we were on an elk hunt in Colorado.
after two weeks of hunting and no elk we decided to have a little fun shooting at rocks offhand that were about 200 yds away.  I fired some. my dad fired.  the guide fired.  then the guide handed me his rifle and I put the butt stock on my hip to load a round and when the bolt locked home it round fired.  so I’m standing their white as a sheet with my left hand on the forearm of the rifle and my right hand on the bolt.

It really drove home the point of keeping the rifle pointed in a safe direction.

~10 years old, at cub scout camp with a BB gun.  I took my first shot before the range officer said to commence firing.  I almost crapped my pants, realizing what I had done.  Luckily, the archery range officer (BB guns and archery lines were right next to each other) had been yelling something, so the RO didnt hear the shot.

Kharn

A few years ago at our clubs IPSC match I was trying to "speed up my draw".

Well I got it faster alright....


Finger on the trigger just as I cleared the holster.....shot hit the gound about 2m in front of me....


I guess I will live with a 1.87 draw and fire for a while.

So far, so good. Here's hoping I don't ever have a ND...

308wood - If your finger was not on the trigger, you actually had a true AD - accidental discharge.  I had a true AD once myself when the hammer drop safety failed on an old Norinco 9mm pistol.

dont be so sure. he may have seen the "oh s***" look on your face through the corner of his eyes and knew u knew u screwed up.

Never had one but had three close calls.

First time, I was "inspecting" a friend's new Beretta 92F.  I had a S&W 4006 with the mag. safety; hence my coming assumption.  

I dropped the mag on the Beretta and proceeded to pull the trigger to check its feel, but about 2/3 of the way home, something, I don't know what, told me to check the chamber.  Lo and behold was one in the pipe.  

I had the piece pointed at my leg.  Just about crapped on that one after I realized what had almost happened.  

The second time was after I got a 70s series 1911.  I put one in the pipe and for some reason decided to drop the hammer by pinching  it with my thumb and index finger.  It slipped and fell pretty hard.  I almost crapped when I saw a very distinct dent in the primer!  Pure luck.  That one was pointed at the wall in a downward direction--I learned a little from the first time.  

Third time, I just got an SKS.  I was in my bedroom.  I was ignorant of letting the bolt fly forward on a round in the chamber (can you say slam fire?).  When I ejected the round, again, a prominent dent in the primer.  Later on, at the range, that very rifle did indeed go full auto when I let the bolt slam too hard on a round in the chamber.  That made the bedroom boo-boo seem worse.  I sold that rifle.  

These were all in my early 20s when I was more prone to exiciteability and lack of care.  I'm much more calm these days and make a conscious effort to observe the basic rules.  

For reasons of complete stupidity that I will not go into here, I chambered a 7mm BR round in my XP-100 at home.  In my house.  When I went to lift the bolt to extract the cartridge, the sear slipped and it fired.  Hole through the breakfast area wall into the garage, through the garage wall and into a main 6x10 crossbeam that stopped the bullet (thank god).  My hearing was f&^ked for a week.  I am ever so thankful that I at least obeyed the "keep it pointed in a safe direction" rule, although it was largely luck that the bullet intersected the beam.  If it had not, I don't know where it would have come down.

Turns out the trigger was out of adjustment.  I had never tried to lift the bolt while the gun was in battery before.  I do NOT chamber live rounds in my home for any reason any more.  (My personal defense weapon is a revolver.)

Still never had an ND.  Did have my flintlock go off once when I was on the firing line, but the sear adjustment was WAY too sensitive.  Went off when I was setting my cheekweld, getting ready for the shot.  

Was at an old range in my hometown 15 years ago, a fellow whom I often saw there had his "personally tuned Auto Ordnance 1911", and offered to let me shoot it. With a round chambered, the hammer fell from half cock and the weapon discharged, not expecting it to fire I dropped the gun, & scratched the piss out of it. My ears rang as I had pulled up my ear muffs while we were talking. This is why amateurs should not do their own trigger jobs at home to save a few bucks. Pay  a professional to do it right.

My ONE and ONLY ND to date:

Age 10, one of my first live-fire shooting experiences, while heavily supervised by my stepfather (who had been a rifle instructor in the Navy):

Neglected to remove my finger from the trigger of his old Remington pump-action .22, which had no disconnector.  Fired one round inadvertently, safely down range thanks to compliance with all the other basic safety rules.

You usually have to break TWO or MORE safety rules at the same time to get into trougle.

[50]

I have never had an AD/ND in all my time handling firearms.  I also firmly believe I never will....period.  Why?  Because I know and [i] follow all safety rules[/i].  Not some of time or part of the time, but [b] all of the time.[/b]

Just my .02 cents.

Sgtar15

PS.  Now I just hope murphy doesn't pay me a visit[;)]

Checking out a friend's shotgun.

I thought I had checked the chamber to make sure it was clear...NOPE.  Turned out I didn't really know what I was looking for in that particular model and had inadvertently chambered a round.

When I dropped the hammer, BAM!!!! birdshot into the hardwood floor 2 feet in front of my best friend.

That floor was costly to replace, but a whole lot better than screwing up a best friend.  Is pent some time learning about that particular type of shotgun, and every other damned kind of shotgun I could find also.

Ignorance is not excuse.

If your finger wasn't on the trigger than it was not an ND.  I've never had an ND because respect for what a firearm can do was drilled into me by my father, and I remain vigilent when around and handling firearms.  Compacency is when bad things start to happen.

God Bless Texas