I know some of you have got to have some stories about accidentally shooting off a firearm. It really surprises me at how careful I have been around firearms as far as safety and still unfortunately having something like this happen. Lets hear your stories, here is mine.

My good friends family has a very large ranch near where I live. When we were younger we would spend almost every weekend out shooting at something or another. We were both 14 (in 1994) and for both of our birthdays had gotten our first high power rifles. Mine was in August and my parents got me a Winchester Model 88 in .308. It had a pretty old Bushnell 3-9x40 scope on it and was in very good condition. His birthday was in December and he got a brand new Ruger MKII (I know this isn’t right but close) all weather model in .308. It was all-stainless with a synthetic stock and a Leopold compact stainless 3-9x3? scope.

One day after shooting prairie dogs and pretty much any other thing that moved we were sitting up in his room checking out each others rifles. He was sitting on the floor Indian style and I was on his bed facing him. We were about 10’ from each other and he was looking through the scope in to the hallway witch was about 45 degrees to the right of my head. His rifle was on my lap pointing 90 degrees to his left.

Backing up a little. First thing we would always do when we came in the house was unload any weapons we had on us. Well before we came home we were shooting each others guns just to check em out and I had unloaded his by opening the bolt to make sure one was not chambered and opening the door on the bottom to empty the magazine. All he had done was drop the clip out of mine and never cleared the action.

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Back upstairs, he lowered my rifle and had the butt of the stock sitting on his inner thigh. We were just kind of chatting and I told him to check out the trigger on mine since the trigger group is all built into the lever and how little the trigger had to travel to release the firing pin. Well not knowing how light the pull was he pulled the trigger. It did have a live round chambered and the safety was off. It shot a hole in the ceiling about 3’ away from hitting the light. Instantly my ears were ringing like none other and although I know he was yelling I could barley hear him say, ”OH SHIT IT WAS LOADED!!!” Then his step mom down stairs yelled, “What the hell was that?” and came running up stairs to see what had happened. Before she made it up there I know we were gona be in it deep and the gears in my head started turning. I ran to his closet and grabbed an old Bengamen BB gun. When she got to the door she asked what had happened although both of us could barley hear, and I told her that we had pumped the BB gun to many times and it blew the seal. She bought it and went back down stairs to finish cooking dinner. It just left a bullet sized hole in the ceiling. I ended up spending the night so that we could go call coyotes early the next morning. That night after his parents left for a night out on the town we went to work. We got on the roof and made sure the shingles weren’t all tore you even thought it was just a FMJ. Got in the addict and patted the insulation back down and found some old semi dried out white out in the office and patched the hole in the ceiling. We were lucky that the light wasn’t shot out or that it was a shotgun, but most of all one of us wasn’t killed. We were both always and still are very safe handling firearms. I guess what got my buddy was that 1. Dropping the clip gave him a false in his mind unloading of my gun and never cleared the action. I can’t say that I would'nt have done the same with an unfamiliar firearm. It was just that he never cleared the action which we have both always done. It was just that one time that could have been critical.

With the above happening I will stress even more in my teaching to my kids. Even though we were both taught to clear the chamber we never checked it at that time, and it could have been because it was an unfamiliar firearm. In any case that makes it that much more important to check it. But it was a mistake and it wasn’t checked. Which could have been the last mistake that we ever made.

Diesel

OK i give up on editing my mistakes. Maybe some day I will learn to proof read instead of post then proof.

I was at the range one time with an SKS that I'd used without problems before.  I had it pointed downrange, let the bolt go forward and had a slam fire.  Totally unexpected since I always made a point of checking to see that the firing pin was moving freely when cleaning an SKS.  I wasn't watching the muzzle when I did this, so for all I know, my round could have gone through someone else's target.  That was my only accidental discharge so far.

I have had the samething happen with a SKS once and with the same SKS to my brother once. My friends dad had it happen to him once with his SKS when we were shoting one day too.

