"Accidental Discharge" (AD for short, not to be confused with the Ambulance Driver). Really, though, should be called "Negligent Discharge" (ND, not to be confused with North Dakota) in about 99% of cases. The vast majority of time, a gun goes off unexpectedly because of negligence, not an accident. Sure, some of the old commie guns (like my CZ-52) have an annoying habit of FIRING when the safety is engaged; that would certainly qualify as an accident.
But anyways... Here's my story:
I was a kid, barely old enough to own a pistol, and the first and only autoloader I had was the Colt 1911 I inherited from my grandfather. Not being wise in the ways of the world, I was using it as a carry piece (this is a WWI, military-issue, low serial number, all-original Colt, mind you). Also not being wise in the ways of the 1911, I made a very serious mistake.
I lowered the hammer with a round in the chamber. The hammer slipped...
BOOM!!!
I went deaf for a few seconds. Completely and utterly deaf. Couldn't hear the television not 5 feet away. Not only that, but I had the gun pointed straight up (and right next to my right ear), which ordinarily wouldn't have been so bad except that I was in the basement of my parents' house. Fortunately, I was the only one home at the time, so I didn't have to worry about anyone else being hurt.
I traced the path of the 230 grain FMJ:
- Through the floor joist like a hot knife through butter.
- Through the oak hardwood flooring.
- Through the rug in the living room.
- Through the walnut paneling on the wall.
- Coming to a rest in the roof rafter. I checked the roof, and there was no exit. Somewhere, lodged in a 2X6" stretch of rafter in my parents' roof, that FMJ bullet mocks me to this day.
I got damn lucky. No one was hurt. No significant damage was done. My ears stopped ringing after a few days. And I've been extremely careful ever since.
(This anecdote brought to you by a quick paragraph in this entry at Marko's blog where he admits to his own ND [Mental note: Add Marko to blogroll].).
Let me close with a recap of the Four Rules:
- RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
- RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY
- RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
- RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT'S BEYOND IT
("borrowed" from The Firing Line post here)
5 comments:
Heh. I pulled a good one at the range a couple of weeks ago. Had my new M1 Carbine loaded and wasn't sure which way the safety was oriented - which way was on. Well, I found out... and because of good habits drilled into myself, the shot I wasn't expecting went into the backstop. No harm, no foul.
Just embarrassment.
I've only had one ND; lowering the hammer on a Ruger Single Six, .22 caliber, and my thumb slipped off the hammer. I had it pointed down, so there was no problem when it fired, but it still is a good wake-up call.
I was a radio operator in the National Guard. A tank on the firing line at Fort Dix could not fire because their radio wasn’t working. I climb into the tank and turn the radio on (tankers are not smart).
As I jumped off the tank, the next tank over (about 10 feet away) fired a 105mm maingun HEAT round.
You are supposed to wear ear protection within 100 yards. It actually didn't sound that loud - it just felt like a giant slap across my whole body. I was so close the harmonic wave had not actually set up yet. I was numb and disoriented the rest of the day (more so than usual).
Never done the unintentional discharge thing – paranoia has its benefits.
Mine was lowering the hammer on a 1911A1 after installation of an aftermarket target sight; the Commander-style hammer just slipped right out of my thumb (lower sight partially covered the hammer)and I killed a perfectly good mattress! Thank God we had switched from the waterbed!
The 1940/41 High Standard HD .22 pistol will do the same thing with the hammer as the 1911...ask me how I know...(fortunately we were at the range, pointed at the target, and the .22 isn't as loud as a .45 ACP)
(wv: tusedace. I'm here every day except tusedace.)
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