My firearm mishap, accidents DO happen

egclassic

egclassic

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
558
Location
Cincinnati, OH, United States
First, a little background history.
I have been an avid firearm owner since I was old enough to shoot my first .22 as a kid (9-10ish).
I was always taught, and practiced firearm safety, as one should.
As I got older, I have built up a good collection of guns and enjoy shooting, hunting and reloading.
Last night, I picked up a really nice used S&W M&P shield .45. The guy I bought it from gave me 2 loaded mags with the gun.
Once I got home, I headed to my workshop / reloading bench down in my basement to disassemble my "new to me" gun and give it a good cleaning like I always do with a new gun.
To disassemble this particular gun, you have to rack the slide all the way back, push the disassembly lever down, move the slide forward and pull the trigger to release the slide from the frame.
Guess what happened next? Yeah, unintentional discharge!
Scared the living shit out of me! Feeling like a complete dumbass, I wondered what had just happened!
Well, as I was heading down to the basement, a friend called and I was talking on the phone with him, mistake #1.
I had forgotten that I had the flush fit, loaded, 6 rd mag in the gun, which means I didn't do a safety check. Mistake #2 (cardinal rule broken!)
At least I did point the gun in a safe direction before pulling that trigger, and there was no damage to anything but my electronic scale which took the brunt of the bullet. (well maybe my pride was damaged a little too!)
This was a stupid mistake that, up to this point, I thought could / would NEVER happen to me because I'm usually more careful than this!
 
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egclassic said:
First, a little background history.
I have been an avid firearm owner since I was old enough to shoot my first .22 as a kid (9-10ish).
I was always taught, and practiced firearm safety, as one should.
As I got older, I have built up a good collection of guns and enjoy shooting, hunting and reloading.
Last night, I picked up a really nice used S&W M&P shield .45. The guy I bought it from gave me 2 loaded mags with the gun.
Once I got home, I headed to my workshop / reloading bench down in my basement to disassemble my "new to me" gun and give it a good cleaning like I always do with a new gun.
To disassemble this particular gun, you have to rack the slide all the way back, push the disassembly lever down, move the slide forward and pull the trigger to release the slide from the frame.
Guess what happened next? Yeah, unintentional discharge!
Scared the living shit out of me! Feeling like a complete dumbass, I wondered what had just happened!
Well, as I was heading down to the basement, a friend called and I was talking on the phone with him, mistake #1.
I had forgotten that I had the flush fit, loaded, 6 rd mag in the gun, which means I didn't do a safety check. Mistake #2 (cardinal rule broken!)
At least I did point the gun in a safe direction before pulling that trigger, and there was no damage to anything but my electronic scale which took the brunt of the bullet. (well maybe my pride was damaged a little too!)
This was a stupid mistake that, up to this point, I thought could / would NEVER happen to me because I'm usually more careful than this!
Click to expand...

Most guys wouldn’t admit something like that, but by doing so? You might get one of us to be just a little more careful. Glad you are okay.


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I’m just glad no one got hurt. But yes, this goes to show that no matter who you are, or how proficient you might be, accidents DO happen, and they can happen to anyone at anytime.
 
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BendLarry said:
Most guys wouldn’t admit something like that, but by doing so? You might get one of us to be just a little more careful. Glad you are okay.


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Click to expand...
Figured if I publicly humiliated myself, it would force me to be more careful next time!LOL
And that is exactly the point here, to let people know it CAN happen to anyone!
 
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Chris said:
I’m just glad no one got hurt. But yes, this goes to show that no matter who you are, or how proficient you might be, accidents DO happen, and they can happen to anyone at anytime.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my wife was pissed! I always tell her shit like that does not happen!
She was even madder because when she yelled down to see if I was ok, I didn't answer right away.
I told her I was Freaking deaf and couldn't hear shit!
 
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When you pull the trigger to disassemble that gun, or even a Glock, most guys will actually have their hand over the barrel.

Be glad you weren’t most guys.
 
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Happy to hear there were no injuries.
Having a large collection of guns myself and a reloader, I too had a misfire years ago.....humbling.
 
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Thanks for sharing your story. This is a good reminder that even with almost 40 years of experience, accidents can and do happen. glad the only thing hurt was your pride.
 
Oh Man! Glad you're ok. I've never liked that particular "feature" of most striker fired pistols. Time to add another rule...No ammo in the room where you work on guns!
 
u̶n̶i̶n̶t̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶h̶a̶r̶g̶e̶

negligent discharge


I'm glad no one was injured and kudos to you for admitting your mistake.
 
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Ranger_b0b said:
Oh Man! Glad you're ok. I've never liked that particular "feature" of most striker fired pistols. Time to add another rule...No ammo in the room where you work on guns!
Click to expand...
I usually do not have ammo anywhere near the guns when I'm cleaning them.
My biggest mistake was being on the phone.
Just like when I'm reloading, if I feel I'm being distracted, it's time to quit!
 
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I don't have a lot of experience with guns but during my railroad career I learned to be alert when working with a new guy because he's not fully aware of the dangers. Same applies to a person with years of experience because that are so use to doing the same thing daily that they make mistakes because that aren't focused enough. My guess is the same applies to gun owners.
 
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There was a string a negligent discharges in my area about 6 months ago. About enough to make me okay with gun control because nobody else was controlling their guns.

Started with teens shooting a filled propane tank, you could hear it for miles.
Next one neighbor kid shot at my house repeatedly (supposedly he was shooting into the air, which is a big no no).
Other neighbor had a jammed gun and shot himself in the hand trying to clear it.
Ended the summer with somebody "accidentally" shooting their friend dead.

Be careful guys! Accidental discharges are not something that makes gun ownership look like a good thing.
 
egclassic said:
Figured if I publicly humiliated myself, it would force me to be more careful next time!LOL
And that is exactly the point here, to let people know it CAN happen to anyone!
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same as @BendLarry. Kudos to you for manning-up on that one. It's one helluva reminder for all of us firearm owners to avoid distractions. It may be a good idea that once we have met with a distraction, the immediate next step is to "start over" on what we were doing by doing our safety checks again, and taking the necessary precautions. With our guns, distractions can be fatal. Really glad you (and everyone else in the vicinity) are alright, my friend.
 
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Squatch said:
I was thinking the same as @BendLarry. Kudos to you for manning-up on that one. It's one helluva reminder for all of us firearm owners to avoid distractions. It may be a good idea that once we have met with a distraction, the immediate next step is to "start over" on what we were doing by doing our safety checks again, and taking the necessary precautions. With our guns, distractions can be fatal. Really glad you (and everyone else in the vicinity) are alright, my friend.
Click to expand...

Distractions are a real concern for sure. I also think over confidence can breed complacency. A lack of frequent exposure to your weapons can also cause mishandling. It’s kind of a double edged sword. You need to be frequently exposed but not to the point of forgetting you could be one slip from disaster. My wife carries every day but doesn’t actually load/ unload deal with the guns features very often. I try to force the issue with her so I know she will be prepared and safe if she ever needed to deal with a bad guy. Stay safe out there.


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