accidential discharge

[Deputy]

Originally Posted by Yaterbob

A very learned bit of advice from expert gunmen.... I just had the eye opening experience of having a Walther PPK/S W. Germany Interarms Pistol have an unintended discharge with the safety on and finger off the trigger. I have racked a round in the chamber on my walther a least 800 times a year as I carry the weapon from work to home and back again. Loading and unloading on each trip without any misadventure. I clean it regularly and check it for good operation and wear.
I also am SO glad I took the advice I give every new California HSC card test applicant, to point the pistol in a safe direction at all times, whether loaded or unloaded. I checked and reloaded the magazine after making sure it was clean and dirt free. I checked the action for operation. I checked the firing pin to see it was not protruding before loading the pistol. I loaded the magazine into the pistol and pulled the slide back to place a round in the chamber and had an instantaneous firing of the weapon. After finally getting the slide off after it also jammed half way back form the recoil, I found the firing pin had seared off at the back of the hammer block on the safety. I looked around for the hole and sure enough there it was 5 feet away 5 inches up from the floor and snuggly penetrating a 2x4 in my closet door frame. I don't plan on not carrying with a round in the chamber and the safety on; but I do plan on having a gunsmith do the repair and check the other parts to be sure all is right with the pistol. Should I replace the Sear often even if I don't fire the pistol alot?

Just curious, but why do you keep loading and unloading the gun?

[MGMike]

Yaterbob: Do you mean "seared off" or "sheared off". I'm asking because you are asking if the sear should be replaced; but the sear had nothing to do with it.

The problem is that when you rack the slide with the safety on (which is the way the instruction manual recommends, incidentally), it automatically drops the hammer when the slide closes. However, if the firing pin is broken, it is no longer captive and there may be enough croquet-ball effect from the hammer's impact on the safety to drive the front fragment of the pin forward to fire.

If the safety is off, the hammer stays cocked. The pin does not have enough inertia to fire a cartridge by itself. The advantage of having the safety on (namely, that the firing pin is locked) was negated by the breakage.

Though the gun is designed to automatically decock when the safety lever is turned down, it is a good idea to ease the hammer down by hand. This avoids having the hammer snap down uncontrolled, and reduces the associated battering of parts and the risk of breakage. Unfortunately the same "snap-down" occurs if the first round is chambered with the safety on, and there is no way to manually restrain the hammer when racking the slide. My guess is that you did it one time too many, and something gave way.

This is a good example of a dilemma between putting the safety on or leaving it off when loading. It does, of course, emphasize the wisdom of your training to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. You were lucky: the gun might well have kept firing until the magazine was empty. That's always fun indoors....

M

[MGMike]

I don't see anything here useful enough to be a stickey.

M

...except maybe the moral: You never know what's going to break, so keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

[searcher451]

Originally Posted by MGMike

...except maybe the moral: You never know what's going to break, so keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

That and the constant reminder, perhaps, that an accidental discharge is a possibility virtually anytime you handle a firearm with anything less than 100% concentration and full attention.

[photohause]

Glad you were not hurt~

I would make Yaterbob's statement a sticky in hopes that more folks read it
and, as mentioned, plays as a reminder for gun safety.
Photo

[Iron Man]

I actually did have an AD happen with my S&W PPK/S. It was sent to them after that for the recall work. Eventually they (S&W) simply gave me a new weapon in the place of the PPK/S.

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

I actually did have an AD happen with my S&W PPK/S. It was sent to them after that for the recall work. Eventually they (S&W) simply gave me a new weapon in the place of the PPK/S.

I hope they gave you something interesting and useful, like a Registered Magnum or a Triple Lock...

M