Report of Worn Holster causing AD

[beequick]

This article certainly made me double check all my leather holsters

http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/fi...al-discharges/

[FrankenMauser]

Failure to maintain or replace equipment is not the fault of the equipment that fails.

[beequick]

Very true. This was just a warning to make sure all your equipment is in good working order

[45Gunner]

I recently acquired a holster that fits outside the waistband but inside the belt. However, it is made of Kydex so I doubt that this would happen but it is good to know so I can keep an eye on it.

I have been wearing leather holsters for over 40 years. One in particular gets worn nearly every day for the past 15 years and is just a rigid as the day I purchased it. I have never put any leather treatment on it nor any type of oils. Once a year or so, I may put a very light touch of shoe polish on it to hide some of the scuffs.

Most leather holster manufacturers advise/warn against treating the holster like a baseball glove that recommends some type of oil treatment. I am curious if you used any type of oil, leather softener, or water proofing agent?

[Wildalaska]

Only with a Glock. Reading that and looking at the pics, a 1911 or revolver wouldnt have gone off.


WildgeewatchtheglockophilescomeoutAlaska ™©2002-2011

[FTG-05]

"A warning to those that are idiots" is more like it.

[Rifleman1776]

He should have known it wasn't in the holster properly. Don't blame the holster, the wearer is at fault. If I saw that area getting soft I would cut it away. It is obvious this wasn't the first time that area got creased. He was careless. Period.

[CWKahrFan]

Jeepers creepers... Another thing to know about... Thanks for the link!

[Tactical Jackalope]

Yeah.....Floppy holsters get tossed out. My leather Don Hume has NO sign of ever even wanting to get floppy and saggy like that. Though if it does, to the trash it goes.

[Rifleman1776]

BTW, don't Glocks have a safety?

[ChrisJ715]

Not an external/manual safety

[steve54]

“What the hell was that?!?” she said. It took me a half a second to realize that my gun had just gone off…on my hip…in its holster. My wife and I had just finished breakfast at our favorite café and got into the car.

Me being the passenger, I rotated my torso to the left to fasten my seatbelt like I always do. When I straightened again, my Glock 19 discharged, blowing a 9mm hole through my pants, underwear, the leather seat and bottom of the car’s door frame.
...

This truly brings home the importance of taking care of your equipment and ensuring it’s in proper working order. Hopefully you can learn from my situation and prevent an accident like this from happening to you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itstact...2760/lightbox/

[Don P]

I'm curious as to why the holster softened up to the degree it did. All my carry holster are leather and to date none have softened from daily use. I'm here to tell you I sweat profusely in summer months here in FLA. Strange.

[glock4epton]

All the other firearm forums I have been on harp on the fact that there is NO such thing as "accidental discharge"...sounds like negligence was the culprit in this case....

[AK103K]

That type holster is just an accident waiting to happen anyway. I can pretty well see exactly how it happened too. If youve worn one, or someting similar, you know exactly what Im referring to.

The exposed muzzle is easily bumped upwards if it encounters something when you sit or squat, often to the point of dumping the gun. Get conditioned to constantly be pushing it back down, and you can see the result if things arent right when you do it.

[AK103K]

I'm curious as to why the holster softened up to the degree it did. All my carry holster are leather and to date none have softened from daily use. I'm here to tell you I sweat profusely in summer months here in FLA. Strange.

I quit wearing leather, but especially in the summer, once kydex showed up. I sweat a lot and work and play actively outdoors and I was going through two Galco Royal Guards a year, rotating them day to day in the summer. They got wet, "soft", and never dried out while being worn.


I think what happened with the one above was, it was used a lot, and the gun was improperly holstered/reholstered a couple of times, breaking and softening its form even more, and this last time, it caught up with him.

[Jeremiah/Az]

The photos look like he is right handed & the crease is on the left side of the holster & against his body. With the belt on the outside, I can see how a crease could be made. It doesn't look like the hoster is quite deep enough to fully cover the trigger or the gun not fully in it.

