24 Jan 01

This from a friend in the Midwest:

"Yesterday, I was in a stall of the restroom of a local MacDonald's restaurant. When I removed my pistol (S&W 3953) from the holster prior to lowering my trousers, the magazine dropped out! When it hit the floor the baseplate and retaining plate flew off, loudly scattering eight rounds of Cor-Bon 9mm 115gr all over the floor! Luckily, no one else was in the bathroom at the time.

I quickly rounded up my things. Not wanting to be unarmed, I then tried to put the magazine back together but found that one of the retaining lips had sheered off. So, I had to load my pistol using my spare magazine before going on my way. Both pistol and magazine were brand new, so I'm sure S&W will replace the magazine.

I believe the magazine-release button was inadvertently depressed by the seatbelt buckle in the driver's seat of my car. It must have happened as I exited."

Lessons:

>Check you gear after exiting a vehicle! Magazines being released unintentionally on guns in belt holsters is a common problem when people are buckled into car seats.

>Always carry at least one spare magazine. If the one in your pistol becomes inoperable, you'll be stuck with a one-shot gun if you don't routinely carry a spare. In the case of a pistol which "features" a magazine safety, you'll have a no-shot gun!

/John

25 Jan 01

Follow up from several friends:

"Our department has had a rash of similar incidents, all involving the Glock, plus-two magazine baseplate. It broke regularly. We have since removed all plus-two baseplates (of any manufacture) from all Glocks in the department. The problem has gone away.

We have also had a number of M96 Beretta magazine baseplates shear in a similar manner. I have not yet seen this problem with the new style Beretta magazine, which has the polymer baseplate. We have made that change department-wide also.

We have not seen the problem with any SIG magazines."

>From a friend at S&W:

"Even an empty magazine hull can still be inserted into a S&W pistol equipped with a magazine safety. Once even a nonfunctional magazine is thus locked in place, the pistol will be enabled and can then be loaded with individual rounds (directly into the chamber) and fired, albeit one round at a time."

/John

25 Jan 01

>From a friend with a Midwestern PD:

"We have discovered that a substantial percentage of the noise associated with the use of our indoor, pistol range is actually the bullets themselves striking the steel bullet trap surface. Do you know any way of cutting down on the noise?"

Rubber bullet traps are become popular for that and a number of other reasons. The best, working example I've seen is Tom Givens' Rangemaster Range/Gunshop in Memphis, TN (address below). Tom is the author of the excellent book, Fighting Smarter, and has been in the business for quite a long time. He has been a good friend for a long time too.

I did a Course at Tom's range last fall. The entire floor and back wall are in large, rubber globules. The range can be used for both pistol and rifle training, and it is astonishingly quiet. One still needs hearing protection, but there is almost none of the "thudding" common with conventional, indoor ranges.

It's the was most future ranges are going to go, and we all need to be familiar with it.

Tom Givens Range Master 2611 S Mendenhall Rd Memphis, TN 38115 901 370 5600, Rangemstr1009810@aol.com

/John