ND- I am now 'that guy'

[kenshomi]

Was training yesterday with a class doing admin reloads and had a nd.
Draw - 2 shots - admin - two shots - I was obeying the other rules so the round hit the berm without harming anyone. I am devastated - *** - it was the last drill of the day and I was fumbling with my M&Pc, old and new mags, and and had my finger in the trigger guard. Totally f'ing oblivious - apparently do to the outcome.

Is this a lucky break telling me I'm not capable of handling things that go bang.

 

[The Sarge]

No it is a learning opportunity and thankfully one that didnt hurt anybody (other than a little pride)

 

[smitty704]

This thing happens. It should be a wake up call. It has never happened to me, but it has happened to my brother with his Bushmaster 223. Shot 3 inches to the right of his 42" plasma into the wall and didn't go through the brick(I was surprised).

Learn from it and don't let it happen again. At least you were not pointing it at something important like a PERSON or television.

I don't mean to beat a dead dog, just be safe and learn from your mistakes. I will learn from yours.

 

[TexasRifleman]

I was obeying the other rules so the round hit the berm without harming anyone.

My take on it is that what you had really doesn't count in the "ND" department. You were training, trying new things, and doing so in a safe manner. 3 of the 4 rules still worked and nothing was harmed.

That is exactly how you want those sort of things to happen. You were in a safe learning environment and you learned something, safely.

Is this a lucky break telling me I'm not capable of handling things that go bang.

Sounds like worthwhile training to me. Lessons like that are not often forgotten. I think it's just telling you that more training is in order. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Dr_2_B]

I agree. You're probably going to be safer than most of the rest of us now. That's what's good about the five rules. They insure that one failure keeps a bad day from being the worst day of my life.

 

[Smaxey843]

wha?

What is an ND? new to the forum and still learning the lingo. congratulations on safely having an accident

 

[Spot77]

ND = Negligent Discharge

 

[Arkansas Paul]

You're probably going to be safer than most of the rest of us now.

This.
I know that these things make you more aware. I had a ND when I was 18 years old. Gun went off in my pocket. All I had was a thin red line down the front of my thigh. You better believe I'm the safest person I know now.

 

[FruitCake]

I had one a while back and it was a serious eye opener for me and I really learned that agun is always loaded. Thankfully nothing happened.

 

[hmphargh]

Thank you for sharing. Every time someone is humble enough to admit that he or she is only human and has made a mistake, it reinforces to the rest of us the seriousness of handling dangerous machines such as firearms and respecting them.

 

[1SOW]

I was watching at a "practice session" last week. I heard the experienced RO say "if you are finished, unload and show clear. If clear, hammer down, ....." BANG!

I was stunned. The relatively new shooter was really stunned. He apologized profusely and was obviously wishing it hadn't happened. I asked him if he remembered the sound of his previous shots. He said no. I asked him if remembered the the sound of his failure to clear the weapon shot. He said absolutely! I suggested he try to not forget that sound.

At least three people learned something....hopefully.

 

[J.A.D.]

Thankfully I have never had an ND. However, I expect that there will be a day when it happens. As long as you know it can happen, you'll be vigilant enough to make sure it doesn't.

 

[JohnKSa]

Was training yesterday with a class doing admin reloads... I was obeying the other rules so the round hit the berm without harming anyone.

This is one reason I don't like the reload method taught by some that has the shooter point the gun upwards and sometimes tilt the mag well toward the shooter to facilitate rapidly inserting the new magazine.

If you had used the technique in the picture below, you could be wondering where your round landed in addition to feeling bad about having an ND.

 

[Psa1m144]

My wife had a ND about 6 months ago, she was very inexperienced with firearms at the time and the round went through 2 walls and into a pile of mulch outside the house. Luckily she had it facing in a safe direction (away from me ). Her comfort with firearms was completely demolished, for several days she insisted she would never touch another gun. It took a lot of reassuring to get her back into shooting and now she comes to the range with me about once a month. Better believe she is extremely careful around guns now, lesson learned and fortunately the hobby survived. God allows these things to happen to remind us and to teach us how INSANELY careful we need to be.

Thank God no one was hurt. Don't give up!!

 

[KAS1981]

What's an "admin reload"?

 

[1SOW]

JohnKsa:

If you had used the technique in the picture below, you could be wondering where your round landed in addition to feeling bad about having an ND.

