Leaving rounds chambered safer in some long guns than others?

[Doc Safari]

I read some posts on the internet several years ago that it's unsafe to keep a round chambered in any gun with a free-floating firing pin (i.e. a firing pin with no spring behind it), if you plan to travel with that firearm in a vehicle. The reason is that the firing pin will move back and forth as the vehicle travels over bumpy terrain and theoretically you could have a slam-fire if the firing pin happens to strike the primer of the chambered round with enough force to bust it. Of course, if the firing pin has a spring that keeps it from moving, then there's no problem.

So, you shouldn't ride with an AR and a round in the chamber, but a Glock or 1911 would be fine.

[halmbarte]

I read some posts on the internet several years ago that it's unsafe to keep a round chambered in any gun with a free-floating firing pin (i.e. a firing pin with no spring behind it), if you plan to travel with that firearm in a vehicle. The reason is that the firing pin will move back and forth as the vehicle travels over bumpy terrain and theoretically you could have a slam-fire if the firing pin happens to strike the primer of the chambered round with enough force to bust it. Of course, if the firing pin has a spring that keeps it from moving, then there's no problem.

So, you shouldn't ride with an AR and a round in the chamber, but a Glock or 1911 would be fine.

If the spring is stiff enough to prevent movement then the hammer/striker wouldn't touch it off either.

Primers need a certain minimum energy strike to detonate. If they pop too easily the lot should be condemned.

H

[thopkins22]

I would think the bigger issue would be the firing pin slowly creating a dead primer as has been shown to occasionally happen with rounds that have been repeatedly chambered but not fired.

Firearms that are out of my immediate control(in my hands, on a sling, or in a holster, don't generally get a round in the chamber.

Drop safe and whatnot is kind of moot to me...the distance an AR has to drop to detonate a round is kind of ridiculous. As in if you store your firearm hanging out of your third story window balanced perfectly so that it lands with straight on the muzzle with the bore perpendicular to the ground, or have some "stupid shouldn't ever put it in a defensive firearm" style trigger in it.

[Moose-Knuckle]

I would think the bigger issue would be the firing pin slowly creating a dead primer as has been shown to occasionally happen with rounds that have been repeatedly chambered but not fired.

And then there is this. DocGKR, posted about a West coast SWAT team experiancing thid with TAP rounds.

[Crow Hunter]

And then there is this. DocGKR, posted about a West coast SWAT team experiancing thid with TAP rounds.

Were you eating peanut butter when you typed this?

[Moose-Knuckle]

Damn my thick tongue strikes again . . .

[Markk9]

I keep my G20 loaded round in the chamber in my night stand drawer, wife has a G19 loaded round in the chamber in her night stand. I keep and AR-15 "cruiser safe", under my side of the bed, wife has an 870 "cruiser safe" under her side. I have kids, so the long guns go back in the safe every morning, the handguns we each carry, so they go with each of us.

I don't see a problem with keeping a loaded AR & 870 with a round in the chamber as dangerous. I have kids at the house and they sometime have friends over, its just easier and safer to put the long guns in the safe, in a "cruiser safe" state.

[MegademiC]

The risk of a hunting rifle firing from being dropped, is not the same as a combat rifle. You would have to drop an ar on the muzzle hard enough to throw the fireing pin almost as fast as the hammer does... that's a lot of force.

Hunting rifles are completely different - most have striker-type mechanisms that release when dropped-not a floating firepin slam-fire.

[JBecker 72]

All long guns are "cruiser safe" at all times.

All pistols are loaded at all times.

Same here

[Crow Hunter]

The risk of a hunting rifle firing from being dropped, is not the same as a combat rifle. You would have to drop an ar on the muzzle hard enough to throw the fireing pin almost as fast as the hammer does... that's a lot of force.

Hunting rifles are completely different - most have striker-type mechanisms that release when dropped-not a floating firepin slam-fire.

It is the same between a hunting and home defense shotgun. Which was more of what I was referring to.

However, the AR15 is still not drop safe the way modern handguns are. If the hammer is cocked, there is nothing to stop the firing pin from hitting the primer. If the hammer notch fails or is worn enough it could allow the hammer to fall.

Modern striker and hammer fired handguns have a block plus other redundant safeties that prevent the striker/firing pin from reaching the primer of a loaded round.