View Full Version : Worn Leather Holsters Can Cause Accidental Discharges!
NavyDavy55
03-27-11, 18:01
http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/firearms/safety-warning-worn-leather-holsters-can-cause-accidental-discharges/
i saw that too... pretty freak accident, for sure.. but something to consider. i'm already so paranoid about this sort of thing, being acquainted with not one but TWO guys who've shot themselves in the ass/leg after holster problems, plus all the online and other word-of-mouth accounts, that i sport a very high, rigid holster.. furthermore, i physically inspect the holster every time before sliding the weapon home sssooopppeeerrrr sssllloooowwww.
outrider627
03-27-11, 19:10
http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/firearms/safety-warning-worn-leather-holsters-can-cause-accidental-discharges/
Wow! Gonna suck having to explain that one to the car insurance company and the dealer.
Huh, I never heard of that place. It has some interesting articles.
F-Trooper05
03-27-11, 19:36
So did that guy get shot and then have the presence of mind to tell his wife to start photo-documenting for the internet before she applied a bandage? How considerate of him!
On a side note, I have that exact holster for a 1911 and it absolutely sucks for re-holstering. You wear it between your belt and your pants, and it gets squeezed together extremely tight, so you need to stick a finger inside of it to fit your gun in. I think this accident is more related to the holster design than the holster material.
So did that guy get shot and then have the presence of mind to tell his wife to start photo-documenting for the internet before she applied a bandage? How considerate of him!
On a side note, I have that exact holster for a 1911 and it absolutely sucks for re-holstering. You wear it between your belt and your pants, and it gets squeezed together extremely tight, so you need to stick a finger inside of it to fit your gun in. I think this accident is more related to the holster design than the holster material.
hey, man, you gotta carpe diem, when cool shit happens. i laid my skilsaw into my leg on the jobsite... think i grabbed my first-aid kit?
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/stuff/100_3116.jpg?t=1301274343
i had that camera out faster than you can say "blood-born pathogen."
totally agree on the holster design- this is why most leather open-top holsters have that obnoxious band of thick leather reinforcing. double-action or DAO, i probably wouldn't be too concerned.. but single action, or striker? no.
eta- course, in THIS instance, DA/DAO wouldn't have helped him, i guess. i just plain wouldn't use that skimpy of a holster at all.
That be a real pain in the ass to have happen...
On a side note, I have that exact holster for a 1911 and it absolutely sucks for re-holstering. You wear it between your belt and your pants, and it gets squeezed together extremely tight, so you need to stick a finger inside of it to fit your gun in. I think this accident is more related to the holster design than the holster material.
Ditch that thing, Trooper. Life is too short to use a bad holster.
So did that guy get shot and then have the presence of mind to tell his wife to start photo-documenting for the internet before she applied a bandage? How considerate of him!
Seen that many times. Folks want pics for their youtubes, facebooks, etc, and can get positively annoyed when you prioritize other things.
See also: trainers collecting photos for classes.
F-Trooper05
03-27-11, 22:11
Ditch that thing, Trooper. Life is too short to use a bad holster.
I don't ever use it. My 1911 is purely a range toy, nothing more.
John_Wayne777
03-27-11, 22:20
It once again underlines the idea that weapons with a ~ 5 pound trigger and no manual safety provide little room for error in their handling, and that one should carefully examine their carry equipment and habits critically as a means of eliminating opportunities for a Murphy moment.
i guess i'm done using the mr softy holster with my glock 26...
though i've always been very slow on the reholster with that thing. :suicide2:
hey, man, you gotta carpe diem, when cool shit happens. i laid my skilsaw into my leg on the jobsite... think i grabbed my first-aid kit?
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/stuff/100_3116.jpg?t=1301274343
i had that camera out faster than you can say "blood-born pathogen."
totally agree on the holster design- this is why most leather open-top holsters have that obnoxious band of thick leather reinforcing. double-action or DAO, i probably wouldn't be too concerned.. but single action, or striker? no.
eta- course, in THIS instance, DA/DAO wouldn't have helped him, i guess. i just plain wouldn't use that skimpy of a holster at all.
That reminds me of a stupid incident of my own. I had a leg scratch and was in an awkward position. Without even thinking I reached down with with the sawzall I was carrying to get at it and without even thinking I pulled the trigger :tard:
What I'm wondering is if the material under the trigger guard is from going soft and stretching or if it's just designed that way.
Has anyone ever heard of this happening with a double action handgun? I suspect not. This would be especially true if the safety were also applied.
On the contrary, this sort of "accident" is quite common with a no-safety, striker fired, pistol. Or does everyone reading this feel that they "are the only one in this room professional enough to handle this firearm"?
