My first AD or why I feel like an idiot

[wally]

Well said Warden Wolf...

Assuming there was no finger on the Trigger, when the Slide chambered the Round...

That could do it, and it might only have been able to do it the one time before self-clearing.

Not a chance without parts missing or broken which would be obvious on inspection afterwards. A protruding firing pin on a 1911 causes a feed failure as the round can't slide up the breech face into firing position causing a stoppage.

Dollars to donuts the finger was on the trigger and he flinched when the slide hit home pulling the trigger. Unless there was only a single round in it, such a mechanical problem as speculated about would have emptied the mag instead of firing only a single shot!

 

[gym]

Just one thing, the pistol was never taken into custody, from what I am reading, thus there is no chain of custody. This means that if the weapon had a problem, there would be no way to tell when that problem started. It could have been that way from before or modified after, thus the gunsmith idea is just "good faith" at this point. You should have waited on making that call, but what's done is done. I would say from examining it over the internet, it may have a problem or two.

 

[WardenWolf]

Not a chance without parts missing or broken which would be obvious on inspection afterwards. A protruding firing pin on a 1911 causes a feed failure as the round can't slide up the breech face into firing position causing a stoppage.

Dollars to donuts the finger was on the trigger and he flinched when the slide hit home pulling the trigger. Unless there was only a single round in it, such a mechanical problem as speculated about would have emptied the mag instead of firing only a single shot!

That would depend on the individual 1911. Different 1911's have different feed ramps, different chambering characteristics, etc. It's possible it got the firing pin behind the casing to begin with and slid down onto the primer as it chambered.

 

[Rio Laxas]

There are two kinds of shooters; those who keep their finger off the trigger, and those who don't. The second kind have ND's (no such thing as an AD).

I have an old Remington bolt action .22 that fires when I close the bolt about 1 out of 5 times, with my finger nowhere near the trigger. Thankfully I discovered the problem while it was pointed down range. I think that would qualify as an AD and not an ND. I suppose you could say that I was negligent for having a firearm with a broken part, but it is possible for some firearms to discharge through no fault of the shooter, due to broken or malfunctioning parts.

 

[Tom488]

I just tried this on my Springfield 1911 and it didn't work. Even if I pulled the trigger on purpose while dropping the slide the hammer wouldn't drop. It just acts like I just shot it and I have to release the trigger for it to reset in order to drop the hammer.

I thought all 1911's were pretty smiler, are PT1911's that different?

Nope, same design... I did have to work on it a bit to get it to happen. You can't put too much pressure on the trigger, otherwise the disconnector will prevent the trigger from tripping the sear.

You have to apply JUST ENOUGH pressure to take the slack out of the trigger, such that the slide slamming home first disengages the disconnector, THEN causes you to exert enough additional pressure on the trigger to trip the sear.

It's not going to happen every time, but if you drop the slide with your finger on the trigger, it's going to happen eventually.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

just finished cleaning my PT1911, dropped the side and a 230 gr. Hydra-shock went out through my living room window.

Nope, same design... I did have to work on it a bit to get it to happen. You can't put too much pressure on the trigger, otherwise the disconnector will prevent the trigger from tripping the sear.

say what?

 

[John Wayne]

Are you sure it's not a problem with hammer follow? Or would a hammer follow problem mean that the gun would fire all the rounds in the magazine?

 

[thezoltar]

Common sense and a little professional reinforcement instruction have always had me charging a weapon inside the house only while pointed at the thickest backstop available. A good spot is the base of your wall at the moulding. Most homes have at least some wood support there in the wall and/or floor. A loud noise in your home with the projectile captured inside the building is always better than errant lead outside. It COULD happen to anyone. Plan for all possibilities.

 

[Radium]

and this is exactly why i never cycle a live round into any of my guns inside the house unless i actually need to

 

[Trumac]

and this is exactly why i never cycle a live round into any of my guns inside the house unless i actually need to

So do you load your weapon outside after cleaning it? Or is that a time when you "need to" cycle a round into your gun?

 

[thezoltar]

Unless you live in a fairly rural area its not always practical to load outside because of neighbors etc. A round going off in the house will have the sound muffled and most likely go unnoticed by most people outside the home. I actually like the sand bucket or bullet trap ideas but there again, not practical for everyone due to their personal living arrangements. Unless you are living in a tent you probably have walls with dense areas in the corners/baseboard areas. Not as good as a real bullet trap but nearly all of us have access to these better than nothing bulluet stops......Usually cheaper to repair too;-)

 

[kwelz]

Even Money says it was not a stuck firing pin but a hammer follow. Regardless
1: Lesson learned
2: Have that gun looked at by an expert.

