I hit the roof baffle

[Classic_jon]

I had JUST cleaned my XD pistol from top to bottom and lubed it with my new tub of slide glide and everything was smooth as glass. I even lubed the trigger safety mechanism with slide glide. The next day I went to the club match and went through the first COF at a blazing fast speed (for me at least!) and was really happy with the way the pistol was functioning.

I went to the second stage and was at my 9th round when it felt like the slide had locked open. I started my reload/inspection process and was pulling my finger out of the trigger guard when I saw the slide was NOT locked back and after tilting the pistol up about 20 degrees to check the eject port and a quick mag check I pressed forward again and.... fired off a round into the indoor range roof baffle as I was bringing the gun back level....

The SO that was watching me said that everything looked normal and that it went off as I was sticking my finger back in the trigger guard. Closest thing we can think happened is that the slide glide made things so smooth that as I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off.

I finished up my last shot on the COF...was walked through re-holstering...and just walked back to my bag and started taking things off... The SO and MD didn't want to DQ me but...rules are rules...

On the plus side: I did get several compliments from some of the Master and Expert class shooters for being safe and for keeping my cool when it went off so

Lesson to the story In my opinion is this. If you clean the pistol *really well* AND change lubes... go and shoot the thing a bit to learn if it functions differently BEFORE shooting it in a match!

[Chris Keen]

Never change anything right before a match. This includes your cleaning / lubing procedures. If you normally oil only A, B, & C and today you've decided to oil parts A, B, C & D, but figure you dont need to go to the practice range and try that out because "it's only a little oil" . . . . . you might be in for a surprise when the gun acts / reacts differently than it did at previous matches.

Always better to be safe than sorry. You might find that nothing really changed, but it's always better to know before going to a match.

[A62335]

"the slide glide made things so smooth that as I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off"

Slide-glide is not an excuse for poor trigger finger control.

[Classic_jon]

"the slide glide made things so smooth that as I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off"

Slide-glide is not an excuse for poor trigger finger control.

Never said slide glide was an excuse. I hit the trigger no doubt about it and no argument there. It would not have gone off otherwise, right?

But, you seem to have missed some things and made an assumption with incomplete info. There are also things about me, and the situation, you don't know unless you know me or were there, or, thought to ask before jumping to a conclusion.

Please note where I said the SO said "everything looked normal and that it went off *AS* I was sticking my finger back in the trigger guard." Note the careful use of the term AS and not "*when* my finger was all the way back in" or "as I touched the trigger." I chose those words very carefully

To go into more detail the tip of my finger was touching the front inside part of the trigger guard when it went off. THAT is why it surprised both myself and the SO, because my finger was NOT all the way in the trigger guard AND the tip of my finger was NOT on the trigger. The other thing you don't know is that I am not a small guy. I can easily hit the mag release with my strong hand thumb without changing my grip. It looks like I was somehow able to hit the trigger with the fat part of my finger near the base. That is the only way anyone could figure out it could have happened with the tip of my finger touching the inside of the trigger guard. The only other way it could have happened would be that the trigger safety malfunctioned but, one of the smiths looked it over and it worked properly...so that leaves me and my big hands as the culprit now doesn't it?

If you want to call that "trigger control" you would be right, to a point. I will not argue I somehow mashed the trigger in the slightest, or the gun went off when it should not have. But the way it happened was very odd and took quite a bit of discussion with the other shooters there and a little playing with the field stripped pistol grip in the safety area to figure out how the *heck* it could have happened.

Would it have happened without the slide-glide, *entirely possible!* Might I have noticed it hitting the fat part of my finger without it ...eh(shrug), possibly... but that is playing the what if game....

In the end, I am happy to say that I *LEARNED FROM IT* and it won't happen again. Why else would I post it here and air my "dirty laundry" about a match screw up if I didn't want others to learn from it??

[kevin c]

Good to have the extra information, there.

If you really didn't have your finger on the trigger during the accidental discharge, I really don't think you can be faulted for poor gun/trigger handling. But if it went off, then you have another concern - a unsafe gun that is firing unintentionally. I don't know the XD well - is it a traditional DA/SA or a DAO? Regardless, unless you had some work done on the action, I think there's almost always some uptake in the trigger even in SA mode, and a gun that goes off by nudging the trigger with the base of your trigger finger maybe shouldn't be loaded with live ammo until you know what happened.

