TexasCHLforum.com

flb_78 wrote:There was a thread on this site where a member dropped a 1911 muzzle first and it fired off. The member provided pictures and his first hand account. He did not try to grab it on the way down.

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... +discharge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's pretty amazing.

mgood wrote:I won't say it never happens.

But I still think this is much, much more rare than what people claim. Without seeing the pictures with the outline of the muzzle on the floor, I probably would doubt his story. But as presented, it is a compelling case.

flb_78 wrote:A NAA revolver will also go off if dropped on the hammer.

Not if it's carried correctly.
(Or at least not those made within the last few years. I don't know how long they've been this way.)
There are notches between the chambers in which the hammer rests. It's not over any of the cartridges. No matter how hard you beat on that hammer, it won't contact the cartridges.
http://www.northamericanarms.com/videos.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TDDude wrote:I've never believed any of the stories about guns going off just because they were dropped and discharged as they hit the ground. My suspicion is that the story is intentially misleading in order for the media to portray firearms as more dangerous than they actually are. . . .

Nope, the booger hooker was involved and a story is made up to save face or to distort facts.

I won't say it never happens. But my first suspicion every time I hear "it just went off," is that someone had their finger on the trigger.
Even with a 1911 with no firing pin safety, I think the odds of it firing by hitting the ground are right up there with being struck by lightening while on your way to cash in your winning lotto ticket.

Long guns may be a different story. Many (most?) of them might be more susceptible to firing when dropped. But the chances of one firing and actually hitting someone anywhere but in the foot seem pretty astronomical to me. When we heard the story of the kid who knocked the gun over while cleaning the cabinet, and shot his brother in the chest, my bull meter immediately went into the red.

Hoi Polloi wrote:Someone's Type 928387332 (and all its clones) is a loads-itself gun, shooting from a closed (breech? like getting through a door? no, that's breach with an A. Or like pants? Those are britches. Okay, some closed thing.) Like all guns, its operation is based on the action of the blah blah blah blah blah. These gases are used to cycle some part of the gun, whose recycling action will eject some other part of the gun case...and now my eyes are glazed over and I am lost...firing.

Here's an animation that shows something flying out the front and something else flying out the back right at you so you can flinch even when you're just watching it online! It's cool!