For (idiotic) reasons I won't go into here, I chambered a round in my 7mm BR Remington XP-100 pistol while sitting at my reloading bench.  When I started to lift the bolt, the sear slipped and the pistol fired.  Hole through the wall, into the garage, through the outer wall of the garage where the 130 grain Sierra Matchking impacted the 6x12 main roof beam and stopped.  Thank god.  

First, I should have never chambered a live round in the house, but did.

Second, I should have engaged the safety, but didn't.

Third, I'm damned lucky that it fired as early as it did.  Had the sear released much later, there would have been much less engagement of the locking lugs, and it could have been much worse than it was.

Fourth, I should have known that the trigger engagement was getting that close to dangerous.

At least I had it pointed in a "safe" direction.  But if someone had been coming from the laundry room....

And it took almost 5 days for my ears to stop ringing.  Small price to pay for that lesson.  

Very small.

The only one that I have had was waaayyy back in the day.  It was with a Smith model 13.  We were qualifying at the range, fired the gun till it went click, holstered the thing and about 5 seconds later it went BOOM!  Needless to say it scared the crap out of me.  The bullet grazed the side of my hip/ass area.  Faulty ammo was deemed to be at fault---it was a real awakening though

I actually had one recently, 4th of July. Shooting skeet with my uncles(yes, I'm a young'un). After we're done, I pump my POS 3 times(the magic number in delaware). I get 2 shells, figure I must have shot the third, then I pull the trigger(gun pointed at the ground, of course) and create a rather large dustcloud. Looks like shells aren't ejecting properly(the shell actually had grooves cut into it from failed extraction).

I bought a Franchi trap combo and the first time I took it to the trap field I loaded it and as I was closing the barrel the damn thing fired. Ejected the spent hull, reloaded, closed the action "BANG" again. Took it back to the store and traded it for a Browning Ultra o/u.

And...... last November I bought a NIB USP compact .40. Got it home sat down on the couch, read the entire manual and since nobody was home
I loaded it up to carry because I was going to check on some property I own on the edge of the local ghetto. Sitting there with the manual in my left hand, and USP in right hand, pointing toward the ceiling, I drop the slide and 'flick' the decocker...... **BANG** It didn't even register for a second. Ears were RINGING and the room was full of smoke and dust. Round went through the ceiling and floor of above bathroom, clipped the toilet seat, broke the toilet handle and left a baseball sized hole in the tank before it came to rest at the bottom of the water tank. It's still there as a reminder. Took the gun back to the store and had the smith check it out. He claimed that the switch was faulty, but I don't know.

[b]Always, always, always, visually inspect the chamber[/b]

I had a new Mossberg 500 shotgun I kept in the closet for emergencies.  Over the months, I changed my mind on loaded -vs- unloaded weapons.  I was *sure* the Mossberg was unloaded.  Positive.  Sure.  It was even stored with the slide retracted and the chamber open and visible.

I took it out on a deer hunting preparation walk.  As I carried it, I ended up closing the slide (#1 - don't carry by the slide).  So, when I came up to an area of the trail I needed to clear with the machete, I had to put the weapon down.

Now to be extra safe, I figured I would pull the trigger and release it.   Now remember, I'm convinced this gun is unloaded, since it started the day with an empty chamber.  So as I'm crouched down with the gun pointed skyward next to me, I light one off!

When the ringing began to subside in my ear, I realized that the  tubular magazine wasn't empty (loaded from months before) and when I had closed the slide while carrying the weapon, I had chambered a live one.

I never would have pulled the trigger if the gun weren't pointed in a safe direction, but skyward wasn't the best choice.

Now, I always triple check the chamber [i]when[/i] I'm ready to release the trigger and always have it pointed at the ground.

