Has your gun ever gone half-cocked while CCW?

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SodaPop

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Two days ago, while working, I accidentally spilled a can of soda on myself. :eek: I got sprayed pretty good and my fanny pack that holds my Beretta 92FS got it pretty good. When I came home, I opened up the fanny pack to see if the gun got anything on it. To my surprise, I found my Beretta was half-cocked. I carry the Beretta with the safety off and haven't had a problem like this before.

I went shooting last monday and I am 100% sure that I holstered the gun properly because I ALWAYS load my Beretta by racking the slide with the safety engaged. The hammer was down when I did that last Monday. POSITIVE!!

If it went half-cocked it could have cocked all the way.
:uhoh:

Is a fanny pack prone to doing this compared to other holsters? I can't think of any thing that bumped it hard.


I kinda like the fanny-pack because I can carry keys, locks, pens and other goodies in the front pocket. It comes in handy for the kind of work I do and I've gotten use to it.

Any suggestions?
 
I am eager to see what others say about this. Does the beretta have a firing pin block?

I don't have any imperical evidence why but I wouldn't dream of carrying a berretta with it cocked and the saftey off. The trigger is as light (4lbs) as a 1911 in single action mode and lacks a grip saftey and fanny packs are not exactly a rigid system.

In any case to me this would be a sign that I should check my gun every day and either carry with the saftey on or the first shot double action. No pistols half cock is designed to be a realiable saftey alternitive and only a last ditch protection.
 
I take it you leave your pistol loaded all the time and dont check it each time you put it on. I unload everytime I dont have mine on and always load and check it did in fact load when I put it back on.
Maybe you should get in the habit of doing a press check each time you put it on, just to verify that everthing is ok. I agree with the good holster. I'm not a big fan of the fanny packs. These days they are kind of out of fashion, and anyone with one on is pretty much suspect to me, at least from the standpoint of looking for a gun.
 
I have had CCW guns become half-cocked while carrying and rubbing/bumping the gun against something. Climbing in and out of compact cars is a good example.

The Beretta 92 and many other DA autoloaders will still function properly from the half-cocked position so it's not that big of a problem. It is also unlikely that you would get enough movement to fully cock the hammer. Given the long trigger pull on the first round, it is unlikely you would get a ND from the half-cocked position while carrying in a fanny pack. If it does worry you, just keep the safety engaged.

There can be a safety issue on some guns, particularly SA guns that allow the hammer to drop from the half-cocked position if the trigger is pulled. These guns are designed to be carried cocked and locked in a holster that covers the trigger.
 
These days they are kind of out of fashion, and anyone with one on is pretty much suspect to me, at least from the standpoint of looking for a gun.
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That reminds me of what my CCW instructor told us. He said they were great for the criminal to spot you. He called them "shoot me first packs" along with people who were wearing fishing vests, that obviously weren't fishing.... "shoot me first vests". :)
 
These days they are kind of out of fashion, and anyone with one on is pretty much suspect to me, at least from the standpoint of looking for a gun.
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I'm a soda machine guy and I can get away with running around in shorts and a fanny pack. I think they fit in just fine when your pushing a cart of Doritos and Pepsi.:D

Outside of work i've found them to be awkward. My only option for the kind of work I do is a pocket gun.
 
That reminds me of what my CCW instructor told us. He said they were great for the criminal to spot you. He called them "shoot me first packs" along with people who were wearing fishing vests, that obviously weren't fishing.... "shoot me first vests".
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In your normal living areas I would agree. But they still come in handy when visiting resort areas, as half to most visitors use them while vacationing. I'm quite sure I'll use mine this year as usual, but the contents will be altered a bit.
 
I am assuming you were carrying with the hammer down so you could fire the first shot DA. If that is the case, there is no real problem; the moving around probably moved the hammer enough to cause it to go to half cock. The only problem is that you will have a shorter trigger pull than expected on the first shot.

But if you are carrying the gun at full cock, and the hammer fell to half cock, you better revisit your carrying method. Carrying a gun fully cocked for a SA shot is trouble looking for a place to happen in a gun whose safety does not allow "cocked and locked".

Jim
 
I am assuming you were carrying with the hammer down so you could fire the first shot DA. If that is the case, there is no real problem; the moving around probably moved the hammer enough to cause it to go to half cock. The only problem is that you will have a shorter trigger pull than expected on the first shot.
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Exactly.

The reason I carried the Beretta for the last two years was I thought I'd be quicker with my first shot (if I disengaged the safety)compared to having to disengage the slide safety on my Colt 1991A1. I won't carry my Colt without the slide safety on. I thought the longer DA pull on the Beretta was safe enough. This was a pretty disturbing incedent.


I might as well switch back to my 45 now !:D
 
One of the reasons I developed my IWB holster was to prevent problems like this.

The holster or other carry device can cause accidents. At one time I had a Galco Fletch, with a thumbreak, it would often disengage the safety of my M1911 .45.

I designed my holster with a "button" or leather cam that holds the safety in the ON position while the gun is holstered.

Go to http://paul.desertskyone.com/gunstuff.html and look for the link to instructions for making my holster, about 2/3 of the way down the page.

While my holster is for an M1911, it may give you some ideas for making a similar holster for other models.
 
When I was carrying in a fanny pack there were a couple of times when I ran into enough resistance to move the slide back just about an 8th of an inch. That was enough to bring the hammer to the half cocked notch. It's nothing to worry about. In my case it was a result of having snagged the safety, or perhaps the rear sight, on the edge of the holster as I was inserting the gun. I felt the hang up, repositioned and got it in clean the next try, but the hammer was back on the safety notch instead of being at rest on the slide. Don't let it worry you. If you feel any snag at all when holstering, check it.
 
Hi, Soda Pop,

You can safely carry the Beretta with the hammer down and safety off. That is the way police officers carry them. (The military is normally required to carry with an empty chamber except in a combat zone.)

The whole reason for the DA mode is to allow the pistol to be carried in safety and yet available for use immediately through a first shot double action.

IMHO, there was no danger.

Jim
 
So half cock isn't really like an almost boom?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Next time I go to the range I'm gonna play with the trigger and see how much energy it takes to set the hammer at half cock.
 
I hope my carry gun never goes to half cock (especially since I carry a 1911 - something really funny would have to be going on in my pants). I HAVE drawn the gun to find that the safety has been clicked off though. It's happened twice and I wasn't happy about it either time. I know that the POS FIST holster that I have is the reason though, that's why I'm ordering a Milt Sparks.
 
Liquid Tension says " hope my carry gun never goes to half cock (especially since I carry a 1911 - something really funny would have to be going on in my pants). I HAVE drawn the gun to find that the safety has been clicked off though. It's happened twice and I wasn't happy about it either time. I know that the POS FIST holster that I have is the reason though"

Take a look at my do-it-yourself holster design at http://paul.desertskyone.com/gunstuff.html
The link to directions, pictures and templates for this holster is about 2/3s of the way down the page.
 
I am not very familar with fanny packs and have never used one. However, if I did use one I would want some type of holster inside that retained gun and covered trigger. If your trigger was completely covered by hard material and gun went to full cock it would still be a very rare for gun to go bang esp with firing pin safety, which would protect you even if hammer slipped sear engagement.
 
Soda Pop:

I can now say it has happened to me! I wear an Uncle Mike's holster at about 1:00. The side against my body comes up higher than the other side, to keep the gun from rubbing your body I assume. Well, today when I checked my Beretta it was at half-cock!:eek: I have no idea how this happened.
 
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