My first Negligent Discharge -hopefully my last

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Triple check ...

Thanks largely to The High Road, I became rededicated to firearms safety several years ago; after all, it is said that a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. One of the things I did was to purchase a package of bright orange nylon wire ties from the electrical department at Home Despot. I keep one inserted through the ejection port, chamber, and barrel of each of my semi-automatics (rifles, pistols, shotguns) as an empty chamber/range flag, but only after I've cleared the magazine. When I pick up a firearm, I still continue to handle and check it as if it were loaded, but the chamber flag gives me some extra peace of mind when casing/uncasing a gun on a trip to the range or inventorying my guns in the safe.

Nova is a stand-up guy in my book.
 
I usually dont comment on this types of threads but I will this time.
I am happy no one was injured or killed.
And I am confident that it will be a very long time, if in fact ever again, Nova makes this type of mistake with a firearm.
All one has to do is think about the consequences of what could have been the result of an unintended discharge in a home setting to sober one up that handling a firearm is serious business.
I personally have never had an AD/ND but I have known of a few cases and have witnessed some very careless handling of firearms in times past.
Everyone just needs to think more and remember the rules of firearm safety.
 
I read a few years ago that someone aimed and discharged an "unloaded" rifle at the family dog. Killed the poor thing. Very sad.
 
When checking for a loaded round, rack the slide several times rapidly.
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I don't get this. Why must it be more than twice, and why rapidly? Isn't it better to do it slow enough to look and feel for live rounds? Afraid that racking it too slow will jam the gun? Don't want that to happen, now do we? Gotta be sure that round feeds perfectly.
 
I personally rack back the slide and engage the slide lock. Then you can do a visual inspection for a round in the chamber and to see light through the magazine well. A physical inspection (feeling for both) is also a good idea.
 
Don't feel so bad. One day before heading to the range I took my FEG PJK-9HP out of the safe to decide if I wanted to take it with. I racked the slide and pulled the trigger. The loud BANG reminded me I had left a loaded magazine in the weapon. Ugh. I shot my gun safe but managed to hit nothing else. Thank God I didn't hit my new water heater right next to my safe. My wife and kids were home at the time. I yelled up the stairs to tell them it was an accident and I was alright. The response I got was, "Did you say something?". "Nope" I replied! Somehow no one even heard it.
 
I did this once. I had an uzi open bolt and was trying to see if the new mag worked in the gun. It was before snap caps and I used you guessed it real ammo. My hand slipped and it fired a round. My wife was on the phone next to the room I was in. Bullet went through two walls and missed a window. My neighbors sons 100k motor home was parked outside. I don't know if it hit it but I never heard anything. I have since kept to my rule that I never use real ammo when playing with a gun in the house. And if for some reason I do have to I point it at the floor in the bottom most part of the home so if it goes bang its only a damaged pc. of sheet rock.
 
SOme of you guys have some scary stories, but you learned.

I actually had some knucklehead at my local range pull out a weapon behind me (a 1911...hammer was down). I reacted by telling him in no uncertain terms to put the damned thing down and keep it boxed until he was at the firing line. He told me, "It's unloaded. I just got it." Never wanted to hit someone so badly in my life (without actually hitting them, that is).

This guy then walked up close to the firing line, and while someone else was in front of him, chambered a round. He was going to wait patiently for his turn to shoot, so he then brings his hand, holding the weapon, to the small of his back and points the muzzle back towards me.

I put daughter in the truck, moved away from her, and proceeded to tell this idiot what he could do with his pistol.

Sometimes, stupidity seems to know no bounds. THAT guys is never going to learn, and thought I was being skittish for pointing out what an ass he was.
 
It was a post just like this one that first brought me to the High Road years ago from a Google search. The frankness of the poster and rational responses convinced me to stay and eventually even make a few comments. Makes me glad to see the thread play out the same way as my first with a mix of gentle understanding and critical but constructive advice.
 
Isn't it safer to handle firearms outside with the muzzle pointed into soft ground? If you then have an accidental firing, the harm would be minimized. I keep my in home handling to an absolute minimum. If I need to operate a gun I go into my backyard and point the muzzle into the lawn. I might harm some earthworms or disturb some ants, but humans and pets should be safe.
 
Good point Lizzie.
In fact after cleaning my concealed carry I go out to the backyard to rack a hot round in the chamber with the muzzle pointing straight down to Mother earth.
It's just my way.
 
re:heeler

Thanks, I get lucky every now and than,

I know folks that take out their handguns and practice pointing them at their televisions. Yes, I know that handling leads to better shooting.

But I was thought to never point any gun at any object I don't tend to put a whole through.

I also believe that alot of informal handling might lead to some complacency on the part of the handler.

I have never had an AD/ND. I hope never to. I guess it might eventually happen to me. But if it does, I hope the muzzle is not pointing at a loved one or valuable object.
 
One of my friends accidentally shot his gunsafe while clearing his Makarov, racked it then removed the magazine. He has been around guns all his life and is getting close to turning 70, do you think he shouldn't own guns anymore Russ Jackson? Is everyone in your family perfect? I'm yet to have a AD/ND but I know I'm not perfect and may have one eventually.
 
