Your WORST Gun Mishap, Safely!

[Pygmy]

As a teenager, I'm walking down the ice on a frozen creek with my M 69 Winchester .22..

 

the ice is lick and both feet go out from under me..The rifle goes into the air, does a couple of cartwheels and lands on the ice with a sickening CRACK !..

 

Broke off the front sight and cracked the stock...Got both repaired by a local gunsmith, but the rifle always bore the scars..

 

This is a REALLY dumb one....I am  standing a quarterdeck mid watch on a Navy Destroyer.. The lazy ass CPO who is in charge of the watch is down in the chief's quarters watching TV and drinking coffee, leaving me alone... I'm bored stiff..I'm wearing a holstered, unloaded 1911 .45 with two loaded clips in a belt carrier...

 

I wonder...." How long would it take me to get this pistol into action if I ever needed it ?"

 

SO , standing alone on the quarterdeck in the middle of the night, I do a little "quickdraw" exercise....

 

I draw the pistol, pull a mag, load it in the pistol and rack the slide....Pretty dang quick, too, if I remember correctly..

 

Ok....Here I stand, locked and loaded, safety off....Time to unload the pistol....

 

I  hold back the hammer and press the trigger to drop the hammer, something I had done many times with many different guns..

 

But this time the hammer SLIPS off my thumb...

 

I swear to God it made the loudest CLICK I have ever heard in my life...

 

Sweat pouring off my brow, I dropped the mag and ejected the round..The primer was dented, but not QUITE enough to ignite the primer...

 

If that thing had gone off they would probably STILL have me in the brig, and that was in 1972..

[DirtTime]

I was thinking about this one. I am not sure if they are technically gun mishaps, but have had a few odd things happen.

 

When I was about 16 I got picked for an evening hunt. We drove the hour and a half to the location, and I forgot my slugs. Didn't want to leave my shot gun in the truck so I carried an empty gun around the woods on a few one man drives to my partner. The plan was an evening sit.

Early 20's I again drove about 2 hours to an area, went in and sat down, 4 pt walked out and when I brought the .270 to my shoulder the cross hairs in the scope were at angle. Was fine when I checked at home, but the drive loosened the screws because I forgot the Loc-Tite when I mounted the scope. It never loosened while sighting it in. Never did that again.

 

Edited August 13, 2015 by ....rob

[coonhunter]

I don't know how many times over the years I have left my 22 leaning against a tree or laying on a dry spot coon hunting. It was always alright if you just cut the dogs again to skin a coon, but if I had to leash up dogs to move to new woods, the darn rifle was left right there several times.

 

Some how I always was able to go back in the woods and find it that night, or the next day. Sounds pretty easy? Try going out in the night time woods and lay down something valuable next to a random big tree, go back to your vehicle, and then go back and find it. 

[Lawdwaz]

i came home from hunting with my grandfathers model 88 winchester got out of the truck thru the sling over my shoulder and a screw came out and it fell on the concrete broke the scope and cracked the stock i wanted to cry

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh CRAP!

 

I have had that exact thought running in my head many times.  I could JUST see that happening......................&*%$@#

 

Dude I feel your pain on that one........BUT.....it does remind me of a short story!

[wolc123]

I left my slug-gun lay at the base of a tree well before sunrise one opening day of deer season long ago.  I was also carrying a portable stand with a shoulder sling and after I had stopped to look at my compass with a flashlight, I thought that was my gun as I walked off a few hundred yards.   Somehow I managed to walk right back to that tree in the darkness when I realized my mistake.

 

I was on the giving and receiving end of two other mishaps.   During a rifle-team match in high school, as I closed the bolt of my hair-triggered .22, it discharged.   The muzzle was pointed upward, at about a 45 degree angle, and the bullet struck the concrete ceiling.   Chips flew back, a few striking me.  The guy next to me clutched his chest, yelled "I'm hit", and fell forward.  He was always somewhat of a jokester.   The chips or shrapnel did not penetrate his canvas shooting jacket however and we were able to continue the match after making sure we were ok.   After that, I always made sure my rifle was pointed down range at the target when I closed the bolt, but I never had another misfire.

