Gun to the head misfires three times

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Kevin J. said:
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Wow. They described the weapon as a worn .38. And all the revolvers never fail vs semi autos guys, damn lucky for him we were wrong. :)
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Not so fast there, Kevin. The article describes it as a "handgun", a later as a "gun", and as you point out, a "well-worn .38-caliber weapon". There are .38 caliber semi-auto handguns, as you well know. Besides, expecting a reporter to get details such as the firearm's caliber correct is a foolish.

Furthermore, we have this little tidbit from the article:
"Despite the initial squeeze of the trigger and two more after Reynolds re-racked the weapon, no shot was ever fired, the complaint read."

That last quote makes it sound like a semi-auto, although the reporter may not know the difference between racking a slide and cocking a hammer. But there is certainly as much reason to believe it is a semi-auto as there is to believe it is a revolver.

I like revolvers, but I wouldn't say they never fail. Especially when you consider some of the junk criminals arm themselves with. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Revolvers (at least ones in good repair) ARE generally the most reliable handguns made, IMHO. That said, when my Dad passed away about 5 years ago his first year's production Baby Chief's Special was incapable of firing more than one or two shots per Cylinder full. The timing was so bad that the firing pin was not even striking most of the primers and the gun was totally unreliable. I wound up replacing every single part in the entire gun with the exception of the Frame itself, Barrel and Grips. Thankfully, he also left me a plethora of original period correct S&W parts which included every single part for that gun - including the Cylinder, Star Wheel, ER, Hammer, Trigger, all springs etc. The gun is now as good as new and has fired hundreds and hundreds of rounds since I rebuilt it - but it just goes to prove that even the ole' reliable Revolver CAN be unreliable if neglected.
 
why woul criminals arm themselves with junk?
it seems to me if i was gonna go around shooting at people i'd have the best weapon available, just like i do now.
 
Now for one from the other side of the coin: I investigated a suicide a few years back. The man was suffering from chronic depression. He shot himself in the head with a cheap RG .22 revolver, smaller than a J frame and held 7 or 8 shots. Checking and clearing the gun, I found that the three rounds in the cylinder before the fatal shot all had firing pin impressions on their rims.

I can't imagine having the (whatever it is) to shoot yourself, but working up the (whatever it is) and then having the gun fail to fire three times before it worked is truly an act of sad desperation.
 
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Someone studied the handguns recovered from criminals or crime scenes. A fair % were not in operating condition.


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I found this, an analysis of recovered handguns in Chicago. Although the stock photo shows a Python and a 1911, they don't appear in the pictorial below. I did not know you could buy handguns in Wisconsin and Indiana without background checks, as stated in the article. Chicago's Most Popular Crime Guns — A Visual Analysis


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Think the gun, whatever it was, was loaded?

Bet this perp doesn't have the latest gee whiz ammo.

I doubt this guy had a lot of practice with firearms.
 
Rustyt1953 said:
I'm relatively safe in assuming that most JV criminals don't test fire the weapons they steal or buy out of a windowless van, much less have a working knowledge of the mechanics involved.
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How could you even drive a windowless van? It would be awfully dark in there. I guess you could turn on the dome light to read a map but you still wouldn't be able to see where you were going.
 
Denizens of thug world only care about guns as things to impress, intimidate, sell or trade. Within my humble experience, they are not interested in nuance of actions, trigger quality, ballistics, i.e., the types of things firearms buffs discuss on forums. They do not spend time maintaining firearms or doing any serious training. Yes, they do sometimes go out in the boonies and blast away with whatever firearm/s they and their buddies happen to be in possession of at that particular time. I've seen people post that criminals are real firearms experts like they've seen in the movies or something. Not so. Their advantage over the general public is their willingness to shoot another human being. They already know they're violating they law. Not an issue. They are not worried about about what is around and beyond their intended target, keeping their job, keeing their CCW, being sued,etc, etc. So I can see something like misfires or whatever sometimes happening.....ymmv
 
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Unusual good luck,it even more unusual are deaths where the suicide victim had two gunshots to the head? I ran across these when I Googled Arkancide.
 
Rustyt1953 said:
I'm relatively safe in assuming that most JV criminals don't test fire the weapons they steal or buy out of a windowless van, much less have a working knowledge of the mechanics involved.
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Yes - Notice the "supplementary" sights.

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Old, worn and busted.......

Old, worn and busted revolvers aren't very reliable, regardless of legend.:D

Probably had a broken firing pin and would have fired unless you replaced it with a nail and hit it with a hammer.

Reminds me of that scene in 'Schindler's List' where the Nazi's try to shoot a guy in the head, twice with a Luger and then just casually walk off discussing why the gun didn't fire, leaving the man to change his underwear.
 
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well, if they won't maintain their guns n practice lots, we have little to fear from them past arms length.
my idea of a gun is a tool to keep the unpleasantness as far away from me as possible.
 
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