A Sig Discharged When Dropped?

[MODiesel]

From this article (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_a2ccfeb2-82fc-11e0-bedb-001a4bcf6878.html)....


The suit says Kellogg failed to secure the loaded 9 mm handgun, and didn't have the safety feature engaged. The suit also claims the gun was defective in that it was able to discharge without anyone pulling the trigger.

I've shot some Sigs but am not intimately familiar with their trigger/hammer workings to know if this is possible. What say you? Can you think of some mechanical possibility involved, or is this most likely just a baseless claim in the lawsuit?

[awm14hp]

maybe dropped hammer with thumb not decocker????

[mgobel]

The Sig could fire when dropped only if the safety notch on the hammer was defeated as well as the firing pin block. That would be a very defective handgun!

My bet is either a "thumb decock" or the SG dropped the gun and tried to grab it on the way down.

Mark

[ReaperAZ]

I'm just curious why the firearm was out of the holster to begin with? If it fell out of the holster what on earth was the guard doing to cause it to fall out, and finally, what type of retention device if any were was on the holster.

[Wildcat]

There is not enough information in that article to even draw meaningful speculation.

The model shown in the accompanying photo is not necessarily the pistol involved in the incident.

SIGs have several redundant features that prevent this very thing from occurring.

[hk45ctp30]

While I don't care for Sigs, I cannot image them building a pistol that would discharge in any way other than the trigger being pulled. I wish the story would have reported on the model of Sig and also more on the circumstances which caused it to happen.

[davidjinks]

ReaperAZ beat me to the question…

Why was the weapon out?

About 2 years ago I got to watch a manufacturer (Sig Sauer) video on the P229. Extremely interesting to say the least.

One of the tests they did was to take the 229, load it with a primed case, place the pistol on a stool and beat the ever living daylights out of it with a baseball bat. This guy was swinging for the moon. Full on hits to the decocked hammer with a concrete wall as a back stop. Totally cool...

Not a single mark on the primer.

[joe138]

I remember a case a few years ago when a P220 (I believe, Sig product anyway) was dropped, landing on it's hammer and discharged killing the owner. Investigation determined that the owner thumbed the hammer down, instead of using the decocker. Thus disabling safety mechanisms.

[Shadow1198]

It's all speculation without further details. Understanding the standard Sig P2xx series design, and all of the built in internal safety features, I have a hard time believing this was a freak accident. Anything is possible, though I think it is highly unlikely to be a mechanical malfunction. I hate to pass judgment without details but, it seems a little typical....yet another "accidental" shooting, victim is the only witness, the gun is blamed, and a lawsuit is filed. I smell BS.