I'm in the hospital because I made a near-fatal error

Thank you for sharing the unfortunate event with us. To repeat, the four rules are there for a reason.

Recently I violated one of the four rules. I was working on the magazine release spring on one of my 1911's. After replacing it, I decided to go through and replace all my mag release springs on the rest of my 1911's. I got to my carry piece, dropped the magazine, and realized it was loaded. I was shocked - not that it was loaded, but that I'd been treating it as if it was unloaded. I didn't break any of the other rules: I had it pointed in a safe direction, my finger wasn't on the trigger. But I wasn't really sure of what I was pointing at or what was behind it. So maybe I broke two rules. So how did that happen? I was in a hurry. My plans changed at the last minute. What I was doing and what I was working on suddenly changed to include additional firearms. I wasn't focused on safety, I was thinking about getting things done in a hurry. In my case, in this instance, nothing happened. But it was thoughtless and careless on my part.

edited for grammar
 
Zahn said:
Thank you for sharing the unfortunate event with us. To repeat, the four rules are there for a reason.

Recently I violated one of the four rules. I was working on the magazine release spring on one of my 1911's. After replacing it, I decided to go through and replace all my mag release springs on the rest of my 1911's. I got to my carry piece, dropped the magazine, and realized it was loaded. I was shocked - not that it was loaded, but that I'd been treating it as if it was unloaded. I didn't break any of the other rules: I had it pointed in a safe direction, my finger wasn't on the trigger. But I wasn't really sure of what I was pointing at or what was behind it. So maybe I broke two rules. So how did that happen? I was in a hurry. My plans changed at the last minute. What I was doing and what I was working on suddenly changed to include additional firearms. I wasn't focused on safety, I was thinking about getting things done in a hurry. In my case, in this instance, nothing happened. But it was thoughtless and careless on my part.

edited for grammar
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Not to drift this thread but I understand your situation completely. My range gun is never loaded. It’s identical to my carry gun which is always loaded. I always remind myself to treat both of the guns as if they are always loaded. Especially when changing parts or cleaning. Can’t lose focus and assume anything with either gun.
 
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks for sharing your unfortunate experience. I was taught to always clear twice to avoid being tricked into seeing what we believe rather than what actually exists. My second clear is invariably a slower process than first inspection.
 
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Congratulations on your disqualification for a Darwin award. All of us make mistakes from time to time. We know how to be safe but we talk ourselves out of it by being pressed for time, distracted or changing up our standard routine. Thank you for reminding us that it can happen to anyone. I hope your healing goes well.
 
Bearcat1982 said:
Appreciate the replies, and mods allowing it. I Can't sleep and feels good to talk about it honestly. Such a dumb thing to do. And I feel like I need to own it maybe some one will read it and it will cause someone to avoid doing the same.
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Almost every shooter I know has at some point had a negligent discharge, whether they will admit it or not. Most are just lucky the consequences are not dire. Sorry yours had the consequences it did but very happy you are going to pull through. Best wishes for your recovery.
 
Bearcat1982--

Do what the Docs tell you to do; you're in good hands now. This'll pass and you'll be more the wiser for this (admittedly tough) life experience that you've generously shared with everyone. Admitting error is an act of wisdom itself even moreso for the vulnerability that you expose yourself to by doing so. Yours is an example of what can go wrong when attention fails or when haste prevails and worthy of our attention, understanding, and compassion. Get well soon.
 
And other people with Appendix Carry of a 9mm , .40 etc probably think that it can’t happen due to good habit patterns.

If alone they might have no chance to call 911….or be able to coherently describe a rural location.

My wife would be Widowed a second time, and grow old all alone- let’s contemplate That——-:( It'seasy to eventually make Any kind of mistake.

Grim Sidenote: On a "Band Of Brothers Tour" with a Flemish guy outside Bastogne Belgium ten years ago, not too far from the E Company foxholes, four young German soldiers each had received terribly painful stomach/abdominal injuries from a shell or grenade.

A US soldier (in E?) saw the wounded men, walked up to them, felt bad about their agony-- and left them with a Mauser holding four rounds (this is Not in the book).
As he walked a distance away he heard the shots as they stopped their unendurable agony by killing themselves, or something like that. Our guide Reg Jans (or Jaan) was personally well-acquainted with a few men of E Company.

OP: Wishing you a speedy recovery.
 
