Much is made of the relative drop safety of the 1911 pistol. It's been shown that...in its original guise...it's possible for the gun to fire when dropped from a proscribed height onto the muzzle. This height varies from one example to another, but seems to run around 5-7 feet. Personally, I've tested it with old slides and barrels loaded with primed cases, and the gun will indeed fire if dropped onto the muzzle from somewhere between 5 and 7 feet.
The one prerequisite is that the strike must be pretty well dead perpendicular. Varying it even one degree will not result in a discharge. The drop tests used by various states requiring that a pistol be deemed drop safe are carefully arranged so that the strike will be perpendicular. In other words...the tests are rigged.
So, we know that it's possible...but not highly probable...with a randomly dropped 1911 pistol, so let's take a look at just how much of a hazard such an event would present.
Consider, if you will, a hypothetical bullet's behavior when striking a hypothetical brick or concrete wall at 90 degrees. For the sake of argument, let's assume that this hypothetical bullet is made of a material that will neither deform nor shatter on impact. Those of us who have shot at steel targets have seen jacketed bullets bounce and arc slightly upward, landing a few feet from the targets, so we can assume that much the same would happen to our unobtanium bullet when striking a brick or concrete wall, and the result of striking a concrete floor would be much the same.
There would be some light fragmentation of the concrete, leaving ground zero at a low angle, and...due to the low mass...wouldn't travel very far or hit very hard. The bullet itself would come to a dead stop. It might bounce a couple feet high, but that would be about it. I have a theory...rather a strong suspicion...that a discharge from a dropped gun may not even result in the bullet clearing the muzzle.
Many years ago, I was at a gun show where a guy showing a vendor that his 9mm pistol was unloaded by pointing it at the floor and pulling the trigger. Watched him do it, actually. He pointed it at some angle less than 90 degrees in front of him...and BANG! The bullet hit the concrete floor, and skidded down the aisle, striking another guy's shoe just above the sole.
The guy yelped and nervously checked out his foot, relieved to find that the bullet hadn't penetrated the shoe leather because so much velocity had been bled off. It left a whelp, which no doubt turned into a nasty bruise, but that was about it. Another guy was stung by small concrete fragments, but no blood was spilled.
Much of this drop safe concern is largely hysteria brought on by politicians who either don't understand physics, or never gave it much thought. i.e. Once that bullet stops, it ain't gonna just take off in a new direction.
Discuss?
The one prerequisite is that the strike must be pretty well dead perpendicular. Varying it even one degree will not result in a discharge. The drop tests used by various states requiring that a pistol be deemed drop safe are carefully arranged so that the strike will be perpendicular. In other words...the tests are rigged.
So, we know that it's possible...but not highly probable...with a randomly dropped 1911 pistol, so let's take a look at just how much of a hazard such an event would present.
Consider, if you will, a hypothetical bullet's behavior when striking a hypothetical brick or concrete wall at 90 degrees. For the sake of argument, let's assume that this hypothetical bullet is made of a material that will neither deform nor shatter on impact. Those of us who have shot at steel targets have seen jacketed bullets bounce and arc slightly upward, landing a few feet from the targets, so we can assume that much the same would happen to our unobtanium bullet when striking a brick or concrete wall, and the result of striking a concrete floor would be much the same.
There would be some light fragmentation of the concrete, leaving ground zero at a low angle, and...due to the low mass...wouldn't travel very far or hit very hard. The bullet itself would come to a dead stop. It might bounce a couple feet high, but that would be about it. I have a theory...rather a strong suspicion...that a discharge from a dropped gun may not even result in the bullet clearing the muzzle.
Many years ago, I was at a gun show where a guy showing a vendor that his 9mm pistol was unloaded by pointing it at the floor and pulling the trigger. Watched him do it, actually. He pointed it at some angle less than 90 degrees in front of him...and BANG! The bullet hit the concrete floor, and skidded down the aisle, striking another guy's shoe just above the sole.
The guy yelped and nervously checked out his foot, relieved to find that the bullet hadn't penetrated the shoe leather because so much velocity had been bled off. It left a whelp, which no doubt turned into a nasty bruise, but that was about it. Another guy was stung by small concrete fragments, but no blood was spilled.
Much of this drop safe concern is largely hysteria brought on by politicians who either don't understand physics, or never gave it much thought. i.e. Once that bullet stops, it ain't gonna just take off in a new direction.
Discuss?
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