Had a close call, and I can say I'm lucky.

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LJ-MosinFreak-Buck

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Well guys, after six (6) years of gun ownership, I have had my first Accidental Discharge (AD) at 2:30 AM Tuesday March 22, 2011, and it scared the S#!% outta me.

I dropped the magazine out of my pistol (Astra A-90 9mm) but forgot to rack the slide to empty the chamber. I was doing some draw/fire drills out of my shoulder holster (Uncle Mikes Horizontal). Apparently it must have manipulated the safety on the draw, because I leave the safety on during these dry fire drills so the two-piece firing pin doesn't get damaged.

Well, as you can imagine, it went bang when I was practicing with one hand draw and fire, into the ceiling at a 45 degree angle, ricocheted off of the floor board of the upstairs, and landed in the laundry room (next room over). Thankfully, no one was hurt, though two sets of ear drums are now ringing (mine and my brother's), and both had an interesting wake up call. Amazingly enough, it didn't wake up my parents or my sister... Interesting.

All in all, I'm thankful for this, because now I am reminded to empty the gun completely every time, glad I never point at anything I don't intend to destroy, and glad to know that everyone walked away a-okay.

Here's a picture of the round recovered.
100_1017.jpg
 
Glad know one was hurt. Must have been very scary. Thanks for the reminder of being extra sure the gun is empty.
 
You are very lucky indeed and thankfully nobody was harmed. Another reminder that we must not ever become complacent when dealing with firearms.

What did you tell your parents?

Again glad no one was hurt.

Shawn
 
I wish to ask about your other methods of safety you use in case something like this happens. NDs happen, no doubt about it but it seems that most folks have many different safety strategies stacked one on the other so even when a ND happens no one is hurt.

For example, when I prepare to dry fire I will unload the gun then check it again then I will never pull the trigger in the direction of anybody.

Do you practice similar techniques?
 
To someone less a-retentive than I am I might look like one of those obsessive/compulsive types with my chamber/cylinder checking, but it's all for the good. You ever hear that pot smoking song? I check it twice before I check it twice, and then I check twice more. No kidding. I'm very glad no one was hurt.
 
I had an accidental discharge w/ 20 guage about twenty years ago. ...very scary...
 
Unfortunately, we all sometimes need a reminder about gun safety.

Thanks for sharing that, I am glad no one was hurt.
 
EEEEEEEEEEK!

just consider that (HOPEFULLY SHORT-TERM) tinnitus (constant noise in the ears) as your wake-up call & reminders.
 
First - I am glad that nobody was injured ( beyond the damage to your hearing however severe that may be in the long run).

Second - HUGE SLAP ON THE WRIST because you were a doof and you know you deserve it! (just like I would if I had done something boneheaded).

Third - Thank you for posting because I firmly believe that we all can benefit from these "wake up" calls. I know that every time I read one of these I step back and do a little review of my firearms handling techniques to see if/where I've become complacent.
 
forgot to rack the slide to empty the chamber
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Why? Distracted, interrupted, multitasking? It's not enough to say you did something wrong--figure out why, to avoid it?
into the ceiling at a 45 degree angle
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Did that represent the safest possible direction for the gun to be pointed when you pulled the trigger? Would you consider buying or constructing a "bullet trap" and do ALL your dry fire into that.

You've been given a gift. An AD/ND is not an opportunity to change one thing, to lessen the chance that this might happen again. It is a wake-up call to change as many things as you can think of, so that the risk of this ever happening again goes as close to zero as you can get--and an opportunity to review your precautions every so often (I hope without another discharge as reminder) and see what ELSE you can do.

Consider AD/NDs as sharks swimming around out there somewhere where you can't see, just waiting for you to let your guard down. One more time.
 
It happens. You never forget it. I had one and I have never forgotten the fear that I might have hurt someone as I shot out onto a busy street through a window. It is not one of my better moments. I won't preach safety because you have already spanked yourself over and over again already.

Parents seem to know things. Your sister, well, if she is like many kids you can't even wake them up unless you drag them out of their beds because they were up late on the internet or playing video games.
 
Just use this to your advantage...

