[Codykailee]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this and not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, I apologize if not. Anyways I own an XD40SC and the gun has been absolutely amazing until something happened to cause it to fire sending a 40 cal hollow point through my left palm.

The day it happened I was in my bathroom getting dressed, my XD was sitting on the counter by the sink, and like always I put on my belt, holster and everything with my gun being holstered last. I'm right handed but holster/carry on my left side (cross draw) cause I've always worn my phone clip on my belt on my right and didnt want to reach for my gun everytime my phone rang. Well as I was standing in front of my sink, I reached with my right hand and picked up my gun with my finger straight and away from the trigger and placed my left hand over the sight attempting to put it in the holster. However the second I gripped the handle and the GS was pressed the gun fired, sending the bullet through my left palm and out the side of my hand between my pinky and wrist bone. Luckily no nerves, tendons, arteries, or bones were hit. Just muscle and fat. Also I'm extremely thankful I'm the only person that suffered any injury.

I'm extremely cautious and OCD when it comes to firearm safety, have been carrying for many years, and I'm 100% certain I didn't pull the trigger. I was always adamant saying guns don't just go off and what not until I experienced this situation.

Ive found a couple articles online with similar events but no speculation of what might have caused it. I'm asking for help/opinions of what could have possibly caused this to happen?

Thank for your time.

 

[rcems2000]

I would contact Springfield and maybe they could check the gun for you and others in case there needs to be a recall. I'm not doughting you when I say Springfield could check it. Glad you are ok and no one else was injured

 

[Codykailee]

I contacted Springfield and talked to 3 people about it, however they need to inspect the firearm to determine the reasoning but my local police department took the gun. The police said they were taking it to inspect it for malfunctions but just locked it in the evidence locker without any inspection. In order for me to get it back I need to get a resolution to the "Discharge of a firearm" ticket they gave me after I kept calling and trying to get my gun back.

 

[Cuda66]

My guess, from what’s been described:

Either the holster itself, or some other foreign object got inside the trigger guard, and was depressing the trigger when you deactivated the grip safety.

 

[TSiWRX]

I am glad that no-one else was hurt, too, Codykailee - and I am also thankful that you weren't more severely injured.

I also commend you for owning-up and coming here to try to find out what may have happened.

Before we delve into the mechanical possibilities, I feel that I need to point something out...and please understand that I'm not calling attention to this in an effort to bash you or belittle you. Rather, there seems to be a bit of conflicting logic here, if we take these two sentences/paragraphs at face-value.

....I reached with my right hand and picked up my gun with my finger straight and away from the trigger and placed my left hand over the sight attempting to put it in the holster. However the second I gripped the handle and the GS was pressed the gun fired, sending the bullet through my left palm and out the side of my hand between my pinky and wrist bone. Luckily no nerves, tendons, arteries, or bones were hit. Just muscle and fat. Also I'm extremely thankful I'm the only person that suffered any injury.

I'm extremely cautious and OCD when it comes to firearm safety, have been carrying for many years, and I'm 100% certain I didn't pull the trigger. I was always adamant saying guns don't just go off and what not until I experienced this situation.

If you truly followed The Four Rules, then the discharge - accidental, negligent, whatever: I think we can all agree on the fact that it was unintentional - should not have put a hole through your palm. Muzzle awareness is second in the canonical ruleset, and if your hand had not crossed the muzzle plane, you should not have had a hole to show for it, right? Powder burn, maybe, but hole, no.

If we are willing to accept that you had abridged Rule 2 and allowed your muzzle to cross something that you were not willing to destroy and take responsibility for, then I think we must also be willing to at least entertain the possibility that perhaps some part of you (maybe not your trigger finger, but another finger...or possibly even a finger or part of your left hand, as it obviously was very close to the gun itself, being that the hand was shot through) or a foreign object (could it be some portion of the holster? or maybe it was your shirt? belt?) did enter the trigger guard.

Our memories are very deceptive - it's the reason why there's so much focus placed on the when/where of the post-shoot interview that police officers must submit themselves to ( https://www.bja.gov/bwc/pdfs/Hope-2...gue-on-Police-Officer-Response-and-Recall.pdf , Force Science Institute details reasons for delaying interviews with OIS survivors ). From countless true-life shows, and various online videos, we've also seen that eye-witness testimony can be quite different from what on-scene cameras - be they official or amateur captured - show.

Please understand that I'm -NOT- suggesting that you are lying, Codykailee - rather that simply by the way events played out, we can all see that there is some logical conflict between what you think (that you were absolutely obeying firearms safety rules) and what you recall (that your left hand was on the sight), versus the actual result (that the unintentional discharge netted a hole in your left hand).

Now, that said, let's also explore the possibility that the gun fired when you depressed the grip safety -

https://www.xdtalk.com/threads/fire-xd-by-pressing-grip-safety.278847/

Functionally, for all of my XDms (I have four), I see the following functionality:

(1) If the trigger safety "tab" is not properly deactivated, then regardless of how much pressure I am putting on the trigger with the grip safety fully disengaged, the sear will not release the firing pin (i.e. gun should fail to discharge - note that I am trying this with my firearms completely cleared/dry).

(2) If I press the trigger (fully deactivating the trigger safety tab) towards the rear (towards break) without deactivating the grip safety, I will eventually come to a hard "wall" where the trigger will simply stop and cannot continue to be forced rearward.

If at this point I depress the grip safety - fully deactivating it - there then exists two possibilities:

(a) Should I continue to forcefully press the trigger towards the break, the trigger will then be allowed to complete its rearward travel and the sear will release the firing pin (i.e. the gun should discharge - I re-examined this with my cleared XDms).

