From our dept.

IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR A GWINETT COUNTY, LAWRENCEVILLE, GA,
POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER WAS INVOLVED IN A SITUATION WHICH
QUICKLY BECAME A USE OF DEADLY FORCE INCIDENT. WHEN THE OFFICER
MADE THE DECISION TO USE DEADLY FORCE, THE CHAMBERED ROUND IN
HIS DUTY PISTOL DID NOT FIRE. THE OFFICER CLEARED THE MALFUNCTION,
SUCCESSFULLY ENDING THE ENCOUNTER. THE MISFIRED ROUND, WHICH HAD
A FULL FIRING PIN STRIKE WAS COLLECTED AND WAS LATER SENT TO THE
MANUFACTURER FOR ANALYSIS. THEIR ANALYSIS SHOWED THE FOLLOWING:

THE CAUSE OF THE MISFIRE WAS DETERMINED TO BE FROM THE PRIMER
MIX BEING KNOCKED OUT OF THE PRIMER WHEN THE ROUND WAS CYCLED
THROUGH THE FIREARM MULTIPLE TIMES


PAGE 02
. AN ADDITIONAL 2,000 ROUNDS
OF WINCHESTER 9MM DUTY AMMUNITION WAS SENT TO THE MANUFACTURER,
AND ALL 2,000 ROUNDS WERE SUCCESSFULLY FIRED.IN DISCUSSIONS WITH
THE OFFICER, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT SINCE HE HAD SMALL CHILDREN
AT HOME, HE UNLOADED HIS DUTY WEAPON DAILY. HE ROUTINELY EJECTED
THE CHAMBERED ROUND TO STORE THE WEAPON. PRIOR TO RETURNING TO
DUTY, HE CHAMBERED THE TOP ROUND IN HIS PRIMARY MAGAZINE, THEN HE
WOULD TAKE THE PREVIOUSLY EJECTED ROUND AND PUT IT IN BACK IN THE
MAGAZINE. THOSE TWO ROUNDS WERE REPEATEDLY CYCLED SINCE THE DUTY
AMMUNITION WAS ISSUED IN FEBRUARY OR MARCH OF 2011, RESULTING IN
AS MANY AS 100 CHAMBERING AND EXTRACTING CYCLES.THIS CAUSED AN
INTERNAL FAILURE OF THE PRIMER, NOT DISCERNIBLE BY EXTERNAL
INSPECTION.

THIS ADVISORY IS TO INFORM ALL SWORN PERSONNEL THAT REPEATED CYCLING
OF DUTY ROUNDS IS TO BE AVOIDED. AS A REMINDER, WHEN LOADING THE
WEAPON, LOAD FROM THE MAGAZINE AND DO NOT DROP THE ROUND DIRECTLY
INTO THE CHAMBER. IF AN OFFICERS ONLY METHOD OF SAFE HOME STORAGE
IS TO UNLOAD THE WEAPON, THE LASD WEAPONS TRAINING UNIT SUGGESTS
THAT YOU UNLOAD AN ENTIRE MAGAZINE AND ROTATE THOSE ROUNDS. IN
ADDITION, YOU SHOULD ALSO ROTATE ALL 3 DUTY MAGAZINES, SO THAT
ALL DUTY ROUNDS ARE CYCLED, NOT JUST A FEW ROUNDS. A MORE PRACTICAL
METHOD OF HOME STORAGE IS PROBABLY TO USE A TRIGGER LOCK OR A LOCKED
STORAGE BOX.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I don't think this applies to revolver toters.

Betcha the brass and bullet of that round looked like it'd been chewed on by a big dog.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Interesting. I not only have small children, but I'm new to shooting. I have a small gun vault gun safe in my bedroom so I don't unload my weapon tonight , but I do unload couple times a week for dry fire practice.

I do try to include a few rounds of my personal protection ammo in my range practice , I suppose in the future I'll make sure that the top rounds are the ones that get fired at the range .

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

On the other hand, I can't imagine the manufacture coming back with " whoops, we must have messed up on that primer, sorry! "

I'd think that with all the folks out there fiddling with their guns, this would be more common in ammo carried a long time.

I sure am glad the officer survived that ftf.

I wonder what the first two words that crossed his mind were......
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Didn't see that coming...Thanks.

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RIP Shipmate

My male Bulldog can pull a small coconut from the tree and crack it open with his jaws. Imagine what he can do to a small little round brass tube filled with gun powder, scary huh?

And yes, another point for us wheel men and ladies, 26

The man had learned how to handle his weapon. Hats off to him.
4011

Another effect of constantly rechambering the same round is it will back the bullet into the case.
That in turn can create an overpressure when the round is finally fired, possibly causing catastrophic failure.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Thanks for the info Sip. I have done the exact same thing as this officer has, rotated the top two rounds. Swapping the duty mags more frequently and fully rotating the ammunition is a good call!

His ability to clear the round points to excellent training.

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Even older, even crankier....

I was in Training Group at Ft. Bragg in 1967 when I found out this was not the appropriate way to load a Browning HP. I committed the sin of dropping a round in the chamber through the ejection port and letting the slide slam forward and then load the magazine. About the third time I did this an instructor commenced to beat me about the head and shoulders with a paddle. Luck for me I had a steel pot on.

He then in a loving manner explained to me that what I was doing was chambering a round and leting the slide slam forward and causing the extractor for have to ride over the rim of the round chambered and would probably cause the weapon's extractor to break. He said that could and would be an embarrassing situation in combat that could cause the untimely death of me and my fellow soldiers. And if I didn't die, but others did and he heard about it, he'd hunt me down and kill me. From that I learned from such sweethearts.

Rule 303