My ND

[Guest crotalus01]

Mods not sure where this post fits best so feel free to move it where you deem appropriate as it involves an ND and NFA...

I was at the DZ last weekend and between loads a few friends and I went out to our shooting range (a berm at the end of the runway). I had my M11 9mm full auto and we had some fun doing some FA shooting. I let my friends shoot a couple of mags than I went to do a mag dump. Well, this particular M11 needs some extractor work and often jams. I was fully aware of this, and expected to have to clear some stovepipes and double feeds..

Well, I "dumped" the entire mag - a miracle! I dropped the magazine out, turned away from my fellow shooters, pointed the barrel at the ground and accidentally (NEGLIGENTLY) touched the trigger and sent a round into the ground less than 4 inches from my foot. Also gave me a good dose of temporary tinnitus as I had taken my plugs out. Turns out the last round was chambered but for some reason the bolt locked back open instead of firing the last round. I should have KNOWN because the bolt was open (when a mag is dumped the bolt slams closed, opposite of closed bolt guns)!!

I am f$%#king horribly embarrased about the whole incident, but not so embarrased that I won't share it here - I (used to) consider myself extremely safe with firearms. Now I consider myself extremely lucky.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. Believe it.

***I need much work done on this gun - among other things it has NO safety, external or internal. No excuse for my ND but a contributing factor.

Edited September 8, 2009 by crotalus01

[JeffL]

At least your foot escaped unscathed. Stay safe.

[USMCJG]

Thanks for your story. It takes a lot of guts to admit to a mistake. I'm glad you are okay. And good for you for having the intestinal fortitude to post this for our benefit. I know it makes me stop and think about how easy it can be to get distracted and make a mistake.

[I_Like_Pie]

Yes...Thank you for sharing this (so everyone else can see how it really happens) . Goes to show that, just like a car accident, nobody sets out to have one.

[TripleDigitRide]

You are not alone. I'm sure there are more than a few other TGO members who've been in a similar situation.

Thanks for sharing.

[Guest crotalus01]

Thanks guys...I seriously get sick to my stomach thinking about it. There is NO excuse PERIOD.

Damn it, I was an idiot. I will NEVER have that happen again! vALUABLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE..

[Guest 3pugguy]

+1 on your being OK and having the guts to share an embarrassing story. I hope you get your gun fixed.

[TNTitan]

if that's your worst accident with a firearm, you are sitting pretty. bet you'll keep that finger out of the trigger gaurd from now on, right?

[Jasongar8]

Was the safety removed from your M11/9?

[Guest crotalus01]

No, not removed, it was never installed to begin with. It was built from a flat receiver and registered prior to May '86 - no safety and no select fire, it only shoots full auto. I am going to send it off to Sam at Pratical Solutions to have both of those problems rectified as soon as I have the cash.

The real problem is I KNEW it had no safety and still touched the trigger without clearing the chamber first...I won't make that mistake again.

I probably wouldnt be this upset if it had just been me there when it happened, but thinking about it, if I had swept the barrel around and done the same thing I could very likely have killed or seriously injured one of my friends.

Lesson learned. Hopefully someone reading this will avoid learning the hard way like I did...

[Guest AreSeeFiddyWon]

Thanks for sharing. Even if not directly applicable to me(I have no NFA stuff), things like this are a good reminder to think about my own safety practices to make sure I haven't gotten lazy/sloppy on something.

You may have unknowingly saved someone's life who reads this story. That's worth a helluva lot more than a little embarrassment!

[res308]

WOW!?! That was extremely careless of you! You were very lucky you didn't hit anyone!

You know, just like it was extremely careless of ME and I was very lucky I didn't hit anyone when I DID IT TOO!!!!

Sometime back before the Civil War of course.

In other words: YOU AIN'T ALONE BUDDY! Takes some real guts to come out with it. Sounds like lesson learned to me.

Stay safe man.

[Kevo]

Glad that you're okay. The only person who doesn't make mistakes is the person who doesn't do anything. Do you know the difference between a mistake and ****up? A mistake is when you try to sneak a fart and make a noise. A ****up is when you try to sneak a fart and make a mess.

[Guest crotalus01]

Thanks for the support guys, and I kinda understand, but I am still pretty pissed at myself. I am really hoping that someone reads this and is safer because of my posting...

[frontier737]

Thanks for sharing. I try to be as safe as I can but there have been lapses.

This is a good lesson for me.

[Guest H0TSH0T]

don't feel to bad i put a round in my wall a few weeks ago, doing something very similar, i went to the range the week b4 and didn't remember if i cleaned my hand gun or not, well i took the mag out, racked the slide and took the round out of the chamber, and yes it was dirty, took a dry fire to see how dirty the firing pin was, sounded clean, then i broke my gun down inspected the barrel and checked how dirty the slide was ect, i put the gun back together stuck the mag in, set it on the foot rest, then had the bright idea to check it again, well i racked the slide, and though dang that was tight it must be dirtier than i thought, and squeezed the trigger listening very intensely,BOOM, BRIGHT WHITE FLASH, the ringing in my ears, the dog jumping in my lap just as shocked as i was, round went into my wall towards the front of my house, O-crap,i thought, went and checked if it went through and traveled out the other side, and hit a neighbor??or something else?? I was so worried, when i looked i could not see a exit hole on the other side, well i though how stupid that was and made the same promise to myself and swore it will never ever ever happen again, and still was shocked i did that, still not knowing where the bullet went to, i demolished my plaster and lat wall to find the bullet, well i was very lucky, the bullet went through wallboard, paneling, 1/2 inch of plaster, the lat, nicked out the corner of a 2x4 stud, grazed a electrical wire, and 3/4 of an inch of the 1x6 exterior wall decking and bounced back and fell to the inside of the wall cavity, another inch and it would have gone all the way through, it was a 186 grained gold dot, out my .40 s&w it fully mushroomed and was 100% weight intact , thank god, it didn't hurt any one, and was one hell of a wake up call for me, i learned my lesson also.

[Guest trigem]

When I first started carrying, I had bought two pistols, I had one loaded & one not, pointing in a direction that I thought was ok, I wanted to check the trigger of the empty one:screwy:, I was alone at home, so no one had a heart attack (but me) when I shot the smoke detector off the wall,the bullet stopped in the frame work of the house , I changed my underwear

Never did dry fire like that again, I bought a plastic dryfire barrel to use & never again will I have two guns out when I am dry firing

[Volzfan]

Thanks for the support guys, and I kinda understand, but I am still pretty pissed at myself. I am really hoping that someone reads this and is safer because of my posting...

We will be! Thanks for posting!

[redstategunnut]

A buddy of mine once thought he had his Glock cleared. I don't know why, but he decided to confirm that his gun was unloaded by pointing it at his bed and pulling the trigger. You can imagine how unhappy his wife was with the hole in her mattress and box spring set.