Negligent discharge - revolver vs. semi auto

Most tv shows would benefit from being put out of their misery.
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These days? Absolutely! :D

I have to correct myself, there was another unintentional discharge. Over 20 years ago I was hunting and had flipped the safety off on my rifle while scoping a deer a couple hundred yards away across a cove of a lake. I chose not to shoot immediately as I originally intended but failed to put the safety back on. I did shoot after watching him for about 15 minutes, and dumb luck has his rack hanging over my fireplace. But when the gun went off I hadn't meant to fire. Again, not engaging my brain.
 
I can't see how any unintentional discharge, short of a mechanical failure like something randomly breaking, isn't negligent. That's how I view it anyways, and almost every single one would have been easily prevented by following basic safe handling procedures, which ought to include, do not handle a firearm while or after drinking. ;)
 
nd vs ad

Never never had an AD or ND. Back in 1970 when I went thru my first fire arm training, my instructor beat it into our heads never never put your finger on your trigger unless you are going to fire . It has served me well over the years.
When I handle a loaded gun I keep my index finger resting along the barrel & if I show it to somebody I always empty the wheel and turn it around with cylinder open.
Guns don't shoot, people shoot.

"I might be an elder man, but I'm a cautious man".
 
I've had one AD with each type of handgun. The automatic was because a trigger was lighter than I expected, the revolver was my thumb slipping off the hammer during cocking.
 
I've had one NG it was with a revolver and I did pull the trigger.Was by my self at the hunting shack practicing drawing and dry fire for Idpa loaded 5 snap caps instead of 6.Lesson learned scarred the be-jesus out of me and my ears rang for day's,357 mag in doors is a bit startling.
 
I've had one AD with each type of handgun. The automatic was because a trigger was lighter than I expected, the revolver was my thumb slipping off the hammer during cocking.
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It must almost certainly been a single-action revolver...if it was a S&W, in order for the hammer block to be retracted, the trigger would have to been pulled.
 
In recent times, I've read about a lot of NDs that involve trying to unload an auto pistol by mere removal of the magazine, leaving a loaded round in the chamber.

There's no corresponding mistake possible with a revolver.

There certainly is, in both DA and SA revolvers.
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Failing to notice that a round didn't eject from a revolver is a bit different from not knowing that you have to both remove the mag and eject the chambered round from an auto pistol. The first is a result of inattentiveness, while the second is from ignorance.
Of course, they both result in a gun that's believed to be unloaded.
 
You can definitely find some revolvers where the trigger is so heavy that it might as well be "a manual safety that can only be de-activated by cocking the hammer".
 
My general philosophy is not to handle a gun that I do not completely understand how it functions. If you do, do not touch the trigger. It won't go off unless you pull the trigger regardless unless I guess you dropped it possibly.

I had one accidental discharge in my life that I personally feel was negligent on my part. I could have easily hurt somebody or worse. It was with a double action 22 revolver (H&R 999) immediately following a trip to the range to try out a new Colt Diamondback 22. I mostly shot the Diamondback and loved it.

The problem was I had the H&R loaded when I left the range and didn't check it. I was fondling both guns side by side afterwards and admiring the improved trigger on my Diamondback as compared to the H&R and BOOM. I pulled the trigger. I had not checked if it was loaded even though I typically religiously do so. I made a mistake. It has not happened since with any kind of firearm. After more than 20 years, it still bothers me that I was so careless.

Finger off the trigger until you check and double check if a gun is loaded. Check the chamber too in a rifle and semi-auto handgun.
If you hand a gun to someone to look at, check if it is loaded. Don't assume that they know how. Unload it if it is loaded.
 
Failing to notice that a round didn't eject from a revolver is a bit different from not knowing that you have to both remove the mag and eject the chambered round from an auto pistol.
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Well, they can't be identical because revolvers don't have removable magazines and autopistols don't have cylinders.

But aside from the basic differences in the firearms the two errors correspond in all the important ways.

In both cases the failure is removing some of the rounds from the guns and believing all the rounds have been removed while leaving the/a chambered round in place.

In both cases the shooter mistakenly believes the gun is unloaded because in both cases the shooter did not properly perform the unloading process and failed to adequately check the chamber(s) to verify that the gun is truly unloaded.
The first is a result of inattentiveness, while the second is from ignorance.
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In either case the chambered round could be left in place through carelessness/inattentiveness (failure to adequately check the chamber(s) in spite of knowing the check should be performed) or ignorance (failing to realize that removing the magazine/dumping the rounds without using the ejector rod can leave a round chambered) or a combination of both.