About 15 years ago I was with my father-in-law in his living room and inevitably the topic of conversation turned to firearms.  After some chat, he pulled out a Browning .25 ACP that he keeps hidden near his favorite seating position in the LR.  He started idly playing with it and chatting, and I noticed that he had the slide partially out of battery and pointed at his right side. I heard him say "I wonder what this plate is for?" and before I could say anything, BANG!  With a very surprised look he started feeling his right side  -- no wound!  I took the Browning and there was a case partially in the chamber and blown out the side toward the top of the slide.  He had the slide back a bit and was trying to manipulate the transfer bar (the "plate" he was mumbling about) and had tripped the sear in the process.  I removed the mag and blown case and checked the bore -- dark!  The bullet lodged in the barrel.  I told him that, and he stopped checking his side and the chair for holes.  I carried the gun to the kitchen and got out the cleaning kit with the intent to poke the bullet out of the barrel, and he went to the bathroom.  The phone rang and I answered it and was engaged in conversation when I heard another BANG! from outside.  He came back in and remarked that the Browning "sounded louder" than normal.  I asked if he punched out the stuck bullet; I had not.  For the second time in 15 minutes he looked shocked and said, "I guess I did when I fired it -- I thought you cleared it out!"  

Now 82, he still has the Browning as a reminder of how he "got stupid" that day, but refuses to shoot it.  He was Airborne in WWII, an avid hunter, and no stranger to firearm handling and safety.  When the events of that day come up in conversation, he always remarks on how he completely forgot about safety.  

Noah

[b][size=4][red]This is probably not the best topic to be discussing publicly, especially since they are [blue]negligent discharges[/blue], and not accidental![/red][/size=4][/b]

For the record, I am guilty of having two of them...  Thank GOD there was nobody else around either time.

With out going into too much detail I will share my story so that others willl learn from my mistakes.  Both human error and mechanicl fault are to blame.  The gun was a ruger Bearcat Old Model.  When I was 8 I was cleaning my guns with my brother in preparation from a hunting trip.  I ignorantly forgot to point the weapon in a safe direction and reloaded with it on half-cock.  As I closed the lever on the cylinder the weapon dscharged.  (Old Ruger Revolvers have faulty safty mecanisms.)  Well, my brother was sitting across from me, lening over to lube his brush with Hoppes #9 when the pistol discharged.  The bullet bore through the top of his head and killed him.  I was 8 and he was 10.  


ALWAYS POINT YOUR WEAPONS IN A SAFE DIRECTION.

Have not had one to this day and hope to never have one..

I was shooting skeet with an Ithica M100 I got a GREAT deal on at a gunshow several months earlier. I was shooting skeet, I believe I was on station 3. I dusted the first bird but when I engaged the second bird and pulled the trigger it just went click. My training kicked in and I kept the gun mounted and pointed down range and counted to thirty. I also shouted out to the RSO that I had a misfire. After a SLOW count to thirty I pulled the trigger again with no result. I worked the trigger several more times-nothing- it seemed like the hammer dropped. As I lowered the gun from my shoulder, to open the action, BOOOOOOMMMMM with one hand on the forearm and the other about to move the lever to open the action. Luckly the muzzle was pointed down range and I had not unlocked the breech. No one was hurt including myself but I just froze there for what seemed like an eternity just staring at the damn thing. At some point, the RSO came over and put his hand on my shoulder and said "its OK, you did what you were taught, the muzzle was always pointed down range and nobody got hurt". After a time I walked off the station and packed up and went home. I still own the Ithaca but I have not shot it since. I wouldn't sell it because of what I now know. I'll probably have a gunsmith look at it one of these days, but I am in no hurry to take it back to the field.

Not an accidental firing, but a lesson learned:  In high school I had a scoped Marlin semi-auto .22 LR that I was very proud of.  I kept in on a gun rack in my bedroom.  One day after admiring it from across the room, I took it down from the rack and started aiming at objects around the room.  I thought I'd cock it and dry fire it.  Luckily, as I pulled the bolt back I noticed a round in the chamber!

Apparently the last time I fired it, the final round didn't go off.  Since the gun's bolt didn't stay open after the mag emptied, I assumed the last pull of the trigger was on an empty chamber.  I ejected the round and noticed a little crimp in the primer.  It may have gone off with a second try, who knows?  Glad I didn't find out.

Not all of them, a slam fire is not negligent.

