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Negligent Discharge

Have you had an ND/AD

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 42.9%

  • Not Yet

    Votes: 16 57.1%
  • Total voters
    28
I had an ND at the young age of 13. I had a model 290 semi auto .22 Winchester rifle. I don't know why but I had gotten into the habit of walking along and playing with the cross bolt safety . Pushing it off and then back on , then pushing it off again and back on , repeatedly as I walked along. It was on my way home , walking along the country road I grew up on , with temps about 90 degrees in the shade . I was sweating heavily and playing with that safety button when all of a sudden the rifle slipped in my sweat covered hands and started to fall. I grabbed for it and it went off because you guessed it , I had just pushed that safety off and my finger hit the trigger .

The shot went into the embankment along side of the road thankfully but just after the rifle fired a voice rang out from the farmer who was taking a lunch break . Hey I'm under this tree. I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me . Well I almost crapped my pants twice .

I learned two things that day. Never play with the safety of a firearm and NEVER grab for a falling firearm.

I had been taught proper firearm safety but I learned two valuable lessons that day and they certainly haven't been forgotten these past 52 years.
 
papa said:
I had an ND at the young age of 13. I had a model 290 semi auto .22 Winchester rifle. I don't know why but I had gotten into the habit of walking along and playing with the cross bolt safety . Pushing it off and then back on , then pushing it off again and back on , repeatedly as I walked along. It was on my way home , walking along the country road I grew up on , with temps about 90 degrees in the shade . I was sweating heavily and playing with that safety button when all of a sudden the rifle slipped in my sweat covered hands and started to fall. I grabbed for it and it went off because you guessed it , I had just pushed that safety off and my finger hit the trigger .

The shot went into the embankment along side of the road thankfully but just after the rifle fired a voice rang out from the farmer who was taking a lunch break . Hey I'm under this tree. I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me . Well I almost crapped my pants twice .

I learned two things that day. Never play with the safety of a firearm and NEVER grab for a falling firearm.

I had been taught proper firearm safety but I learned two valuable lessons that day and they certainly haven't been forgotten these past 52 years.
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"A falling sword has no handle"
 
papa said:
I had an ND at the young age of 13. I had a model 290 semi auto .22 Winchester rifle. I don't know why but I had gotten into the habit of walking along and playing with the cross bolt safety . Pushing it off and then back on , then pushing it off again and back on , repeatedly as I walked along. It was on my way home , walking along the country road I grew up on , with temps about 90 degrees in the shade . I was sweating heavily and playing with that safety button when all of a sudden the rifle slipped in my sweat covered hands and started to fall. I grabbed for it and it went off because you guessed it , I had just pushed that safety off and my finger hit the trigger .

The shot went into the embankment along side of the road thankfully but just after the rifle fired a voice rang out from the farmer who was taking a lunch break . Hey I'm under this tree. I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me . Well I almost crapped my pants twice .

I learned two things that day. Never play with the safety of a firearm and NEVER grab for a falling firearm.

I had been taught proper firearm safety but I learned two valuable lessons that day and they certainly haven't been forgotten these past 52 years.
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Whether it's reaching for a falling firearm, or trying to grab a pistol that's un-holstered either in a pants pocket or under a pillow, Fingers ALWAYS seem to gravitate to that trigger guard and trigger, don't they. 😲
 
It’s probably been about 10 years ago I picked up a surplus Russian 1952 SKS in 7.62x39. It was in great shape. Me and my wife went to the range and was going to try it out. I locked back that bolt, put the safety on, then preceded to load the 10 round magazine, after I loaded the rifle, I laid down the rifle on the sandbags, my wife was about 5 feet to the right of me getting the spotting scope set up. When she got ready, I sat down, grabbed the rifle and I dropped the bolt and that’s when everything went array, the rifle went off, without me touching the trigger, firing all 10 rounds like a full auto rifle, the barrel rose and swung right, thank god I didn’t hit my wife, before I could get the rifle under control, it went dry, no injuries, but I did basically cut the 4”x4” post in half that holds up the roof on the rifle range. What did I learn, don’t buy surplus weapons, never trust a safety completely, make sure you have the weapon under your full control and it’s always pointed in a safe direction.
 