 

The other incident occurred when I got down from my tree stand a pursued a doe which was out of range and had just walked of my granddad's farm, thru a hedgerow and onto a long hayfield of our neighbor's.   When I stepped onto that field, I saw the doe out in the middle.  Then I felt a slap on the side of my face, immediately followed by a gunshot.  I hit the dirt and soon dirt started to fly against my face as 4 more slugs hit close by.   Even though I was wearing blaze orange, a hunter in the opposite hedgerow had unloaded his semi auto at the doe, not touching it but nearly taking me out.  

 

If you ever had a bullet pass less than an inch from your ear, it is a feeling and sound that you will never forget.   It certainly changed the way I hunt.   I stick to our own land,  and up a tree or in a good blind most of the time now.     

Edited August 13, 2015 by wolc123

[Lawdwaz]

My buddy opened the safe door (packed to the gills) and before he could catch it his VERY first shotgun he ever owned (an ancient Ithaca Model 37 12ga, scoped) fell out of the safe.

 

This might not sound to catastrophic but the gun was stored barrel down to accommodate a few extra guns in the overcrowded safe.  Well, when it hit the concrete basement floor it snapped the stock at the wrist and clunked on the scope too.

 

I don't recall exactly what he did but it was repaired/replaced as it has been back in service for a few years since the mishap.

 

This is the same guy who, about 15 years ago slipped while hunting tahr and chamois in NZ and snapped the wrist on his awesome old Mannlicher-Schoenauer DST 30-06.  

 

If you spend enough time around these things, things are going to happen!  Usually bad........

[ncountry]

I happened to be walking up and over a fallen stone wall when the upper mount from my rifle sling let loose.

I had my hand on the sling next to my shoulder so it wouldn't  slide . My 308 pivoted around nicely and landed on my leopold.. oops.

[shawnhu]

what?

Think his screen name says it all.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

[Five Seasons]

I bought some beartooth camo wrap for my browning gold edition deer hunting shotgun when I was like 17. To put the sleeve on the forearm I had to remove it. Some how while doing this my extractor became loose. opening day that morning loading a shell i look down and it's gone. no way to cock the gun. i search with a flashing light for 30 minutes at the base of the stand and no luck. I call my uncle who actually saved the hunt by suggesting i stick my knife in there to pull the mechanism back. worked perfect and i was able to chamber a round.

[moog5050]

I actually forgot my true worst mishap with a gun.  My truck was at the dealer getting warranty work and they gave me a loaner.  Decided to head to the range to shoot my new to me CZ premium 30-06.  Put the cased gun on top of the loaner since I had to open the trunk to load other equipment.  Loaded equipment and off to the range.  You guessed it, get to the range and where is my gun?  Holy smokes, I forgot it on the roof of the car.  Several trips back and forth looking for the case on the side of the road and nothing.  Not knowing what to do, I call the police and explain what happened.

 

2 days later, cops call to say that someone found my gun and had put it on the lost and found on craigslist.  They return it with no damage.  I call the young man who turned it in and he refused to accept a reward, explaining that he saw it lying in the side of the road in front of my street and grabbed it before another truck that had stopped.  Nice to know we have some honest people around.  I really wanted to do something for him, but he just wouldn't have it and complimented the gun.

[Five Seasons]

Um not really shouldent be going threw his****. You gonna load your pistol when some dude kicks your door down

 

simple gunvault safe on the bedstand or at the very lease a loaded mag in a separate compartment.

