Gun Accidents
 

Something that happened to a friend of my dad's recently inspired me to start this thread.

First I'll explain what happened. My dad's friend, a former Marine, now NYPD officer in his 40s, was shooting a Sako .300 Weatherby Magnum. He was wearing his contacts instead of his glasses, and accidentally loaded a .270 Winchester round into the rifle instead of a .300. When he shot the gun, the bullet had extra room to expand, and blew up in the breach. He got severe powder burns and cuts on his face. He'll be okay, maybe some scars on his face, but accidents happen. I find it ironic how he always grills me on my gun handling (nagging me when I'm not doing anything wrong :rolleyes:) and he's the one who fucks up.

Anyway, the point of this thread is to recall any gun related accidents you've had with a firearm. Now, I have four really note-worthy stories, and they are a little embarrasing, so don't hold back and make me look like an asshole. ;)

1. I was 12 years old and test firing a 410 O/U shotgun, and the gun had this dumb function were the barrel break release had to be cocked fully until it locked to the right (this cocked the strikers back). Most break actions don't have this dumb design, so I forgot about this impliment and pushed the lever enough to open the barrels, but not enough to cock the strikers. So when I swung the shotgun closed, the barrels pushed back the strikers, dropped them back, and the gun went off. I was not in a good direction, but luckily no person or inanimate object got hurt. I learned two valuable lessons that day I will remember for a long time. Know how the weapon works, and always control the muzzle at all times.

2. This was just stupidity on both mine and my father's behalf. My dad had just assembled this gun, a Walther G22 .22 LR rifle (which was very difficult because all the parts have to be put together at once, like an airsoft gun). He accidentally installed the parts for a left handed user, since it can be assembled either left or right handed. Now, for those who don't know the G22, it is a bullpup rifle, and the bolt handle sits on the stock. I shot the gun, not noticing this, and got punched in the chin by the bolt handle. Lots of blood, and the scar's still there today. He turned it into a righty gun after that, but I still shot that thing with one hand, extended as far from my face as possible. Worse part was, the customer was a lefty, so he had to change it back yet again. :rolleyes:

3. Sometimes, it's the gun's fault. Period. I shot an AMT Automag V. After three shots, the magazine release shattered, and the front sight screw blew out and hit me in the forehead. Minor cut, no scars. That gun's a dangerous piece of shit, never own one or shoot one.

I don't consider this an accident since I wasn't injured and didn't mess up anything, but felt like adding it anyway. I shot a 12 Gauge O/U, and after the first shot, it kicked me REALLY hard. I was shocked by this, and asked my dad if he loaded it with 3 1/2" mags or something. He looked at me like I was being a sissy, but I shouldered it and found the second shot wasn't coming. I popped open the breach and both shells were empty and smoking. It double kicked me! And two 12s at once is brutal. I can handle shotgun recoil very well, but that wasn't pleasant.

So, now it's your turns guys. Please be honest, we all make mistakes.

The first few time I've held a Beretta M92 series, for some reason I was a bit off with the magazine release button and sometimes if I move a finger wrong or even my thumb, I would accidently release it when I squeezed hard enough. One time I was at a range and when I was bringing it to fire, I pressed the release and the mag with all 15 rounds dropped onto my foot. I say 15 in the mag because I already loaded one in chamber

That reminds me of this video I saw on youtube where this idiot tries shooting an AR-15 with his middle finger while keeping his pointer finger extended (urrm, that doesn't count as good finger discipline...) and the recoil caused him to press the magazine release while he was shooting.

I remember seeing some guys try that their first time. I saw this one guy when holding an MP5 for the first time. When he held it, his left hand wasn't gripping the fore end properly. He made a fist under and like there's an imaginary foregrip to hold onto.

My uncle had a 12 gauge over-under (not sure which kind, never bothered to ask and I don't know if he still has it). When we were in North Carolina once, he brought it along and he, I and my older sister took a few turns with it. On one of his turns, he let both barrels loose and obliterated one of the soda cans we were aiming at. He actually never knew he had done it until he pulled the trigger again, got nothing, and then opened it to check the primers.

After the 410 and the 12 Gauge, I'm not particularly trusting with O/U shotguns.

When I got back from my soldier qual course and had been running on 2 hours of sleep a night for a week and a half, I was cleaning my C7 before turning it in. I put it back together, and did a function test. When I cocked it, the bolt stayed back even though there was no mag in there. I looked down and saw the buffer and spring sitting in my bush hat. Because the bolt was now stuck between the buffer tube and the upper receiver, I couldn't break it open. I managed to unscrew the buttplate and push it out with my cleaning rod before my instructors noticed.

I hate moments like that. For a couple minutes, you're just freaking out because you're figuring out what to do to fix it. Once everything's okay though, you can look back and laugh.

Once I was field stripping my M1 Garand and accidentally disassembled the bolt. It took me half an hour to finally figure the damn thing out without instructions.

I was dissembling a Beretta M92FS a friend had and when I tried to put it back together, I didn't fit the spring all the way and the whole slide flew out when I let go to fix it. Now that was embarrassing

Well, I don't think anyone can say they're from a "gun" family till one of their relatives blows one of his toes off with a muzzle loader. Apparently he thought the gun was half-cocked but it went off somehow. Had to ride for an hour and a half on an ATV before he made it to the hospital. According to him, it hurt...a lot.

Oh I have one.

I was taking apart my 5906 and I just found the buttons that release the safety and the firing pin. I depressed the firing pin, and when I went to hit the button to release it, I apparently forgot about spring tension, and it flew out of the back of the gun.......

Into my eye.

Thankfully I didn't go blind, and I learned how to take the pieces out properly. It was pretty funny all in all.

That reminds me of the spring cover on my 1911. If you don't hold that down it can shoot out pretty fast.

I was just thinking about an accident my grandpa had. He sat down to the dinner table with a loaded shotgun and it accidentally went off and he shot the floor. His brother's feet were pretty close to the shot, so he sprinted out of the house and through the screen door without even opening it. I can imagine it was quite a spectical.

Yeah my 1911 spring plug flew of the first day I got it. They guy behind the counter was trying to show me how to take it apart and put it together, but he failed to realise that the spring plug was the last iece to go in, so he was trying to reassemble the gun without the slide stop in, so he couldn't adequately tame the plug and wham, flew out right next to me. nothing broke though.

What, was he showing off or something? Anyone who owns a 1911 should know how to field strip it (I've done it blind-folded before). Anyway, anyone ever time tested their 1911 field stripping time?

I get around ~30 seconds apart and back together. It takes longer when I have the comp. on it because I have to push a pencil through the plug spot to depress the sping cover, so that takes extra time. I only field strip when I have the normal bushing attached.

Stripping a Glock 17 1st Gen was easiest though, took me ~20 seconds. No major components to line up and precisely plug. That was the first thing that drew my interest to the Glock, how easy they are to field-strip and clean.

45 seconds flat with my Desert Warrior but not blind folded.

I believe that gun has a second spring to mine, so 45 is pretty good. I didn't get my best time blind-folded, but I can do it blind-folded within a minute.

I don't speed strip it because I'm trying to keep it from getting a moron mark (so far so good). I use a mechanical pencil to depress the plunger and I gently slide it in. It once took me several minutes just to do that. If you give me a 1911 to practice, I could probably match anyone's time.

First thing they teach you at basic is never strip against time. That's how you lose parts.