Inadvertent Discharge

[Sooltauq]

Safe safely opened. Here is what I found and learned.

(1) There was a spare magazine in the safe. So, the mostly likely explanation is that when the locksmith flipped the case so that the door was on top, the magazine fell to the bottom of the safe just right so that when the gun fell the trigger fell on to the magazine causing the discharge, which makes sense because the discharge was straight down.

(2) Inspected pistol, no evident defects or unusual wear. Don't believe that it was the pistol's fault.

(3) Pistol had, in fact, re-loaded and re-cocked and was in SA mode ready to fire again. You've heard of "limp wristing"? We now know at a CZ97BD will not jam even when there is "no wristing".

(4) ALL of my firearms will be getting trigger guards or will be holstered, even when in any safe. Even when in my 800lb monster safe. Even when unloaded. That this happened with a de-cocked CZ in DA mode was a tremendous epiphany for me at least.

(5) My $100 high-quality, quick-release safe was opened by this high-inexperienced safe thief in about 8 seconds with a screwdriver. One of the reasons that I purchased a quick-release safe was that if my home was burglarized, and the burglar was still there when I came home, I didn't want him to have access to my pistol and shoot me with it. I can now see that probably anybody who is smart enough to get into my house can probably open a quick-release about as quickly as, well, I can quick-release it.

(6)Thank you Lord that nobody was hurt!

[Joe L]

Decocked?  Can enough force be applied to cock the hammer and discharge the gun with only inertia and the magazine jammed against the trigger?  I can definitely seeing it going off if it was cocked while in the safe and the trigger hung on the loose magazine when the safe fellow banged the box on the counter top. 

You should test that explanation with an unloaded decocked gun. If you can't duplicate it, then see if you can drop the hammer from a cocked position.  Then come to some conclusion.   

I bet the safe cracker won't be banging any loaded gun vaults on a bench ever again, regardless of the reported state of the gun inside.

Joe

[Sooltauq]

It was such a freak accident that I don't know that I could duplicate it if I wanted to, but I'll leave that experiment to others here who are much more knowledgeable about firearms than me. I do note that there have been other events where even DA-only pistols have inadvertently discharged -- even (though very rarely) where they are that split-trigger design as found on Glocks and Walthers, etc.). Seem to recall a reading of an event from a few years back where a LE officer's Glock discharged when the trigger snagged on something on his belt.

Agreed that the locksmith learned a very valuable lesson. His manager was just a few feet away from the poor guy (and could have been an unfortunate too), and really let him have it.

However, I also learned a very important lesson, which I hereby add to my list:

(7) Never ever presume that somebody will be as safe with your firearms as you are (even in the extreme case where they are locked in a safe).

Again, and I can't do this enough, thank the Good Lord that nobody was injured.

Decocked?  Can enough force be applied to cock the hammer and discharge the gun with only inertia and the magazine jammed against the trigger?  I can definitely seeing it going off if it was cocked while in the safe and the trigger hung on the loose magazine when the safe fellow banged the box on the counter top. 

You should test that explanation with an unloaded decocked gun. If you can't duplicate it, then see if you can drop the hammer from a cocked position.  Then come to some conclusion.   

I bet the safe cracker won't be banging any loaded gun vaults on a bench ever again, regardless of the reported state of the gun inside.

Joe

[cntrydawwwg]

Glad you got it open with no further incidents.
    Still trying to wrap my head around how it happened. This is why I never say never[emoji6]

[Hugo]

That is beyond bizarre. Does not increase my trust in my CZs. But, they're just range toys. My only guns that are ever loaded away from the range are a couple of Glocks, one stays in its holster, the other one always wears one of these:



(picture from internet, not my gun).

I don't know if these trigger "holsters" are available for any other guns than Glocks, but they are awesome and work very well.

[Sooltauq]

Only two plausible ways that I can think of:

(1) The spare magazine hit the bottom first and the trigger fell on it just right, or

(2) The spare magazine somehow wedged itself into the pistol guard while both were falling, and then when they hit bottom the pistol fired.

Since the pistol fired straight down, #1 is the most likely, i.e., if #2 had happened, it would likely have fired at an angle.

Glad you got it open with no further incidents.
    Still trying to wrap my head around how it happened. This is why I never say never[emoji6]

[Sooltauq]

I have those trigger guards on several of my pistols, and this morning will be buying several for the others.

Not sure that we can hang this one on the CZ, and Glocks and Walthers, etc., have had the very rare inadvertent discharges as well. All of my CZs have been the very epitome of reliable.

That is beyond bizarre. Does not increase my trust in my CZs. But, they're just range toys. My only guns that are ever loaded away from the range are a couple of Glocks, one stays in its holster, the other one always wears one of these:



(picture from internet, not my gun).

I don't know if these trigger "holsters" are available for any other guns than Glocks, but they are awesome and work very well.