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Whether it was a Series 70 or 80, a Mark IV is a full-size, all-steel, mill-spec 1911. I don't think anybody would be carrying that in a regular pants pocket. And if it actually fully fit into a pocket, it wouldn't be prone to tumbling out inadvertently. Lotta angles and edges on a MKIV. May in North Carolina isn't exactly freezing, so I think we could rule out it being in a big overcoat pocket and spilling out when the owner was putting the coat back on or something.

It would also be a .45 ACP unless the already over-$1,000 gun (assuming it's in decent condition...well, before whatever scrapes it received in this event) had had expensive custom work and refitting to make it a 9mm. And the witness who was "nicked" (implying the barrel was facing in approximately his direction when the gun fired) said he was sitting a couple of tables away and that the report sounded "like a loud pop." A Cracker Barrel dining area can be large, but if a .45 ACP is fired in your direction from less than 20 feet away in an enclosed space, it would only sound like a loud pop if you're pretty hearing impaired.

I'm with Paladin. If it really was that type of firearm and it really did fire when dropped on the ground, my bet is that it was a Series 70, which didn't have a firing pin block. Which would also mean it was a gun that was manufactured between 1970 and 1983...not exactly current state-of-the-art carry equipment. I think it's also likely it wasn't in a pocket; more likely a stupid tucked-in-the-waistband carry. And since correct cocked-and-locked mode can cause snags and be uncomfortable just riding inside your pants without a holster--and that people who would carry without a holster would also likely be ones who think that cocked-and-locked is the unsafe way to carry a 1911--my bet is that Paladin is also correct that the thing was "carried" with one in the chamber and hammer down. The absolute worst way to carry a 1911.

Many stories I read about "the gun simply went off by itself when it was dropped" I just disregard. But if this idiot was carrying a 45-year-old Series 70 with one in the pipe and the hammer down, then yeah...I can believe the thing fired if it fell out of his pants.