I am very happy to say that I have been handling firearms since I was 9y.o. I have never had a slam fire or an AD. Training and attention to detail will prevent this. I thank the military, JROTC and foremost my dad for having safety in grained in my brain.

at least it was a shotgun. by the time the pellets hit gorund they would be spread so far as t not be lethal to even a squirlle. though it would still hurt like hell if one hit someone on its way down. it would be VERY VERY VERY unlikly to mortally wound them. a bullet would still be together and just as lethal.

I have never had a so-called AD or ND.

I was shooting competitive smallbore rifle in high school, and was using an ancient ROTC Winchester Model 52 22LR target rifle. I had been adjusting the trigger pull for the last week or so trying to find a lighter touch with it; there was a screw behind the trigger guard that was provided for just this purpose.

The next weekend, we were shooting a match. I was on the far right firing point. After shooting a pretty good round of prone, I went to standing. As I chambered the first round and closed the bolt, the rifle went off; I had adjusted the trigger pull too low and the ancient rifle released the striker on closing.

My weapon was pointed downrange an near my target, but not quite on it. Unfortunately, I made a "million dollar" shot. The round struck a shielded (but not well enough) ventilation fan on the wall next to my target. The van immediately ground to a halt sounding out a horrible screeching sound and a cloud of smoke. I was immediately thrown off the range by our Colonel, who handed me over to one of the Sergeants, who, recently arrived from a stint as a Drill Sergeant at Benning, left me to contemplate my sins in the front leaning rest.

I avoided serious disciplinary action and getting kicked off the team by getting the rifle to repeat the malfunction later that day. It didn't want to do it the first couple of times I closed the bolt before my audience of range cadre, though, and I was starting to get pretty nervous.

I have had one other ND. I won't even tell that story. It still scares the crap out of me.

I was doing duty as a nuke security guard in Alaska for a short time and when we went for walks we took rifles, as bears would come down to the company dump to eat, and were always around , one day we came into barracks and before we could check our rifles, a guy picked one up and was aiming it at the back of my head , I saw this in a mirror , and pitched a bitch, he said "it ain't loaded" I racked the bolt back and a 30-06 shell (live) came out, man that is one accident that did not happen, that I will forever be gratefull for. " It ain't loaded ,has killed more people"

EXACTLY!!!  There is no such thing as an accidental discharge!!  They are all caused by not following basic safety rules.  I have never had one and quite frankly never plan to because [b]every time[/b] I handle a firearm I [b]always[/b] check the chamber!

Example, Last Sunday a fellow shooter handed me his Glock pistol. Before he handed it to me he checked the chamber, then he handed it to me.  The very first thing I did was check the chamber again myself!

Follow safety rules and you won't have a negligent discharge.  Firearms are dangerous...treat them with respect....PLEASE!!

Sgtar15

I was firing a friends Sig P220.  A very cute girl we knew from college arrived so we stopped firing and began talking. I did keep the weapon pointing down range or at the ground while talking. I removed the magazine from what I thought was an empty gun.  Pulled the slide back slightly looked for a round in the chamber, did see one. Still talking I pointed the gun down range and pulled the trigger bang.  I was too busy talking to carefully check the chamber. I am so glad I keep the weapon pointed in a safe direction.

................................

My father was working at a Garage sale were an older gentleman was selling 2 or 3 guns including an 30-30 level action. He knew the guy selling the weapons and assumed that they were not loaded. Several people examined the weapons over a period of many hours.  Some even played with the hammer using their thumb and the trigger to release it.  Finally, someone began checking to verify that the weapons were unloaded as he began examining them.  The 30-30 had around in the chamber and several in the magazine.

No ND but it very easily could have been.
......................

sgtar15, you are incorrect.  There are such things as accidental discharge.  What happened in my case was an accidental discharge resulting in a negligent death.  Half-cock is necessary to load single-action revolvers.  When you drop the lever on the cylinder while the gun is half-cocked and the firearm discharges that is accidental and a mechanical fault.  Following proper safety techniques will prevent injury but if you ever have your firearms loaded it will not prevent mechanical errors that result in the firearm discharging.  

