Ever shoot someone?

[Timothy]

I wasn't arguing that mechanical things could never fail.  I was just saying that I personally, and those around me, never had a mechanical issue that led to the discharge of a firearm.

Having worked in manufacturing, engineering, production capacities the last forty years I've certainly seen my share of mechanical failures.  Maybe I was too quick on my response regarding AD and ND.  I didn't think it through thoroughly and yes, in that context an accidental discharge is surely possible.  Thankfully, I've never experienced an issue with a loaded gun.

To Kmitch....I owned a Monkey Wards, Western Field knockoff and it worked flawlessly for the better part of my youth and young adulthood.  Wish I still had it...   It was the first gun I was able to buy (with a note from my Pop) at the tender age of 13 or 14...  I felt like Daniel Boone walking the half mile home from the mall that day, shotgun slung over the shoulder!

[TAB]

I have a couple westernfields. some are made by very good manufactors, others not so much.


I have a 22 that was made by Remington  and a 16 ga bolt shot gun( with an adjustable choke  that you can adjust in about .5 seconds  and no I still don't know why I bought it, I have a 16 ga addiction)  that was made by some one in Europe.   

[tombogan03884]

My point was not that mechanical things don't fail, I've worked with machinery far to long for that.
My point is that most failures are detectable through careful maintenance, and most of it is not that difficult with a little research.
For example, there were a couple of mentions of 1911 safety failures. The fact that these got to the point of causing unintended discharge shows a lack of knowledge of proper care as the check is simple and part of standard military  care for the 1911.

http://www.m1911.org/full_technic.htm

http://www.m1911.org/technic25.htm

This is another example that for shooters, your computer search function is one of your best resources.

[Desertrat]

Only in the Coast Guard when on a boarding party that went bad. Long time ago, 1972.