 

[VinnAY]

My PT1911AR sometimes releases the slide when I load a magazine with enough oomph...I stopped dead in my tracks the first time it happened. It's likely not a big deal but I wasn't expecting it and my pucker factor snapped way up there. Now I just rack the slide after the magazine is onboard, if it makes a difference. The whole thing is probably mag related anyway.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

I agree with the idea that a hammer follow would've resulted in the magazine emptying through the barrel.

 

[doc2rn]

^ +1
Slam fires happen with a well broke in weapon system. Your pin flew forward with the slide and detonated the primer.

 

[John Wayne]

FYI, for those who don't want to use their walls as a backstop when chambering rounds, a 5-gallon bucket filled with sand will stop just about any handgun round.

 

[gdesloge]

Thank you, John Wall.

"As far the inevitability of everyone having a ND, not so. After 50+ years in the gun culture, including high volume competition shooting, hunting, and extensive training, often in a Law Enforcement environment, I have yet to dump a round by pulling the trigger in a negligent manner.

I HAVE had AD's caused by broken parts and customer "fixes" when I gunsmithed. However, arms were pointed in a safe direction in a firing range.

Remember, the Primary Safety of ANY firearm is MUZZLE DIRECTION.

Another is ON TARGET, ON TRIGGER. OFF TARGET, OFF TRIGGER. These two rules will keep you safe anywhere you go.

The obvious rule of not having the arm loaded unless it is in use rounds out the envelope of safe gun handling."



Thank you, SSN Vet.

"Count your blessings that no one was hurt.

Move forward in life and cherish each day.

Calling the cops was a judgement call at the time of the event. You thought it was the right thing to do THEN, so don't second guess yourself now."



gd

 

[skeeziks]

Did the brass eject normally? If it did, then it's very doubtful this was a stuck pin.

If the pin was indeed stuck in the forward firing position when it struck the primer, then you would of had an out-of-battery discharge. The primer would have been detonated before the extractor could have gripped the rim.

Think about it....

 

[oasis618]

 

[peyton]

Valuable info in this post, I slam fired a M-1A round into the floor!! I had some reloads and I was seeing if the rounds fit. Finger no where near the trigger. Did I mention how loud it was and luckily the round hit nothing in the basement!! I learned to be real careful after that incident.

 

[rcmodel]

the firing pin got stuck and when I dropped the slide the pin hit the primer

Can't happen with a 1911.

If the firing pin is stuck forward, it is a built-in John Browning fail-safe.

The round can't feed from the magazine if the firing pin is sticking out.

If you had an ND on a 1911 while chambering a round, the best odds are you inadvertently tripped the bang switch with your bugger hook.

rc

 

[Realbigo]

I don't know, I had a problem w/ the firing pin getting stuck in the forward position after dry firing of my Llama 1911, until i got new snap Caps. I got in the habit of checking each time the hammer was back, and that dealt w/ the issue, until i had a double bang on the range. Ended up drilling out the breech face, and taking some fine grit sand paper to the pin.

 

[wvdmc]

Hey guys.

I have a PT1911 and I did the same experiment an earlier poster did. After clearing the weapon I locked the slide back. I held the weapon in one hand and turned it so I could reach the slide release. I placed my finger lightly on the trigger, not even taking out any of the slack, just putting it there as if I had accidentally put my finger in the trigger guard. I pushed down on the slide release.

When pushing down on the slide release, my index finger naturally pressed the trigger some, but not even enough to take all the slack out of it. Then the slide fell shut and pushed the whole gun forward, pushing the trigger against my finger.

The first time, the hammer fell to half-cock. I guess the trigger wasn't depressed long enough.

The second time, the hammer did not fall.

The third and fourth time, the hammer fell all the way.

I would bet this is what happened. If the firing pin was stuck, it would not have been able to load a round onto the breech face. And even if it had, it would have detonated the round out of battery.

No, it does not seem like it was the weapon, it seems like it was poor trigger discipline. No harm no foul, guy just needs to get some range time and train that finger.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

No harm no foul

Except for that little "court date" thing-

 

[Radium]

So do you load your weapon outside after cleaning it? Or is that a time when you "need to" cycle a round into your gun?

i never keep a live round in my guns at home (+its illegal( im a european ****isen))incase of a AD/ND

but i do keep a few loaded mags for my pistol and ak.. u never know when a bear is mauling ur cat/dog into peaces.