Two A.D.s in one week.

[chestnut ridge]

These accidental discharges happened acouple of years ago. I have been
clean since. I am a distinguished rifleman, have taught firearm safety
classes, and always thought it took a complete idiot to shoot a round
accidently. It does.
#1- I bought a 75 dollar 213 Norinco Tokarev that was "broke." I could
not find any thing wrong. I kept it loaded next to the bed table for a few
days; then removed the magazine, racked the slide ( no cartridge flipped
out) and pulled the trigger to drop the hammer. POW. This was in the living
room. The FMJ went thru an interior wall, then thru a hard rock maple table
top leaning against the wall, then knocked a hole in a WWI wooden ammo
box. I found it inside the box, dented and warm. The extractor was missing.
#2- I had a MAS 49/56 in the truck while checking cows. I brought it in
to put it up, removed the magazine, and using my best off-hand position
dry-fired thru the front door window at a tree. KABOOM. A 7.5x55 is loud
when fired indoors. The bullet went thru two panes of glass; but hit the
tree. It was a 90 degree keyhole. I taped up the panes with clear
packaging tape.
Three good things came of all this. I am much more careful.
The house smelled real good for several days. Jehovah"s Witnesses
had been coming by; but when they saw the taped up bullet holes in the
door glass- left and haven't been back in over two years.

 

[rnovi]

Heh, you're not married, are ya?

My wife would have an endless carte blanche to rip on me daily if I ever did something like that!

The good lesson from your experience is to NEVER, EVER assume that a gun is empty until you examine the actual chamber to verify true emptyness. Extractors do break...

Glad noone was hurt.

 

[Stiletto Null]

#1: bum extractor?

#2: duhhh LOL what were you thinking?

 

[telomerase]

good cautionary tale.

 

[Firethorn]

#1 is the reason why I always verify the chamber. Even if a round pops out and the magazines removed, I'll visually verify that the chamber's empty.

I've had a couple cases where the extractor doesn't do it's job.

#2 is a classic.

 

[starplayer]

it does take a complete idiot to create an A.D.

when i first started carrying a while ago, my gun was a glock19 2nd gen. i had a really cheap uncle mikes holster (pretty much cloth) that i didn't trust to put a cocked glock in (so i always had it w/o any bullets in the champer). then i set some moneys aside and got a galco that i could trust leaving a live glock in (much much more stiffer than the uncle mikes)..

so having carried about 6 months w/o a bullet in the champer is a BAD BAD BAD HABBIT to get yourself into..

because i always assumed it was unloaded. so when i started carrying with the galco, i carried loaded.. and one day, pulled it out, took the mag out, and saw the trigger was forward. being an idiot and not thinking it was loaded, i pulled it and put a hole in my floor.

 

[PATH]

Every gun is loaded! Every gun is loaded! It is a mantra I repeat to myself every time I handle any firearm! No "negligent discharges" as of yet! Thank God!

 

[oldtrooper]

Only two kinds of people handle firearms regularly, those that have had an AD and those that are going to have an AD. That's why muzzle direction is so important. Check that chamber even if an experienced shooter hands it to you and says "I've checked it and it's not loaded". Once it is in your control you are responsible.

Glad no one was injured and thanks for being willing to share with the rest.

 

[pax]

Never, ever, ever pull the trigger on a firearm unless the gun is pointed in a safe direction.

Even if you think it is unloaded.

pax

 

[gbelleh]

Thanks for the safety reminder.

I get very uneasy any time I pull a trigger (when not intending to fire a round). So, I check the chamber every single time before dry firing for any reason. I just can't bring myself to pull a trigger without checking and double checking the chamber.

 

[tellner]

I always check the chamber visually and with a finger. Some day I'll have an A.D. This way it will be further in the future.

 

[ARperson]

THEY'RE NOT ADs

They're NEGLIGENT DISCHARGES.

 

[SASS#23149]

dry fring an 'empty' weapon is just asking for it!!

case closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[silverlance]

yup.

don't dry fire.

get a friggin' .22lr as reasonably close to your cw and use that.

cz75: kadet
glock: walther p22 (i know this one is iffy, can't think of better)
sig p228/9: mosquito
j-frame: speed six
1911: kimber .22

"too expensive"?

think about how much it costs just to repair a hole in your drywall. we're not even talking about all the OTHER damage an ND causes.

two rules in my life: no punching cell keys while car is moving, and no depressing the trigger when not intending to shoot.

in the rare circumstances when i REALLY must drop a trigger, i take the time and effort to walk out into my back yard and aim into dirt.

 

[Third_Rail]

Like pax said, the rest of the rules keep you safe when you break one of them. Safe direction, negligent discharge = embarassment, not death.

 

[eab]

I dry fire all my guns all the time, mauser 48, sks, ruger 10/22, whatever.... However I check to make sure there are no cartridges, in the magazine, check the champer, close, it, then double check it, and then some times tripple check it. There is no reason for me to put a bullet through my window or computer monitor.

Not dry firing is like not riding a bike somebody got hurt not wearing a helmet...

 

[Thin Black Line]

+1 on calling them ND's. +1 on inspecting the chamber.

Also, a lot of dry firing on an empty chamber is hard on firing pins.

All the weapons mentioned on this post can be "uncocked" with the
mauser being the easiest. An SKS requires the bolt/bolt carrier to
be seated, but you can catch the hammer and let it down easily if
you have the receiver cover and recoil spring removed first. There
is a sweet spot on most semi-auto rifles where you can have the bolt
partially opened and still let the hammer down.

Again, pointing in a safe direction, magazine out, cycle the action three
times, inspect the chamber.....