Wrap your head around this one…
Firearms instructor experiences slam fire malfunction and the firearm runs on him. The second/third shot fired after the firearm hits the ground severs his spine just above the hip–😬 pic.twitter.com/RevM05SnkQ
— ₩₳Ɽ ₱₳₮Ⱨ (@WarPath2pt0) April 5, 2022
I have searched but cannot find more information about this incident (if you have any, post it in the comments and I’ll update this post).
From the short video it appears the instructor was surprised by the first accidental discharge and lost control of the gun.
That was the near-fatal, and permanently disabling, mistake.
One of the cardinal rules of gun safety is:
Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.
But, one should be in control of the firearm prior to that last part. Things can go wrong in loading, chambering, and manipulation before pulling the trigger.
If the instructor was in better control of the gun, he would not have dropped it when it slam fired.
From this terrible accident we need remember an important lesson:
When you are handling a firearm, always be mindful of its condition and be in control of it.
No idea about the gun’s history, but regardless, poor guy.
.
For any semiauto anything – pistol or rifle, new or used, COTS or Boris-built – the first time I shoot it, there’s only one bullet in the magazine. Second time, three. Third time, five. At that point I’m willing to start trusting that there’s not going to be a runaway or other misbehavior along those lines. Same process after any major upgrades or maintenance.
Hard to know what happened there. The gun appears to be some kind of semi auto rile or carbine. Very hard to determine if a malfunction occurred, there was operator error, or some combination of both. Whatever happened, he was clearly not ready for it.
Was he shooting the mighty 5.56? A round powerful enough to kill an elephant and recoils so hard it leaves bruises and the occasional dislocated shoulder? Hard to believe the rifle flew back that far. I’m thinking he jerked and threw it instead. Yeah, if you’re going hold a gun, then hold it.
I’ve actually had that happen to me, with an original Colt 1911 manufactured in 1913 (so not an A1). This was in the mid-1990’s. Gun went into full auto but I kept a death grip on it. It was pointing about 30 degrees up, but still down range, when it ran dry (outside range).
To be honest, though, it was over so fast I really didn’t have time to comprehend until it was all over. There were three rounds left when it went cyclic on me.
Owner of the gun immediately disassembled it, removed the offending part (sear IIRC) and destroyed it, and ordered a new one from Brownells.