- Most gun mishaps occur due to user error, followed by ammunition issues
- Practicing proper safety, such as muzzle and trigger discipline, greatly reduces the chance of dangerous accidents.
- Understanding how to diagnose and respond to failures is essential for safe and effective firearm operations.
If you spend a lot of time around firearms, you are going to encounter gun mistakes at some point. Not every mistake is a dangerous one, but there are five common mishaps with guns that are either dangerous or affect the function of the gun.
Today, we’ll go over some of the things you can do to mitigate these mistakes and keep everything as safe as possible when it comes to interacting with firearms.
The 5 Most Common Gun Mishaps
The five most common mistakes that you are likely to encounter are either related to user error, ammunition issues, or sometimes a gun’s mechanical failure. Of these three sources, ammunition is usually the primary culprit, with user error being a close second.
With that in mind, let’s get into the first gun mishap: accidental discharges.
Accidental Discharges
An accidental discharge is any time the gun fires when you don’t want it to. This is most likely a user error issue, but some sort of mechanical failure may be possible. Whether a finger or something else pulls the trigger or a safety precaution in the gun breaks, the gun still goes off.
This creates a dangerous situation because there is now a bullet in motion when you did not intend it. While you hopefully still had the weapon pointed in a safe direction, there is also the possibility that it wasn’t. There are three mitigators for these types of gun mishaps.
Trigger/Muzzle Discipline
You’ve probably heard the safety rule that your gun should never be pointed at anyone or anything you do not intend to shoot, and keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. These are rules 1 and 3 of gun safety in action. And there is a reason these rules are stressed as much as possible.
These concepts are also known as muzzle and trigger discipline. Muzzle discipline is the primary safety of every firearm, regardless of design. If the barrel is pointed in a safe direction and it goes off, the bullet will not harm anyone. It is combined with trigger discipline for the best results. Trigger discipline is when you keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Use Your Safeties
Depending on the model of the gun you have, the gun may have an external safety. If it does, you should learn how to activate it and deactivate it when you’re using the firearm. Whether it’s a handgun, rifle, or shotgun, that safety was meant to be used, especially if you are storing a firearm loaded (even for a short time).
Have A Quality Holster
This applies predominately to handguns and revolvers. A good holster is as much a safety device as it is a means to carry a gun. A good leather or Kydex holster will cover the trigger and prevent debris or other items from getting into the trigger guard and potentially firing the gun.
For revolvers, a good holster can hold the cylinder in place and forgo the trigger covering, but in general, the trigger should be covered if you’re not sure of the holster’s holding power.
Failure To Fire/Light Primer Strike
Usually referred to as the “click” instead of the “bang,” a failure to fire is like the opposite of an accidental discharge. You tried to fire the gun, but the gun didn’t fire. This is one of the parent types of gun mishaps and can be caused by a number of issues.
Ammunition tends to be the primary culprit, but a weak, short, or broken firing pin can also be the source. This will result in a light primer strike. In order to tell if it is a light primer strike, look at the base of the bullet, and if the primer has a small dent in it but the projectile is still seated, it is a light primer strike.
Remove The Ammunition
The first step in mitigation is to remove the problem round from the gun. This is more easily done with semi-automatics since you will remove the magazine and cycle the gun a few times to get the round out of the chamber.
Once the round is clear, let it sit for a bit, and if it doesn’t go off, put it elsewhere out of the way.
Check Your Firearm
At this point, you should check your firearm to see if the firing pin is damaged and if all functions of the gun are in working order. At least those functions that apply to shooting the gun. Once the gun is confirmed to be functioning, try shooting again. The round could have had a hard primer, resulting in the ammunition being to blame.
Squib Loads
Squib loads are one of the more hazardous gun mishaps since they fire the round but don’t have enough power to fully force the bullet down the barrel. This results in a barrel obstruction. Squib loads can result from a powder charge that is too low or a powder charge that does not detonate at the appropriate rate.
Continuing to shoot a gun after a squib load without removing the stuck projectile can either result in multiple projectiles being stuck in the barrel or the gun exploding in your hand. Both are serious issues.
Pay Attention To Strange Recoil
In order to prevent shooting more rounds into an obstructed barrel, you should pay attention to any strange recoil sensations you might experience. Squib loads are often described as having a lower report, not as powerful recoil, or, in semi-autos, not enough energy to eject a case.
If you pull the trigger and the gun fires but something seems off, check to make sure you didn’t have a squib load.
Check Your Ammunition
Another way to mitigate these types of gun mishaps is to check your ammunition. If the bullets feel too light compared to the rest of the box, they may have too little powder content. This is more of an issue with hand-loaded ammunition but is not out of the realm of possibility for factory ammunition.
Too low of a powder charge is often an issue with low-cost, high-volume ammunition. This is because the quality control on these more affordable ammunition options is inconsistent.
If the rounds look too saturated or like their seals are compromised, this can affect the powder charge as well. If you choose to fire these rounds, exercise caution and do not rapidly fire them off.
Hangfire/Delayed Fire
Hangfire or delayed fire is arguably one of the most dangerous gun mishaps. This is because the gun may “click,” making you think it is a failure to fire, but it is really a faulty primer/powder situation where the round may fire one or more seconds after it is supposed to.
This is more than enough time for someone to move the gun and accidentally point it at something they did not intend to shoot while trying to diagnose the problem.
Keep The Gun Pointed In A Safe Direction
Keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction is really the only way to mitigate a hang or delayed fire mishap. Once the gun doesn’t fire when it is supposed to, wait roughly 10 to 20 seconds. If you’re confident it is not a hangfire, you can begin to diagnose the issue.
If you are not sure, set the gun down with it still pointing in a safe direction and give the gun some space. Wait a minute and then begin the diagnostic process.
Failure To Eject/Failure to Feed
This is easily the most common of the gun mishaps and is not the most dangerous. This is when a shell casing is not fully ejected from the gun, or the next round does not properly chamber. Both will gum up the action and require you to extract the shell or rechamber the next round.
Failures to eject are usually related to ammunition or the gun itself, while failures to feed are related to the gun and the magazine being used. Depending on which one you encounter, this will give you an idea of what might have caused the failure.
Tap, Rack or Remedial Drill
If you encounter either of these failures, tap the magazine to make sure it is fully seated (if the gun has one) and rack/cycle the action. If this doesn’t fix the issue, remove the magazine and cycle the gun multiple times to fully clear the chamber area.
Once the area is clear, reinsert the magazine or a secondary magazine and try to chamber another round. If this still doesn’t work, the issue may be the gun itself. If your gun doesn’t have a detachable magazine, cycling the gun and making sure the spent case falls out is the next best option.
Each firearm type has its own clearing method, so be sure you know the one that is appropriate for your model of gun.
Closing Thoughts
With the right practice, there is a very low chance for you to encounter most gun mistakes, but some things, like the failure to eject or the failure to feed, are just inevitable. Make sure you train on how to handle these situations to ensure everyone can enjoy firearms as safely as possible.
If you need more advice, talk to our experts. And if you just want to upgrade your firearm, check out our available gun parts.