[ants]

Not a gun mishap…but..years ago a friend and I were bow hunting. We hunted until noon. We got back to his Ford Bronco and loaded up to head home. We headed down the seasonal road about 100 yards and stopped at the stop sign at the paved road. He stopped kind of fast and "Scrape, bang, thud!!" My friend had left his bow on the roof, just above the windshield. When he stopped it slid off, skidded across the hood and ended up oh the pavement in the middle of the road. The stabilizer and all of his sights snapped off and  the fletching on his arrows were shot. it also scratch the hell out of the hood of his nice shinny Bronco.. 

 

He blamed me all the way home!!! LOL!!

[Red]

About 7 years ago I drove out to hunt a farm near letchworth I was by myself so after the morning sit I slowly stalled the hedge rows I jumped a doe and dropped her. After field dressing her I start to staff and this other guy that hunts the same farm came running up very excited test I got a for he offers to go and grab his van and drives me to my vehicle so I wouldn't have to drag the deer. He picks me we toss the deer and gun in the back of the van I get to my car we tie the deer to the trunk I thank him and off I go driving home I make it a mile down the road and I can see in the mirror hrs flying down the road behind me laying on the horn I pulled to the side of the rd he pulls up and said you forgot your gun in the back of my van. Oooops

[Elmo]

Only had one mishap with a rifle.

 

I was shooting my muzzleloader at the range.  Had the rifle open and slung over the sand bag rest.  I forgot what I was grabbing but I bent over to get something that was between my legs and my shoulder hits the rifle.  Rifle does a 360 off the bench and landed on the scope.  Scope was bent to bad that I couldn't pull back the hammer because the eye piece was right on top of it.

[Fehyd643]

I ran over an M16 with a 5-ton once... Does that count?  Wasn't mine. Still functioned perfectly afterward.

[Doc]

What's the worst gun handling mishap you've had?

 

That one is easy. My Bother-in-law from Canada brought two of his work buddies down to hunt deer one year. real nice guys .... BUT....

 

We went up to my target range just to see that al the shotguns came through their trip ok. The older guy stepped up to shoot and ripped off 5 shots just as quick as he could pull the trigger. I gave my B.I.L a look like, "what the hell just happened", and before I could catch myself, those exact words came out .... lol. Apparently, he was raised in some province where they hunt with dogs, and that is the way they shoot at their deer. That was pretty scary stuff, and we assured him that we don't use dogs down here and the first shot is all we really worry about. eventually, we got him slowed down a bit.

 

So then we all started taking turns, then went up to see what kinds of damage we had each done to our targets. We got half way to our targets and all of a sudden there was a loud BANG right behind us. We turned around and found the younger guy fiddling with his shotgun. He accidently touched off the trigger while the rest of us were on our way up to check the targets.

 

So I turned around and pointed to the far hill across the valley and said that is where you guys will be hunting. My B.I.L. and I hunted our usual spots on the hill behind the house. And even at that, I wasn't exactly feeling safe being even that close to those two.

[eagle rider]

One time at band camp......  (JK).

 

It wasn't a mishap just some rushed pilot error, but could have been horrible.  I was day one in rifle camp, it was mid afternoon and I wanted to swap camera cards out in a hurry.  I took my 444 with me because.... well because it was deer season and I did.  Turns out on on my way up this hillside and on the edge, I jump a nice sized buck.  He gets on the hoof and he's moving but not hauling a$$.  I raised my rifle, cock the hammer and push the safety off.  The deer is bobbing in and out of a timer edge,... no shot.  Figuring not to spook him too much and assuming that he'd probably slow down and not spook off property, I went about my business of getting back to my camera card swap.  Threw the 444 Marlin on my shoulder and made my way up the hillside.

 

I get up the spot where the camera is, set down my rifle and happen to glance over at the rifle, I had carried this thing for the last 1/4 mile on my shoulder, barrel up, loaded, cocked and safety off, muzzle next to my head..... To make matters worse, one of our guys doing the same thing on the opposite side of the ridge about 20 minutes later zapped my buck.  The good news is I had about 30 pics of him on that camera!!!!!  Stupid is as stupid does.  The good news is, now I take my semi-auto when I check my cameras....  

