Can a shotgun go off because it's dropped?

Question

The scenario it this: Someone loads an older shotgun. He drops it on the floor. Is it possible for the gun to go off even though the trigger wasn't pulled?

Answer 1

Well, an easy answer without 10k of copy and paste? Yes.

The older a firearm is, the more wear it will have on its parts.

On an old gun, you'll have the trigger and you'll have the hammer and those will be joined by a piece of metal about the thickness of a dime called a "sear". That dime-thickness metal will wear down a tad every time the trigger is pulled to release the hammer. With age, it will get to a point where a good sneeze can set the weapon off. It's sometimes known as having a "hair trigger".

Answer 2

Can a shotgun go off because it's dropped (without the trigger being pulled)??? Quick answer is: Yes.

Sometimes the firing pin can be jarred forward with enough force to detonate the cartridge in the chamber. This can happen without pulling the trigger. Let's say the shotgun has a nice, heavy duty recoil pad and it is dropped straight down on the pad. The weight of the shotgun will cause the entire gun to rebound violently. If the firing pin is just 'floating' in the mechanism (or if it is of the exposed hammer{s} type), then the shotgun could go off if there is a shell in the chamber.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Very possible, and highly likely. Older shotguns, and some new ones, block the trigger but not the sears or hammers, this means that although you cannot pull the triggers accidentally, any knock like dropping it can fire a shotgun. Old hammer guns are even more unsafe as some did not have rebounding hammers.

Answer 4

Yes, all that is necessary is for the sear to disengage from the hammer if it is ******, or the firing pin to come into contact with the primer somehow. Inertia can do this on some guns.

Answer 5

Yup, even newer shotguns can. This is why manufacturers are putting heavier springs and stiffer triggers into their firearms. This prevents most "accidental discharges" where the user did not touch the trigger and the weapon fired.

But of course, you can't monkey proof everything...........

Answer 6

yes it happens more than you would think. reasons why unprofessional tinkering,filing ,missing or improper Assembly of parts,weak trigger return spring plus some cheap imports did not temper there metal very well making them either brittle or to soft.Safety's do not always work either. don' t bet your life on one they have and will fail.

Answer 7

if the hammer gets jarred enough (new or old gun rifle or shotgun) yes

Answer 8

I dont think so, not if the safety is on.
Some do look unsafe and I have only heard of dropping and accidental shooting tragedies in a readers digest anecdote section.

Wait, on a random search , I found this article about such an incident. It happened in New York in 1994. Read on.
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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7DC1239F937A1575BC0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

August 24, 1994
Subway Chaos: Officer Firing at Officer
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

All but one of the eight gunshots that turned a crowded East Side subway station into a battlefield Monday night were fired by police officers mistakenly aiming at each other, police officials said yesterday. The remaining shot, they said, occurred when a suspect dropped his shotgun and it went off.

In the tumult, an off-duty New York City police officer opened fire on a black undercover transit officer, hitting him four times, at least twice in the back, the officials said.

The incident, which began when passengers reported seeing two teen-agers with guns in the 53d Street subway station, ended with the transit officer, Desmond Robinson, critically wounded; the city police officer, Peter Del Debbio, was shot in the arm, and a civilian, Patricia Coples, was struck in the legs by shotgun pellets.

The shootings raised questions once again about police safeguards intended to protect undercover officers from so-called friendly fire. The shooting of Officer Robinson also focused attention on whether black undercover officers are more at risk in such confusing situations.

Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said he would consider instituting in his own department the training that transit officers already receive to teach them to recognize that a person who appears to be a suspect may actually be an undercover officer.

But he defended the actions of his department and those of Officer Del Debbio, who opened fire on Officer Robinson. Although the investigation is not complete, Mr. Bratton said, police officials have so far concluded that Officer Del Debbio made a snap judgment that was tragic but understandable.

"This was 15 seconds of sheer terror for these two men who did what they were supposed to do," Mr. Bratton said. "We're not going to second-guess them."

But the Guardians, a black officers' association with chapters in both the city and transit police forces, saw the incident differently, saying it could have been averted with better training. They called for the arrest and prosecution of Officer Del Debbio for shooting Officer Robinson.

"To shoot him three times in the back is out-and-out murder -- period," said Sgt. Kelvin Alexander, the president of the transit police unit of the Guardians. "And he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I don't think he knew it was a cop. He was just killing another black man, and that is indicative of a sickness right there."

Several crucial questions remain unanswered, including why neither Officer Del Debbio nor Officer Robinson apparently identified himself as a police officer, and why Officer Robinson was not displaying his badge or wearing the colored bands that undercover officers often use to identify themselves to other officers.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani held a news conference at City Hall yesterday in an attempt to play down the racial issue, and police officials repeatedly said Officer Del Debbio is Hispanic. The officer's mother is Puerto Rican, and his father is Italian-American.

Officials also noted that Officer Robinson was in civilian clothes as a member of an undercover squad seeking pickpockets. .

Answer 9

Absolutely.**

Answer 10

Anything is possible, you just have to believe.