I have been lucky so far. My dad was a stickler for safety and it has carried over. I wont even handle a gun if I am tired or my head isn't clear. I have always told my kids, to the point of being obnoxious, that a gun is always loaded until you verify it's not regardless of what you are told. I simplify things for them with only one magazine per gun. Different calibers are in color coded boxes, but I only bring one caliber at a time when they are with me. Yes, it's more work and more trips, but safety first. They have to be 100% on their A game with me. I hope some of what I am teaching rubs off on them.

I also find that some groups of "buddies" down the range can be problematic with them not paying attention, one hand on the gun while the other hand is on the cell phone, or something silly like that. Basically not paying attention as much as they should be. If I see that, I remove the kids and myself from the range. Better to cut it short and come back another day.
 
Annihilator said:
It’s probably been about 10 years ago I picked up a surplus Russian 1952 SKS in 7.62x39. It was in great shape. Me and my wife went to the range and was going to try it out. I locked back that bolt, put the safety on, then preceded to load the 10 round magazine, after I loaded the rifle, I laid down the rifle on the sandbags, my wife was about 5 feet to the right of me getting the spotting scope set up. When she got ready, I sat down, grabbed the rifle and I dropped the bolt and that’s when everything went array, the rifle went off, without me touching the trigger, firing all 10 rounds like a full auto rifle, the barrel rose and swung right, thank god I didn’t hit my wife, before I could get the rifle under control, it went dry, no injuries, but I did basically cut the 4”x4” post in half that holds up the roof on the rifle range. What did I learn, don’t buy surplus weapons, never trust a safety completely, make sure you have the weapon under your full control and it’s always pointed in a safe direction.
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Wow Annihilator, that's scary. I have a ChiCom SKS 7.62x39 that is used surplus from the Vietnam war era. Now I'm worried about firing it after cleaning all the cosmoline off it.
 
Annihilator said:
Bet7, It was scary, wife finally forgave me, lol. I guess just make sure it’s pointed down range. I bought surplus before, but this was first time this ever happened to me.
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Your experience reminds me of an encounter I had at my outdoor range I'm a member of. I'm shooting my AK47 next to someone that has a Black-powder musket he was about to use for upcoming Black-Powder hunting season. He gets it ready to fire, and as I'm interested, I turn to watch him fire. He pulls the trigger and nothing happens. He say it must be the percussion cap and proceeds to restart the whole loading process. I'm asking if he's good enough to load and fire 3x in a minute as they did during the revolutionary war. "Nah, I'm not that fast as I want to make sure I do this right". Well, I'm firing my AK slowly, and out of the corner of my eye (he was to the left of me), I see him raise the musket to fire again. He was swinging it forward over my head pointing it up towards the ceiling as it unexpectedly goes off. I just stare at him in shock, as he says something like "I wonder how that happened" and goes back to reloading. He turned out to be a nice guy, but it definitely gave me a scare.
 
I also bought a used series 70 Colt gold cup few years back, at the range with my wife, I shot the gun using 185 target loads, Gun went off 2 times, so I figured the over travel was set to tight, so I readjusted the over travel and my wife proceeded to shoot it, gun went full auto, the 2-piece sear broke. I guess the previous owner didn’t know you shouldn’t shoot 230 fmj a lot in that gun as it’s not meant for that type of shooting, anyway after a startled look we quit for the day, I eventually had a regular government model sear installed in it and all was fine.
 