[Chef]

So last season I'm sitting up in my tree stand bored and cold. It was early December. I was so cold I decided to still hunt a bit because I couldn't take sitting there any more. I lowered the gun using my rope and climbed down. When I got down I realized I lowered the gun barrel first and the barrel was now packed with snow. I un load the gun check it twice and start blowing down both ends of the barrel to clear it. This does not work so me being a idiot I get a think stick and start shoving it down the barrel to clear the snow. This seems to be working until snap the stick breaks off in the barrel. At this point I've given up and decide it's time to go back to camp and just clean the gun. Of course as I emerge from the woods onto the 40acer back field at cam, there is the nice 8 point I missed opening day feeding in the field 40 yards away from me. To bad there is 6 inches of stick Broken off in my barrel! Note to self when snow is on the ground cover muzzle in electrical tape!

[chiefbkt]

Didn't happen to me, but following a morning hunt several years ago a member or our club unloaded his gun (Remington 7600) and set it on the tonneau cover on his truck.  It was a nice day out and since we planned on doing a push shortly he left it there and went into camp.  Well needless to say he forgot about it and hopped in his truck to head up the road to get on watch.  Gun ended up falling off the truck, denting the scope, and scraping the stock and barrel.  It wasn't much of a looker to begin with but had some good glass on it.  Everyone felt bad and we offered to purchase a replacement stock but he denied. Now the entire gun is spray painted multiple camo colors with a $50 bushnell on it.   

[Culvercreek hunt club]

 years ago a friend of mine was trying to sell me a semi auto 12 ga. shotgun. I wanted to shoot it and so we took it out behind his parents barn. It was beat up and showed obvious field wear and was basically a beater gun. Will I loaded up a shell and it functioned flawlessly. I asked him for two rounds and he got kind of a weird look on his face, (and I now know why). I put one in the mag and one in the chamber to test how it cycled. Shouldered it and pulled the trigger. Boom Boom. really took me by surprise and since I had never used a semi shotgun prior I thought maybe I had do it with two trigger pulls. I loaded up 5 and really focused on what my finger was doing. well one pull and 5 rounds down range....some really down range since that  barrel just kept climbing through all five shots.

 

Come to find out he knew it did this and that is why he was selling. figured I would shoot one round and take it. needless to say I didn't buy the gun and we are no longer friends.  Could have been bad if it was so rural an area, was slugs rather than bird shot or it got away from the shooter during the barrage.  

 

 

As far as a case of the droppsies, I had my first compound take a 15' header when my knot came untied while hoisting it up. Ruined the morning hunt but nothing broke and that Whitetail 2 took quite a few deer after that.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Culvercreek hunt club

[Caveman]

Muzzleloader hunting.  My gun shoots best with a dirtied barrel.  I dropped a primer in, closed it, pointed it in a safe direction, and BOOM! It turns out a never unloaded the last charge from my previous hunt.  I violated the number one rule of gun safety and assumed the gun was unloaded.  I'll never do that again.  Following another rule and keeping the muzzle in a safe direction may have avoided disaster.  It's still no excuse.   

[Lawdwaz]

Electrical tape is never a bad idea, FWIW.

[philoshop]

The strap snap on my shoulder holster is pretty loud, so I don't normally use it.

My Contender has gone swimming without me a couple of times, and has been know to leap from tree stands without permission.

[The_Real_TCIII]

My personal worst was killing a deer, field dressing it, dragging it uphill a half mile to home and arriving without my shotgun. It was leaning against the tree when I got back down the hill - a mile round trip for an exhausted hunter.

I did this last year

[steve863]

How the hell does someone forget to take their gun out of the woods, be they dragging a deer or not??  I find this amazing.  I'd sooner understand someone losing a gun if they set it down in some high grass or thick shrubs and then walked away from it to take a dump or something, but forgetting to take it back out of the woods with you??