Tanfoglio 2-shot burst?

[DenC]

Hello everyone!

Had an unusual and potentially unsafe thing happened to my Small Frame Stock 1 9mm.

About a week ago, I shot my second-ever IPSC match, a level 1 with 5 stages.

 

I think all went well, at least for my gun and equipment, and the only thing I noticed unusual during the match was my slide going back into battery from slide lock when I inserted my mags without me manipulating the slide or slide release.

 

Last night I watched my videos of the 5 stages and to my horror, on 3 stages my gun did what I would describe as a 2-round burst. In one stage alone, it happened 3 times. I did not notice this while shooting and even more surprising was that the ROs did not notice it or call me out for it. The burst was very fast or maybe I should say the cyclic rate was really fast.
 

I did finish the match and this "burst" thing did not happen in the last stage I shot.

Because of what I saw, I also reviewed the videos of my first-ever match back in July and this did not happen then. 

Whenever I reassemble the gun after cleaning, one of the safety checks I do is to pull the trigger, keep the trigger to the rear, rack the slide to watch out for hammer follow. So far the gun has not failed this test ever.
 

At the suggestion of a friend, I did the hammer follow check both from slide closed and from slide lock with the gun at different positions eg. upside down, at 3 o'clock. 7 o'clock etc...
No hammer follow occurred.

I am no expert but was also thinking that maybe my firing pin was sticking out or maybe my firing pin channel is dirty? I tried to inspect the firing pin hole with the gun from slide lock and slowly forwarding the slide but I did not see the firing pin sticking out anytime during this process. I haven't ever removed the firing pin from my gun and was thinking of doing so but since the gun will be going back to the store/distributor for checking, might was well have them do it.

 

This is a brand new gun with only approximately 1500 rounds fired through it. The only thing I ever changed was the guide rod (I replaced the factory with an Extreme guide rod) and the factory wood grips which I replaced with slim G10 grips. I haven't fiddled with the gun in any other way aside from painting my front sight with an orange oil based marker for better visibility.

I will be contacting the store where I got the gun from this coming Monday to have them investigate and fix the issue. They also happen to be the authorized Tanfoglio distributor in my country. However I wont be able to bring the gun to them until December because we have an ongoing nationwide gun ban due to upcoming elections. 

My questions about this are;

Is this a known or common occurrence with Tanfoglios?

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

What do you think is the problem with the gun or what caused this?

Any inputs would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.

 
 

Edited September 2, 2023 by DenC

[GrumpyOne]

The magazine issue is not an issue. Happens quite often with Tanfo and CZ. Enjoy it.

 

Are you absolutely sure that you weren't hitting the trigger for those burst? 

[DenC]

26 minutes ago, GrumpyOne said:

The magazine issue is not an issue. Happens quite often with Tanfo and CZ. Enjoy it.

 

Are you absolutely sure that you weren't hitting the trigger for those burst? 

Thanks for you response GrumpyOne.

I initially considered this. Maybe shooter error on my part. However reviewing my videos, it happening multiple times and remembering how I shot that day, I don't think that would be the case. In at least 2 instances of it happening I wasn't shooting paper but poppers.

Edited September 2, 2023 by DenC

[GrumpyOne]

Someone more knowledgeable in the workings of sears will be along shortly. Usually, the only time I hear of a gun doing burst fire is after someone monkeyed with the sear.

[Zachjet]

I’d say get to the range and try to reproduce the issue, eliminate the possibility it was you pulling the trigger. 

[DenC]

Ok. I may have cried wolf too early.

I sent the video to a couple of buddies. One thinks the gun did a 2 round burst while the other thinks it could have been a distortion of sound in the videos. He counted my shots fired (which I didn't think about doing, my bad) and he says it looks like my gun did not do a 2 round burst, assuming we did not overload my mags over the stipulated 15 rounds.

He says that the sound distortion may have been exacerbated by the range walls making it sound like 2 shots were fired instead of one. 

I then counted the rounds I fired to the best of my ability and he may very well be right.

I haven't fired a select-fire pistol on full auto/burst yet so I don't know what that would feel like. And as I mentioned in my original post, I didn't notice anything unusual that day aside from the mag insertion thing and the ROs did not call me out for anything.

So hopefully its just a sound distortion of the video.

That said, this is a good suggestion


 

1 hour ago, Zachjet said:

I’d say get to the range and try to reproduce the issue, eliminate the possibility it was you pulling the trigger. 

but to be on the safe side, will load the mags to 3 rounds each only, in case the gun goes rambo on me. 

But still interested to know. Has a burst fire happened to any Tanfo owners here?

Again thank you for all your replies.

