Negligent Discharges

[WDW]

Who has ever had an ND, how did it happen, what were the consequences, and what did you learn from it?
I have had one and I have been shooting my entire life. It was about two years ago. I was on my own outdoor range shooting a Glock 19. I was about to break it down and clean it at my bench. I had a holstered condition 1 gun. I unholstered, dropped the mag, and right when I was about to clear it, I got a phone call. I reholstered and took the call. About 10 minutes later I continued my cleaning. I unholstered the gun and just knew I had cleared it when I dropped the mag. I pointed the gun downrange and pulled the trigger (a step in breaking down a Glock as we all know) and boy was I surprised when it went bang. Following one rule (never point a weapon @ anything you don't intend to kill) helped save me when I broke another. I learned that no matter what, if I am breaking a gun down, and I don't do so immediately after clearing, it needs to be triple cleared before I do so. I felt so stupid but thankful only my pride was hurt.

[JHC]

After nearly 40 years of safe gun handling with a perfect record I made a mistake clearing a 12 gauge pump. "Knowing" it was now empty but cocked and not wanting to store it cocked, I aimed at the concrete wall of my basement about 3' to my front and "cleared" it alright.

The brain can process so fast it's stunning. You can see an orange blossom and an exploding cloud of concrete dust and still have time to think "What the fuck is that?" before the wall of a deafening blast hits you.

I was coming off of weeks of crushing 18 hour workdays and maxed out stress and I'd noticed I was having trouble driving and concentrating on many tasks. I was shot out.

I had also long rejected the notion that sooner or later it would happen to all of us. I called that a total BS failure of will attitude and I think I had said so on the Net in a few places.

Well I got my comeupance alright. I was very conscious at the time to clear the gun pointed at a backstop however. Glad for that.

And FWIW I was not impressed at all in the effect of a standard load of nine 00 buckshot on cement. Hell, just a minor ding and a lot of dust.

[irishshooter]

both of those are the "correct" way to have a ND IMO. gun pointed "down range" and at a backstop capable of stopping the projectiles.

[Frank D.]

I haven't had one (knock on wood), but good on you guys for sharing. Complacency kills, reminders like these are very welcome.

[DocGKR]

I used to cut the finger tips off the thumb and index finger of my nomex aviator gloves, however I had an occurrence a couple of years ago where the cut edge of glove fabric on my right thumb got stuck under the edge of the AR15 selector, briefly preventing me from firing the carbine until I jerked the fabric out. Should have learned my lesson, right? Well, I forgot my new gloves when I went to a carbine course 2 years ago, so I just used an old pair with cut fingers that were at the bottom of my gear bag… Needless to say, Murphy struck. During a drill where we shot over the top of a vehicle, then transitioned to the support shoulder and dropped to an urban prone behind a tire, my left trigger finger glove edge got stuck under the selector when I pushed it to safe as I dropped down behind the vehicle--as I jerked the edge of the leather out from under the lever, the selector flipped off safe at the same time my left middle finger tip caught the trigger. BANG! ND for me. Fortunately the barrel was pointed in a safe direction. But a lesson was re-learned and a pair of gloves tossed into the trash…

[DonovanM]

I had just gotten my first pistol and carry license and got back home from the range for the 3rd or 4th time ever. I had loaded it up and holstered it before I left the range, and when I got home, I cleared the chamber but neglected to notice I still had a magazine in the son of a bitch. I didn't even bother to decock after "clearing" the chambered round. I don't remember when I ejected the magazine, but somewhere in the middle of things I stepped out to do something or other.

Anyway, I came back, my SIG was cocked with a round in the chamber sitting on my desk. I pick it up to unscrew the left side grip panel. I need a better grip to get the screw loose so I shift it in my hand and tighten down. Finger goes in the trigger guard, 125gr Speer Gold Dot going 1400fps goes through a keyboard, my desk, 2 layers of sheetrock behind my desk, and into the bathroom adjacent to my room. It skips off the tile floor, apparently ricochets off the toilet, then the cabinet, and lands conveniently in the garbage can.

