I had a negligent discharge today...

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Glock22

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So today I had a negligent discharge this evening. I got complacent and forgot that I had put two rounds of buckshot in my HD shotgun's magazine tube. I pumped it once nothing came out and I assumed that it was empty. So I decided to dry fire it. I brought it up to my shoulder and lined up the ghost ring sights and pulled the trigger.

The worst sound is when you hear a bang instead of a click. My room smelled like gunpowder, my ears were ringing and I saw a golf ball sized hole in my mirror and I could see into my wall.

Seeing that hole and hearing that boom was the worst and most surreal moment of my life. The first thought that went through my head was, "I can't believe I just did that". The 00 buckshot did not penetrate through the house so that is a blessing.

After it happened I wanted to cry, vomit and a lot of other things all at the same time because I did not believe what I had done. I am going to keep the empty shot shell as a visible reminder of what happened today. I really thought that it would never happen to me. But further possible tragedy was averted because I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Afterwards I went for a drive to clear my mind. I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight because I am so keyed up. I know I screwed up and I am forever going to be more careful. So that is my story...
 
Good work on keeping the muzzle in a safe direction. The great thing about the four rules is that unless you violate more than one of them, you are limited in how much damage you can do.

What all and how far did the buckshot penetrate?
 
sorry to hear it, but i suppose better to happen under these circumstances than some one get hurt.

quick question. do you live real rural? i mean. if your neighbors called in reporting a gun shot. and then you leaving the house and driving away, could lead to much confusion. and probibly a high stress traffic stop.
 
Through my mirror and into the wall where once it hit the wall it went sideways kind of. All told it penetrated about 10 inches diagonally.
 
It has been said that a ND is only a second away from happening to any shooter, regardless of experience or due caution. It just takes a moment of inattention, and any one of us can become complacent if we are not totally focused 100% of the time. And statistically it is difficult to do anything 100-percent of the time.

It happened to be your turn. Thank God it wasn't worse.

BUT, I would surmise that it will NEVER happen to you again, and that is the "positive" ending to your story.

I think it takes balls to confess when NDs happen. The one time it happened to me was 25-years ago and there was no internet group to share the experience with.
 
After it happened I wanted to cry, vomit and a lot of other things all at the same time because I did not believe what I had done.
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uh... wow, accidents happen, don't beat yourself up. Guessing it won't happen again.

Not to be insensitive but..

Through my mirror and into the wall
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Were you posing in the mirror?


:D (cheer up dude)
 
Thisis a good time to examine what the load did in damage, and penetration.
I have long been a detractor of OO Buck as a home defense weapon, because of overpenetration issues. How many walls did this single round penetrate? How much spread? can you supply photos?
if the buckshot penetrated one wall, and struck another with semi penetration, it had enough power to kill a child in the next room.
think about that.
 
I'm glad you're safe. It's good nobody got hurt, aside from your ego. But hey, a shot to your ego is better to a shot anywhere else, right?
 
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And now to answer questions I was not posing in the mirror thats just where I happened to be pointing it. They penetrated about 10 inches and after it entered the wall they started to deviate and go sideways. That is why the shot did not penetrate all the way through the house. I also think that it may have hit a stud.

Afterwards I went outside to with my surefire to see if it penetrated the house and it didn't. When I was out there my neighbor who is a hunter safety instructor came outside and asked if I heard the shot. So I told him yes, it was me and I then told him the story. The police didn't show up so I assume that no one called it in.
 
Originally posted by hankpac:
I have long been a detractor of OO Buck as a home defense weapon, because of overpenetration issues. How many walls did this single round penetrate? How much spread? can you supply photos?
if the buckshot penetrated one wall, and struck another with semi penetration, it had enough power to kill a child in the next room.
think about that.
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Sir, would you please read your own post again, and wise the hell up.

Penetration thru one wall and into another is going to occur, whether it's 9mm, .45, .223, .38-Special, .380, .22LR, #1 Buck,.... should I go on??????????

Please let the original poster keep his thread ON TOPIC.

it had enough power to kill a child in the next room. think about that.
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Practically any firearm has the potential to do that. We don't need you to remind us of that.

You wanted to add the element of drama into this thread. You succeeded. And that's totally inappropriate.
 
Dry-firing should only be done after you have triple-checked for live ammo.

Always remove the ammunition source, operate the mechanism at least two cycles, and then VISUALLY INSPECT for the presence of ammunition.

As this lesson has taught you, it is not acceptable to "forget" that a gun is loaded - especially if you are manipulating the trigger.

Of all guns, I think a pump shotgun is one of those guns that you would notice if you were chambering a live round. What else was going on that you could have not noticed the sound and feel of a live round feeding through the mechanism versus a slack mechanism?