I am a "gun-guy", and spend alot of time teaching new shooters.
In fact, I probably watch other people shoot ten rounds through my guns for every one I shoot.

In this case I was "teaching" a young lady how to use firearms...
Covered the "rules", ad nauseum...
Described and reviewed the different calibers we would be using that day...

Then, seated at the dining room table and explaining the different types of actions...

No ammo anywhere nearby at this time, of course.:rolleyes:

Reviewed lever, bolt, pump, and semi- rifles, ...great...
We covered single and double action revolvers, ...okay...
Did SAO and striker-fired pistols, ...uh-huh...

I realized that I didn't have a TDA pistol on the table...:what:

Opened a nearby cabinet, retrieved a Sig Mosquito...

(Yes, I have loaded guns all over the house.):neener:
(Please no comments on whether this is a good thing, or not:))

Screwed off the can, removed the mag, emptied the chamber and proceeded to explain the differences in trigger pull...

It seems some bonehead decided that this particular model would be safer if the action didn't work without a mag in place...:barf:

So, of course, I picked up the mag, inserted it, pulled the slide back, released it, and then demonstrated that the gun will fire in single-action mode, putting a .22 hole in the ceiling .:cool:

Dumbass.

She was unimpressed, as was my loving wife, who was seated across the room.

Needless to say, it won't happen again.

p
 
Glad to hear no one got hurt. I'm sure it really got your attention. I've seen someone's negligent discharge first hand...I still remember the sinking feeling. I wasn't as lucky, the round hit me.

It was a negligent discharge, not accidental. Best to look at it that way as it was your fault, not the equipment's fault due to failure. I'm not criticizing, just stating the facts brother. :)
 
Needless to say, it won't happen again.
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First, thanks for honestly (bravely) sharing your story. But the above phrase sounds more like a hope than an action plan.

Teaching/demonstrating while handling a loaded firearm is one of the most dangerous things one can do (as a certain DEA agent demonstrated some years back). Our minds are on explaining while our hands are doing what they are used to doing. Bad, bad recipe.

Terminology: this discharge was accidental in the sense it was an accident, not deliberate. It was negligent in the sense that proper safety precautions to prevent it were not followed, and the shooter "owns" the result. I'm happy with either terminology, or even "unintentional" discharge. We all know who's fault an AD/ND is. (Yes, I'm aware that "accidental" is often jargoned into meaning "due to mechanical failure" in this context, but that's not how accidental is usually understood. We might consider the clearer "discharge due to mechanical failure" for those, but I suspect that's too straight-forward.)
 
One idea might be to invest in some snap caps. I'm paranoid about dry firing, and always use a snap cap since they have such a distinct color. Even then, I'm always double and triple checking to make sure it's a snap cap in there.
 
Thanks for sharing that on here. Knowledge is power, and the more info we get that will help all of us to be more careful, the better.

I gave my own negligent discharge account on here a few years ago, and it was embarrassing, but I hope it helped others.

And, yeah, I said 'negligent discharge' as someone else mentioned above.

My middle kid went through Cavalry Scout training with the U.S. Army two summers ago and he said there is no such thing as an 'accidental discharge' in the Army anymore. It's now called a 'negligent discharge'. He knows, because he had a 'negligent discharge' during training. With a .50 cal machine gun. While the Captain was inspecting the Troop. As you can imagine, what happened to him next wasn't pleasant. But he graduated and will never forget the lesson.

Just like I will never forget the lesson learned from my negligent discharge and I am sure you will not either.

Again - thanks for sharing it, and stay safe.
 
First, thanks for honestly (bravely) sharing your story. But the above phrase sounds more like a hope than an action plan.
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Stuff happens...
I wouldn't even begin to attempt to place the blame elsewhere...

It was not an accident, the gun performed exactly how it was designed to.

My "action plan" is to not load and fire a gun at a time when it is inappropriate.
Hope this is sufficient.;)

...and I'm not scared of y'all.:neener:

p
 
As has been pointed out by other posters, yours was not an accidental discharge; it was negligence. BIG! difference.
 
Glad you and everyone else are ok. But, if there ever was a definition of a negligent discharge (ND), this was it. That was no accident discharge.:eek:
 
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