Scared the living bejesus out of me, not only immediately but a few days after. Still gives me chills. Could have killed someone if my angle had been slightly different and if I wasn't the only one who used that bathroom. I put the thing away for about a week until I could trust myself not to be such a goddamn idiot again.

Then, a number of months later, at my second USPSA match, I 180ed and swept an RO. Slide was locked back, but that's no excuse. Put my guns away again for a little while.

Now I'm trying every day not to have or come close to a #3. Please learn from my mistakes.

[YVK]

I've had four. One was in first year of gun ownership. I shot a 1911 and, in retrospect, I think I had a trigger finger freeze. I started to look over the gun, and, in a process, managed to unfreeze that trigger well enough to fire the weapon. It was pointed somewhat downrange, but I know that a bit more stupidity could've been fatal.

The other three were identical and happened within last 18 months - premature shot off while going fast on pressout with Glock 19. Two times bullet went several feet over the target and I consider those as full-fledged NDs. One time the gun was leveled, but the shot came out sooner than I needed it. I consider it a full-fledged ND too. At this point, I dunno if pressout technique is for me, or I shouldn't do it with Glock, although I've never had it with a 1911.

[JHC]

I understand your rating them an ND (early discharges on the press outs) by your own standards. Me, I'd just say they were misses. What trigger was that btw?

[YVK]

I understand your rating them an ND (early discharges on the press outs) by your own standards. Me, I'd just say they were misses. What trigger was that btw?

First - with standard trigger, but I can more or less write that one off as I was just self-learning pressout. The last two were with negative connector installed, approximately 5.25 lbs or so trigger pull. I got rid of negative connector after that.

[texasaggie2005]

I've had 1 in 20+ years of gun shooting. Last summer my younger brother (Capt. USMC) and I rented a private bay at a local range. Nothing serious, just a "fun shoot" get together. I was shooting a XD45 at the time.

I was probably 300 rounds deep when I had decided to lube it a little, as I hadn't before shooting. After lubing, we topped off our mags and we both walked up to the berm and did some made-up competition shoots. After a couple of mags, I realized I had over lubed and it was making my grip and trigger slick.

At a pause in the shooting for him to reload (I had two in the mag and one in the chamber) we chatted for 2 seconds about him shooting better than I was. I told my brother I was headed back to the bench to wipe it down, and he acknowledged and stayed behind to tape up new targets.

To this day, I can't explain why, but I didn't drop my mag, clear it or anything. Just holstered it, and walked back to the bench. Got a rag, unholstered and started to wipe the trigger down. KABOOM! I was facing down range, and I had the pistol pointed down and to my left. Round hit about 3 feet from my left foot and buried into the soft sand. My brother was about 15 yards in front of me to my right. I barely had a grip on it, and it flew out of my hand into the dirt. Scared the absolute living shit outta me.

I just stood there for a couple of seconds getting my head outta my ass and trying to figure out what happened. My brother walked up and asked what happened. As I recovered and cleared my pistol, I explained and apologized. It flustered me pretty good, and I had to relax for a bit and get my act together. I cleaned up and after about 15 minutes, went back to shooting with a brand new attitude.

I took several lessons away from that experience and it has completely changed how I handle a gun. I was too lax before, and I'm super anal about safety now.

1) If I'm going back to the bench, I shoot until slide lock, visually and physically clear the chamber, drop the empty mag, drop the slide, dry fire in a safe direction, then reholster before ever turning around and walking back.

2) Muzzle control. Of all the rules I broke, adhering to this one singularly prevented injury.

3) Don't finger the trigger unless you have triple cleared.

4) I'm not as smart/good as I thought. This has led me to buy a new pistol, look into classes, join this forum and try and learn as much as I can.