AD

[Ol'Bluesmoke]

Accidental Discharges

How many of us have had an Accidental Discharge? I think we would also need to speak of semantics...Accidental..or Neglectful?

Mine was at the range with my first handgun, a Taurus 669 .357. I had it loaded up with Hydrashoks, and though I was a newbie, I had already learned the "big 4" safety commandments. I had the revolver pointed down range and with the hammer cocked I touched off a round when I was not ready. The percussion of the round and my unpreparedness shocked the crap out of me. I was shaking for a couple minutes afterward the feeling was so intense. So mine was neglectful...should not have cocked that hammer and had my finger on the trigger yet...thank goodness the safety rule of keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction was impressed in my mind and prevented something really bad from happening.

 

[ihateiraq]

i think any time a weapon is fired unintentionally it is due to negligence. theres no other way i would label a discharge.

 

[ATM]

Agreed that most are NDs but one exception IMO are equipment related failures which may cause an unintended discharge. This is why we practice multiple safety rules - to minimize the impact of any failure.

I have not had one.

 

[ihateiraq]

Agreed that most are NDs but one exception IMO are equipment related failures which may cause an unintended discharge. This is why we practice multiple safety rules - to minimize the impact of any failure.

I have not had one.

equipment related failures as in...?

 

[ATM]

equipment related failures as in...?

Slam-fires, drops or jarring of older guns without internal safeties, any discharge that lacked actual trigger engagement.

 

[ihateiraq]

Slam-fires, drops or jarring of older guns without internal safeties, any discharge that lacked actual trigger engagement.

tracking. i would consider those accidental as well.

 

[Indecision]

There are two type of discharges in my mind, negligent and mechanical. If you didn't pull the trigger, like the drops and whatnot that ATM mentioned, it's mechanical. But I wouldn't call it accidental. IE, you take a safety off and the weapon discharges (seen it happen) purely from that action. You, didn't accidentally do anything, nor were you negligent, it was mechanical failure.

Edit: I've never had one.

 

[ihateiraq]

There are two type of discharges in my mind, negligent and mechanical. If you didn't pull the trigger, like the drops and whatnot that ATM mentioned, it's mechanical. But I wouldn't call it accidental. IE, you take a safety off and the weapon discharges (seen it happen) purely from that action. You, didn't accidentally do anything, nor were you negligent, it was mechanical failure.

yea, mechanical is a better term than accidental.

 

[mammynun]

I had a SAW/M249 cook off a round just as I was performing immediate action on it. Pieces of brass stopped working their way to the surface of my face about 5 years later. That could go either way... but my ego/pride want to say mechanical, though I had no reason to get it that hot to begin with.

My stepson shot his Jeep Cherokee in the driveway while "lowering" the hammer on a chambered round in his 1911. Through the dashboard and transmission tunnel and hit the transmission. Broke a piece that controls the overdrive, but didn't crack the housing. Or injure him or his friend. We found the round, and he keeps it in the Jeep to remind him to PAY ATTENTION>

 

[esrice]

Reps to Indecision for "mechanical failure" rather than "accidental discharge".

Mechanical failures and negligent discharges only.

Stories like these are good reminders of why the 4 safety rules are a layered approach to safety-- even if you violate one rule, the other 3 will generally act as a 'safety net' and back you up.

 

[jesse485]

I put a round through a shelf and into the attic (didn't get the roof thank God) with a 9x18 Makarov. Ears rang for awhile, my parents thought I committed suicide.

 

[IndyGunworks]

after a 38 hour mission one of my guys had an ND into a clearing barrel... it was my fault because i checked his chamber and it was clear, but failed to notice the mag still in the gun... that made a long (day?) even longer.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

*raises hand*

Would rather not type it out here again.

I'm almost positive that I've written about it 2-3-4x on here already.

-J-

 

[Kirk Freeman]

equipment related failures as in...?

As in any of the most popular platforms and their inertia firing pins.

ANYTIME you load or unload the firearm can go bang when you do not have your finger on the trigger. This is why I cringe and shrink up when I hear "just unload it in the parking lot". Ummm, where's your car, buddy, 'cause that's my backstop.

I also nearly faint everytime I have to go into a gun show with all the pistol jacking going on. I just wish gun shops and gun show promoters would learn that a holstered firearm is a safe firearm. Everytime you take it out it can go bang.

I see nothing wrong with the term "accidental discharge" as long as it is not used to mean "negligent discharge". That said, my AD was with an 870 shotgun at Shootrite in Alabama.

We were doing one handed (left haned at that time) reloading drills and I dropped in a round of Remington #00 buckshot and closed the action which fired the weapon and blew a section of the barricade downrange. No one was hurt, but I had nightmares about it for a long time.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

And sometimes go off when we do not touch them but something else does touch them.

Adamsville man wins appeal in malfunctioning gun case | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | Zanesville Times Recorder

Eez gon, eez not safe.

 

[Indecision]

We were doing one handed (left haned at that time) reloading drills and I dropped in a round of Remington #00 buckshot and closed the action which fired the weapon and blew a section of the barricade downrange. No one was hurt, but I had nightmares about it for a long time.

That would be mechanical failure, not accidental or negligent.

 

[Benny]

I've never had an AD, but I've had one ND.

I had just installed a Jewell in my relatively new AR 10...I knew the trigger was going to be substantially lighter than the stock one, but just didn't know how much.

Long story short, I put my finger on the trigger, it went off before I took my deep breath and it scared the out of me.

No harm, no foul though, since it went down range and actually even made it on the paper I was aiming at.







OK, you caught me, it made it on the paper I would have been aiming at about 10 minutes later.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

That would be mechanical failure, not accidental or negligent.

How do you know it was "mechanical"? Firearms discharging when you do not want them to may be in perfect mechanical order. Maybe it was the ammunition. I'll never know.

"Accidental discharge" is a more precise term here as it conveys the essence of the AD, unforseen happening.

"Negligent discharge" conveys a breach of duty.

 

[Indecision]

How do you know it was "mechanical"? Firearms discharging when you do not want them to may be in perfect mechanical order. Maybe it was the ammunition. I'll never know.

But what I mean is that negligence says "user error, i didn't mean to, but it's still my fault", accidental says "user error, but I didn't mean to, so i'm not accepting responsibility", and mechanical, to me says, anything out of control of the user, be it ammo, gun, act of god, whatever.

 

[kcw12]

Pop had a 870 that would let the firing pin stick forward, and blew a hole in a roof at a turkey shoot. I had a ole flintlock that when i pulled the hammer back it would go forward sometimes randomly and go off. THen me and dad decided we best quit buying junk