Negligent Discharge

The Hate Ape

MARSOC
SOF Support
Joined
Oct 6, 2011
Messages
602
Location
West Coast
This subject tends to be voodoo in the community.

I handle my firearms at home every day, literally, every day to the point where it has become a bedtime ritual. I cannot afford to go to the range as much as I'd like to; I work my presentation/grip/trigger on select and deliberately varying pistol sizes (beginning then ending with my carry weapon). For those of you who fall in this category, you understand the difference that practice makes in making the weapon feel like an extension of your own body.

Yesterday evening as I went down the lineup (after a few repetitions) I paid the consequences for a lapse in discipline and fortunately, only my ego was damaged. My roommate, who seems almost amused by the incident, fails to see how easily she could have been a permanent memory in my life.

Naturally she & I do not share the same experiences and I really wouldn't care to explain them to her in detail, but I cannot help but feel a sense of emotional remorse as if she was actually struck by the round and killed. I am absolutely functional and not disabled in some sort of "micro-aggression" mentality however as both a professional and a veteran this is a shitty feeling to hold.

I wrote this thread (hesitantly) with the intent on reminding everyone how human we are and that mistakes like these can reach anyone. If only one of you think about this post the next time you handle a firearm then the intended effectiveness has been achieved.

Confidence & Complacency blend like Whiskey and Sour Mix.


H/A
 
The bullet could have hit her, yes.

But it didn't. Your cognition regarding weapon safety has obviously just progressed. Focus on the positive and don't beat yourself up.
 
I put a round of 12g buck through a buddies TV cabinet, destroying a book shelf door. The shotgun was unloaded and cleared by my buddy before being handed to me, I cleared it, dry fired it once, racked it and boom. Scared the shit out of me.

To this day I will not dry fire inside a house because of it. Lucky all I did was kill a cabinet door and a few reading magazines. I felt like the biggest dick head for the longest time. To this day I still catch shit from friends who know about it.

Just make it a learning event, nobody was hurt, you fucked up, learn from it, and drive on.
 
You've realised you've done something extremely silly so I don't think a further comment is really due on that. Might I suggest then some dummy rounds made up for your drills at home? You could get some used cartridges and a round, put some resin in to the weight of your powder, plonk the round on top (maybe glue?) and colour them blue and use those for your drills. I assume the weapons would still cycle these but I'm not 100%.

It looks like there are some companies selling these but they're made of plastic and don't replicate the weight, which is a bit silly if you're wanting to do drills IMO.
 
There's dummy rounds that support the realistic weight expectations of live ammo, at least obtainable through the right channels. Learning has occurred and the only thing on my buy-list at the moment is spackle and touch-up-paint.
 
I wrote this thread (hesitantly) with the intent on reminding everyone how human we are and that mistakes like these can reach anyone. If only one of you think about this post the next time you handle a firearm then the intended effectiveness has been achieved.

Confidence & Complacency blend like Whiskey and Sour Mix.

Truth, followed by education, ending with a concluding statement.

The fact is, when we start thinking we are immune, that's when we get bit.
 
So what EXACTLY did you do? Not trying to humiliate but rather educate/highlight to others.

This is a teachable moment.
 
I do dry fire practice on my own, using snap caps. I unload my carry mag, place it in a different room, verbalize the practice mag just so I know, maybe my cat also, practice, finish and re-load carry mag, now verbalize, hot gun. Shit happens. Shit could have gone bad with you but if you learned bro, then the mistake was not in vain, as shitty as you feel. IMHO.

M.
 
I've been handling weapons ever since I was nine, more than a half century and never made a mistake. A few years ago I fumbled and dropped a loaded 357 revolver and caught it just before it hit the ground, the barrel pointing up at my face. It was a humbling moment.

Regardless of our experience or expertise none of us is immune to a mistake or an accident.
 
I've been handling weapons ever since I was nine, more than a half century and never made a mistake. A few years ago I fumbled and dropped a loaded 357 revolver and caught it just before it hit the ground, the barrel pointing up at my face. It was a humbling moment.

Regardless of our experience or expertise none of us is immune to a mistake or an accident.

I had a similar experience where I was shooting with mates. We would finish the magazine then pass the rifle (a Mini14) to the next person to load the magazine and shoot. My mate handed it to me with the safety off with the rifle vertical. I remember looking down at it as I got it. Imagine my surprise and annoyance when I noticed that the bolt was forward and not open like it should have been after the last round. In the noise my mate hadn't realised he still had a round in the chamber.

I tightened up a lot after that. These things happen but risk mitigation is so so important.
 
I do dry firing quite a bit, simply because the nearest safe range is pretty far away. We are human, and we do screw up on occasion. I think your roommate knows you are going to be kicking yourself all over the house. I am dead sure that you said you were sorry, and she has forgiven you. Knowing just how dreadful the outcome could have been, and I know it all too well, you are likely playing the worst outcome over and over in your mind; I would too. Graciously take her forgiveness, as well as the lesson learned. This event will be a part of you for as long as you live, and you will be the wiser for it.

My $.02.
 
I've been handling weapons ever since I was nine, more than a half century and never made a mistake. A few years ago I fumbled and dropped a loaded 357 revolver and caught it just before it hit the ground, the barrel pointing up at my face. It was a humbling moment.

Regardless of our experience or expertise none of us is immune to a mistake or an accident.


Attempting to catch a gun before it hits the ground is often what makes it go off in the first place.. It is always advisable to never, ever reach for a gun once it has begun to fall, this is why guns are drop tested by manufacturers and have drop safteys... glad you ended up OK in your situation, but wowza.

An off-duty NYPD cop just shot a range officer at a pistol match this past week doing exactly that. He fumbled the gun, went to catch it, and, well... the RO got an unexpected piercing
 
An off-duty NYPD cop just shot a range officer at a pistol match this past week doing exactly that. He fumbled the gun, went to catch it, and, well... the RO got an unexpected piercing

Idiot did the same at the range right next too me during inservice....guy had a HK P7M8.....so I was safer with the squeeze cocker...but scared the crap out of me.
 
Idiot did the same at the range right next too me during inservice....guy had a HK P7M8.....so I was safer with the squeeze cocker...but scared the crap out of me.

I saw a on duty school cop under the bleachers of a football game, twirling his loaded Glock on his finger like he was doc fuck holiday or some shit.
 
Back
Top