Post by: yorketransport on July 12, 2009, 12:27:54 PM
I got up to go for my Sunday morning walk/bike ride. As always, I got to my office where the gun safe is. I open the safe, grab the Dan Wesson Bobtail Commander 10mm, like I have 1000's of times before. I make sure that it's unloaded, lock the slide back, and load one round into the chamber. Then I release the slide. BOOM :yike: :o I'm still not entirely sure what happened. My trigger finger was along the side of the frame above the trigger guard. The gun is, to my knowledge in proper, safe working condition. I don't know what happened. A high primer? It was factory Hornady 180gr XTP ammo. I just don't know. No one else in the house was up, and surprisingly, no one woke up. Not even the dog. A 10mm round going off 30' away, inside and nobody even woke up.
I put a hole in the side of my computer desk, through a binder inside the desk, and into the computer. The bullet didn't exit the computer, but I still can't find it. I shot my computer! I'm just glad that no one was hurt, and that I had the gun pointed in a safe direction.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi162.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft260%2Fcollegekidandy%2F100_0265.jpg&hash=77c96e7efdf9af53603bb5c181d9e0e8daa2cd51)
The safe right next to the computer
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi162.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft260%2Fcollegekidandy%2F100_0266.jpg&hash=2ef88c6cc9c8c8d60db39da55a7983701074c48f)
Here's the hole in the desk
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi162.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft260%2Fcollegekidandy%2F100_0269.jpg&hash=84c6048b1c0827fbbc8737c625de4b8ffbcf8299)
The side of my computer case
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi162.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft260%2Fcollegekidandy%2F100_0271.jpg&hash=11ab21fd37441c6b01fb66673c3b9d6ec4807999)
What's left of the motherboard
The 1911 is getting put away until I can figure out what happened. I'll go back to a revolver for a while I guess. My wife has been a good sport about the whole thing, but I can't help but feel like an idiot. Judge me harshly, I deserve it. But I just don't know what happened.
Please everyone, be safe. Learn from my mistake. Whatever it was.
Andrew
Post by: TeacherMan on July 12, 2009, 12:34:54 PM
Post by: Huntbear on July 12, 2009, 01:46:10 PM
First thing I would do is tear it down and visually inspect with a magnifying glass, all engagements on the sear, hammer, etc... If you can not find any noticeable problems, I would make sure it is unloaded, then dry cycle it and see if you can recreate the incident(without the gun going off this time).
If you can not find anything specifically wrong, or can not recreate the slam fire, then I would take it to a qualified gunsmith and have it looked at. A "high primer" should not have made it go off, since the firing pin does not protrude from the face of the slide when the slide goes forward.
Very glad that no one was hurt. Slam fires are a scary thing.
Post by: Clipboard guy on July 12, 2009, 02:07:10 PM
Post by: yorketransport on July 12, 2009, 03:45:06 PM
Post by: sisu on July 12, 2009, 04:13:21 PM
Thank God no one was injured. My APBT jumped on my new bear gun and discharged a round!!! She and I both were scared *censored*less to say the least. Long story short I will treat my new bear gun like my old one.Mag loaded to the max, safety taped to off and NOTHING in the chamber until there is a need.
Post by: Tony 270WSM on July 12, 2009, 04:22:21 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 12, 2009, 04:30:16 PM
I had a similar thing happen once to me with my 220 swift. It's an original pre-64 and I just used it too much. One day at my shooting bench I chambered a round getting ready to shoot and it went off on it's own. I tried it again a couple times and then it went off again just closing the bolt. I took it to a gunsmith and the sear had worn off. They rebuilt the sear and I am still using that gun. Prior to that day it had never been woorked on, it was a factory trigger. Thank goodness it was pointed down range.
Post by: yorketransport on July 12, 2009, 05:21:02 PM
It sounds like this really was my own fault. I should have replaced the spring with a factory part, not aftermarket. :-[ I don't know what I would have done if someone had been hurt.
