[haertig]

I almost made it to 56 years old without having ever had a negligent discharge, but that streak was broken yesterday at the range.

I was shooting my .45acp 1911 when a hot piece of brass flew down my shirt. I lowered my gun to the ready position, pointing downwards at about a 45 degree angle. Grabbed the tail of my shirt to lift it out of my pants to get the hot shell out, and BAM!

Obviously my finger had made it's way back inside the trigger guard somehow. Totally my error. The gun did not "just go off" as some people would say. I fired it. Accidently. The bullet landed downrange about 4 feet in front of me. I was shooting alone at the time. Just me and the dirt in front of me inside of tall berms on either side (an outdoor range). Probably no real danger because I did have the muzzle pointing downrange and in a safe direction. But when a round hits the dirt a few feet in front of you, it grabs your attention real quick! Nice little crater in the dirt. No mistaking where the round hit.

I have been humbled and embarassed. I will now be paying even MORE attention to safety. Just when you think you have all this stuff down pat, you screw up. Luckily the multiple layers of safety that I hope we all practice saved me. The muzzle was pointed in a safe direction, exactly where I would have wanted it to be pointing. But I screwed up - my finger was on the trigger in a situation where I had no intention of firing. Very scary.

 

[224lps]

Good thing you still followed the point it in a safe direction rule

 

[haugrdr]

I thought this kind of "hot brass down the shirt" only happened to females with cleavage???



Glad your OK, it does make me think about my safety when handling firearms.

 

[mkamer]

Glad you are okay. And you are right, that's why there are several layers in gun safety. Your sincere and honest post is a reminder to all of us.

 

[R.Ph. 380]

You know, I've never made a mistake, been wrong or had a ND. I also lie a lot and cover-up whenever possible. If you can't admit a failing, you're not worth shooting! Oh that wouldn't be negligent then would it?

Bill

 

[phideaux]

All your life doing something more than familiar, and then ,so quickly, something you been doing for many years, then instantly something happens, out of nowhere, that you couldnt have possibly foreseen.

Most think it will never happen to them.

Seems familiar. Made a few of those mistakes myself.

Im Glad your OK, and Had the instincts to keep it pointed in the right direction.


Jim

 

[jim580]

Let's call it your only ND.
Glad you're alright

 

[Cajunwifey]

Knob Creek 2009...hot brass down my shirt...burn mark still there...yep, I'll never forget that.

 

[Cajunwifey]

Oh, and glad you are ok!!

 

[dracer]

just shows we can never be to carefull , I am sure you are not the only one that has done some thing like that and you won't be the last , lets hope every one keeps there muzzel pointed down range like you did

 

[cm]

HI Haertig.
Had a similar thing happen to me several years ago. I had a constable 9mm short, I was ready to fire, when taking the safety off, it fired, It was pointing down range. But it scared the p:ss out of me. I turned it into the police for disposal. That was when I bought my P3AT. Glad to hear that your ND out come went OK. Keep Safe.

 

[Ag]

the multiple layers of safety that I hope we all practice saved me.

Your 100% correct. I use to coach safety for an NRA juniors program and still do for the Cub Scouts & Boy Scouts. I always tell the kids that you can't have a serious incident unless you violate at least 2 safety rules. You only violated one, that's why there's only a hole in the ground instead of something important like a body part.

 

[billjohnso20]

It happened to me a couple of years ago. I finished cleaning a revolver and reloaded it to put it back in my holster. Well, I made the choice to just go put it in my bedside safe instead. One daughter was in the shower and the other in the living room. That meant safe direction was up. As I raised the gun towards the ceiling, my finger went into the trigger guard and bang!!! It scared us all there to death plus I had to repair the hole in the ceiling. Fortunately, the Gold Dot disintegrated in the rafters and never left the house.

My safety protocol prevented a tragedy. However, now if I'm not putting a gun right back into my holster on my hip or in my pocket, it stays unloaded till I need it.

I'm glad you're safe and no one was injured. The reality is that Murphy's Law means that the more we carry weapons the greater the likelihood we will momentarily be lax resulting in a ND with a gun or cutting ourselves with a knife.

 

[lop]

Totally my error.

Luckily the multiple layers of safety that I hope we all practice saved me.


. Very scary.

Haertig,
Good job on the manning up. Thanks for giving us all the wake up call.
My only comment on your post was that "Luckily" should probably be replaced with 'fortunately'. Luck didn't save you, good training saved the day.
Glad you're ok, and again, thanks for keeping us all safe.
Lop

 

[ldnn]

Glad you're ok, thanks for reminding all of us. When we handle weapons on a regular basis ND is not a question of if, it's a question of when. Some years back a sailor on my ship was involved in an ND and killed, being his Division Officer I had to go with my CHENG (Chief Engineer) to the Norfolk city morgue to officially identify his body. I lost my appetite for a few days.

 

[Ka6otm]

I'm not at all sure it happens to everyone even though a lot of people like to think that.

I'm older than the OP and I've never had one, but I chalk that up to the fact that I've witnessed 2 different close ones. One sent the bullet past my legs, missing by around 1 or 2 feet, and the other one was while I was at station 1 in trap and the guy on station 5 had an ND where the shot hit around 1 foot in front of my left foot (saw the hit in the dirt).

These two keep me constantly on my toes about it.