He is saying he did not pull the trigger. My first instinct was “yeah right”. But I had to remind myself that I had a rifle go off all on its own once when I was about 13. It was pointed at the ground. Stock was under my right arm. I was walking. My hand was no where near the trigger.
I actually did not realize it went off. I realized someone very nearby fired a gun, but I did not feel it kick. It was either a lever action 30-30 or a 32 special, I used both on a regular basis. Everyone else in the hunting party all turned looked at me and asked me what I was shooting at. I initially denied I shot at anything but I felt the barrel and it was warm. There was also a crater in the dirt right in front of my toe. Maybe a button on a sleeve or a rivet on my pants caught the trigger or the hammer. When hunting I would frequently pull the hammer back half way. I think that was considered having the safety on with those old guns. You could not pull the trigger and fire from that position. If the trigger was all the way forward, it would fire if the hammer got struck by something. To fire you had to pull the hammer all the way back. Or if you used the lever to put one in the chamber it would also fully cock the gun. It has always been a mystery to me. Just glad I didn’t kill anyone that day.
-- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
