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A CHL holder had a ND at his home in Seagraves tonight when he attempted to catch a weapon that fell from a holster he was putting up. The Weapon was a 1911 clone and minor injuries where the shot passed between his fingers requiring 4 or 5 stitches.

The CHL holder was me, I am relatively unharmed, upset but not seriously injured. My trigger finger hurts more than the stitches as it got in the ejection port as as the slide returned to battery.

EDIT: I never remove my holster with the gun still in it, but today I did. If I had done my normal routine this would not have happened.

Thank you Lord that G.A. Heath was not seriously injured. Thank you for grace to learn & committment to return to the proper way to remove his holster.
AMEN.

Very glad you are not any worse for wear. Hope your fingers return to normal post haste.
Hopefully your message here will be a reminder to all to keep your mind on business when handling their piece.
I applaud you for having the intestinal fortitude to share this on this forum.
Heres hoping for a speedy recovery, both physically and mentally.

By the way, what got shot besides your fingers? The floor, or the wall?

Dan

the celling was penetrated however myself and the officer climbed up on a latter and found no exit hole.

Glad your OK. Glad no one else was hit by the stray. I hope we all learn from your accident. I know I did.

Glad to hear you are okay. Next time, you might consider letting the gun fall and picking it up afterwards. Getting fingers/hands into a falling gun tends to make "bad things" happen, and most modern firearms wont discharge because of a fall from a holster. Of course, depending on the weapon, yo may have to clean up a few scratches, but that's often better than cleaning up the mess after an ND...

G. A.:

If I read this right, the weapon was a 1911 style with a thumb and grip safety…is that correct?

If it is, were you carrying in your holster with the mechanical thumb safety off (“fire� position).

The reason I ask is if the thumb safety was engaged when the AD happened, then there’s something mechanically wrong/broken with your weapon, and if that’s the case you certainly want to get it repaired before you carry it again!

Also, think back to the incident and determine if you depressed the grip safety (assuming the thumb safety was disengaged). Both the grip and thumb safety must be disengaged on a 1911 before the trigger will allow the hammer to fall…unless there’s a mechanical failure.

If there is nothing wrong with the weapon, and you had the thumb safety engaged, that’s some seriously bad luck that you had a accidental discharge since 3 things had to happen. First the thumb safety had to get disengaged, then the grip safety had to be depressed while at the same time something had to engage the trigger. Ain’t Murphy a pain in the rear.

Glad to hear the damage was minimal and kudos for having the guts to tell the rest of us about it. It helps remind me that accidents happen and I have to stay vigilant.

That is why I prefer a decocker on a carry pistol. I saw that G.A posted previously about his dislike of a decocker. But in instances like these, there is a very high probabilty that this discharge would never happen with the pistol decocked. TX rancher gave some reasons of how it could happen, but when someone is fumbling around with a falling object not trying to let it hit the ground; I think it is very easy to see how those manual safeties could have been disengaged unknown to the person.

Lucky45 wrote:That is why I prefer a decocker on a carry pistol. I saw that G.A posted previously about his dislike of a decocker. But in instances like these, there is a very high probabilty that this discharge would never happen. TX rancher gave some reason of how it could happen, but when someone is fumbling around with a falling object not trying to let it hit the ground; I think it is very easy to see how those manual safeties could have been disengaged unknown to the person.

Actually, he gives an accurate account of the ONLY way it could happen(assuming a properly operating weapon).

I share his concern about the condition of this weapon, and feel it should be checked out by a qualified gunsmith.

It would take a monumental stroke of bad luck... to disengage the thumb safety, the grip safety, and manage to get a digit on the trigger all at the same time . To top it off....in the 1/10th of a second it takes for the slide to cycle... his finger got in the chamber.

I am not disputing any of what G.A. posted (glad you weren't seriously hurt Sir), but... if I were him, I'd stay at home (in bed) for the next week or so, because... that is the worst bit of luck I've ever heard of!

Actually I am quite lucky, the weapon discharged between my fingers rather than through them or my hand. The thumb safety is always engaged on my carry weapon however there does appear to be a malfunction in the grip safety as after the incident it was stuck in a depressed state. While catching the weapon I must have disengaged the thumb safety somehow. I think this gun will get a trip back to the manufacturer for them to look at the sticking grip safety and a refinish job. This weapon is not my usual carry weapon anyway as my usual weapon is currently being serviced due to a sight issue.

About the gun in question it is a Taurus PT1911 that I have had for six months. The whole decocker lever idea still bothers me, however I may install a cylinder and slide SFS kit on all of my 1911s. I guess I will carry a revolver for a little while but I will carry my GI model 1911 when the stitches come out.

Here is a good article on "Safety Checking" a 1911.

It wouldn't hurt to check even a "New from the Factory" 1911, and is mandatory on used weapons.


http://www.cylinder-slide.com/1911safetyck.shtml

Great link napper, thanks.

Dan

Glad you are ok GA...what a scary situation...thank you for sharing and heal up quick.

I’m in too...Thank God. And thank you for taking the responsibility and admitting negligence. It reminds me the importance of safety. Get well and keep us updated.