My 27 year old son comes over after work every Tuesday and Wednesday for movies and dinner.
I've drummed gun safety into their heads all their life. I have a Glock 19 and 27 on the bookcase.
I told him the 19 has a round in the chamber, the 27 does not. A while later he picks up the 27
and racks the slide. Just as I'm starting to say you just put a round in the chamber he points it
at the floor and pulls the trigger. BANG!.
I spent five minutes looking for a hole in the wall. Thank God there is concrete under the carpet.
I guess the concrete took the energy away, the round is under the carpet about a foot away from the
hole, otherwise he would be buying me a new TV. I'm not mad at him, and won't tell anyone else,
but I'll be able to tease him for the rest of my life. When I'm gone I'll make sure he gets the
Glock 27. Embarrased he was.

That shit's loud, aint it?

I hope you learned a lesson too, not to store a semi-auto with an empty chamber but a charged magazine. Personally, I believe this to be an very dangerous practice, a firearm should be loaded (chambered) and ready for use, or completely "dry" with no ammunition present depending on its intended purpose (defense or storage). Racking the slide upon pickup is a very natural action, no matter how ill-advised.

Also, there's another lesson to drill into the kids' heads: "a gun is always loaded."

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I hope you learned a lesson too, not to store a semi-auto with an empty chamber but a charged magazine. Personally, I believe this to be an very dangerous practice, a firearm should be loaded (chambered) and ready for use, or completely "dry" with no ammunition present depending on its intended purpose (defense or storage). Racking the slide upon pickup is a very natural action, no matter how ill-advised.

Also, there's another lesson to drill into the kids' heads: "a gun is always loaded."

I’m not sure I can agree that an empty chamber is somehow MORE dangerous than a loaded one.

I’ve had one in my life, scared the fuck out of me.

R.lee Ermey called
With a nine minute message, neither you or your son wants to hear any of it.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
That shit's loud, aint it?

Yeah. It was about 18 inches from my head!

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
I've drummed gun safety into their heads all their life.

Including the "Treat every gun as if it is loaded" part?

Had somewhat similar years ago, but it was an XDS racked then mag ejected, then 'dry-fired' the chambered round into the floor.
Scariest part was that we were upstairs & my wife/kids were downstairs almost directly below us.
Floor joist took the round, I'm assuming.

9mm in a large bedroom wasn't nearly as loud as I thought it would be. Carpet, curtains & furniture soaks up some sound I guess.

Everyone becareful. Especially around firearms. That shit don't play.

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
I've drummed gun safety into their heads all their life.

Including the "Treat every gun as if it is loaded" part?

This

quote:

and won't tell anyone else,
but I'll be able to tease him for the rest of my life.

Except for the entire internet.

Empty chamber or not, I've taught all three of my
sons if you pick up a gun, or someone hands you a gun, take the mag out and look in the chamber.
Hopefully it will never happen again. And always
keep it pointed in a safe direction. At least he
was pointing it at the floor.

Glad that you’re both OK.

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
I've drummed gun safety into their heads all their life.

Including the "Treat every gun as if it is loaded" part?

I told him earlier there were rounds in the mag.
When the 4 kids were young I only kept one gun loaded, and
it was in a safe under the bed. Now that I live alone I didn't
worry about it except when the grandkids come over. Then they are
all put away.

Glad everyone is OK and it was only a loud, scary reminder on gun safety.

Long story short: I've never had a ND but have been tangentially involved in one.

Long version: When I lived in Alaska, I had a coworker (BTW, he worked in the safety department and taught oil & gas safety courses) who had a nice Class C motorhome that he didn't use often so he'd rent out to trustworthy people. Much nicer, larger, and less expensive than a RV rental place so I was honored he considered me trustworthy. His house backed up to a waterbody and he frequently sees brown (aka grizzly) bears and didn't know what to buy as a bear round in case one decided to break into his house. He owns several guns, but only one is large enough for brown bear (i.e. the mighty 12 gauge).

My friend from Hawaii comes to visit and we had a great time renting their RV so decided to give him and his wife gifts. My friend gave Hawaii Kona coffee to the wife who was a big fan of coffee, and I gave my coworker 12 gauge Brenneke Black Magic Magnum slugs (aka the slugs Alaska fish & game wardens carry for bear). They were very appreciative of the unexpected gifts.

A few minutes before he goes out of town on a business trip, he decides to load the 12 gauge with the bear slugs for the wife in case anything happens in his absence. Next thing he knows his ears are ringing, there is a large diameter hole in the mattress, a matching hole through the 2nd story bedroom floor, and a matching hole through the 1st story ceiling. He chambered a round while loading and pulled the trigger while trying to engage the safety. Nobody hurt, but a hell of a lot of damage for the wife to clean up as he headed to the airport for his business trip.

Obviously, I didn't cause the ND, but providing the 12 gauge slugs did help facilitate it.

Stories like this are always a good reminder for me. I don't ever want to be lackadaisical when handling firearms.

Sounds like he’ll remember that for a very long time. Glad everyone is ok.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
That shit's loud, aint it?

Years ago I was reloading some 357 magnum rounds. I was set up in my garage.

Somehow a primer didn't get set in all the way. I had not charged it with powder yet. I assumed it might be dangerous to try to punch out the primer on the press, thinking it might set off the primer, and I've got live primers and powder on the press.

Sooooo I decided to chamber the 357 magnum round, no powder or bullet in it, and fire it off, and then I could properly deprime the round later.

I mean, I figured well just how loud could just a simple primer be? No power, no big ignition, no pressure being released as a bullet would be passing between the revolver wheel cylinder pass through the air gap to the barrel throat. It couldn't be any big deal, nothing loud, totally safe, I thought.

Wrong.

That sucker beat the crap out of my ear drums. I could not believe how loud it was. Concrete floor in the garage, nothing in there to deaden the sound, etc.

It wasn't a negligent discharge, it was an idiot discharge.

I NEVER did that again!!!
.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Stories like this are always a good reminder for me. I don't ever want to be lackadaisical when handling firearms.

Some less vigilant handling in your presence definitely makes one realize how safe you are.
Some people (even quite experienced) make me nervous, even knowing I've handed them an empty firearm.

My favorite ND: My friend shot and killed his waterbed. Quite a mess! Done with a BHP, lowering the hammer on a chambered round.