ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CHAMBER TO SEE IF IT'S "UNLOADED"

[amoebicmagician]

don't worry, EVERYONE has at least one AD or ND in their lifetimes. I was lucky enough to have mine at the range while pointing my pistol down range, and I know what you mean about it scaring you straight!

The weird thing is, I replay that day in my mind, and I am SURE, just 100% sure, that I dropped the mag and racked the slide.

The only thing I can think is that the extractor didn't get over the lip of the round or something. I feel like that can't be the whole story though, because it extracted the case during the AD.

Maybe the slide was just a HAIR out of battery when I racked it. All I know is that I nearly made brown in my pants when that damn thing went off. I had already taken my plugs out and it was really quite rattling!

Just one more reason to actually visually check the chamber EVERY TIME.

 

[Naptown34]

Only the military and police should cycle their clips after they drop their...

Uhhhh nevermind... :-)

 

[dbett]

like i said accidents do happened and thank God nobody was injured nor was i...and i feel its right and caring to share my story!!!!

Not playing semantics, but my brother emailed me his gun safety piece yesterday and it was pretty good (and talked about "accidents"). So I figured I'd add it to this thread:

Glad to hear guns scare you! After 15 or so years, they still scare me. Fear keeps me and others alive. It promotes safety. One wrong, stupid move and some unrecoverable incident occurs. Notice I did not say accident. Accidents don’t happen, stupidity, complacency and ignorance cause serious problems.

When I wrecked my beloved ’96 Buick Roadmaster Station wagon, I never told anyone I had an accident. I never told the police officer it was an accident. I told people I wrecked my car. I was complacent, and stupid. I thought I could go a considerable amount of time without sleep, switch from the night shift to the day shift; get up in 3 hours and drive to work. I wrecked my car because I was complacent. An accident never occurred. It was my fault.

The only thing I can tell you about guns is this.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS treat guns as though they are loaded; 100% of the time.

NEVER EVER put your finger in the trigger guard unless you’re on the range with the gun pointed down range and the range officer has given the all clear; green light. I was almost killed several years ago while in Japan by someone who claimed they were “Mister Gun Guru”. He put his finger in the trigger guard of his 12 gauge shot gun and pulled it. Just prior to that he wanded me or waved the shotgun at me, then POW, 15 feet in front of me the ground erupts because this idiot wanted to “ensure” his gun did or did not have a live shell in it. @$$HOLE.

NEVER EVER touch or move the gun while at the range after the range officer has given the RED light, or told all hands to put down their guns. It’s amazing how many idiots attempt to pick up and play with their handguns and rifles while people are down range putting up/taking down their targets. A good range officer will chew these idiots out loud and proud, as well as threaten to kick them off the range if they continue to be STUPID.

NEVER EVER put your finger in the trigger guard unless you are 100% certain of what you’re aiming at.

When handed a firearm from anyone, no matter how “experienced” they say they are, or seem to be. ALWAYS inspect the gun to see if it’s loaded. NEVER be embarrassed to check the firearm, NEVER be embarrassed to ask “how do I check to see if this gun is loaded”.

ALWAYS point the gun away from people at ALL times. You have no idea how many times I’ve been handed a firearm that someone told me was unloaded, and I found out safely that it was not.

Anywho...

 

[StickerLT]

Good on you for having the balls to share your story. As others have said, you very well may have saved someones life by doing this. It sent chills up my spine I can tell you.

Glad no one was hurt or worse.

 

[mward]

Something Bryan @ Midatlantictraining taught us...2 visuals and a physical. Everytime. It takes an extra second and guarantees that you are safe. Look chamber and mag well, look away to get your mind off, then finger test both.

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[newq]

Glad no one was hurt, sorry for your pride and property damage but thanks for sharing your difficulty. It makes others like myself think twice about being positive that there is no round in the chamber.

 

[budman93]

I know a guy who did that once and shot a hole in his ceiling. Luckily where he was had a vaulted ceiling that was the entire height of the house. Anywhere else and it could have gone right through one of his kids bedrooms

 

[hvymax]

I hate it when that happens. Fortunately the police only get called when we put 5000rnds an hr through the belt fed 30cal at my house.

