My first accidental discharge. Shaken.

[SSN Vet]

This is one of the very few AD threads that I would agree was an Ad and not a ND.

Good job keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Safe gun handling practices can turn even an AD into a non-event.

 

[bigbomar4]

While I have not had a AD yet I have had a delayed firing that scared me to death. While out bird hunting a few years ago I pulled the trigger and hurd the small bang from the primer but the shell did not go off. I lowered the shot gun but still kept it down range then it when off. It dang near broke my thumb that was behind the release but other than that is just scared me. It was pounded into me at an early age the muzzle always stays in a safe direction.

 

[twofifty]

Contributors to the AD/ND scene include:

- fatigue.
- allowing oneself to be distracted mid-task, such as while unloading a firearm or dry firing.
- loss of task focus due to being preoccupied.
- complacency.


Thanks to the OP for sharing this story with us.

 

[Single Action Six]

It Wasn't The Star's Fault.. But The Bad Right Grip!!

Any gun design (and there are quite a few) that run trigger linkage OUTSIDE the frame is a gun I would never consider owning. You know why now. European designs are famous for this. There are much more intelligent ways to route the trigger linkage.

Ahhhh..

If you read "ThePlato's" post it was said (in part)..

The Star model S uses a trigger bar that sits FLUSH with the frame on the right side. Unknown to me was the fact that these grips had a lip incorrectly placed that could catch the trigger bar.

As I said in my title.. "It Wasn't The Star's Fault.. But The Bad Right Grip!!"

Single Action Six

 

[Smaug]

First Accidental Discharge? How many do you plan on having?!

My older Bersa 83 also has the linkage running on the outside of the frame. If the grip screw is tight, it binds on the bar. If it is just a tad loose, all is well. (except the disconcerting feeling of that right grip panel moving a bit.)

My advice is to leave the grip screw just a bit loose, so it can move as needed.

I tried carving out a little of the grip, but I could tell it was going to end in disaster. There's not much wood there.

Check out this AD video. That should make you feel a little better about your AD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYvAxLX6OzE

Edit: here's my Bersa:


I don't consider it a bad design. But with this design, they need to make DAMNED sure they machine the grips right. It just so happens that on my gun and yours, they didn't quite get it.

 

[M_E_]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYvAxLX6OzE&feature=youtu.be

 

[Dapperdan]

I've had one AD in shooting hundreds of thousands of rounds. NEVER WILL or IT. No one hurt, no property damage, and believe it or not, not entirely operator error. Firing a Smith 586 with 357 rds., I had fired several without problem, then I got one that fired, but it locked up the cylinder. I attempted to open the cylinder, also tried pulling the trigger, hard. No go, so I attempted to DA the trigger while turning the cylinder with my off hand. That did it alright, the thing freed up and boom. This was a 586 no dash, and was later recalled by Smith for exactly that problem. Something to do with the hammer nose(firing Pin)and its bushing. I sold the gun a few months later, the recall occurred after I had sold it. Same thing was occurring with LE guns shortly after the 586/686 was introduced. Apparently, primer metal was flowing back into the bushing recess and creating this problem. The fix for this did not occur until the 586-2 production was out. Scary, but following the rules of safety, no harm done except for some powder burns on my off hand from the barrel/cylinder gap. There is no luck involved in proper gun handling techniques. Stay aware.

 

[Krogen]

Since we're all sharing.... I've had two NDs. NDs not ADs, because both were my doggone fault. The first was a Contender in .357 Herrett. Trigger was adjusted with too little engagement. OK if you close the action, then cock the hammer. I was talking to my buddy beside me, the gun pointed downrange. Then we proceded to start shooting. I thumbed back the hammer and then closed the action. That dropped the hammer and it send a round downrange. Eee-yikes. Nobody hurt, just my pride. It was a lesson learned.

The second was a .44 Mag. I had pulled down some rounds using an inertial bullet puller and rather than decap live primers, I was going to fire them in the gun. I carefully looked in each case to see that there was no bullet or powder. However, the bullets that I'd used were those Speer half jacketed types. After the fact, I discovered the lead core had come out of one, leaving the jacket and a heavy load of 296 in the case. Looking in the cases, it looked like a dark hole. I should have looked for the flash-hole with a flashlight. Down in the basement, I fired those "primers" at the foundation. Got a heck of a surprise and a little crater in the foundation when that round went off. Only a jacket, but it did some damage. Again, the gun was pointed in a safe direction, and another lesson learned.

 

[LightningMan]

I remember my first and hopefully my only ND, which thankfully was pointed in a safe direction. Even still, I did not sleep at all that night. LM

 

[Hi-Lander]

I was at the range last week for a bowling pin shoot. A guy was shooting a 1911. He was counting his rounds so he would be ready for a quick mag change. He left one chambered so he would not have to mess with the slide release. While swapping mags he had his finger on the trigger. Round bounced off the wall about 15 feet to the left in front of him. He was white as a ghost. There was about 30 people there. Everyone ducked when it happend.

 

[Jim K]

On these sites I occasionally read comments extolling "immediate action" (or some other term) which involves always training to keep the gun in action by whatever means, no matter what happens. Usually the advocates cite "train as you fight" or some such silly gunzine slogan.

I can see some point in that when one is under fire but to train oneself to take automatic, unthinking action on a civilian range is, IMHO, both unnecessary and dangerous, especially when it involves placing the gun in a position where it is pointing in an unsafe direction or at a portion of your own anatomy. The usual response is that "in combat you need to be able to do things without thinking about them." Oddly, I hear this most from people who have never been in combat and are never likely to be, but who talk a great fight.

Safety comes first. We don't need unthinking robots on the ranges.

Jim

 

[1911Tuner]

Jim...My guess is that the guy Hi-Lander mentioned had an extended mag catch and slidestop on his pistol. With the standard catch, I have to shift the gun in my hand in order to reach the button, and it forces me to get my finger off the trigger...and I have fairly big hands. When the controls are reachable with the firing hand, it encourages leaving the finger on the trigger...especially the extended slidestop...in the attempt to shave a few fractions of a second off the reload. The result is predictable.

Easy to forget to get off the trigger under stress...which is why the US Cavalry requested the manual safety on the 1911. They realized that a man under fire might forget to straighten out his trigger finger before jamming the pistol into a holster... something that Gaston Glock apparently failed to consider or chose to ignore...eventually leading to an addition to the English vocabulary. "Glock Leg."

Sometimes I have to wonder:

"Gaston! What the hell were you thinking?"