Holstered Guns

[Liberty]

Does anyone know if any holstered gun, has ever "gone off" I'm not talking about the act of holstering or drawing. but of a gun in a holster going off when it wasn't intended.

[Keith B]

Does anyone know if any holstered gun, has ever "gone off" I'm not talking about the act of holstering or drawing. but of a gun in a holster going off when it wasn't intended.

I have never heard of a gun firing in a holster or out of one that did not have some kind external influence on the firing mechanism. There of course are the ND's where someone has been holstering or drawing, including the issues with the holsters that the pilots use where they have had ND's with the padlock, but even in my time working in law enforcement, and family in law enforcement and military (~40 years), I have never heard of one.

[KRM45]

Perhaps in a fire... I guess that would be an external influence as Keith B suggested.

[seamusTX]

I don't know of a documented case of a handgun discharging while in a holster and not being fussed with in some manner.

There have been many accidental or unintended discharges where the person involved swore he wasn't doing anything, but how credible are those stories?

Are you looking for fuel for a discussion elsewhere?

I think we can gain some insight by considering the millions of law enforcement and military personnel who carry holstered handguns without incident for what add up to billions of man-hours every year.

We can also look at the design of modern handguns that have trigger disconnectors, firing pin blocks, grip safeties, manual safeties, etc., and see that it is nearly impossible for them to discharge without the trigger being pressed.

I certainly wouldn't carry if I thought there was more of a chance of having the piece discharge than of being struck by lightning.

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

Does anyone know if any holstered gun, has ever "gone off" I'm not talking about the act of holstering or drawing. but of a gun in a holster going off when it wasn't intended.

I can't recall hearing of a gun going off by itself - either in or out of a holster; however, I do know that the cemetaries are quite populated with folk who had the right of way.

[jbirds1210]

Does anyone know if any holstered gun, has ever "gone off" I'm not talking about the act of holstering or drawing. but of a gun in a holster going off when it wasn't intended.

NO.

[PUCKER]

The only instance that I can think of that would cause a holstered gun (or one just sitting all by itselt) to go off...but of course, there is the outside influence of heat.

A gun can fire a bullet with lethal force if stored inside a hot oven.
CONFIRMED
The Mythbusters placed a loaded .38 caliber revolver inside a hot oven pointing towards the oven door. Once the temperature was high enough, the gun automatically discharged and sent the bullet out of the oven, which could potentially kill anybody who happened to be standing in front of the oven.

From:
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode85" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oldgringo]

The only instance that I can think of that would cause a holstered gun (or one just sitting all by itselt) to go off...but of course, there is the outside influence of heat.

A gun can fire a bullet with lethal force if stored inside a hot oven.
CONFIRMED
The Mythbusters placed a loaded .38 caliber revolver inside a hot oven pointing towards the oven door. Once the temperature was high enough, the gun automatically discharged and sent the bullet out of the oven, which could potentially kill anybody who happened to be standing in front of the oven.

From:
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode85" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did the gun go off or did the bullet explode while in the gun. Methinks the bullet would have exploded if it had been placed on a cooky sheet in an oven under similar conditions?

[PUCKER]

Gringo - check out the link, it talks about all of the scenarios (bullets by themselves, bullets in gun, bullets in a fire, etc.). Suffice it to say that the bullet in the gun came out of said gun and exited the oven. Bullets that were in the oven did explode but not with enough force to exit the oven, although they did cause damage.

[Keith B]

The only instance that I can think of that would cause a holstered gun (or one just sitting all by itselt) to go off...but of course, there is the outside influence of heat.

A gun can fire a bullet with lethal force if stored inside a hot oven.
CONFIRMED
The Mythbusters placed a loaded .38 caliber revolver inside a hot oven pointing towards the oven door. Once the temperature was high enough, the gun automatically discharged and sent the bullet out of the oven, which could potentially kill anybody who happened to be standing in front of the oven.

From:
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode85" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did the gun go off or did the bullet explode while in the gun. Methinks the bullet would have exploded if it had been placed on a cooky sheet in an oven under similar conditions?

You can cook off rounds in extreme heat, but unless an internal component of the gun malfunctioned due to the high temperatures, I'll bet it was the round itself. And being in the gun, the round would act just like it was fired from the gun due to the barrel containing the case, where on a cookie sheet there is nothing to restrict the case expansion.

