All it took for an experienced OKC gunsmith to buy the farm was a broken extractor that left a live round in the chamber. It was just one tiny, completely preventable, mistake, but it ended up changing the lives of his friends and family forever.
Tragic.
I’m not saying it can’t happen, we all know it can. I just don’t understand how it does happen. How do you not check the chamber first thing when you pick up any firearm?
Now it will probably happen to me next week.
Once upon a time when I used to go in H&H I was absolutely astounded at the jar on the smith counter filled with rounds they had removed from “unloaded” firearms. So, it happens a lot.
I will say this, I have picked up or been handed several “unloaded” firearms in my life only to discover they were not in fact unloaded when I checked the mag and or chamber. That generally gives everyone in attendance an opportunity to display their shocked face. The idiot at GunWorld that handed me an A5 that was mag loaded with the mag cutoff lever engaged comes to mind. He opened the bolt and handed it to me and when I rolled it over to check the mag tube I was staring at a shell. I asked him if he knew it was loaded and he scoffed and scolded me because the bolt was open. He had a pretty shocked look on his face when I ejected 4 shells out onto his glass counter top. I handed him the shotgun and left without saying too much, if anything. I figured anything he told me should be discounted and he wasn’t someone I’d buy a gun from.
*knocks on wood* I have never been in attendance when an “unloaded” weapon was found to be loaded because it went bang. But that would cause me to never be around that person again. You very rarely get a second chance to make that mistake with a firearm. Ask Helena Hutchins.
I’m not admonishing or scolding anyone, I’d just say to everyone here; please be as careful as you should be when handling a firearm and please reinforce that with friends and family whenever possible, and especially with folks you are introducing to firearms. It just cannot be stressed enough or too often.
What a terribly tragic set of circumstances in both instances this was. My condolences to you if the smith was family or a friend. I’m sorry for your loss.
The two loudest sounds in the world:
A click when you needed a bang; and
A bang when you expected a click
A click when you needed a bang; and
A bang when you expected a click
People get complacent and accidents happen. I don’t know of a single accident where safety rules were followed. I had a stupid AD once and it was my own fault. The only thing harmed was wood flooring in base housing and my underwear.
Think of it this way: Figure your gun safety skills are average among humanity. You're right in the middle of the pack in terms of how careful you are when you handle firearms.
Literally half of humanity is worse than you.
Same goes for anything else we do that is dangerous such as driving, working on cars, etc.
Literally half of humanity is worse than you.
Same goes for anything else we do that is dangerous such as driving, working on cars, etc.
I think we're saying the same thing--just one seemingly tiny mistake can be life altering, so you have to avoid the mistakes. That's the beauty of the four cardinal rules of gun safety: if you only follow one of them, it might still be expensive, but that will keep it from being deadly.
There are two types of gun owners in the world- those who have had an AD and those who are going to.
I seem to recall a gun magazine writer who accidentally shot himself when he bent down to tie his shoes while sitting on the edge of the bed IIRC. Seems the pistol (.32 Colt I believe) fell out of his holster or shirt pocket and discharged when it hit the floor. I believe this was in Arkansas some years back. Not sure what safety rule this violated (seems like people create new ones to cover each incident).
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