My "Never again"

[Gunner21]

A little back ground.

I grew up around guns. Dad had a 22 Lr he stored in the basement ( this was Canada ). I served in the Canadian Reserves as a RECCE Scout and later as an Infantryman in the U.S. Army. I have never had a ND, never ever!!!. Until one fateful night around 12 am.

So there I was knee deep in... oops wrong war story.
So there I was in front on my computer watching some instructional videos. I was trying to fix my grip stance so I was checking out youtube.
One Video in particular struck a chord with me. So I decided to grab my pistol and test it out. Basically I was trying to see where my front sight was after pulling the trigger. Now, I had just finished cleaning my pistol before this and reloaded the magazine. I did not have a round in the chamber, my weapon is stored amber in my house. So in the the course of testing this new "technique" out I racked the slide an pointed it at my 650.00 HD Display and squeezed the trigger.

well... to say i was surprised was an understatement. the display went out. I could still hear the guy on the video talking and there in front of me was a bullet hole. Oh did I mention the ringing in my ears, the smell of cordite? Totally confused I lay my weapon down after clearing it and looking for the ejected brass. It had not occurred to me at that point that I might have shot clear through the thing and across the street. So gingerly I tilted the the display back... no exit. I went outside and checked the window behind it, just incase, no exit through window.

I then went to the Bedroom to check on my Wife and Son, I let my Son sleep in my side of the bed that night because I was up late and well you get the idea. His room is right next to the computer room. My next thought was "crap!! how am I going to explain this to the Wife". So I woke her up and explained I had just had a ND. I guess I was beating myself up so much over this that my Wife didn't see the need to rub salt in the wound, she just told me to call it a night and go back to bed and we would deal with it in the morning.

The next morning over coffee and me standing there looking at my now dead 650.00 HD wide screen display, she told me to get dressed and go buy another one. I firmly believe my Wife was laughing at me the whole time. To this day she still reminds me of it.

"Hey babe I'm going to the range"
"yeah well just don't shoot any T.V.s"
"Haha... very funny" that sorta thing.

1. Never again will I be complacent and assume my weapon is cleared.

and

2. If it ever comes down to us vs them I am looting the local Best Buy and stealing enough of these displays
to cover the combat station wagon. I figure that they'll make a great up armor to my vehicle.

[Beiruty]

I am happy for you, Canuk, that this incident cost you just a new TV and some pride. Never ever do it. Never wonder, that those who advice to do dry fire at home to make sure that any and all rds are in another room!

Have a good day

[ELB]

So where did you find the bullet? Was it contained in the display?

Good lesson, really. Relativly cheap, considering, and no one got hurt.

[RPB]

Basically I was trying to see where my front sight was after pulling the trigger.

So, where was the front sight?
I have a friend with a hole in his bed, and a chip of concrete on the floor gone under the bed.
I've been blessed so far.

[MadMonkey]

ND in the house and neither of them woke up?

[GeekwithaGun]

ND in the house and neither of them woke up?

Was wondering the same thing!

[zero4o3]

ND in the house and neither of them woke up?

I was thinking the same thing,


Thank you for sharing your story,

in fear of this same thing happening, I have made it a habbit to check the gun 2-3 times before I do Ny dry firing, and one more time right before I put my finger on the trigger.

[Pawpaw]

ND in the house and neither of them woke up?

I was thinking the same thing,


Thank you for sharing your story,

in fear of this same thing happening, I have made it a habbit to check the gun 2-3 times before I do Ny dry firing, and one more time right before I put my finger on the trigger.

I do my dry firing with snap caps. It's very reassuring to do a chamber check and see that colored round taking up the space before pulling the trigger.

[Gunner21]

I did dig around through the front but I couldn't find. Come to think of it I don't think I was that interested in finding it.

As for my Wife and Son not waking up? Yeah I was pretty amazed at that. I usually sleep with one eye open, I dunno guess they're deep sleepers.

[ELB]

...As for my Wife and Son not waking up? Yeah I was pretty amazed at that. I usually sleep with one eye open, I dunno guess they're deep sleepers.

I know of another ND in the house (not me!) where a guy launched one through his leg early in the morning. No one else in the house woke up.

Sound dissipates pretty fast with distance and changes in mediums (e.g. air to drywall to airspace to drywall, back to air, etc).

I once slept through a bear invasion of our campsite. Everyone else was yelling and screaming and banging metal pots and pans. I was catching some Zs.

[ELB]

Oh, btw, you can buy ballistic shields for something over $100 for loading and unloading and "dry fire" practice (in case it is not so dry).

These guys: http://safedirection.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; make several versions, some small enough to take along in your luggage, some integrated into pistol cases, and the like. You can get rifle-rated versions too (they are a bit heavy to tote around tho, so if you want one just for your handgun, don't go for the rifle-rated one.)

There's a video at their site of John Farnam unloading and loading a pistol with one, and then he fires a round (.45 ACP looks like) into it to demonstrate.

[zero4o3]

ND in the house and neither of them woke up?

I was thinking the same thing,


Thank you for sharing your story,

in fear of this same thing happening, I have made it a habbit to check the gun 2-3 times before I do Ny dry firing, and one more time right before I put my finger on the trigger.

I do my dry firing with snap caps. It's very reassuring to do a chamber check and see that colored round taking up the space before pulling the trigger.

Same I picked up a set for each gun, nice bright red case makes it easy to spot, I normally remove the mag clear the chamber, check the chamber again just to make sure I was not blind, load the mag with snap caps, chamber one remove the mag just to make sure it was the one with snap caps put it back in and chamber a new round. I may be a little paranoid though

[Sheepdawg]

I'm glad you guys post this stuff. Hopefully, this will help make my "never again" a "never ever."

[OldCurlyWolf]

I have had two in my life. Both were the result of an external hammer slipping. The Last was nearly 33 years ago, with an OLD double barrel shotgun. That was the last time that shotgun had ANY AMMUNITION in the chambers while it was in my possession.

[jmra]

she told me to get dressed and go buy another one.

So, you're telling me that all I have to do to get the latest greatest tv is to shoot a hole in my current tv? I'll be right back!