If you haven't cleaned the gun yet, see if you can duplicate the release of the striker with an empty gun or snap caps. Then detail strip/clean/inspect it. If you don't find any broken parts, and the problem recurs even w/o the extra Slide Glide, you might want to talk to an XD competent gunsmith.

Good Luck

[Classic_jon]

Good to have the extra information, there.

If you really didn't have your finger on the trigger during the accidental discharge, I really don't think you can be faulted for poor gun/trigger handling. But if it went off, then you have another concern - a unsafe gun that is firing unintentionally. I don't know the XD well - is it a traditional DA/SA or a DAO? Regardless, unless you had some work done on the action, I think there's almost always some uptake in the trigger even in SA mode, and a gun that goes off by nudging the trigger with the base of your trigger finger maybe shouldn't be loaded with live ammo until you know what happened.

If you haven't cleaned the gun yet, see if you can duplicate the release of the striker with an empty gun or snap caps. Then detail strip/clean/inspect it. If you don't find any broken parts, and the problem recurs even w/o the extra Slide Glide, you might want to talk to an XD competent gunsmith.

Good Luck

Thanks for the suggestion

I did let the local XD guy go through it and everything is functioning as it should. The XD is a SAO according to the ATF and that is why it is in the IDPA ESP class. It is in the fine points of how it engages. There has been enough fuss about elsewhere on that so I will leave that discussion be.

I went through it with the smith and a couple of other people and I will be the first to admit that it had to be me hitting the trigger somehow.

It looks like the suggestion the SO said is what happened. The SO said I could have pressed the side of the trigger as I slid my finger into the guard and that pushed the trigger safety in enough to engage. Since I was coming in at an angle from the back and right of the trigger, and not in from the side, as the thicker part of my finger came in it and "pulled" the trigger. When I move with my finger almost straight in at an angle like that...I end up with the tip of my finger touching the inside of the trigger guard and the striker falls about 30% of the time.

I have tried to repeat it in dry fire and that is the only way I can get the situation to repeat itself. Supposedly, the trigger safety is there to prevent such a thing but, I guess I am "good" and did it anyway! lol

I have no doubts it was something I did and since then have practiced some things on inserting and making sure my finger is *out* and getting it back in *correctly* to make sure I do not do it again under stress. It also pointed out some things to me where I need to alter my reload process and get the gun up into my "face box" more. You would be amazed at what you can learn filming yourself shooting! It helps a lot and I strongly recommend it!!

All in all I consider it a lesson learned and a chance to improve.

[gunther]

I was always told never clean your gun before a match!

[boz1911]

First, Kudos for Dq'ing yourself. I would have to say though, and I wasn't there, this appears to be a finger/trigger control issue and either way I would have stopped you.

[Classic_jon]

First, Kudos for Dq'ing yourself. I would have to say though, and I wasn't there, this appears to be a finger/trigger control issue and either way I would have stopped you.

Yep, no matter how you look at it, I did pull the trigger. As odd as it was how it happened...I did it.

On the DQ, thanks, it was hard but, it was the right thing to do and I was not going to argue about it. The rules are there for a reason and need to be followed for everyone's safety. Like I said above, you have to learn from your mistakes and make sure you do not repeat it again, and trust me, this will not happen again!

[98sr20ve]

When did Bill Clinton start shooting pistol match's?

Dude, You pulled the trigger. Write it any way you like. Finger out of the trigger gaurd until you are ready to shoot. We have all been there. I have done even worse bone headed stuff then that. But being a word smith about how you pulled the trigger doesn't change anything. Reality is it takes away from learning because it just "seems" you are trying to lay blame on the gun or something like a fat finger rather then just say "I put my finger in the gun and pulled the trigger". You may not have meant to pull the trigger, may not have been using the part of your finger you normally use to pull the trigger, but either way, some how you stuck your finger in that trigger gaurd and made the gun go off before you meant to.

[Classic_jon]

When did Bill Clinton start shooting pistol match's?

Dude, You pulled the trigger. Write it any way you like. Finger out of the trigger gaurd until you are ready to shoot. We have all been there. I have done even worse bone headed stuff then that. But being a word smith about how you pulled the trigger doesn't change anything. Reality is it takes away from learning because it just "seems" you are trying to lay blame on the gun or something like a fat finger rather then just say "I put my finger in the gun and pulled the trigger". You may not have meant to pull the trigger, may not have been using the part of your finger you normally use to pull the trigger, but either way, some how you stuck your finger in that trigger gaurd and made the gun go off before you meant to.