[Glenn Bartley]

All the other firearm forums I have been on harp on the fact that there is NO such thing as "accidental discharge"...sounds like negligence was the culprit in this case....

That is because people either do not know or want to admit that accidental is the opposite of purposeful and not the opposite of negligence. Negligence has to do with finding fault, in an accident you can either be negligent or not.

Any holster that might cause an accident as described is either defective, way too worn out, or a piece of junk.

After looking at the pics, and reading the story, I would say my personal opinion is that this was done accidentally but that the owner of the holster was negligent not to have replaced such a damaged/deformed holster. (Of course, under different circumstances, it may have just acutely deformed like that and thus that would change percentage of negligence markedly if so - maybe even negate it). The manufacturer also may have been negligent in the actual manufacture of a holster that would deform like that in such short time if under normal wear and use conditions. The holster does not seem to have a reinforced or doubled top back edge, no stitching, nothing to add strength to keep it from deforming. Lawyers could have a field day with that had someone been shot and tried to sue. With all those pics, I wonder was the photographer a lawyer or working for one?

Very lucky no one was hurt except for the small wound.

Thanks for sharing that one. There is a lot to learn about checking gear for wear and tear and so on.

All the best,
GB

[BlueTrain]

I can believe this sort of thing happening with certain trigger mechanisms, like the Glock and all similar. I suppose it could easily happen with a single action automatic whose safety was somehow flipped down. I've notice the very same thing happening with one of my own holsters, although this particular hoster was relatively soft to begin with. In the case reported in this thread, you would think that the gun would be more likely to accidentally discharge upon reholstering rather than while actually being worn normally.

Maybe that's why Ruger put that unnecessary safety on their LC9.

Another thing about reholstering an automatic pistol is the tendency for the slide to push back if it is a tight fit and the pistol does not have a locking safety like a Colt Government Model. I also think about the magazine being released accidentally, which would seem to be so easy with a typical thumb release, yet I have to admit that it has never happened to me.

[AK103K]

In the case reported in this thread, you would think that the gun would be more likely to accidentally discharge upon reholstering rather than while actually being worn normally

The problem with this type holster is, youre constantly reholstering/reseating the gun at some level with them, just wearing them. I spent some time with a similar holster early on, and I swear, I had more trouble with it than I ever did, just carrying the gun Mexican style. Youre constantly reseating the gun in the holster, and many times, catching it as it comes completely out.

From looking at the pics, Id be willing to bet, he sat down, the gun got pushed up, he reached back, shifting a little and pushed it back down, slightly off from the way it came out, and possibly even catching the edge with the muzzle, causing it to cave inwards.

A proper, fitted holster, with no straps, and a solid, fixed opening, that covers the whole gun below the grip, is your best bet safety wise.

Another thing about reholstering an automatic pistol is the tendency for the slide to push back if it is a tight fit and the pistol does not have a locking safety like a Colt Government Model.

That would have actually been a plus in this case, as the gun would not have fired if the slide was out of battery, and even if it was physically pushed forward after the fact, the trigger would have to be reset and pulled to fire the gun.

[Seaman]

"...a 1911 or revolver wouldnt have gone off."

Wildalaska is right, the Glock is already half-cocked, with a short light pull it goes boom. Guess thats why other manufacturers make their triggers a very l-o-n-g pull.

If I were carrying a Glock, it would be in a non-stretchable holster, made of plastic or kydex or similar.

Or install an after-market external frame safety.

[Vt.birdhunter]

Only with a Glock. Reading that and looking at the pics, a 1911 or revolver wouldnt have gone off.

How do you figure? If you inserted a DA revolver INCORRECTLY and IRRESPONSIBLY into a holster as this fella did, it could pull back the trigger the same way the glock was fired.

[FTG-05]

Or install an after-market external frame safety.

Does such a thing exist? Link?

Thanks,

[madmo44mag]

Just my 2 cnets.
1st it is a Glock with the saftey on the trigger.
2nd the wearer knew he had a worn holster and continued to use it.

[Skadoosh]

A holster with enough leather to FULLY cover the trigger would have prevented this.