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I had one about 25 years ago. A friend asked to see my new revoler. I emptied the cylinder ( so I thought ) but before I could count the rounds he grab the revoler out of my hand and it went off. He must have put his finger on the trigger. Good thing I had it pointed in a safe direction and noboby was shot. Lesson learned. I always unload and check a second time before I hand a gun to someone else.
 
That's another cardinal rule I learned as a tyke - NEVER put your finger on the trigger unless you're ready to fire. At the range, in the house, doing a cleaning, walking the dog, whatever. Pointing the gun is only step one. Finger off the guard and on the trigger, is step two - and should ONLY happen after step one.
 
I have not had a ND/AD. As I stated in another thread I got into guns because of my father. From a young age he drilled into my head about gun safety till the day he died. There were 3 rules that still to this day ring in my head.
1.) ALWAYS treat a gun as if it was loaded. Weather it’s left open when I pick it up or even dissembled on the table. It’s loaded.
2.) NEVER point a gun at something or someone that I don’t want to destroy or kill.
3.) Trigger Discipline keep your finger outside the trigger guard until your on target and ready to fire.
 
I took out the mag and racked the 44 mag DE multiple times with trigger finger on the grip. The racking process that I did was not charge and release, but charge with force return. After 5 or 6 times while it was pointed at a 2" thick bamboo work bench I then pulled the trigger and it discharged. I checked if I was hit or anything under the table, but luckily it didn't go threw. The bullet did peek threw the bottom side. Lesson learned and now I recheck the chamber with the slide locked open.
 
PepperGuy said:
I have not however on a bird hunting trip as we loaded our shotguns one person racked a shell into the chamber and ended up pulling the trigger at the same time. Fortunately no one was hurt. That scared the living crap out of me!
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Witnessed something similar with my son. Nobody was hurt or any property damaged but a major learning lesson for both since my negligence was the first straw. We were dove hunting and I laid my shotgun on the tailgate without the safety on and after getting on the tailgate he put his finger in the guard and boom. Now I double check the safety and he has returned to long guns in the last year, after 25 years.
 
Not yet - and I hope to never. I really like reading these "negative-outcome" stories that folks are courageous and honest enough to offer up for everyone to learn from, as it reminds me yet again that we're all human, that we can all make mistakes: it helps to remind me to keep on being as careful as I can.

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The First Rule is "Treat all guns as if they are always loaded," but I prefer the higher-level accountability of "knowing the status of your weapon."

I hope by steadfast adherence to this Rule 1 that I will never have an ND. And what's more, I hope that should I have that ND, that hopefully my adherence to the other three Rules will mitigate the damage of that negligence.
 
It wasn't negligent discharge more like a malfunction. I was hunting with a Springfield 30-06 bolt action that was handed down to me at age 16. After reaching camp I proceeded to unload the rifle. Barrel pointed away from anyone.

The safety is required to open the beach to remove the round. The safety mechanism is difficult to switch. I struggled a bit and after the safety gave the rifle fired. Scared the **** out of me. My left hand held the rifle at the handguard. And my right hand was working the safety. Fingers were no where near the trigger. My grandfather who gave it me took it to a gunsmith. Found out the trigger mech was tampered with to dangerous sensitivity.

It's a beautiful rifle. But it's going to sit in a glass case for looks if I ever get one. Got a tag with description as to why it shouldn't be used. I'll never buy a used gun becauseof this incident.

Sho I learned, if you get a used gun. Take it to a gunsmith for inspection.
 
I’ve spent twenty years in the firearm industry working 15 for Marlin Firearms and 5 years as a Engineering project manager for O.F. Mossberg. I’ve personally never had a NG or AG however while working for Mossberg and managing there packing Department a rack rifles was delivered from the test range with one rifle still having 3 rounds in the magazine. The final inspector pick up the rifle racked the slide to check the action and pulled the trigger sending a 300 Win Mag through the wall. The room was filled with over 100 employees and no one was hurt thank god. Two people lost their jobs that day for not following protocol. Firearm safety is paramount.
 
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