 

[Dukes Defense]

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you're okay. I'm sure you will always always correctly clear your gun in the future. There are plenty of videos out there of people who should know better who screw up and shoot themselves, someone else or when they're fortunate the round goes harmlessly into the ground or in a safe direction.

As reminder for anyone that is wondering, .. but what are basic steps to making sure your semi-automatic handgun is clear:

Keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction,

1) Remove the source of ammunition

2) On Semi-automatic handgun rack the slide twice (aggressively pull the slide to the rear twice), then lock the slide to the rear.

3) Visually and Physically check to make sure the gun is clear, no ammunition is in the chamber and the magazine has been removed.

4) Look Away, then check the chamber and magazine well a second time (look away and focus on something else for a brief moment, this act is like a reset so that when you look again into the chamber and the magazine well your mind treats it as if it was your first look. It breaks up what might otherwise become a repetitive, mindless task)

At this point you should be safe to perform any maintenance or disassembly on your handgun. Don't rely on muscle memory when clearing your gun. This is one of the things you should do as if it was the first time every time... and if you catch yourself thinking or asking yourself, "self did I check the chamber?" Then you need to go back and check.

 

[Fox123]

2) On Semi-automatic handgun rack the slide twice (aggressively pull the slide to the rear twice), then lock the slide to the rear.

Genuine question, why the racking before locking to the rear? Seems an opportunity for something to happen at each close stroke. Why not just lock to the rear and proceed with visual and physical check?

 

[Indiana Jones]

Yes they do...hurricanes knocking down a tree onto your house is an accident. What you had was no accident, it was negligence. Very happy that you were not injured though...good lesson learned.




Nope, an accidental discharge is a malfunction of the gun. This was a negligent discharge. The gun worked just fine and did exactly what it was intended to do.

This

 

[thomfantomas]

This

today i was watching stories on AD and ND via youtube......i'm more more cautious now my first and last ND for sure

 

[BeltBuckle]

I had a buddy do a similar thing. Except his pinky was in front of the barrel. With a little help from his hip bone he has a pinky today, if that's what you want to call it, but it will never function the same. Aside from that the only other thing ruined were about five shirts in his roommates closet. No, he wasn't in his roommates room. Luckily no one else was hurt.
Always take the time to be safe.

we may have the same buddy

learned my lesson from him, thank you very much.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Genuine question, why the racking before locking to the rear? Seems an opportunity for something to happen at each close stroke. Why not just lock to the rear and proceed with visual and physical check?

Intentional redundancy. With muzzle pointed in a safe direction always, racking a slide after dropping a magazine should clear a round in the chamber, right? "Should" doesn't get it. Anything that's mechanical can fail. Failure to eject? Or did another round somehow wind up in the pipe? Shouldn't happen......but in this case "shouldn't" doesn't get it either. Chamber is either empty or it isn't. What's for sure is that it needs to be empty. Make sure with visual inspection......check......look away......then check again.

Conscious repetition. Empty/unloaded as the goal. Empty is empty, and conscious of insuring empty is the only thing that can make certain of same.

 

[Indiana Jones]

today i was watching stories on AD and ND via youtube......i'm more more cautious now my first and last ND for sure

Things happen, its just good we all learn from our mistakes. Good man!!!

 

[Mooseman]

I am glad no one was hurt. By sharing this story, you may save someone from making this mistake.

 

[ProShooter]

don't worry, EVERYONE has at least one AD or ND in their lifetimes. .

and what do you base that on?

AD's are extremely rare. If you follow the rules, ND's won't happen.

 

[Mooseman]

don't worry, EVERYONE has at least one AD or ND in their lifetimes.

This is NOT true. I know a lot of shooters and very, very few have had a negligent or accidental discharge.

 

[TapRackBang]

Make sure with visual inspection......check......look away......then check again.

Picked this up from James Yeager (believe it or not) a few days ago: What are you looking for when you look?

An empty chamber!

Not brass, but empty. If you are looking for brass, and see brass, your brain may go "Brass. Check!" and then ND!

Also something I learned early on: Physically check with a finger after you visually check. Eyes play tricks like tiny round devils, but fingers know the facts!

 

[TonyB.]

This is NOT true. I know a lot of shooters and very, very few have had a negligent or accidental discharge.

That they admit to.