BTW, If your firearm is getting that hot in the holster while wearing it, you may to check that you didn't die and take a trip the wrong direction.

[PUCKER]

Keith - Ed Zachary...as they say. Check out the link provided...it confirms what you've said along with some other examples. Something to think about if your car catches fire and your loaded firearm is in there (you know, you are at a 30.06 location, weapon is stored in the car, car gets struck by lightning...yeah, a wild scenario, I know, but it's happened - well, at least a car getting struck by lightening and catching on fire...and burning other cars around it in a parking lot).

Another thing to think about - house catches fire - if you have any loaded stash guns - you know, the ones that only you and your spouse know about (no, my house is definitely not kid-friendly and I don't have kids, just a Dane)...that's gonna be a bad thing if they get too cooked. A buddy's house burned last year, the fire department got to it probably 7 minutes or so after it started...there was a "heat zone" about belly-button level throughout the whole house (other than the area where the fire was) from the heat/smoke...it was freaky - the TV was melted on the top, but not the bottom.

[Keith B]

Keith - Ed Zachary...as they say. Check out the link provided...it confirms what you've said along with some other examples. Something to think about if your car catches fire and your loaded firearm is in there (you know, you are at a 30.06 location, weapon is stored in the car, car gets struck by lightning...yeah, a wild scenario, I know, but it's happened - well, at least a car getting struck by lightening and catching on fire...and burning other cars around it in a parking lot).

Another thing to think about - house catches fire - if you have any loaded stash guns - you know, the ones that only you and your spouse know about (no, my house is definitely not kid-friendly and I don't have kids, just a Dane)...that's gonna be a bad thing if they get too cooked. A buddy's house burned last year, the fire department got to it probably 7 minutes or so after it started...there was a "heat zone" about belly-button level throughout the whole house (other than the area where the fire was) from the heat/smoke...it was freaky - the TV was melted on the top, but not the bottom.

As for fire, I talked to one of the Lt's on the local FD the other day. He said it can be VERY interesting when the ammo is cooking off. Their remedy for that is RUN!

As for getting struck by lightning in my car, I am not too worried about that. Just don't run into a van of nun's and you will be fine.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=siUmnvyMdRo[/youtube]

[shootthesheet]

I have but it was in the past and most were either corrected or done away with. I recall one was a Japanese Imperial handgun that fired if a certain place was pressed on the outside.

I cannot imagine any modern gun making it far enough thru the process most makers use to ever be allowed to be sold. The few I recall, no real details on those, were older guns and of course those that had been "modified" by someone who had no place doing so. That is why the makers suggest every used firearm be checked by a good gunsmith before firing.

Not a handgun but my Brother-in-law had a SKS he wanted me to replace missing parts on. When I finished he came to my little range and was going to fire it after he dialed in his new Bushmaster. As I usually do before I shoot I checked the barrel of the gun. I could see no light thru it. So, I took a rod after it and pushed out a tightly packed cleaning patch. If he had shot it I don't want to even think of what could have happened. My point is don't assume anything with a gun that has not been in your control the whole time. Some people don't want to spend the money for a good smith and when they mess the job up they sell the gun with no visible problems. Most problems come from those guns.

[Captain Matt]

You can cook off rounds in extreme heat, but unless an internal component of the gun malfunctioned due to the high temperatures, I'll bet it was the round itself. And being in the gun, the round would act just like it was fired from the gun due to the barrel containing the case, where on a cookie sheet there is nothing to restrict the case expansion.

What temperature does ammunition cook off? Hotter than boiling water?

[WildBill]

You can cook off rounds in extreme heat, but unless an internal component of the gun malfunctioned due to the high temperatures, I'll bet it was the round itself. And being in the gun, the round would act just like it was fired from the gun due to the barrel containing the case, where on a cookie sheet there is nothing to restrict the case expansion.

What temperature does ammunition cook off? Hotter than boiling water?

Much hotter than boiling water. One MSDS for a single based powder states the autoignition temperature is around 170C (338F). That is around the temperature that you would bake a cake. Water boils at 100C.

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/IMR-SR-PB-Si ... keless.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;