Fatal Errors!

24 Feb 10

Close call!

This experience from a friend and well-known trainer:

"Last week, I conducted a low-light Pistol Program with a local PD SWAT Team.

The Lieutenant in charge of the Patrol Division asked me to teach the section on flashlight-technique to his cadre of Patrol Sergeants. They all showed up during the SWAT Team's lunch break.

One sergeant, when he attempted his first shot (G22), was rewarded with a ' click,' instead of a 'bang!' When he ejected the recalcitrant round and chambered a fresh one, he got the same result.

When I subsequently broke-down his pistol, I discovered a fractured firing-pin/striker. Rare, but certainly not unheard-of. The really scary part is that it was subsequently revealed that it had been three months since his last Qualification. That was the last time this particular pistol is known to have functioned normally.

The sergeant in question indicated that his pistol had not been fired, nor received any maintenance, since. Sometime in there, the striker broke. Thank God he never had to fire it in anger during those three months!"

Comment: I have seen this more than once, with all brands of pistols. The way to insure you can always defend yourself with gunfire:

(1) You must shoot regularly, at least once a month, (2) habitually field-strip, clean, examine, and lubricate your pistol(s), and (3) regularly carry a back-up pistol.

In this day and age, the foregoing is the kind of mistake we can't afford to make!

/John