What could cause a true Accidental Discharge?

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marklbucla

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Suppose one is following the 4 rules, etc. and is CCWing in a good holster covering the trigger completely, as it ought to.

What would have to happen for the holstered gun to accidentally discharge? What parts would have to wear/fail?
 
some black magic would have to happen. worry more about it not going off when you want it to. That is the curse of the semi auto. orchidhunter
 
if you followed all the rules, no modern firearm should go off "on its own."

when the rules have failed, that's when you wander into the realm of accidental/negligent discharge.
 
If the sear were to fail, supposedly the half-cock notch would engage, preventing an AD. If everything is worn, all bets are off. Then maybe not so much AD as mechanical failure.
 
Because humans are occasionally clumsy, we drop things. While I believe this has been played out of proportion to actual risk, manufacturers are responding to "drop tests" with added safety features in an effort to make safe pistol designs even safer.

Examples for several 1911's:

1. Springfield Armory replaced a steel firing pin with a titanium firing pin, for less inertia. Possibly a heavier firing pin spring was used as well.

2. Colt added a firing pin safety block, deactivated by trigger pull.

3. Kimber added a firing pin safety block, deactivated by grip safety depression.

So, if you consider modern (lawsuit paranoid) single action designs, in addition to the sear failing for 2 & 3, something would have to simultaneously press the trigger or grip safety.

I believe the lighter firing pin only offers additional protection from drops on the muzzle, and wouldn't help in the case of sear or hammer hook failure.

So, whether it's true or not, the present concern seems to be pistols going off by themselves if you drop them. And, as noted above, manufacturers are trying to address this.

To make this relevant to your question, you'd have to drop the holstered pistol on its muzzle, and have several simultaneous mechanical failures. Virtually impossible.
 
My argument is that even if the failure is mechanical it is ultimately human caused. The human should be maintaining and inspecting the firearm to ensure that no parts are worn to the point of possible failure.

The only thing that comes close in my mind would be something like a scuffle with a bad guy in which the firearm is damaged during the fight and somehow discharges. But even then it's still the fault of the human that caused the scuffle.
 
The real world risks involve something getting between the trigger and the holster, such as your shirt. Gun might go off during holstering or maybe later when you pull your shirt out. The trigger might also catch on something if it is bent or if the holster itself is damaged.

There is also some impact risk though in modern firearms from reputable makers it would take a pretty good hit.

Otherwise the risks come with handling. Do a search on "suffolk county glock ad" for an example of an AD when racking a round into the chamber.
 
Some revolvers, even double action, can fire if dropped on the hammer, on a loaded chamber. It just depends on the design of the specific action and the tolerances involved. Most human-caused unintended discharges are negligent discharges, not accidental, but dropping is the one case where such a discharge could be considered accidental.

Beyond that, it would depend on the specific firearm and the type of wear involved, OR the type of modifications a person has performed to their firearm. Certain trigger jobs can make a firearm more susceptible to unintended discharges. There's just too many factors combined to specifically state any individual condition that would cause an accidental discharge.
 
I've heard of hammers getting bumed in the down position causing an accidental discharge with on in the chamber of course, but was just hearsay. Have never heard/seen anything really substantial on this, and even then it was more of a clumbsy accident on the person's part than the firearm.

It doesn't strike me as something that happens often.
 
The real world risks involve something getting between the trigger and the holster, such as your shirt...

Otherwise the risks come with handling. Do a search on "suffolk county glock ad" for an example of an AD when racking a round into the chamber.
Click to expand...

Both of these are examples of ND's though - they could be avoided with proper training or by being more careful.


Authentic (or authentic reproduction) Single Action Army's cannot sit on a live round. Just a light tap to the hammer will discharge as there is nothing blocking the hammer.

The old term "6-shooter" is somewhat misleading because you would never load more than 5 rounds, this way the hammer always sat on an empty chamber.

Legend has it that many gunslingers or bandits would keep enough money in the empy chamber to cover a proper funeral.
 
A holstered firearm has discharged more than once.

A cop came home, took off his jacket and hung it up, put his duty gun up and turned on the tv. At length, he heard a shot from the closet. The Baby Browning .25 acp he'd been carrying with a chambered round had put a hole thru the coat into the wall. The sear sheared, allowing the striker to hit with full force.

Another case was a guy saddling his horse. The stirrup was on the saddle horn. When he pulled it down, it hit the hammer of his Colt Single Action, firing the round that was stupidly under the hammer.

Guns with strikers of the Browning design do not get carried chamber loaded by me!

And everyone already knows about leaving the chamber empty on a traditionally styled single action revolver.

.
 
Guns have been known to discharge in a fire....

.
 
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I would say that all modern guns that sit in a holster wouldn't have any ADs. As long as the internals haven't been "buggered" by the owner (home sear polishing, removing or pinning-back safeties, etc.), then modern guns will have inherent designs to prevent discharge without pressing the trigger.
 
accident reports link

This is a link to reports of unintentional discharge injuries suffered by trainees at the Front Sight academy.

The trends are very interesting:

- 5 out of 6 of these NDs occured on the last day, sometimes the afternoon of the last day, of a multi-day training course.
- All trainees had up until this point in time exhibited safe gun handling practices, except for one (a LEO) who was trying to unlearn an ingrained police academy presentation technique.
- Most NDs occurred during holstering or un-holstering.
- One ND occured during presentation.
- None led to fatal injuries, even with SD rounds.

To find out more:
http://www.frontsight.com/SafetyReports.asp?Action=ShowSingle&ID=5
 
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