Cop's 1911 vs. MRI Machine

I'm not sure I would agree that this was a "spontaneous" discharge, but it's interesting nonetheless.

http://www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/178/5/1092

 

LOL Thats as good as the MRI trying to eat a floor buffer.

 

JMB lives!

 

I really need to check to out the American Journal of Roentgenology more often.

 

What a bizarre story, and definitely worth reading to the end. How could it have fired? The answer and circumstances surrounding it are pretty weird and interesting. Very well-researched from a technical standpoint regarding firearms, as well. Thanks for posting, CFriesen!

 

That's amazing; absolutely jaw dropping stuff.

Note to self: the MRI is NOT a fridge magnet.

favorite line, talking about the thumb safety:"...it also locks the slide in place, preventing retrograde motion of the slide and automatic ejection of the empty cartridge."

Retrograde... yeah that's a correct usage; I just never thought to apply it to the cycling of the slide.

Very interesting; great find.

 

WOW! Great find!

 

I'm betting that the firing pin was also greatly accelerated by the magnetic field and added to the force in which it struck the primer.

Springfield must have had MRIs in mind when they designed their 1911s with a titanium firing pin and without the Colt series 80 style internal safety.

 

Kudos to the OP for a fascinating find, and also to the writers of the article for doing their research on the firearm in question.

I love reading stuff like this. The stranger, the better.

 

1. All firearms are always loaded.
2. Always keep a firearm pointed in a safe direction.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4. Always be sure of your target and know what is behind it along the bullet's trajectory.
5. Never bring your firearm near an incredibly strong magnet.

 

Wow, I would not have thought about that.

 

When I worked in an MRI facility I lost more credit cards than you can imagine. But I always locked up the pocket knife and gun before starting work for the day.

 

Thank you CFriesen, great find. My wife runs an MRI facility and I have forwarded the link to her and the owner. It will hopefully be used in a staff meeting.

What jumps off the page is the tech allowing the officer to enter the MR suite with the pistol. It should have been secured in another room, the dressing room should have offered a lockable drawer with a non-magnetic key which would have remained with the officer. Allowing any ferrous object, of any size, near a powered up MR is foolish to fatal depending on circumstance. The tech should be fired over the incident.

The screening process just to get into the room with the magnet is intended to avoid anything like this from happening. If the slug had hit a vital part of the MR unit, that would have been a 1.5 million dollar mistake.
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Seconded!

 

Did anyone notice how they call it a Colt 1991 pistol through out the article?

 

I assume that's because he was carrying a Colt 1991, and not a 1911.

 

Well it was a 1991 model... ever seen the Colt's from that time?
They're prominently (and ugly) marked as such.

 

"Springfield must have had MRIs in mind when they designed their 1911s with a titanium firing pin and without the Colt series 80 style internal safety."

I'm betting a MRI model 1911 wouldn't be a big seller. How would a titanium or scandium hand gun do?

 

"Honest Honey! This isn't a new rifle! It was just in the back of the safe!..."

I have done that.

 

Sure hope California doesn't institute magnet tests!

 

I too was intrigued by the use of the uncommon word "retrograde". More to the point, I have sometimes wondered what the real practical application of the slide-locking function of some manual safeties was. Now I know - it's to prevent 1911s from going full-auto if inadvertently dropped into an MRI machine. Seriously though, this is the opposite of an out-of-battery firing - it's more of a too-much-in-battery firing.

 

Wow. Wouldn't Have thought the gun would have fired. . .

It's nice to see an article that sticks to facts. Contrast it to what would happen if the media latched onto this; "Gristly deaths narrowly averted; Horror insues when eeeevil gun fires itself in local clinic. . ."

 

I see. The firing pin struck the primer causing the weapon to fire. But the recoil wasn't strong enough to overcome the field pinning it to the wall of the magnet, so it didn't cycle. The officer is lucky that the gun didn't injure him. Not a bullet from the gun but the accelerating firearm flying through the air

 

Nope, the manual saftey kept the slide from functioning.

 

I didn't know either and had to look it up:

"1991 vs. 1911

For those wondering what the difference is between these pistols, the fact is there really is none. Back in 1991 Colt decided to market an economy version of their basic Series 80 Government Model. The polished blue was changed to an all-matte parkerized (later blue) finish, checkered rubber grip panels were used, and the serial number sequence was made similar to US military M1911A1 pistols. The resulting pistol was cleverly named "M1991A1", after the year of introduction. Mechanically however they are the same as any other Colt Series 80, 1911-type pistol."

Because the slide was locked would there be an increase in chamber pressure (I guess the pressure would be the same until the bullet leaves the barrel, then gasses leave the barrel and pressure can't build further), increased force of the cartridge on the breechface (I'm thinking it'd be the same, just with less work accomplished), increased muzzle blast (bet so), and/or recoil (I'll guess yes)? Anything else?

It sounds preventable with:
Ti firing pin
stiffer fp spring
stiffer fp block spring
Again, anything else?