(b) But if I were to simply hold the trigger at that previously cited "wall" without exerting any more force, the sear will not release the firing pin (i.e. no discharge).

Internally speaking, there would have had to be a multitude of just-right parts breakages/malfunctions in order for a discharge to have occurred: you'd have to have the grip safety/spring fail and allow for the mechanism to disengage while also the striker safety/spring fail and allow for the striker to travel forward while, furthermore, the sear to be allowed to drop (without the trigger/trigger-bar moving). I'm certainly not going to suggest that's an impossible set of circumstances, but to check off all of those boxes, all at the same time......

I hope that the police will let you have the firearm back, soon. I would advise you to not further disassemble/investigate yourself once the weapon is back in your hands, but to instead immediately route it to Springfield Armory for examination.

My sincere wishes for a speedy and full recovery!

 

[AirAntix]

Glad you are alright. There is also a firing pin safety block on the XD’s that would prevent the striker from impacting the primer unless the trigger was depressed removing that firing pin safety. It would likely be a pretty obvious and significant defect or failure to allow the primer to get hit without the trigger depressed even if the sear released.

I would suspect that something must have caught/pulled the trigger.

 

[MauserManic]

OP, I'm happy to hear that you are okay. Yet another reason I have no desire to own a Glock. I carry with a pill in the chamber and the grip safety is the absolute minimum amount of additional carry protection that I will accept. "Glock leg" was not a fabrication of an over active imagination. I have the SA mod. 2 sub-compact in 9mm and 45ACP. - - - Dan

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[TSiWRX]

^ Be careful.

If you accomplish a full dominant grip (as most modern defensive/combative shooting instructors/schools advise and teach), it is more than possible to "Glock leg" yourself, as establishing the dominant grip properly will inherently deactivate the grip safety on the XD-platform handguns.

The *_real_* (and only) problem with "Glock legging" is solely improperly drawing the weapon, where the trigger finger enters the trigger guard too early.

Recall that "Tex" Grebner's infamous self-shooting was with a traditional 1911. Particularly as shooters work towards "combative" proficiency and starts to work shooting from retention at extreme close-ranges, trigger finger discipline - doubly so when cooked under-pressure - becomes even more important.

 

[Cuda66]

OP, I'm happy to hear that you are okay. Yet another reason I have no desire to own a Glock. I carry with a pill in the chamber and the grip safety is the absolute minimum amount of additional carry protection that I will accept. "Glock leg" was not a fabrication of an over active imagination. I have the SA mod. 2 sub-compact in 9mm and 45ACP. - - - Dan

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:

If you’re relying on the grip safety to keep you from having an unintended discharge...you’re an accident waiting to happen.

Treat it like it DOESN’T have that grip safety. Treat it like it’s gonna go off if ANYTHING gets inside that trigger guard when it’s not supposed to (when drawing, holstering, or at any other time). Because that way, you’re actually going to prevent the problem from occurring, instead of hoping a mechanical device will prevent an unwanted high velocity body piercing.

I treat DAO revolvers like that.

I treat cocked & locked 1911’s like that.

I treat DA/SA autos that are decocked, with a thumb safety engaged like that.

Check & double check the holster mouth for obstructions. Look the gun into the holster. Take your time. There’s no awards for “speed holstering”—you have all the time in the world to do it right.

 

[MauserManic]

Your response to my post seems to imply I was the one who shot myself. I appreciate your input but I have been carrying for 50 years as of the 20th of July of this year. By God's grace, common sense, and great attention to detail I haven't added any additional holes in my body. . - - - Dan

 

[Cuda66]

Your response to my post seems to imply I was the one who shot myself. I appreciate your input but I have been carrying for 50 years as of the 20th of July of this year. By God's grace, common sense, and great attention to detail I haven't added any additional holes in my body. . - - - Dan

Great! And I honestly mean that with zero sarcasm; you are obviously paying attention to what you’re doing.

But, if we look at the post to which I was responding:

OP, I'm happy to hear that you are okay. Yet another reason I have no desire to own a Glock. I carry with a pill in the chamber and the grip safety is the absolute minimum amount of additional carry protection that I will accept. "Glock leg" was not a fabrication of an over active imagination. I have the SA mod. 2 sub-compact in 9mm and 45ACP. - - - Dan

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

It seems very much that you are implying that the grip safety can protect you from an unintended discharge; I was pointing out that mindset makes one more susceptible to the very thing you are trying to avoid.

 

[TripzXD9]

Glad you're okay.

 

[bubbatime]

Pictures man!!

Been carrying for 50 years, puts you at 70 plus years old. The older you get, the more prone to mistakes you become. I believe that most of us probably find the XD to be a competent, safe design, that is really, really, unlikely to fire, unless the trigger was pulled by something. Maybe a bad holster, maybe a terribly unfortunate set of events, maybe an accident of sorts, or maybe negligence, but most of us would point towards negligence, before we point towards a defective gun. Just being honest.

Also, your comments on Glocks reiterates that you are perhaps less trained, and less familiar, with firearms, than you like to admit. I've carried a fully loaded Glock in a pocket holster every day in my pocket for 20 years, and KNOW that its perfectly safe to do so. Glocks are perfectly safe firearms, when they are kept in competent holsters. Yeah, dont just throw a Glock in your pocket. But if its in a competent holster that full covers the trigger guard, then yeah, its 1000% safe and will never ever go off. Safeties on guns are inherently unsafe, from what I have seen. People use them and rely on them too much, instead of just following the basic firearm safety rules that ALL firearms are always loaded, always. If you NEED a safety on your gun, that just means you are untrained, and in need of more training.