Accidental discharge of the third kind

[Bill in Oregon]

It's always sobering when you realize you are a hapless twit and a high-ranking officer in the fail army, but they say laughter is the best medicine soooo ....
I recently transitioned from an inexpensive side-by-side double in 28 gauge to an even more inexpensive over-under in .410 in hopes that better stock fit would improve my scores at the skeet range.
The 28 was a plain double-trigger extractor gun; you have to manually remove the shells/hulls.
The .410 has automatic ejectors which pop the hulls out vigorously when you open the action. I had forgotten this about the new gun.
I make it a practice to keep decent snap caps in my break-open shotguns. These ( I use the solid aluminum ones from A-zoom) protect the firing pins when dry firing, simulate the heft and balance of live ammunition and serve to remind me that the gun is not loaded.
You can probably see it coming.
I forgot about the snap caps and the "robust" ejectors, popped open the .410 and caught both snap caps in the upper lip. If I had been grinning I might have lost teeth. So I spent half an hour yesterday walking around the house with ice cubes in a towel held under my nose, muttering dark oaths.
Don't let it happen to you!

[GunnyMack]

Amateur!
Sorry Bill I had to....
I've been catching empties for so long that I can open a shotgun and I'm ready for what may come. Now to prevent this from happening in the future, pull the triggers then take it apart and store it as 2 pieces or take it apart just to remove the snap caps and reassemble. You'll look cooler assembling your gun at the range!
Nice thing about the Perazzi's I shoot- removable trigger groups! Slide the safety forward and hold it forward and with the other hand swing the trigger assembly out. Thumb on hammer and squeeze the trigger- flick inertia block and squeeze the trigger again. Push trigger group back in and put it away.

[Bill in Oregon]

No Perazzis at my address Will, just a $499 Turkish Yildiz from Academy. You know, I even find myself reaching for the second trigger. Should be fine after I have a couple of boxes of shells through it.

[GunnyMack]

You'll get the muscle memory in no time.
When I got my first double trigger gun I made a conscious effort to pull each trigger each time a bird flushed. Now it's a subconscious effort to shoot anything out there for me.
Sure glad my 410 is an extractor gun! Those snap caps could hurt a guy!

[jeepnik]

Most of my life I used pump or semiauto shotguns. Most eject out the right even for a southpaw it’s no more than a slight distraction

When I finally got a lefty 1100 I would from time to time think the shell hadn’t ejected. I usually open the action while wondering why. Of course the chamber contained a live round. Never had an AD but this just reinforced the bit about every gun being loaded.

Changing things up can teach or reinforce lessons. But you now have a memory that will stick with you forever. Or you need a shotgun that yells FORE.

[Griff]

I've never stored or even put away a shotgun loaded or with snap-caps; all of them stay in the safe open & empty. My 870 is 52 years old, my side-by-sides range from 38 to 24, two of my 1897s are closer to 100 & 110 years old than not and I've never had a broken main spring or firing pin. I don't dry-fire anything. YMMV.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Bill in Oregon]

Ray, by golly, you dipped deep into the archives my friend! I was probably in my early 50s when firing that Kodiak double rifle, and later 50s when I dallied with the "penny farthing." I have neither the rifle nor the bicycle, but still have that foreign service helmet. Don't tell anyone but I like to wear it when watching "Zulu."

[Ray]

Deleted.

[AJMD429]

.
Now that was when movies were all about acting and action, instead of special effects and political correctness..