AMEN!, and I've seen that too.

roll pistol to the right and break the wrist to lower pistol to level

 

[dcarch]

Thank God you and everyone else is OK. I have thankfully never had a ND, but a buddy of mine has, and it was a major eye opener for him. He was dry-firing with a S&W M19, and didn't want to buy snapper caps, so he was just using spent cases. :banghead: Surprise of surprises, a loaded case somehow sneaked in there. The real problem for him was that he was on National Park Service property, so he got in trouble over it. I think he got away with just a fine, but he certainly was much, much more careful after that. That sort of thing opens everybody's eyes to their own shooting problems, not just to yours. Don't feel bad, just use it as a teaching moment.

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

They do that so you can track the target while you reload - thus you don't have to take your eyes off whoever needs shooting. It is an aspect of defensive shooting that doesn't translate to a static range, but is still important in the real world.

I use that method all the time, and I have never had an ND. One just needs to keep their finger off the trigger, and not handle the gun unnecessarily ... like repeated loading and unloading of the gun for instance.

 

[SSN Vet]

Was training yesterday with a class

I'm interested to hear how the instructor, RO and other students reacted. Please do tell.

My take on it is that what you had really doesn't count in the "ND" department. You were training, trying new things, and doing so in a safe manner. 3 of the 4 rules still worked and nothing was harmed.

Regardless of whether the incident get's tagged with the 'N' word, I agree with this assesment. When you're training, $#it can happen, so you take precautions to prevent that from causing injury. None the less, if it had happened in a military training context, I'll bet you would have gotten your ar$$ chewed big time. Just for emphasis.

What's an "admin reload"?

When you shoot rounds and then take advantage of an opportunity (cover) to load a fresh magazine, bringing you back up to fully loaded for the next phase of the exchange. You would then put the partially charged mag. back into it's holder/your pocket if needed, as opposed to dropping it in the dirt.

The idea is to prevent shooting untill slide lock and having to reload in a less than advantageous situation.

It's a term that comes up in tactical gun games a lot, as certain courses of fire require you to perform an admin. reload, and IDPA doesn't allow you to drop a mag in the dirt (for safety concerns.)

 

[David E]

It was absolutely a negligent discharge, despite some posts suggesting otherwise; the OP had his finger on the trigger when he should not have.

What the OP described is NOT an "admin reload." he doesn't say if he retained the first mag on his person (tactical reload) or if he simply let it fall to the ground (speed reload). Either way, it is not an "admin reload," which, when properly done, discharges zero rounds.

The picture shown of the military person doing a reload shows improper form all the way around. I see this often: someone performs a technique poorly or improperly, but calls it a specific technique anyway due to ignorance or even stupidity.

Those that know the proper form immediately see the egregious errors and point them out. Those that don't know the proper form but who are smart enough to spot the shortcomings use it as a reason to denounce or dismiss a technique just because the clueless demonstrator gave it a name.

 

[wally]

I don't understand what the "military" photo is even supposed to be showing relavent to this thread, the pistol is clearly locked back and his off hand is empty.

 

[Lubricant]

First,last,and only nd when was 14.20 gauge wingmaster.I just HAD to pull that trigger to see if the safety was on.Luckily,the muzzle was pointed straight up.Luckily I lived out in the country at the time.And Positivley learned from my act of stupidity.Never again.

 

[GLOOB]

I just HAD to pull that trigger to see if the safety was on.

That's gotta be the most ironic ND ever. But I suppose it is no different then "show clear and pull the trigger." Pulling the trigger "proves" the gun is (relatively) safe, I suppose, as long as you have the gun pointed in a safe direction. Straight up doesn't really qualify, mind you.

 

[AKElroy]

I agree with TR, not sure I would call this an ND. It is my general practice to "DryFire" an empty chamber when finished at the range before placing the rifle in its case. It is pointed downrange, usually at the target but definately at the berm. I have had one instance where I was "Empty Chamber Checking" in this way, and BAM! The bad part was it was a .270 win, shot at the berm from the hip before being dropped in the case.

I single-load my bolt guns at the bench, and was completely oblivious to two-loading on one of my groups. This is what the rules are for. It will definately get your attention.

 

[*NOVA*]

OP,
Normal to feel bad for a day or two. Normal to ask yourself if you should continue to handle weapons. Get back on your feet and get back to the range now. Your increased awareness will certainly make you a safer shooter. It is up to you to prove it to yourself...I've been there, done that.