I think we have more people in FL hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake, to worry about than a 70 year old having an ad/nd. It has nothing to do wit his age, he just screwed up. I sit many times on the floor by my safe wiping down or otherwise changing holsters etc. There is no one home I have silence and focus, but anyone can make a mistake. A few months ago I got side tracked because I didn't follow my own rules about not answering my wife when I am messing with cleaning guns, and she sidetracked me, at the last second I decided to pull that slide back once more and bingo, live round in there. I caught it, but only because I am anal about rechecking over and over again. It could have turned out different, I dropped the mag but apparentlly she was jabbering, I got up for something and almost forgot to clear the chamber when i came back. She caught me in between my protocals. Best thing is be alone when you do this stuff.
Another tip I found after I turned 60, was , do your work with guns early in the day. As we age we just get naturally tired and not as sharp at 10PM as 10 AM. I don't mess with anything electrcal or mechanical like I used to. I found I could be troubleshooting a computer late at night,"i would stay up till it was done". I screwed up more simple things that took me 5 minutes the following morning to do. Now I realize that and don't fret over it, I know I can fix about anything I have as long as my brain is fresh. Same as what happened to the op, in a sense, wait till you are up and had your coffee before messing with firearms.
 
There are a heck a lot of people here reporting ND's after racking the slide.

And that's because racking the slide is exactly how one LOADS a gun.

To check if it's unloaded, either pull it back just far enough to look in the chamber. Or pull it all the way back and look in the chamber and magwell, then lower it slowly while continuing to look in the chamber to make sure it is STILL empty after you've closed the slide.

Never rack it and let the slide slam home or use the slide release. Ever see that safety video made by the only guy in the room professional enough to handle the Glock fo-tay?
 
There's a LGS in which the folks showing semi-auto pistols perform two very quick "partial" racks of the slide with the mag installed and without doing a visual inspection. Then they hand the pistol to the customer to fondle. All three employees I spoke with showed pistols exactly the same way indicating, to me, that this is how the owner or manager wants them to do it. I won't mention the LGS' name to avoid dirty-ing its reputation.
 
I may have had a ND once back in the 80's, but the gun was also malfunctioning so I'll never know for sure. But I treat it as an NG and make extra effort to never come close to the same situation. Either way, it was bad weapons handling on my point and I have a different way of doing things.

I have been guilty of bad gun safety in the past however and darn near could have died once or twice because of it- mostly in the military. All I can assume was that it wasn't my time and I was spared. Each time, I walked away with a valuable lesson and strive never ever to repeat those lapses.
 
dryfiring is not part of the unloading process.
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If you compete in shooting sports it is.

Range commands: "If finished, unload and show clear.", following by, "If clear, hammer down and holster.". Hammer down is a dry-fire. No use of decockers permitted and even if it's a striker fired gun you still have to go "striker down".

Most guys that I know that have been shooting in such events for a while basically do this as second nature even when not on a stage. When the gun is unloaded, they dry-fire the gun.

Obviously though, the clear in this case wasn't verified.
 
Way to man-up and learn from the situation.

Never had a ND, but I once accidently locked one of our cats in the gunsafe for over a day. Remarkably, the cat did not urinate or deficate in the safe (my first concern ;) ), however it did scratch up the safe lining on the corner, trying to "escape." The cat doesn't go anywhere near the safe now, so who says cats can't be trained. :evil:

Wife was not happy about this occurance and my lack of situational awareness ... but she got over it.
 
FIVETWOSEVEN said:
One of my friends accidentally shot his gunsafe while clearing his Makarov, racked it then removed the magazine. He has been around guns all his life and is getting close to turning 70, do you think he shouldn't own guns anymore Russ Jackson? Is everyone in your family perfect? I'm yet to have a AD/ND but I know I'm not perfect and may have one eventually.
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I really dont think age has anything to do with it. Was it caused by him dry firing a loaded weapon? Was is caused by somethig wrong with the gun? There are rules one must follow when handling guns. When I am handling guns at home it is on a bench with a mat. I have very good lighting. Nobody would disturb me. 1 at a time. Organized and in order. Everything has a place and purpose. I would never handle guns when tired or upset. This makes the chance of a ND even lower. Dry firing a gun into an open space is a ND that could never happen to me. I cannot understand what would posess someone to dry fire a gun at a TV, wall, or someothe object aside from maybe a bullet trap or sand bucket. I think following the same routine is paramount when handling firearms. Just my opinion.

Because someone has been handling guns for a longtime it doesnt give them a pass for negligence....Russ
 
Well I will say this Russ.
It was not uncommon during the 60's or 70's that some gun writers advised to dry fire your deer rifle at fast flash images at the television to get used to quick target and firing aquistion.
I STILL do it in my own home.
And I positively know the rifle/pistol is UNLOADED.
I have been handling and owning firearms since the early 1960's and have never once in my life had an AD/ND even when I was in my sub teens hunting and plinking with the .22 rifle.
You have to think and remember your safety lessons.
Not everything is carved into stone.
 
heeler said:
Well I will say this Russ.
It was not uncommon during the 60's or 70's that some gun writers advised to dry fire your deer rifle at fast flash images at the television to get used to quick target and firing aquistion.
I STILL do it in my own home.
And I positively know the rifle/pistol is UNLOADED.
I have been handling and owning firearms since the early 1960's and have never once in my life had an AD/ND even when I was in my sub teens hunting and plinking with the .22 rifle.
You have to think and remember your safety lessons.
Not everything is carved into stone.
Click to expand...

Maybe its because I have been a fan of the Detroit Lions since the 60s and the thought of shooting the TV has crossed my mind several. So I lied. I have thought about it. But then again maybe not because I was not thinking of Dry Firing...Russ
 
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