If you have been around guns for awhile,just one question. Can you describe an accidental discharge AND how training or proper habits made the situation embarrassing but safe???
What were those habits that get taken for granted but saved you from a bad situation??
I’ve never had a ND. I treat every firearm with the respect it deserves. Of course now that I have said that you can bet I will have a ND. But going to “knock on wood” just in case.
First of all, ND = AD, and AD = ND. Same difference.
Years ago I was in my garage workshop, a room within my garage. I decided to load a magazine with snap caps and do some dry fire. I then, as always, pointed the pistol in a safe direction and pulled the trigger. Then PEW!!! Scared the $hi¥ out of me… I totally forgot there was one in the chamber. Luckily the only injury was to a little dry wall and a stud in the attic.
So ALWAYS point a firearm in a safe direction in case you are not as safe as you think. Hope this helps.
I had someone have a ND at me. He had a Ruger .22 and didn’t know how to clean it. This was after my time in the military.
So I showed him how to break it down , clean it, and put it back together. As, always I chambered one and added one to the clip and told him the gun was loaded. I guess to him loaded meant mag was loaded not one in chamber and he cranked one off in my general direction. Fortunately, his parents weren’t home so we spackled and repainted the wall.
He was my college roommate, and I had absolutely nothing, my sperm donor had robbed me blind. All I had was a couple of pairs of pants and shirts, socks, underwear, and tennis shoes. When his parents found out I was going to be on campus alone, they invited me to Christmas. Even gave me alot of clothes. I still think about them.
When I was 15, I was hunting alone along a thick creek bottom using a H&R Topper single shot 20 ga. I had a grouse just ahead of me and almost had a shot twice and still had the hammer cocked and the gun was in my right hand, as I moved to my left my right foot slipped in the mud and as I did the splits and grabbed a tree with my left hand I must have had my finger in the trigger and
“BANG” ND for sure. I had the gun held well in front as I was taught so no harm except for a poor tree. Scared the crap out of me and that was definitely a life lesson and I never let that happen again.
P.S. I still got the grouse.
In my youth I was hunting with about 8 men one being my father. It was after an ice storm and the two track we we’re on was a solid sheet of ice. I was using an old H&R single shot 16 ga and walking about 15 yds behind everyone else. Well I slipped and fell and proper training had me pointing the gun straight up. When my rear impacted the ground the hammer of the gun struck the top of my head and discharged the weapon. I was wearing an Elmer Fudd type hat with the hunting lic. Pinned to the back of it. The hammer actually penetrated not only the lic. Holder and license but through the hat and scalp as well. One of the men had heard me slip and turned in time to later tell everyone that he witnessed me fall and that I never let the muzzle of the gun point anywhere but up and that he would hunt with me anytime. When everyone gathered around me another of the party commented that I should probably put my hat back on as it was impaled on the hammer of the shotgun.
@David323 Welcome to the community. 
Good story, thanks for sharing.
I have seen AD/ND while hunting. Mostly they have been mechanical issues with guns, and muzzle discipline prevented anyone from being injured.
An AD while hunting reminds me of Dick Cheney’s hunting episode. Fortunately I have never had one and hopefully never will.
@Brian110 Hope you knocked on wood after you said that. 
Yeah I did, it was my head. Lol
If CNN’s coverage was to be believed, Dick Cheney was hunting quail with 00 buck.
I wrote about my first big game hunting trip and how the 2 adults I was with had wound me up all night long about a man eating Grizzly, and how I absolutely lit that “Grizzly” up. Who it later turned out to be “Bessie” the lost cow. I don’t think those count as ND’s cause I definitely intended to fire them. Not making sure of my target, yeah, I might cop to that.
But I say it’s the adults fault for keeping me up all night with stories about a Man Eating Grizzly. Then I blame Darwin, cause that cow should definitely not come towards me in brush thick enough that all I could see was a big black critter.
On top of which I was 13 and there was a big as heck stream between me and the adult.
I think I should have gotten a trophy considering all 5 rapid fire rounds were to the head.
Wonder what the taxidermist would charge for a head mount of “ole Bessie” ? 
IT WAS A BEAR #_#_+$#++, A BEAR 
someone drug my bear away and left a cow 
. Plus, wasn’t much of a head left with 5 rounds of 30 30 in it.
That’s exactly what it looked.like to me except darker, and not so much with the standing up stuff.
I would argue that the two terms are not interchangeable. If you’re following the universal safety rules (which you should be), you’d be treating the firearm as loaded no matter what. You’ll also keep your finger off the trigger and know your target and what’s beyond.
Is it an accident that a gun was loaded? No, it’s an intentional act. Is it an accident that the trigger was squeezed? Nope, it’s intentional again.
We always suggest (aka preach in this instance) that there should be no live ammo in the room where you do dry fire training because of the chance of putting the wrong ammo in the firearm - not by accident (you’re loading the gun), but because you didn’t look at what ammo you were putting in the gun.
There really isn’t such thing as accidental discharge…
Yes, that is my point. 
There is no such thing as an AD. Tomatoe, Potatoe. 
I embarrassed myself the other day while clearing an unloaded new handgun for purchase. I know how to but realized I hadn’t done it in a long time. Back to regular practice.
