Accidental Discharge

[sureshot375]

Saw a video on Facebook of an accidental discharge during a double rifle shoot in South Africa. I am attaching the Facebook link below that has some explanation about what happened, but I can’t quite make out what they are saying in Afrikaans. Anyone care to translate or have any info about this incident?

Stefan gesels met Gerhard Greeff oor sy “accidental discharge”….. #dgs#dangerousgameshoot #wildenjag #gameandhunt #SafariOutdoor | By Wild & Jag / Game & Hunt | Facebook

Stefan gesels met Gerhard Greeff oor sy “accidental discharge”….. #dgs#dangerousgameshoot #wildenjag #gameandhunt #SafariOutdoor

fb.watch

 

[IvW]

They do not mention the make of double but it was a rifle issue double discharge on closing the action.....I have my own guess on what rifle it is....
I would not trust it ever again

 

[VertigoBE]

Wow, I do not want to be the marketing director of that brand of double rifles!

 

[Fred Gunner]

accidental discharge

As a wise firearms instructor told our class there is no such thing as an "accidental discharge" It's always a Negligent Discharge!

 

[IvW]

As a wise firearms instructor told our class there is no such thing as an "accidental discharge" It's always a Negligent Discharge!

Well in this case it is a rifle issue so whomever would have closed the action would have had the same.result.....I guess your instructor never handled this rifle

 

[Bonk]

As a wise firearms instructor told our class there is no such thing as an "accidental discharge" It's always a Negligent Discharge!

Tell that to the people that had their Remington 700's fire when the safety was flipped off. I had a Kimber that did the same thing but I was fortunate enough to discover it while the gun was empty. There is such a thing as an accidental discharge. Your wise instructor is wrong.

 

[Bonk]

I watch that video very closely several times and stopped it to look even closer. It appears the trigger finger of his left hand MAY have been on the trigger. Hard to tell for sure but based on the video alone it looks like a possibility.

Look at the still shot shortly after the gun discharged. His trigger finger is actually crooked like he just fired the gun.

 

[sureshot375]

As a wise firearms instructor told our class there is no such thing as an "accidental discharge" It's always a Negligent Discharge!

I agree with that sentiment, but there are times when a firearm goes bang when it shouldn’t for reasons other than human error. Assuming he didn’t have his finger on the trigger, this appears to be a mechanical failure. In this case he had the gun pointed in a safe direction. Without knowing more, I can’t really say he was negligent.

 

[IvW]

I watch that video very closely several times and stopped it to look even closer. It appears the trigger finger of his left hand MAY have been on the trigger. Hard to tell for sure but based on the video alone it looks like a possibility.

Look at the still shot shortly after the gun discharged. His trigger finger is actually crooked like he just fired the gun.

So one finger pulled both triggers as he closed the rifle? And then after it came back from repairs the issue was solved.......

 

[mark-hunter]

The only case I can think of and that I have seen, and as close as possible to accidental discharge is rapid fire on semiautomatic pistol, when the owners were filing of a bit of sear to make softer trigger pull. After some time, the sear is totally worn, and pistol gets to automatic fire mode. But even that is more human error, then mechanical failure.
All other cases that I know about were negligent discharges.,

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I wonder if the firing pin was stuck out, making it fire as soon as the action was closed.

 

[IvW]

I wonder if the firing pin was stuck out, making it fire as soon as the action was closed.

On both barrels at the same time?? I doubt it rather a sear issue I would think...

 

[Wyatt Smith]

On both barrels at the same time?? I doubt it rather a sear issue I would think...

I didn’t know it was both barrels. I am interested to find out the cause.

 

[IvW]

I just want to know the make.....I will find out....

 

[WAB]

There is a reason we are trained to always have firearms pointed in a safe direction. They do fail, and can discharge upon failure. To believe that this can’t happen demonstrates a lack of knowledge of the weapon.

 

[mark-hunter]

Jeff Coopers, 4 safety rules, are basically fool proof. But unfortunately, not all knows them.

 

[sestoppelman]

Tell that to the people that had their Remington 700's fire when the safety was flipped off. I had a Kimber that did the same thing but I was fortunate enough to discover it while the gun was empty. There is such a thing as an accidental discharge. Your wise instructor is wrong.

I dont think there was ever a verifiable incident with a 700 that could be definitively proven that an un-messed with trigger was the culprit., though if I am wrong about that, be happy to see the provable case.
Remington paid off to avoid further suits and changed the trigger.
The most infamous of the incidents of course was where the mom shot and killed her son while loading or unloading the rifle, dont remember, but that was the case that really cooked it for Remington. The rifle in question was not at fault, the mother was negligent for pointing the rifle at her son. I understand that she was understandably horrified, and the brain sometimes cannot accept what just happened and someone else must be at fault, but it was her fault.

 

[CraigV]

That's a toughie. It does appear his finger was at least near the trigger when it went off. And based on his reaction afterwards, I dont know.

Many years ago, I was on a base, and I watched an MP conduct two perfect ND's in a row. He had walked up to the clearing barrel, drew his sidearm, removed the magazine, racked the slide to the rear, removed the chambered round, placed it back in the magazine, re-inserted it into the weapon, let the slide go forward, aimed at the clearing barrel, and squeezed the trigger. An absolute look of amazement appeared on his face, then confusion. Then he repeated the above steps exactly. Finally after the second ND he figured out what he was doing wrong. Of course, by that time people were coming out of the nearby buildings to see what was going on.

It was one of the most stupid things I've personally witnessed.

 

[shootist~]

"AD" has been around forever and is universally recognized, IMO. It's always a screwup of some kind, regardless of what name is more correct at the time...(ND Vs AD).

I've had three ADs in my lifetime, IIRC. One was a slam-fire, so I guess you could argue the fact, because it could have been avoided. One was a purposed trigger pull on live round with suspected malfunctioning safety. It was indeed malfunctioning.

One AD/ND - the bullet still impacted the target (IPSC match), so no one knew it but me.

As I used to teach in a Boy Scout merit badge class: If you shoot enough - it's not "IF" you will ever have an AD, but "when". Rule #2 always.

 

[cbvanb]

I had an English double rifle double on me once while shooting at a cape buffalo. I pressed the front trigger and somehow during the recoil I also pressed the rear trigger. After researching the incident, I learned that a lot of experienced double shooters always use the rear trigger first. Since I adopted that technique, it never happened again.