[puppyhunter61]

Sitting here tonight,daydreaming of hunting past and of hunting to come,when ,for whatever reason,an old story my dad told me came to mind.

My Uncle Bob,who was home from the army on leave,was back here for the first week of deer season.
Uncle Bob was a shooting instructor but did not own his own deer rifle.
So my Dad,after getting his buck on opening morning offered the use of his 1 year old,brand new .308 Win.Savage.
Uncle Bob used it all that week with no luck and returned the gun to my dad on Sunday before he had to leave to return to duty.
The gun and it's case were placed in the Wardrobe,(which served as an early gun cabinet)in the corner of the dining room.
Later that afternoon,Dad being concerned for his new rifle,dug out the case to see how badly "abused" his rifle might be.
He laid it on the table,unzipped the case and removed the gun.The two clips were also there still holding the rounds Dad had given Uncle bob to use.
He picked up the rifle,aimed out the back window to the wood line,to see if the scope was knocked off any.
He pushed the safety forward ,put his finger on the trigger,then stopped.
He lowered the gun pulled the lever down and out fell a live round from the chamber.
Dad was so PO at Uncle Bob for pulling a stunt like that,and him being a firearms instructor.
Dad was also furious at himself for ever even thinking of doing what he did,without checking the gun and making sure that it wasn't loaded.
So I also learned a first hand lesson to never assume that a gun is empty.
I was pretty young at the time this all happened,and Dad still brings it up on occasion.
Just because someone knows how to shoot or handle a firearm,just don't trust a gun someone gives you or that you pick up.
I'm sure alot of members here have had their share of scares over the years,but still the best lesson to pass on to young and old alike.
I still ask my son when we are out hunting "is your safety on?" and he's now 24.
Makes him a little mad at times,thinks I still think of him as a "kid".
I just tell him "that I'm at least thinking of you"

Sorry to rant and rave,but it's always the "empty" guns that go off.

 

[jimsdad]

While visiting a local sporting goods store I saw a rifle resting in the rack that cought my eye. So I asked the clerk if I could take a look. He handed me the rifle and I immediately worked the bolt open and to my, and his, amazemant a round smartly ejected and sailed into the chest of another customer standing to my right. The round thunked into the guys chest smartly and then made a rather hollow ugly sound as it clanked and briefly rolled to and around on the lenoloum floor. We all looked at each other with astonished relief and with some confusion. The clerk got instantly redfaced and visibally upset. The other customer just stood there with his mouth open. I recall looking into the magazine well of the rifle to make sure it was empty and handing the gun back to the clerk. Apparently, one of the store managers would place a dummy round in a single rifle each day as a way to make sure the clerks were checking the actions to make sure none of the guns were loaded. I do not know if there was any fallout with the clerk because of this but to this day I have never asked to see another rifle at that particular store.

 

[Farflung]

Puppyhunter- great story, and something you will remember for the rest of your life. I have a similar one, and it sticks in my memory all the times I handle a firearm.

Years ago, my dad and his buddy had a ongoing arguement over how accurate his buddy's old tubular magazine winchester pump .22 was. They decided to give it a test, so they took it to a large garage that my dad worked at on a Sunday afternoon. there were two vices positioned about 50 feet apart. they clamped the gun (lightly padded) in one and clamped a homemade (but pretty safe) backstop into the other vice. They then proceeded to shoot the gun, and I do not remember how well the gun shot.
As we got ready to leave, my dads buddy took his gun, shucked out a couple of shells, looked in the action to see the chamber, determined it was empty, shucked the action a couple more times and pulled the trigger, and .... the gun went off. luckily the muzzle was not pointed at me or my dad, however it was pointed at the front end of a large vehicle. The shot went into the front, just missing the grill, through the radiator, an stopped when it hit the block. Dead silence after the shot, then mild panic. After supper, my dad and his buddy went back, drained the radiator, pulled it, soldered the two radiator tubes with holes and reassembled it. No one was the wiser about what happened, but we were all more wise aboout gun safety.

 

[10der222]

I watched my BIL shoot a hole in the cieling of his house with an "unloaded" 50 cal flinter one day.There was no powder in the flash pan but it sparked enough to ignite the charge nonetheless.

 

[puppyhunter61]

had a buddy in school had the same type of accident with his 30-30.levered the thing half dozen times or more up at the shooting range after all the shells jump out,he left the hammer fall and boom,big hole in the ground in front of him.never trust a tube magazine.

Good stories guys.

 

[turkey4life]

had a buddy in school had the same type of accident with his 30-30.levered the thing half dozen times or more up at the shooting range after all the shells jump out,he left the hammer fall and boom,big hole in the ground in front of him.never trust a tube magazine.

Good stories guys.

another thing is never dry fire a gun to let the hammer down. hold your thumb on it and let it down slowly.