Carrying a Beretta 950BS Condition Two

[chanroc]

Does anyone know how safe it is to carry the Beretta 950BS in Condition 2 - keeping the hammer down on a live round? FYI - Before I get slammed for carrying a .25ACP, I typically carry a 38 snub or my Glock 19. I know it's not the best CCW piece, it's beats harsh words when you can't pack something bigger. I saw in the manual states - "The BS Jet Fire pistol has an inertia firing pin, assuring greater safety if necessary to carry the pistol chamber loaded (NOT RECOMMENDED)." Can someone school me how an inertia firing pin works? I would think that if it fell to the ground, the firing pin would ignite the round, but my pea brain might be reading too much into the inertia part. Sorry for the newbie question, but my searches have left me even more confused.

 

[Steve 48]

I have a Beretta 950 in 22 short that I use for rabbit hunting for close ones. It was a pre lock and I never had a fire from a hammer down.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

A inertia firing pin is one that is too short to touch the primer when the hammer is resting on it and when the hammer hits it, it travels away from the hammer and strikes the primer.

 

[MikeJackmin]

Not an expert here - please take my advice with a grain of salt.

It can be hard to predict what will happened when a handgun is dropped. The various parts can move about in surprising ways, and they will move differently, depending upon what part of the gun hits first. I have read that a pre-80 series 1911 can fire from condition 1 if dropped on the muzzle, a discovery which resulted in the invention of the 80-series firing pin safety. It took about 60 years for this issue to be discovered and addressed, and I suspect that it was never a common occurrence, but there you go.

I can imagine that a gun like the 950, if dropped squarely on its muzzle, might also fire - the hammer may rock back a bit, just shy of the half cock notch, and come down with enough force to drive the firing pin home. Is it likely? No, but the only way to really be sure is to do a lot of drop tests, and so far as I know, they has never been done. Beretta is therefore being conservative in their advice, which is understandable.

One could argue that the break-barrel design was intended to facilitate condition 2 carry, and I suspect that most 950s which are carried as defensive weapons are carried in that way. The rebounding pin does make it less likely to fire when dropped, so the risk is likely to be quite small, but I don't think anyone can really say for sure. I suppose you'd just have to weigh this risk against the other risks which are associated with each of your other alternatives.

People do carry in condition three (the "Israeli method") but is noisy, and it requires two hands, and a slight bit more time. Another option would be something like a KelTec P3AT or the Ruger equivalent. I would expect that condition 1 carry of a 950 would be even less drop-safe than condition 2.

 

[halfmoonclip]

The whole magic of an inertial firing pin is that the hammer can rest against the slide, and no blow to the hammer can move the firing pin. The pin is actually pushed into the slide by the weight of the hammer, but it is too short to reach the primer. It is actually less safe to carry the gun with one up the pipe and the hammer in the 'safety' notch; in this circumstance, a blow to the hammer can shear the notch, and the firing pin will be sticking out under spring pressure to be smacked by the hammer. It isn't terribly likely that the gun would fire, but it might.
A muzzle down drop is something else altogether; if the gun hits the ground, it stops abruptly, but the inertia of the firing pin might carry it far enough forward to strike the primer and fire the gun. It is long odds of happening, but the firing pin safeties found on guns as diverse as Series 80 Colts or Glocks is to combat this issue.
Another solution is to make the firing pin out of titanium, which is so light as to not have enough energy on a muzzle down drop to fire the gun. New Colt 1911s use this method, as do Ruger LCPs.
Back to the 950 Beretta, which was my EDC before the KelTec revolution. I never felt ill at ease carrying it Condition 2, and the tipping barrel made it really safe to charge the gun without the slight chance of a slamfire when charging an autopistol in the normal way. In order to fire on a muzzle down drop, first you have to drop it, and it has to land on the muzzle...just so. Another one of those 'what can happen vs. what is likely to happen. Not much risk to it.
Now, all that said, two caveats. Some old guns did not have inertial pins, so that a hammer resting on the pin put it in direct contact with the primer. Second, firing pins do occasionally stick in the forward position, making charging the gun pretty exciting....
Moon
Moon

 

[makarovnik]

Carry it cocked and locked.

 

[toivo]

People do carry in condition three (the "Israeli method") but is noisy, and it requires two hands, and a slight bit more time.

I strongly advise against carrying a 950 in Condition Three. The combination of tiny slide and monster spring makes the little blowback 950 a real mother*$(#)% to rack. That's why it has the tip-up barrel. The thought of trying to rack that thing in a crisis situation (esp. with sweaty hands, etc.) gives me the willies.

 

[MICHAEL T]

One could argue that the break-barrel design was intended to facilitate condition 2 carry, and I suspect that most 950s which are carried as defensive weapons are carried in that way.

My old no safety 950 made in Italy owners manual says to carry loaded and hammer down .(of course that before lawyers and the what if generation started in their change the world nonsense) I bet they would want the pan empty on a carry flintlock and Prime before shooting If attacked . may be knives should be dull and have no points (sharpen when needed). Might hurt some one with a sharp pointy knife.

If you going to CARRY IN CONDITION 3 Then best eat lots of spinach That slide is a bear to pull back.
I have 2 950 and carry hammer down . My model 20 and 21a's I have are DA/SA . I really like the 950 better than any of the newer one's smaller thinner and lighter.