Edited September 2, 2023 by DenC

[Boscoe]

I had "burst fire" aka doubling, when the hammer/sear setup was incorrect after a rebuild.

With a new gun that is unlikely

[Zachjet]

6 hours ago, DenC said:

Ok. I may have cried wolf too early.

I sent the video to a couple of buddies. One thinks the gun did a 2 round burst while the other thinks it could have been a distortion of sound in the videos. He counted my shots fired (which I didn't think about doing, my bad) and he says it looks like my gun did not do a 2 round burst, assuming we did not overload my mags over the stipulated 15 rounds.

He says that the sound distortion may have been exacerbated by the range walls making it sound like 2 shots were fired instead of one. 

I then counted the rounds I fired to the best of my ability and he may very well be right.

I haven't fired a select-fire pistol on full auto/burst yet so I don't know what that would feel like. And as I mentioned in my original post, I didn't notice anything unusual that day aside from the mag insertion thing and the ROs did not call me out for anything.

So hopefully its just a sound distortion of the video.

That said, this is a good suggestion


 

but to be on the safe side, will load the mags to 3 rounds each only, in case the gun goes rambo on me. 

But still interested to know. Has a burst fire happened to any Tanfo owners here?

Again thank you for all your replies.

As long as you’re prepared for it and hold the gun in the proper direction, I wouldn’t worry about loading let’s say 10 rounds in each magazine
 

just for the sake of trying to recreate this. 

[HesedTech]

13 hours ago, DenC said:

and the only thing I noticed unusual during the match was my slide going back into battery from slide lock when I inserted my mags without me manipulating the slide or slide release.

Not unusual for any autoload gun. I've had this happen with Tanfos, CZs, HK...

With extended mags and thin followers most USPSA shooters don't have slide lock on last shot.

 

13 hours ago, DenC said:

to my horror, on 3 stages my gun did what I would describe as a 2-round burst. In one stage alone, it happened 3 times.

Comments:

 

1. If there is an issue with the sear/hammer you may find it out this way.

2.If you have a trigger set screw to adjust reset travel, you may have the reset travel way to close to the wall/bang. 

3. You may be riding the trigger more than you think. This can happen when one is charged up during their run. Basically it's a "bump fire." Yes I've seen shooters do that and one in particular quite often. The only thing preventing an AD DQ is he says it's a "make up" shot and is engaging a target.

 

I own 6 Tanfos and after many thousands of rounds none of them auto fire with the trigger pinned to the back. However, I have set the reset travel too tight and bump fired while testing. 

 

Best advice; never shoot a gun in a match which hasn't been tested with match like conditions and at least a couple of hundred rounds. I have seen people go full auto in a match and the reverse, single shot, after making changes in their gun and not testing it before hand.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by HesedTech

[HesedTech]

9 hours ago, DenC said:

I haven't fired a select-fire pistol on full auto/burst yet so I don't know what that would feel like.

Just to point one more thing out, you can't miss a full auto/burst. It is very very obvious.

[DenC]

Thank you very much for all your responses.

Watching the videos again (this time on a laptop with a larger screen, initially watched then on a mobile phone), and counting the rounds fired, it does look like a sound distortion. I also tried to see the number of cases being ejected by the gun and did not notice 2 flying in the air after the supposed "bursts".

 

So the gun is probably ok. And I think my model does not have a trigger set screw. 

However all the points you shared are very helpful and helps me understand how things work or may not work, both on the gun and me as a shooter.

 

I will be on the lookout for this behavior (me and the gun) in my next practice sessions.

Again thank you. 

Edited September 3, 2023 by DenC

[shred]

18 hours ago, HesedTech said:

Just to point one more thing out, you can't miss a full auto/burst. It is very very obvious.

Yeah, you will know it if your pistol doubles.  You might not believe it and maybe be in a bit of self-denial about it at first, but you'll know it, as will everyone else on the range.

[yigal]

Move the double tap  button  to off

[konkapot]

A legitimate video review was going to be my suggestion. Agreed to the above; a true double/triple will leave you with NO question as to what happened. You won't be second guessing it at all. 

[Currywurst]

I guess this case is settled. But if you have issues with your Tanfo going bang when it should not, note that a sticky firing pin block may also trip the sear when the slide goes forward. Unique to the Tanfo FPB system where the FPB spring actually helps to trip the sear.

[DenC]

12 hours ago, Currywurst said:

I guess this case is settled. But if you have issues with your Tanfo going bang when it should not, note that a sticky firing pin block may also trip the sear when the slide goes forward. Unique to the Tanfo FPB system where the FPB spring actually helps to trip the sear.

Thanks for this Currywurst. Very well noted.