SLAM FIRE?

[E.Marquez]

So, the topic is the mythical "Slam Fire" something I have heard referred to by those who had a auto loading weapon go off when they did not expect it to. Most often those not directly touching the weapon will toss a bull flag and say it was noting more then a ND..

SO..
"I pulled out my Sig, checked the barrel, checked the chamber and as I let go of the slide release it slam-fired. The bullet entered my calf and ran down until it broke my tibula 4" above my ankle. It then bounced to the outside and shattered the lobe of the right ankle and landed in my footbed -"

Id ask for rational, professional comments, as this is a friend,,, happened last Tue, he just came home from the Hospital Yesterday.
This person has sufficient experience with weapons, hand guns specifically. Now I admit, you can know something to be correct and right and still not do it or follow the rules.. Say, speeding... or, ahem, Weapons handling safety.... In this case, I just don't know.....

Slam fire... in a modern handgun, like a SIG, firing pin block, yata yata tata... possible?

And NO, the "friend" is not me... I can post a pic of both legs showing no damage if needed

[AdioSS]

Always make sure the muzzle is pointed away from anything of much importance, especially when releasing the slide. I try to direct the muzzle downward and close to something like a couch or something.

[Thomas]

Whoa! I've never heard of this before. I'm sorry to hear this happened to your friend, but I am glad you posted this.

(To those who have never heard of this before, Wikipedia has a good explanation)

I am curious to know which Sig this happened with. Also, ask your friend to please write a letter to Sig so that they know that particular gun had this issue.

Always make sure the muzzle is pointed away from anything of much importance, especially when releasing the slide. I try to direct the muzzle downward and close to something like a couch or something.

IMO, I don't think light foam (a couch) is going to stop a bullet very well.

[witchdoctor575]

I have heard a few tales of gen 4 glocks having some issues with slam firing. in the 1911 world, we refer to this as hammer follow and is a real possibility.

[E.Marquez]

Always make sure the muzzle is pointed away from anything of much importance, especially when releasing the slide. I try to direct the muzzle downward and close to something like a couch or something.

You bet , but not really addressing the question

[The Annoyed Man]

I've experienced a couple of slam fires in one of my ARs. These were definitely not NDs. This rifle normally shoots just fine without any malfunctions. When the slam fires happened, I was testing a hand load cooked up by a friend which he had been using successfully as a deer load in his own AR. I had previously fired that load myself in his rifle with no drama. But in my own rifle, it produced two consecutive slam fires in which two trigger pulls fired four rounds. I unloaded the rifle and didn't fire any more of that ammo in it.

However, the rifle only slam fired when I pulled the trigger. It did not do so when I released the bolt.

[NcongruNt]

He needs to contact Sig Sauer. As others mentioned, he shouldn't have been pointing it at himself. However, it also should not have fired. The gun needs to be checked out.

I still have my doubts. While he is "experienced", he broke rule 2. In my mind, that makes it much more likely that he also broke rule 3, rather than a gun malfunction.

[Texas Dan Mosby]

Slam fire... in a modern handgun, like a SIG, firing pin block, yata yata tata... possible?

Of course it's possible.

Statistically, however, unintended discharges are more than likely the result of operator negligence, rather than design defects / damaged parts.

This is why regular maintenance and inspection of a firearm is important. With regular maintenance, inspection, and function checks, it is highly likely that an individual can identify potential issues BEFORE they can lead to a possible unintended discharge.

Was there fouling / debris causing the firing pin to stick and protrude through the breech face?

Was there a problem with hammer follow that could have been identified through a normal function check?

Or, was the round simply discharged due to negligent handling techniques of the owner?

Due to the fact that the individual failed to orient the firearm in a safe direction when he sent the slide forward, I am more likely to believe that the discharge occurred due to either negligent handling practices, or maintenance, on his part, rather than on faulty equipment.

[b322da]

I must admit in advance that I am not familiar with the Sig. As an old, and I mean "old," M1911 guy I was disturbed by the initial report stating "...as I let go of the slide release it slam-fired."

Does this weapon have a "slide release" or a "slide stop?" Use of poor terminology can lead to a bad practice. For example, in the case of the M1911 calling a slide stop a slide release can lead to using it as a slide release rather than jacking the slide with the weapon pointed in a safe direction to put one in the breech. 59 years ago my DI made one who did this suffer -- badly.

Please forgive me if my ignorance about the particular handgun has led me astray.

More important though, regardless of the identity of the weapon, long or short, is never point it at any part of your body, or any part of the body of another person, loaded or unloaded, unless it is intentional and you are prepared to fire. Perhaps this is what other commentators have called "#1" or #2," or such, labels with which, once again, I am unfamiliar.

Respectfully,

Elmo

[Beiruty]

Modern firearms shoould not do "Slam fire" Such discharge when no trigger is pulled is a defect. The firearm is simply defective.

[G.A. Heath]

I saw an M&P slam fire when the firing pin channel was dirty. What happened was the owner had a habit of oiling the firing pin channel and after enough time oil and residue built up causing the firing pin the hang a little forward despite the firing pin block. I suspect something similar happened here, so my belief is that either the firearm is defective or the firearm was improperly maintained.

[Beiruty]

I saw an M&P slam fire when the firing pin channel was dirty. What happened was the owner had a habit of oiling the firing pin channel and after enough time oil and residue built up causing the firing pin the hang a little forward despite the firing pin block. I suspect something similar happened here, so my belief is that either the firearm is defective or the firearm was improperly maintained.

Shouldn't firing pins be sprng-loaded so the pin is recesed unless hit by the hammer?

[G.A. Heath]

Shouldn't firing pins be sprng-loaded so the pin is recesed unless hit by the hammer?

when dirty enough they can stick. The M&P in question had seen a few thousand rounds and had the FP channel oiled after every range trip. This is one reason people should never oil the FP channel on a firearm.

[LongHairedRedneck]

Most weapons only slam fire after being fired and the slide/action is returning to battery with more force than just letting the slide go. Or the ammunition had weak primers but if its factory ammunition I highly doubt thats the case. Slam fires usually occour on surplus military style weapons that are designed to use "hard" primered ammuniton that can withstand the forces of being used in a automatic weapon and the operator uses commercial "light" primered ammunition.

I suspect that this is a firearm malfunction and not a true slam fire.

What did the primer of the spent casing look like? Was it a normal strike? Crushed? Light strike? No marking on primer?