Example:

My dad had on old World War I trench shotgun that he used to duck hunt with.  After jumping a pond he put the gun (loaded and on safety) back in his gun rack on the rear windshield.  He closed the door and the shotgun discharged almost taking his friends head off.  Luckily it was a stout truck and the steel shot did not penetrate the cab's side.

I know, I'm a bad person.  [:D]  However, I'm also responsible enough to acknowledge my mistakes.  I know I'm not alone and want others to know the same thing can happen to them.  As long as every other rule of gun safety is observed, a slam fire can be a learning experience and not a tragedy.

Corporal_Chaos


First off I am very sorry for your loss.  What happened in your case was a mechanical failure, but that is a big difference then what most people call an AD.  A slamfire is also a mechanical failure, again different than what some call a AD.

My main point is that most people are calling Negligent Discharges as Accidental when in fact they failed to follow basic safety rules!  And I stand behind what I said.  It is not an accident when you pull a trigger on a gun that you didn't check the chamber on first!!

Again, I truly am sorry for you loss.

Sgtar15

Not an AD or ND so I'll make it short. Recently while pistol shooting a piece of brass comes to rest on my back collar. Needless to say I was in a hurry to get it off; by the time it hits the floor I realize I have my pistol pointed perpendicular to downrange, that is, towards the other stalls... now a round is chambered, hammer cocked, safety off. Luckily muscle memory has my finger resting on the trigger guard, but that doesn't forgive pointing my gun all over the place. I lost respect for the gun momentarily, and something bad could've happened. Just because it didn't doesn't make it any better. I [b]am[/b] the range idiot.

sgtar15, you are absolutely right.  Somebody dropping the hammer on an uncleared chamber is negligent.  I must have misinterpreted your post because it seemed to me like you were saying there is no such thing as an accidental discharge.  Sorry for the misunderstanding.

When I was younger I was the one who had all the weapons and would take my friends shooting and show them the proper way to handle firearms.

Always encouraging them into becoming gunowners themselves.  

After a fun Saturday at the local public range we went back to my house ( still living with parents at the time of this incident ) to clean all the firearms we just had fun shooting.

We had shot many different ones but the one we all enjoyed shooting the most that day was my trusty S&W Model 629 .44 Mag.  She has the long 8 3/8's barrel.

While we were finishing up and packing stuff away another friend who had not been ablr to go with us showed up.  He asked to see the .44 and I said sure and unloaded it.  ( I always keep all my weapons loaded AND always tell friends such...  Never a case of "I didnt think it was loaded !!!"  My firearms are ALWAYS LOADED !

After handing the hand cannon to him I continued to pick up and pack away.  He laid the pistol back down beside my pistol carry box.

I picked it up after a few minutes and was admiring it as I pointed it at the globe light attatched to the ceiling fan.  

I cocked back the hammer to feel the smooth single action work.  For some reason I moved my point of aim from the globe to another part of the ceiling.  I slowly began to apply pressure to the trigger anticipating the little click ((((((( B O O M !!!!)))))))

My eyes bugged out of my head !!!!

I could not believe what had just happened!

My ear was ringing so bad it hurt.  Then I realized that the hot water heater is in the attic above the living room !!  Also the gas furnace is only a few yards from there.

Visions of the ceiling falling down were beginning to haunt me.  My parents were not home at the time they were visiting my Grandmother in another part of the state.

I pulled down the stairs and searched everywhere for the bullet hole.

The water heater and gas furnace were ok.  The bullet had went between two of the attic floorboards and only made a few slight splinters that I easily removed.  It peirced the underside of one of the large A/C ducts.  The sheetmetal box also had some kind of metal screen and insulation in it.  The bullet did not penetrate that and fell back out the hole.

I still have the bullet to this day as a reminder...

I don't think that mine could be considered a negligent discharge as the revolver was in a holster (Safariland w/ the thumb break enabled)at the time of the discharge...could it?