In the situation I witnessed, the shooter was very familiar with the revolver and was accustomed to dumping loaded rounds without the ejector rod. However, the gun had recently been shot by a third party who used .38sp ammo which built up fouling rings in the chambers. The shooter assumed that the rounds would fall free as they always had before and failed to count the rounds/carefully check the chamber. A quick (but obviously totally inadequate) look at the ostensibly unloaded cylinder did not detect the remaining round and the result was some property damage, hearing loss, severe emotional distress, and some very expensive safety education.
 
My personal opinion is that you are more apt to have a accidental discharge with a semi-auto pistol versus a DA revolver for the simple reason that many don't check the chamber, but may remove a magazine believing you didn't have a live round in the chamber.

It is easy to check if a DA revolver is loaded and if it is a single action, you damn sure need to check every chamber at least once. However my AD/ND was with a revolver that I was completely comfortable with its function and had been shooting it for several years.

Everyone needs to step back and re-learn the safety rules from time to time because after you are comfortable with a gun, you may skip a step.
 
I've only had one accidental (negligent stupidity more accurately) discharge in my life and that was over 30 years ago...with a revolver.

My wife and I had just returned from the range and I sat down at my work/radio bench in my work shop to clean my 1911 and my wife's Python. I got to talking on the radio while I emptied the cylinder of the Python unto the bench. I counted 6 rounds, but then, rather than inspecting the cylinder to verify all chambers were empty and just starting to clean the firearm, I closed the cylinder, pointed the revolver up at the corner of the ceiling and began pulling the trigger while I was yakking on the radio...until BOOM!

My wife came running into the room, afraid I had shot myself or something...at which point I deflected attention from my own stupidity by using it as a teachable moment; "NOW DO YOU SEE WHY YOU NEVER POINT A FIREARM AT SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DESTROY!" (like I wanted to remodel my work shop, so I shot it? :D)

After my wife walked out shaking her head and muttering "idiot"...I looked down and counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....5....5 rounds on my bench. Crap.

Moral of the story...cleaning time isn't play time and always verify that each chamber in the cylinder of a revolver is empty VISUALLY. :o
 
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I've had 2 AD's--but they were both with rifles so I don't know if they count--but I'll mention them anyway since they could conceivably have some cross-over to handguns.

In the first AD I had done some trigger work in order to lighten the pull and reduce over-travel. I did all the in-home tests and everything seemed fine. Went to the range and shot a few rounds and everything was looking good. On about the 4th or 5th cartridge I closed the bolt and Bang! off she went. I was actually pointed at the target and was only off by a few inches from POA of the last shot.

In the second instance I was up in my stand getting ready for what I thought might be approaching deer. I released the safety and when pulling my hand back Bang! I was wearing heavy clothes and a Ghilley suit top--and some of the strings had caught inside the trigger guard. Fortunately the weapon was pointed down at the ground.
 
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I had a 22 round go off chambering one in a Mossberg semi-auto rifle when I was a kid. The gun was pointed at the ground, but it made me very aware that this is always a possibility when chambering a round. It is not something I really even think about. Cleaned the rifle and it never happened again. It was technically a AD, but again I don't really worry about it other than I treat it as a learning experience.
 
Most of the ND's that I have heard about lately involved police officers shooting themselves. IMO if the firearm is handled safely then there should be no negligent discharges. The only time your finger should go over the trigger is when you are PREPARING to fire, not playing around. If your firearm is designed to be dry fired to field strip, MAKE SURE you check the chamber before you stick your booger hook in the trigger guard. I know accidents do happen, but if loss of human life can be avoided, it is worth it.
 
Most are due to trigger on the finger. Even heavier pull guns can be activated by a yip, trip or startle.

Then you have failure to clear and a pull. Yes, you can fail to clear a revolver. I know from experience.

It's a machine - well, there are recalls of guns that have fired during normal manipulations.

I would hazard a guess that semis currently have more NDs because of their popularity in absolute numbers and large agencies sometimes undertraining their folks when they moved to semis.
 
I would hazard a guess that semis currently have more NDs because of their popularity in absolute numbers and large agencies sometimes undertraining their folks when they moved to semis.
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Very good point--a semi is probably more likely to do "funkiness" not go fully into battery, double stack etc.
 
When the DC PD transitioned from revolvers to Glocks some years ago, the Washington Post reported a significant increase in the rate of unintentional discharges at the time.
 
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