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on July 12, 2009, 05:30:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 12, 2009, 05:31:09 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 12, 2009, 05:40:52 PM
Post by: TheHunt on July 12, 2009, 07:09:02 PM
Post by: huntnphool on July 12, 2009, 07:21:15 PM
Post by: follow maggie on July 12, 2009, 07:45:36 PM
Post by: Pat/Rick on July 12, 2009, 10:42:36 PM
Post by: ICEMAN on July 13, 2009, 07:01:12 AM
Thank you for posting this happening. I am sure some would not want to discuss things like this. Sounds like you did right by pointing in a safe direction.
Post by: addicted on July 13, 2009, 07:05:23 AM
Post by: wastickslinger on July 13, 2009, 08:54:21 AM
I'll share one:
My grandpa was in his loading room messing with my Model 99 Savage .243. He always points guns at his heavy duty desk that faces the back of the house away from the living room and such. Well he dropped a round in and closed the lever "kaboom". Put a hole in the desk for the first time ever (likely 40 years of messing with guns). After all that time with no accidents he still knew there was always a chance and had it pointed in a safe direction. Funny part is that grandma wa in the living room just 10 feet the other direction and never came to see what was up. He walked out, ears ringing heart pounding and said, were you going to see if I was ok? She said I though you were just messing with me again. I guess thats what he get for being a prankster all his life :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on July 13, 2009, 09:42:02 AM
Post by: Rob on July 13, 2009, 10:31:58 AM
I wonder about the spring as root cause. Could be, but seems to me that something happened to the sear rather than a spring issue. But I'm far from an expert!
Post by: Huntbear on July 13, 2009, 11:37:01 AM
Post by: C-Money on July 13, 2009, 12:25:34 PM
Post by: oneezreiter on July 13, 2009, 12:30:03 PM
If it is only 2 years old I would think they would be interested in seeing it.
Post by: Gutpile on July 13, 2009, 06:09:20 PM
Quote
Negligent discharge in the house!!!
I'm not sure I'd call it that. When you chambered the round it was pointed in a safe direction and no one was hurt. Accidental discharge yes, negligent ? No.
Post by: yorketransport on July 13, 2009, 08:39:46 PM
After thinking things over, I tend to agree with everyone who has said that this sounds like a problem with the sear. I tried to contact Dan Wesson today, but forgot about the whole different time zone thing and missed them. I've decided that the gun needs to go in. Not that I have anything against the local smiths, this just seems like something that the factory needs to check out. I need to get a clear answer as to what went wrong. If the gun comes back and they say that they replaced a few parts and that "should fix the problem", I don't think I can trust the gun anymore. I need to hear that yes, the _____ was the problem, and it has been fixed. It's a shame because I really do love this gun. But now it's like a dog that has bitten someone for no obvious reason. I just don't trust it.
On a lighter note, this little mishap has given my wife something to harass me about for the rest of out lives. She called me today while I was working to ask if I'd shot any more computers in my quest to rid the world of all technology. And to say thanks for the brand new computer that I bought her.:chuckle: Then my brother called me. He's a computer tech, and I asked him to retrieve the data off of the hard drive of my old computer (I had everything backed up on DVDs, but they were in a binder, next to the computer and the bullet went through all of them :bash:). This particular brother is not a big fan of guns, and handguns terrify him. When I explained what happened he said that he's going to keep the case as a trophy of why guns are stupid. :rolleyes:
As for calling it negligent, I don't personally believe in accidents. Everything has a cause. If it's human it's the result of poor judgement or an honest mistake. If it's mechanical, then it's a malfunction, or caused by human error. Until I can rule myself out as the cause, I have to think that I made a mistake somewhere.
Post by: Remmark on July 14, 2009, 10:20:06 PM
Post by: New England Native on July 14, 2009, 11:04:18 PM
Post by: yorketransport on July 15, 2009, 05:06:02 PM
Post by: C-Money on July 16, 2009, 09:43:46 AM
Post by: Mookie on July 17, 2009, 03:16:35 PM
Did a quicky look to make sure nothing had been hit, the dog was still asleep under the tree, and the neighbor was not home. Cleaned my gun REALLY well, stuck it in my safe, and took off for a few hours.
Needless to say, I have invested in a good stockpile of snap caps.