I negligently fired a 30-30 in an occupied kitchen in 1976. I had "forgotten" that it was loaded.
No excuse. Just stupid. It was loud. Very, very loud. I remember that smell too.

P.S.
You can take down the Christmas lights.
 
Of all guns, I think a pump shotgun is one of those guns that you would notice if you were chambering a live round. What else was going on that you could have not noticed the sound and feel of a live round feeding through the mechanism versus a slack mechanism?
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It was just me being careless and complacent.
 
I can only imagine how loud that was. How long did the ringing last? Hopefully you didn't suffer any permanent hearing damage.

Dope
 
I hate when that happens.

No one should be so complacent or so smug to think that it can't happen to them. It can. Sometimes to the most experienced because they become so used to the routine of gun and ammo handling that they allow a momentary lapse of concentration, and....bang.

Ditto on how extremely important the four rules are. As has been said, if you screw up on one, the other three can limit the consequences.

I wrote about my ND a couple years ago. Was cleaning and reassembling a couple of Glocks. Finished one, inserted a loaded mag and set it aside to later go back upstairs to the strongbox. Worked on the other one for a while. Started dry firing it, concentrating on the trigger pull. Absent mindedly (that's the flaw) picked up the other one to compare the trigger pull, completely forgetting it had a loaded mag. Racked it, pointed it into the crawl space, and....bang. Even though I believed I was handling an unloaded gun, I still pointed it in a safe direction (into the basement crawl space with cement block and solid earth beyond). Now, when handling guns in a cleaning or dry firing situation, I triple check that there is no ammo or loaded mags anywhere in the vicinity. Also, remembering to always check the chamber when picking up each different gun--even when going back and forth. It's not silly, it's smart. We are human and mental lapses occur if we get complacent or smug.

Glad no one was hurt.

K
 
I wonder if the ND is going to add to your seven years of bad luck... Maybe you can serve that sentence concurrently.

P.S. You might want to get some snap caps for dry firing. If there is a snap cap in the chamber there is certainly not going to be a live round.
 
You know what, I applaud you. Here's why.

First you pointed it in a 'safe' direction before dry firing. That act alone saved your bacon and someone elses.

Second we're all human, despite what some people like to believe. We all make mistakes. I certainly have. But you readily admitted your fault and even exposed yourself on this forum to the (potential) wolves with much humility.

In my opinion a true conscientious gun owner reacts exactly as you did. Now if you had laughed about it and had all your buddies come over to inspect, I would've :scrutiny:.

Oh and we can all learn from this too. I certainly have.
 
It has been said that a ND is only a second away from happening to any shooter, regardless of experience or due caution
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(Edited -- Please mind your manners/VOLK)

Must be said by the same people that say, hold my beer and watch this.
 
Thank the Lord no one was hurt. Last year my neighbor bought a .22 survival rifle for $5. It was a jamomatic so I told her to bring it to me and I'd see if I could get it to work. I cleaned it, loaded her up and took it outside. I fired 4 or 5 rounds before it jammed. I brought it back in the house and opened and closed the bolt about a dozen times (with the mag. out). I was too lazy to get my reading glasses to inspect the chamber, so I just pointed her at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. There was a live round stuck in the chamber. That's why rule # 1 is rule # 1. There were 4 or 5 kids in the house at the time (they all shoot) and after that happened I reminded them as to why you always point your muzzle in a safe direction. I hope that is a lesson they will never forget.
 
I think it takes balls to confess when NDs happen.
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Yeah, I agree. Thanks for sharing the experience. I can almost imagine the sickness you probably felt after it happened.

Thank the Lord no one was hurt.
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:scrutiny: Why don't we just thank Glock22. He is reading this thread too.
 
well you did suffer hearing damage, but you just lose some of your top-end, high pitches, you won't notice, you lose it with age anyway.

at least you did follow most of the four rules and no one was hurt, and i'm sure this public venting will keep it from happening to you, and better yet you are probably helping prevent a more serious accident by us all reading this.

coulda been MUCH worse
 
There are only two types of gun owners; those that have had a ND and those that will have a ND. Don't ever say it can't happen to you!! We that have had NDs always thought it couldn't happen to us. Mine was with the first 1911 that I ever owned. The only ND in over 40 years of shooting. Resulted in nothing more serious than a hole in the carpet. But scared the :cuss: s__t out of me. I learned the manual of arms with the 1911 very quickly and it will not be forgotten!!!!!!!!!
 
You mean it didn't make a 3 foot diameter hole in the wall? Man, reality is way different than Hollywood huh?


Not meant as a threadjack. Thanks for the pictures.



Be safe.
 
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