my life I have learned that if you are around guns it is not a matter of "if" you are going to have an ND, but rather a manner of "when" you are going to have one. If these [people who teach gun safety were honest they too would admit that they happen to even them. The real help is that even if one rule is broken there are others that aren't so the bullet goes safely into the ground or air and all you have is one embarrassed gun owner. Most know what I am saying!

 

[pawngal]

I'm quite certain that a few of us have had a ND. I'll admit I did. Was totally my fault and really dumb. Nothing living was hurt. If anybody wants to know what damage a .38 P+ can do, PM me.

 

[Faulkner]

The snubbie just needs a barrel replacement if that's the only damage.

The damage is a bit more intense.

Yeah, the frame is ruined. Plus, when I looked at the Bodyguard from above I could tell the frame was actually warped.

 

[peyton]

Glad that no one was hurt. My cousin has a Remington 700 that is nearly 40 years old. He has put a hole in the floorboard of his truck and one through the hunting cabin roof. Both times, he swears he did not squeeze the trigger. It goes off when he closes the bolt.
I explained to him that there was a recall because of bad triggers and he should get a gunsmith to check it. I offered to let him use one of my rifles but "Nope, my Daddy gave it to me and I am afraid gunsmith will keep it"!!
At least he made the agreement to not load it until he is in the deer stand.

 

[K Frame Keith]

Thanks for the important safety reminder and excellent pictures. Lessons are always better with visual aids.

 

[ldausmc1369]

Had a 30-06 Remington 700 discharge into the air when I took the safety off to unload before climbing out of my stand. Scared the xxxx out of me! Sent rifle to Remington, new trigger installed, no issues since... a moment of absence or a brain fart caused a 9mm hole to appear in my desk... semi auto, did not do chamber check.... it's not IF, it's WHEN..

 

[Golddollar]

Glad that no one was hurt. My cousin has a Remington 700 that is nearly 40 years old. He has put a hole in the floorboard of his truck and one through the hunting cabin roof. Both times, he swears he did not squeeze the trigger. It goes off when he closes the bolt.

I witnessed something like this many years ago. I can't swear to the model of the rifle, but it was a commercial rifle. My buddy was having a hard time closing the bolt. All of a sudden he got the bolt closed and the rifle discharged. Luckily I was behind him and the rifle was pointed away.

 

[Faulkner]

Mr. John, being a close friend of my dad, was invited to our family's Thanksgiving dinner at my parents home so I called and asked him to bring his Glenfield rifle with him. I'd stopped by Fort Thompson's in Sherwood, Arkansas, earlier in the week and picked up a set of sling mounts and a quality sling to install on his lever gun for him.

He arrived early for the festivities so we took the rifle out my dad's shop I used my dad's tools to install the sling mounts. As my dad and Mr. John stood around the wood stove in the shop and watched Mr. John related about his trip to the insurance company to file a claim on the door and then his visits to a couple of body shops to get some competitive bids. Interesting, with this type of incident the insurance agent said there is no deductible, so Mr. John was pleased to hear that.

As for the repair estimates, looks like the repair costs is at $1,800 to fix the truck door. He said the body shop guys all got a chuckle at his expense while they were working up the estimates.

Lastly, he took the Smith & Wesson 38 Bodyguard to a gunsmith who said about the only thing salvageable were the cylinder and few other parts and offered him $25.00 for it . . . he didn't say if he took the offer or not. Mr. John also asked me to be on the lookout for a replacement. After the Thanksgiving meal we talked a bit more about a replacement and the many available options as a replacement. I happened to have my 442 and Ruger LC9s with me and showed them to him. He said he'd had the model 38 a long time and was fond of it and he wanted to look around for another one of those.