Unintended Fire

S

ShotgunHunter

Inactive
Wow, I was playing around and inadvertently let go an accidental 12 gauge shot in my man cave about a half hour ago. It freaked me out.

I hang my head in my stupidity and feel like an idiot. The outer wall is brick and thank God my 8 shot didn't penetrate.

After getting over the initial shock I noticed some interesting things.

My ear-drums weren't blown out as I thought they might be in such small quarters. My ears aren't ringing. Also the hole in the wall 5 feet away was only 2 inches in diameter.

My gun is a Mossberg 500 and I had a 18.5 barrel on at the time.

From what I saw, I must conclude the stories of wide patterns of point and shoot at close range are highly overrated. It seems it's best to aim the barrel like you mean it.

I feel a bit educated...and in need of Spackle from Home Depot. Christ, did I really do that to my wall?
 
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Dude! :eek:

I admire your honesty for coming on here and admitting what you did and I’m glad that no one was injured. I suppose the operative phrase here is “playing around” and I guess that is why my Father always said, “never play with guns".
 
From what I saw, I must conclude the stories of wide patterns of point and shoot at close range are highly overrated. It seems it's best to aim the barrel like you mean it.
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Despite your forum name, I've got to ask if this is the first time you've fired said shotgun.
 
Interesting info on the pattern...but I knew that.

What I do t know and can learn from is...why/how did this happen?

Obviously broke some firearm safety rules but how did you actually pull the trigger? Did you not realize/check that the gun was loaded?
 
From what I saw, I must conclude the stories of wide patterns of point and shoot at close range are highly overrated. It seems it's best to aim the barrel like you mean it.
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A big reason why AR-15 carbines are making big gains in replacing the shotgun for HD roles. No reason to absorb close to 30 ft lbs of recoil when you get the same "pattern" and performance in a much lighter, smaller package with around 5 ft lbs of recoil.
 
My ear-drums weren't blown out as I thought they might be in such small quarters.
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Many years ago, I had a "stupid discharge" with a Government Model 45 in the house. Not only did I not hear the shot, neither did anyone else. My wife and mother in law, neither heard a thing, but they were in other rooms. The closest person to me, my wife's uncle, about 15 feet away, thought I had "popped a primer" reloading. It took me a half minute or so, as I stood there stupidly staring at the gun, to even realize what had happened. Then it was HOLY SHEEP!!! :eek:

I'm sure it's a matter of shock, surprise, and disbelief.

Don't do that again.
 
Not gonna ask how it went off, hopefully you learned your lesson and glad no one was hurt.

As for the pattern, I can take a 2x4 in two with birdshot at the right range.
 
I'll just say that you are not the first person of my acquaintance to engage in a little 'surprise home remodeling' with a firearm. Kick yourself, learn from it, have a good laugh and go on. And yes, you are correct. At across-the-room distances your shot charge is silver-dollar sized and it needs to be precisely placed.
 
Rule No. 1 - it's ALWAYS loaded. If I were you I would make absolutely certain that there is not a problem mechanically with the gun before you load it again. You need to KNOW if it discharged because of something you did or because the sear or safety is not holding.
 
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Not the first person to post a confession here.

Learn from it.

Spend enough time around any tool and you will have an accident or two. Usually there are redundancies in the safety rules so one mistake isn't fatal unless combined with another. In this case you were pointed at something that was destroyable, even if doing so was inconvenient.
 
It's happened to MANY people on this forum, admittedly (believe me-check my sig). Noone is hurt, except the pride, and a valuable learning lesson was gained. If it was going to go bad, which it did, it couldn't have gone any better.

Now, please explain exactly what you were doing/did for the ND to happen.
 
Not really on the topic you're talking about, but as a compare and contrast, I inertially popped open a .45 round, and to finish breaking it down, had to touch off the primer... so I loaded it, and I thought.. what the hell it's just a primer, I don't need to go anywhere or do anything. My ears ended up ringing pretty good, and the carpet was smoking just a touch. Last time I do that.
 
Glad you're ok. You are exactly right about the spread (or lack therof) with a SG. I learned long ago that you aim that like a rifle to be efficient with it.
 
Your not the first person to make a mistake... Yet another reason why guns should always be unloaded prior to handling in any place you do not want to be shooting in..

Im sure the point was made all by itself... :eek:
 
I know a guy who almost turned himself into a woman in a similar fashion:D been calling him cheddar bob ever since. glad the only damage was done to the wall, and remember the 4 rules.:)
 
Welcome to a very large club. If you play with guns long enough you will eventually have an ooops moment. The trick is to not repeat it. Those who have not had an ooops moment just haven't had one yet or aren't admitting it.

My ooops moment came when my brother handed me an empty 45 and I did not check it. There is a 45 caliber hole in my carpet next to my bed because I pushed the slide home and pulled the trigger prior to putting the gun away. Only force of habit making me keep the muzzle down and away from my feet to a blank spot on the floor prevented anything exciting happening. Thank heaven for deep pile carpet, only I know where the hole is and I ain't telling. :D
 
Scary situation, thank goodness you or even worse someone else wasn't hurt. Be more safe please, guns are not toys and should not be "played with" be safe. If you must play, do it at the range
 
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