I admit it. I am very biased against no safety, striker fired, pistols. This especially applies to police. I know, I know; training is the answer! However, this training has gone out the window many, many times. I have even seen a photo of a cop with his Glock held to the head of a suspect pinned to the ground. You guessed it. His finger was on the trigger.
John_Wayne777
03-28-11, 10:16
Has anyone ever heard of this happening with a double action handgun?
I believe if you were to comb through the annals of handgun history you'd see more than one instance of a very similar thing happening with a double-action revolver to the point where some old timers were taught to keep their thumb on the hammer of the revolver to prevent such an event.
The striker-fired handgun with a lighter trigger does leave a much narrower margin of error when you encounter a problem like this, however...
...so while it's happened with even double action revolvers before, a double-action handgun or a handgun with a positive safety that is used properly will certainly be less likely to discharge in a situation like this. That is exactly why I switched to a P30 as my primary carry gun. I carry AIWB and the ability to prevent the hammer's movement with my thumb allows me a larger margin of error when there's a handgun pointed at my femoral artery or my wedding tackle.
I think complacency was the culprit here. It's not like that is a $200++ custom holster.
If he saw that crease in the holster, before the incident, he should have shitcanned it without hesitation.
People fall in love with their stuff, and sometimes press them into duty long after they are serviceable.
Lesson learned.
It seems the story is more about the importance of using a good holster and keeping material out of the trigger guard area than whether or not striker fired pistols are inherently more dangerous.
Disregard, looked @ the pic wrong.
This is one reason I prefer a kydex holster for my glocks... although I do have one full leather with thumb-break OWB style Galco holster...
I am more careful with it since there's a slim chance one of the thumb straps could get into the trigger guard.
That being said, I check my kydex holsters for obstructions before I reholster.
I don't believe that it's completely necessary to change your weapon due to this kind of thing happening, you just have to NOT be complacent about your firearm.
Of course, isn't that the truth with ANY firearm, with manual safety/external hammer, or without?
MHO
YMMV
indeed.. if we rolled back every time somebody had an accident, we'd have been back to rocks and sun-bleached femurs decades ago.
---
you know this article is getting passed around furiously on the XD forums right now... :sarcastic:
We had a guy at work, years ago, shoot himself in the ass under similar circumstances with a 1911.
Body movement had clicked off the safety at some point, then the gun went bang inside the holster as he sat down at an office desk chair.
If there had not been a bunch of witnesses everybody would have thrown the BS flag on the "it just went off" play, but it was pretty clear what happened due to the number of people in the office at that time and a reconstruction from looking at the holster and gun.
I heard of a recent incident with a belt slide type holster, the kind that used to be all the rage with the old Gunsight guys. Gun had started to come out of the holster when the wearer sat down, due to the muzzle catching on the chair back, he too quickly re-seated the gun in the holster and got a loud noise for his trouble.
joe-bananas
03-28-11, 14:14
Testing 1, 2, 3
I carry my Glock 17 in a leather holster for work. I've always felt comfortable with but this makes me think a little..
Another reason to love my Blade-Techs.
Another reason to love my Blade-Techs.
i like blade tech. but it's still no guarantee... a very well regarded kydex holster has been blamed for a .45" hole in an acquaintance of mine's ass (manufacturer shall remained unnamed, as all we have is the individual's account- i don't have any reason to doubt him, but nobody witnessed it happen, and you know how people can be about UDs sometimes...) he said the plastic cracked and a piece got lodged inside the trigger guard between the trigger and the guard. when he put his hand on the XD45 to draw the gun, depressing the palm safety... POP. didnt even get it out of the holster.
murphy doesn't play fair, for sure.
Another vote for Kydex or quality leather. Neither of which prevent stupid people from hurting themselves however.
While I don't normally lump Glocks into the same "professionals gun" category as 1911s, this is pretty much a case in point to support that argument. Anyone with an modicum of common sense should have seen this problem ahead of time. The fact this user didn't speaks volumes. Glocks are dirt simple to operate, with all of the safeties being manipulated with a pull of the trigger. This makes them both easy to fire intentionally (with no training) or unintentionally (again, no training). While I support concealed carry, and oppose more govt. intrusion with individual gun rights, this is an example of a shooter that's probably more harm than good to society right now, and needs some training. Given that those who don't see the value of training are likely the ones needing it most, maybe some additional bureaucratic hurdles are appropriate.
Fortunately his car took the bullet. It could have been much worse.
Interesting.
His wife can drive stick.
Gray Man nailed it on the head. It basically comes down to training and a little common sense. I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as a unintentional or accidental discharge. They are all negligent discharges based on a poor basic training, lack of sustained training and poor quality gear.
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