Guns went off when dropped

[mkc4091]

I saw on the news several times when someone dropped their handgun in a restaurant or public places and it went off.

How easy is it for a handgun to go off accidentally when dropped? Is it only for the cheaper guns. The hand guns I have are Sig Sauer P228, Beretta 92fs, Smith & Wesson 5906, these guns have several safety mechanisms and I carried them loaded with one in the chamber, hammer in the down position and safety is on (Beretta 92fs SW&5906 if I'm carrying it) Sig Sauer has some kind of internal safety.

Any comments anyone ?

Thanks

[The Mad Moderate]

any modern handgun SHOULD not go off when dropped most id not all have a firing pin block that only moves wen the trigger is pulled. I carry my Ruger P95 fully loaded de-cocked, it has no external safety other than the one between my ears.

[A-R]

I saw on the news several times when someone dropped their handgun in a restaurant or public places and it went off.

"several times"? Other than the recent case in Houston area, I can't think of any others off top of my head. Remember too that many firearms discharges that are reported as "accidents" are truly caused by negligent or intentional human interaction with a gun and are not "accidents".

That said, any mechanical device CAN fail. How likely is a gun to fire if dropped? Not likely with a modern handgun full of passive and active safeties like those you mentioned - but that's just my own opinion based on anecdotal evidence.

[Middle Age Russ]

The previous replies are correct. No modern design handgun should fire if dropped accidentally. In some cases where this has been reported, the truth comes out that the gun was either mishandled (trigger pulled at an inopportune moment) or a catch was attempted when the gun was falling (trigger inadvertently pulled while making the attempt). In these cases, the internal and trigger safeties worked as advertized -- when the trigger was pulled the gun fired.

Moral of these stories is simply to keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target (one of the four big rules of firearms safety). The real safety for your firearm, despite whatever mechanisms are present, is using one's brain to keep the four rules.

FWIW, if you are not extremely proficient at swiping of the slide safeties on the 92FS or 5906, you might think about carrying them in a more "ready" condition. They are every bit as safe to carry loaded and decocked, without the safety lever engaged, as any other double action handgun.

[mkc4091]

Thank you for all the comments everyone.

[RAM4171]

FWIW, if you are not extremely proficient at swiping of the slide safeties on the 92FS or 5906, you might think about carrying them in a more "ready" condition. They are every bit as safe to carry loaded and decocked, without the safety lever engaged, as any other double action handgun.

No disrespect ment Russ. If a gun has a manual safety it is very important to become proficient sweeping it with dry practice. My reasoning is that Mr. Murphy tends to follow me around and if I was to carry it and practice with it not using the safety no doubt the safety would be clicked on from body movement and I would be in deep doodoo if that day I happened to experience the "gravest extreme". I'm just sayin.

[WildBill]

A couple of years ago, there was one post reported in the forum where a gun fell out of a jacket pocket and discharged, hitting the owner. I think that it was a 1911, but I am not certain. I can't recall the thread right now.

[Vandelay Ind.]

I believe Ruger had to recall a bunch of LCPs because they would discharge when dropped

[Divided Attention]

There have been several instances lately in Houston where the initial reports were "went off when dropped". One in a backpack, and one in an elementary cafeteria. Later reports on those two were there was a lot of stuff in the pack with the weapon... likely something got in the trigger, and the kid was catching the gun in the cafeteria when he shot himself and 2 others.

While it is almost instinct to grab for something when you drop it, my defensive pistol class instructor has stressed LET IT FALL!

[WildBill]

While it is almost instinct to grab for something when you drop it, my defensive pistol class instructor has stressed LET IT FALL!

That is probably the reason that most guns "go off" when dropped. That old booger hook can be dangerous.

[pcgizzmo]

I believe Ruger had to recall a bunch of LCPs because they would discharge when dropped

These are DA w/internal hammer. How could that happen?

[Hoi Polloi]

Would someone with some time on his hands please consider either finding and posting or making himself an explanation of how a gun works in a charitable and factual way with the intention of responding to the most common public misunderstandings? I'm thinking of firearms mechanics for dummies type of a thing.

-The various safeties
-Firing pin
-Explosions
-Mechanics
-Etc

[Winchster]

Would someone with some time on his hands please consider either finding and posting or making himself an explanation of how a gun works in a charitable and factual way with the intention of responding to the most common public misunderstandings? I'm thinking of firearms mechanics for dummies type of a thing.

-The various safeties
-Firing pin
-Explosions
-Mechanics
-Etc

Sorta like this?

http://videosuckers.com/video/yIDoUu8lD ... ction.html

or this?

http://www.m1911.org/1911desc.htm

[rdcrags]

While it is almost instinct to grab for something when you drop it, my defensive pistol class instructor has stressed LET IT FALL!

I keep reading this advice. At least in my case, it is easier said than done. How could one practice doing it right, if it is reflex action that takes over?

[Hoi Polloi]

Would someone with some time on his hands please consider either finding and posting or making himself an explanation of how a gun works in a charitable and factual way with the intention of responding to the most common public misunderstandings? I'm thinking of firearms mechanics for dummies type of a thing.