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citizenconn said:
Almost every shooter I know has at some point had a negligent discharge, whether they will admit it or not. Most are just lucky the consequences are not dire. Sorry yours had the consequences it did but very happy you are going to pull through. Best wishes for your recovery.
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I'm very confident that there are a LOT of NDs that are NEVER spoken of or admitted to. I've personally witnessed, or seen the aftermath of, 6 different ones that involved more than just a simple discharge where the bullet went off into the air or into the ground. That is, the bullets went through a ceiling, door, window frame, or car fender, or the gun recoiled out of the owner's hands and chipped the toe of the stock.
 
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Ignition Override said:
And other people with Appendix Carry of a 9mm , .40 etc probably think that it can’t happen due to good habit patterns.

If alone they might have no chance to call 911….or be able to coherently describe a rural location.

My wife would be Widowed a second time, and grow old all alone- let’s contemplate That——-:(

It’s easy to eventually make Any kind of mistake.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Click to expand...

To be completely honest, no mode of carry is without risk nor any one superior to any other. Humans are fallible beings and the ''weak point'' in every system.
 
I6turbo said:
That is, the bullet went through a ceiling, door, window frame, car fender,
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I saw the aftermath of a 7.62 FMJ ND that went off inside a home. It broke into three pieces and ultimately went through 3-4 interior walls, a closet door, numerous jackets hanging in the closet, a bathroom vanity, a bath tub and finally through several dozen classic rock albums in a different closet before stopping. I saw another 7.62 FMJ ND at a clearing barrel and that round basically amputated a soldier's leg at the thigh. I have seen numerous self inflicted injuries from handgun NDs in the ER but none as bad as what the OP
described.
 
That is, the bullets went through a ceiling, door, window frame, or car fender, or the gun recoiled out of the owner's hands and chipped the toe of the stock.
Click to expand...

redcon1 said:
I saw the aftermath of a 7.62 FMJ ND that went off inside a home. It broke into three pieces and ultimately went through 3-4 interior walls, a closet door, numerous jackets hanging in the closet, a bathroom vanity, a bath tub and finally through several dozen classic rock albums in a different closet before stopping. I saw another 7.62 FMJ ND at a clearing barrel and that round basically amputated a soldier's leg at the thigh. I have seen numerous self inflicted injuries from handgun NDs in the ER but none as bad as what the OPs described.
Click to expand...

I edited my original post to clarify that these were different bullets going through these things in my case.

One of the NDs i witnessed was a 30-06 from a 1903 A3 barely missing my head at point-blank range and going through a window frame.
 
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redcon1 said:
I saw the aftermath of a 7.62 FMJ ND that went off inside a home. It broke into three pieces and ultimately went through 3-4 interior walls, a closet door, numerous jackets hanging in the closet, a bathroom vanity, a bath tub and finally through several dozen classic rock albums in a different closet before stopping. I saw another 7.62 FMJ ND at a clearing barrel and that round basically amputated a soldier's leg at the thigh. I have seen numerous self inflicted injuries from handgun NDs in the ER but none as bad as what the OP described.
Click to expand...
That needs to be posted so everyone sees it.

This past week we had a local cop at a courthouse shoot himself in the foot when reholstering his service pistol

Have a friend that when he was a kid was goofing around with an original Trapdoor Springfield.45-70. Him and his cousin would put a round in the chamber then flip it open to pop out the round. One time when they slapped the cover closed it went off. Went through the bedroom wall, through the chair his uncle had been sitting in just minutes before in the living room, through a TV, through the exterior wall of their house, and buried in a stud in the neighbor’s house

Anyway, everyone that has been around guns long enough eventually does something stupid. Hopefully you will heal completely
 
I shot my finger one time. I was cutting a jug in half with my SW 22A. I was down to a sliver. I held put my hand on the barrel to hold it more steady. Here my finger was in front of the barrel. I felt a thump. Thinking it was from the blast. My son yells your bleeding. I always keep black tape and paper towels on hand. They make a great bad-aide. After i got home. I took a look at the wound. I cut a section out of my finger. It had a grove for awhile until it grew back.

As far as a negligent discharge goes. I was working on loads in 45 acp. I was plunk testing them in my 1911. Some how i pulled the trigger. 1st fear the bullet went though the floor and it hit some one down stairs. After i checked to see if every one was ok. My son help me find where the bullet hit. It went through a plastic set of drawers into the outer wall. We ran out to see if it went through. It did not. Any way ill pray for a quick recovery James.
 
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