Double fire?

VaRecon

VaRecon

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I have a 66-1 which had a double fire with some 125 gr Remington White Box.
I have seen a 500 double fire on youtube but never encountered one until today.
The only thing I can figure is the force of the round threw the hammer back and dropped it again to set the round off.
I was really surprised, have any of you had this occur?
 
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If the trigger is at the rear of it's travel, cocking the hammer again won't rotate the cylinder. Easy enough to try yourself with the revolver unloaded. Very difficult to have a second round fire without trigger actuation. (Which might be possible with heavy recoil and a "light" hold on the gun, I suppose, but have not witnessed it personally.)
 
The Hand is attached to the trigger, so the cylinder won't move without the trigger being stroked. I've been told that I'm overdoing it by only loading one single magnum round for a new shooter the first time with this caliber. Now you know the reason why I do this and don't plan to change, people who don't grip the revolver firmly enough can double with the 357 Magnum.
 
The gun recoils backward, if anything that would force(keep) the hammer forward, keeping it in the hammer down position. Plus the cylinder must rotate to bring another round up under the hammer which requires trigger movement. Most likely in recoil the shooter instinctly tightens their grip but the trigger has aleady moved forward enough to reset, the resulting grip tightening produces another pull of the trigger.
Scooter123, just put 1 in every other cylinder.
 
It wasn't me shooting when it happened, and the shooter isn't too experienced with the .357
The gun has had a decent amount of the same brand .357 ammo shot from it.
I put 50 rounds through it the next day with no irregularity.
After hearing your opinions I suppose the limp wrist was the problem.
 
Last edited:
VaRecon said:
It wasn't me shooting when it happened, and the shooter isn't too experienced with the .357
The gun has had a decent amount of the same brand .357 ammo shot from it.
I put 50 rounds through it the next day with no irregularity.
After hearing your opinions I suppose the limp wrist was the problem.
Click to expand...

The limp wrist is no problem; it is the unconscious "panic clutch" of a shooter not used to that level of recoil. Plain and simple, pulling the trigger reflexively, without being aware of it.
 
Pisgah said:
The limp wrist is no problem; it is the unconscious "panic clutch" of a shooter not used to that level of recoil. Plain and simple, pulling the trigger reflexively, without being aware of it.
Click to expand...

x2........
 
Pisgah said:
The limp wrist is no problem; it is the unconscious "panic clutch" of a shooter not used to that level of recoil. Plain and simple, pulling the trigger reflexively, without being aware of it.
Click to expand...

That's my view. When the .500 Mag came out, there were several incidents such as this. S&W demonstrated that it was shooter error using very high speed photography.

I suppose it is human nature to be unwilling to admit errors and blame mechanical objects. Don
 
Double - Tap 500 S&W

H Richard said:
Keeping a firm grip on the firearm, and not relaxing your trigger finger immediately should solve the problem. It is not a gun problem, it is a shooter problem.
Click to expand...

I've fired about 300 rounds out of my S&W 500 (6.5" barrel). 350 gr. Hornady XTP's, loaded with 43 gr. H110 and had the double tap event happen about 3 times. I don't believe it has anything to do with my grip. I've also had the cylinder "skip" on cocking a half a dozen times. There is a problem with this gun, and it isn't the shooter.
 
There was a fatality in the Seattle area due to a double fire, of sorts. This was 16 years ago. The victim was standing behind a woman who was inexperienced with powerful handguns. He had given her the .44 mag to try. The gun cam back behind her in recoil and the recoil caused the trigger to be pulled again.

Business | Pistol's Recoil Turns Deadly At Firing Range -- Errant Shot Kills Man At Firing Range | Seattle Times Newspaper

I have seen bullet strikes on the ceiling and even on the walls behind the line. People are shooting out of control. You can only go so far with safe design. The shooter needs to do their part!

Best,
Rick
 
There is always an involuntary second pull of the trigger when a gun is fired. Double barrel shotguns and rifles that have single triggers have a mechanism that is either operated by the inertia of the recoil or mechanically that disconnects or blocks the trigger to prevent doubling. Semi-automatic fire arms have disconnector that performs the same function. Revolvers don't need such a device because the trigger has to be fully released to fire a second shot. There is no way for a S&W revolver to fire twice with one pull of the trigger because the trigger has to be released for the trigger and double action sear to re-engage and for the trigger to re-engage the cylinder lock. If a S&W revolver fires twice, it is because the shooter pulled the trigger twice.
 
petert said:
I've fired about 300 rounds out of my S&W 500 (6.5" barrel). 350 gr. Hornady XTP's, loaded with 43 gr. H110 and had the double tap event happen about 3 times. I don't believe it has anything to do with my grip. I've also had the cylinder "skip" on cocking a half a dozen times. There is a problem with this gun, and it isn't the shooter.
Click to expand...

Read my post. S&W showed conclusively that doubling was shooter error, pulling the trigger twice. If this is happening to you, either it's your error or it is a defective gun and if it is defective, stop shooting it and return it to S&W. Doubling is not something that can happen with a mechanically sound Model 500. Don
 
Funny, I have experienced the exact opposite when shooting fast double action. Twice in the same match I did not return the trigger forward enough, and when I pulled the trigger again the cylinder rotated to the next chamber but the hammer stayed down. There is a "sweet spot" which can allow this to happen, and it was my fault because I was shooting a Glock too much at the time and not keeping up with my revolver shooting. Operator error indeed.

It is the "panic clutch" that causes the so-called "double."

Dave Sinko
 
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