-The various safeties
-Firing pin
-Explosions
-Mechanics
-Etc

Sorta like this?

http://videosuckers.com/video/yIDoUu8lD ... ction.html

or this?

http://www.m1911.org/1911desc.htm

Yes! But even more basic.

Here's the opening statement of the text you linked:

Colt's Model 1911 (and all its clones) is an autoloading pistol, firing from a closed breech. Like all pistols, its operation is based on the action of the gases produced when a cartridge is fired. These gases are used to cycle the slide of the pistol, whose recycling action will eject the spend cartridge case, cock the hammer and reload the next cartridge, in the pistol's chamber, for firing.

To the people I'm talking about targeting this to, they would read the above to be something like this:

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!

_____________
I'm talking about something more like this:

Today we're going to look at how a pistol works. I am going to assume that you know nothing about a pistol, so I'll start with the most basic concepts and build from there.

In order to understand how a pistol works, you need to understand its purpose. What is it designed for? A pistol is a weapon. That means it is a tool that is used with the purpose of causing damage or harm to a living being. Almost anything can be a weapon. A newspaper becomes a weapon if it is used to hit a dog. A news article becomes a weapon if it is used to influence the opinions or behaviors of a hostile enemy, which is better known as psychological warfare. Some tools are designed with another purpose in mind but are frequently re-purposed as weapons, such as cars, ropes, knives, or your wife's foot on your shin under the kitchen table. A pistol's primary design function is to be a weapon, and in particular it is most commonly used as a self-defense weapon. I'll explain what that means because it is important to understand why something is made in order to understand how it accomplishes its job.

While there are many types of weapons, we're talking about the specific category of weapon called a firearm. What does that mean? A firearm is a type of weapon that burns a propellent, like gunpowder, inside a confined space in order to launch a projectile of some sort out of it at high speed. [Show a cannon going boom.] Different firearms throughout history have used a variety of sizes, shapes, propellants, and projectiles [show numerous old and new firearms]. Those firearms that require two or more people to transport and use them, like a cannon, are commonly referred to as crew-served weapons. Firearms that can be carried and used by a single man are typically referred to as small arms.

While crew-served weapons are mostly used in military settings, small arms are used for a variety of purposes. Besides the military, some of the people who routinely use small arms include the police, bodyguards, hunters, trekkers or others who will be in the wilderness, property owners or operators, sport shooters, and individuals. Those in the military or who are hunting might use their small arms offensively, meaning they initiate an attack. Property owners, trekkers, and private individuals use their small arms defensively. That means someone or something has already attacked them and they use the small arm to defend their property, family, or life.

A few examples of situations small arms manufacturers might be designing their firearms to respond to include when a coyote is attacking a rancher's sheep herd, a rabid dog that has cornered a morning jogger, a woman who is being held at knife point in an attempted rape, a man who was jumped by a neighborhood gang, a farmer who encounters a rattlesnake den while mowing, or a store owner who is being robbed at gunpoint. The use of deadly force includes any action that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death to another person, which can mean a punch to the stomach, hitting someone with a car, or using a knife or firearm. The ethics, philosophy, and laws surrounding the use of deadly force are a fascinating topic which we could not give justice to in this short video. We do not intend to cover when a person would legitimately use a firearm, just how a pistol works when it is used.

Among the small arms, or firearms that are intended to be transported and used by a single person, there are two general categories: long guns and hand guns. Long guns are made in a way that they require both hands to hold them, like these. [Pan across rifles and shotguns, picking one up with both hands.] We cover how and why long guns work in another episode, but one obvious downfall of the long gun is its size. While there are a number of benefits to a long gun, they are not very portable. Hand guns are made to be held in one hand. They're small, like these. [Pan across pistols and revolvers.]

This style of handgun is a revolver. [Pick up a revolver.] It has a visible cylinder [point to cylinder] which detaches from the body of the gun [open/turn the cylinder]. The other main style of handgun is a pistol. [Pick up a pistol.] The chamber on a pistol is typically shaped more like a rectangle [show chamber] and does not separate from the rest of the gun [rotate gun to show the sides of the chamber].

Let's review!

A pistol is a tool.
The primary function of this tool is to be a weapon.
A pistol is a small arm, which means it is meant to be carried and used by a single individual.
It is a type of handgun, meaning it is meant to be held in one hand.
The situation in which a pistol is primarily designed to be used is one of self-defense.
It is a firearm, meaning it burns a propellent inside the chamber in order to launch a bullet out of it.
By definition, a pistol's chamber does not detach from the rest of the gun.

Now let's find out how it works!

[Here, a similar explanation would go through all of the parts of a pistol, explaining their names, functions, mechanics, and interactions with other parts until the entire process of how a pistol is built was understood and then the concept of cartridge/bullet, deflagration, and how it all comes together to function would be explained, at least at a general level. With purpose, mechanics, and physics all covered from the ground up, a person would have a full working knowledge of how a pistol works and from there adding new knowledge like the 4 Rules, how to shoot, how to adjust for recoil, how to choose a weapon, and any other number of things are much easier to understand because the building blocks are in place and there's a framework to build on.]