Accidental Shooting

[spqrzilla]

The take away is:

1. Don't do that. 2. Don't sell someone else a gun after you do that. 3. Don't f'ing do that.

And 4. When a gun is not working right, you should not continue using it until you fully understand why it isn't right and fix it.

Mark, I'm glad you spoke to her about the posting of her video. Its very brave of her to be public about what is a life changing accident.

I'm quite surprised that her insurance carrier did not sue the guy who did that by the way.

[MarkCO]

The take away is:

1. Don't do that. 2. Don't sell someone else a gun after you do that. 3. Don't f'ing do that.

And 4. When a gun is not working right, you should not continue using it until you fully understand why it isn't right and fix it.

Mark, I'm glad you spoke to her about the posting of her video. Its very brave of her to be public about what is a life changing accident.

I'm quite surprised that her insurance carrier did not sue the guy who did that by the way.

YES! I have had a few knowledgeable people ask me already today about the striker block, and who watched the video and rightly picked up on the problems that were symptomatic of the eventual failure. When she told me, right after the accident, I spent about an hour on the phone with Ben Stoeger, looked at the holster, then the gun and it was pretty obvious to me what had occurred. But, not everyone understands, and she certainly knows a lot more now than she did.

I was pretty surprised that her medical carrier did not subrogate, especially when they would had a pretty good case.

[Skip]

Wow! I'm happy she's relatively okay. Sounds like recovery will take a long time.

Good cautionary tale on how a malfunctioning firearm can nullify the protection of the four rules.

[snip]

Also, the geometry of the installed parts was such that the striker block was never engaged. This allowed the striker to move forward to the primer without the trigger being pressed. So it was really two bad mistakes. She was having dead triggers prior, but they thought it was an ammo issue.

I know nothing about the M&P line. On a classic P series Sig, there is an affirmatively engaged firing pin block disengaged by a safety lever on the trigger that I hope would prevent such a malf. I believe there is no way to disengage the block without pulling the trigger. Sans Dremel, of course.

I check this block on each cleaning as part of my function checks by pushing on the firing pin, then disengaging the block and trying again (the pin will then protrude from the breech face), release and push again (pin shouldn't be visible). Just did this yesterday actually.

[CHA-LEE]

This unfortunate event happened due to several levels of complacency. Hopefully this serves as a sobering reminder to everyone that doing bad trigger work can lead to tragic results. The same could be said for not taking ownership in ensuring that your firearm and its safeties are functioning properly.

[MarkCO]

Skip, most striker fired pistols have a similar block (striker block) that is a plunger in the slide. If the trigger bar surface intended to depress the plunger does not push the plunger up (as normally held) then even if the striker slid off the sear (or link or crucible), the block would prevent full travel and thus no primer impact.

In an attempt to get a "better" trigger pull, the edges of the plunger get rounded (not bad) and or the spring removed (can be bad) or the plunger removed entirely (bad, but some argue not against some rules). Some aftermarket triggers allow the take up to be adjusted and so they essentially engage and start to move, or entirely move the plunger which bypasses the safety.

[wctriumph]

Thanks for posting that and I hope she recovers fully and quickly. Good to see her back on the range.

Personally, I do not buy modified guns and if I have a modification made, it is done by the right smith or repaired by the factory.

[Skip]

Skip, most striker fired pistols have a similar block (striker block) that is a plunger in the slide. If the trigger bar surface intended to depress the plunger does not push the plunger up (as normally held) then even if the striker slid off the sear (or link or crucible), the block would prevent full travel and thus no primer impact.

In an attempt to get a "better" trigger pull, the edges of the plunger get rounded (not bad) and or the spring removed (can be bad) or the plunger removed entirely (bad, but some argue not against some rules). Some aftermarket triggers allow the take up to be adjusted and so they essentially engage and start to move, or entirely move the plunger which bypasses the safety.

Ah ha, I see. Like you said, multiple mistakes made in the modification.

[cmailliard]

For me and my wheelhouse her statement about the blood in the shoe is telling. In my classes I make it a point to describe this with the picture of a range injury to a guys legs. Just because you don't see blood does not mean it is not bad, you must aggressively seek out bleeding and stop it. Kudos to the shooters and RO's at the range. Solid forensics with the shot timer as a tool and evidence, is that something that is taught or why, when did someone think to look at that? Anyway great info all around.

[brutal]

Had to pause the vid and catch up in the thread.

In the moment, I'm Ok with this stuff, but watching an AAR gets to me sometimes.

Anyway, bad situation we can all learn from. Glad she made it through. And thankful I always carry an IFAK and extras in every vehicle - in fact, two of the four I have I got from a member here.

[MarkCO]

For me and my wheelhouse her statement about the blood in the shoe is telling. In my classes I make it a point to describe this with the picture of a range injury to a guys legs. Just because you don't see blood does not mean it is not bad, you must aggressively seek out bleeding and stop it. Kudos to the shooters and RO's at the range. Solid forensics with the shot timer as a tool and evidence, is that something that is taught or why, when did someone think to look at that? Anyway great info all around.

Chris, the instructor was Ben Stoeger, he is a pretty high level shooter and he just instinctively looked at the timer. I learned of it the day after and talked to Ben early on. Some of the comments of FB are pretty nasty, and she knew there would be some. She has had a rough day and has learned a lot of lessons. Her goal was to get the info out...which is why she sent it to me to post instead of doing it herself. She made multiple cuts of the video before the final.

If you want anything for your classes, I can get you as much as you need.