Um, I thought I said just that when I said "Yep, no matter how you look at it, I did pull the trigger."

[98sr20ve]

When did Bill Clinton start shooting pistol match's?

Dude, You pulled the trigger. Write it any way you like. Finger out of the trigger gaurd until you are ready to shoot. We have all been there. I have done even worse bone headed stuff then that. But being a word smith about how you pulled the trigger doesn't change anything. Reality is it takes away from learning because it just "seems" you are trying to lay blame on the gun or something like a fat finger rather then just say "I put my finger in the gun and pulled the trigger". You may not have meant to pull the trigger, may not have been using the part of your finger you normally use to pull the trigger, but either way, some how you stuck your finger in that trigger gaurd and made the gun go off before you meant to.

Um, I thought I said just that when I said "Yep, no matter how you look at it, I did pull the trigger."

It just seems like people had to talk you into it. It's like people brow beat you into accepting it. Not sure if that makes sence.

[kaiserb]

When did Bill Clinton start shooting pistol match's?

Dude, You pulled the trigger. Write it any way you like. Finger out of the trigger gaurd until you are ready to shoot. We have all been there. I have done even worse bone headed stuff then that. But being a word smith about how you pulled the trigger doesn't change anything. Reality is it takes away from learning because it just "seems" you are trying to lay blame on the gun or something like a fat finger rather then just say "I put my finger in the gun and pulled the trigger". You may not have meant to pull the trigger, may not have been using the part of your finger you normally use to pull the trigger, but either way, some how you stuck your finger in that trigger gaurd and made the gun go off before you meant to.

Um, I thought I said just that when I said "Yep, no matter how you look at it, I did pull the trigger."

It just seems like people had to talk you into it. It's like people brow beat you into accepting it. Not sure if that makes sense.

As the SO at the time of the incident, I can tell you there was no brow beating.

[98sr20ve]

As the SO at the time of the incident, I can tell you there was no brow beating.

I was talking about the flow of this thread.

[ima45dv8]

Whether it took any prodding or not, I read it as Jon has taken full responsibility for his actions.

That's good enough for me.

[Classic_jon]

As the SO at the time of the incident, I can tell you there was no brow beating.

I was talking about the flow of this thread.

I am going to say this and then drop it because I posted this for people to learn from my mistake. At this point I almost feel it was a mistake to post it...

Lets see how many times I said it was my fault the trigger got pulled from the very first post.

"...I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off."

"I hit the trigger no doubt about it and no argument there. It would not have gone off otherwise, right?"

"I will not argue I somehow mashed the trigger in the slightest, or the gun went off when it should not have."

"...and I will be the first to admit that it had to be me hitting the trigger somehow."

"I have no doubts it was something I did ..."

"Yep, no matter how you look at it, I did pull the trigger."

I hope that clears up any misconceptions that I did not take responsibility for my actions from the start. Just to be clear in case anyone tries to continue to second guess, I pulled the trigger when I should not have and I paid the price of a DQ for it. I took my punishment for it in good sportsmanship and spent time dissecting what I did wrong and *learning* from it. If anyone took that "dissection" as trying to sidestep responsibility that was not the intent.

Now that has been said, I hope that clears that up and people can use this to learn from and not make the same mistake I did, ok?

[98sr20ve]

"the slide glide made things so smooth that as I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off"

Slide-glide is not an excuse for poor trigger finger control.

[sic]

Please note where I said the SO said "everything looked normal and that it went off *AS* I was sticking my finger back in the trigger guard." Note the careful use of the term AS and not "*when* my finger was all the way back in" or "as I touched the trigger." I chose those words very carefully

I started my reload/inspection process and was pulling my finger out of the trigger guard when I saw the slide was NOT locked back and after tilting the pistol up about 20 degrees to check the eject port and a quick mag check I pressed forward again and.... fired off a round into the indoor range roof baffle as I was bringing the gun back level....

The SO that was watching me said that everything looked normal and that it went off as I was sticking my finger back in the trigger guard. Closest thing we can think happened is that the slide glide made things so smooth that as I put my finger back in I didn't feel the slack being taken up and squeezed one off.

Thats all the matters. SO said you put your finger back in the gaurd and the gun went off. Your "wordsmitihng" the event makes it "seem" like you are looking to lay blame "partially" some were else. I am not the only one that responded to you in this way. "As" vs "when" doesn't matter, the SO said it went off as you were sticking your finger back in the trigger gaurd. Thats all that matters.

[ima45dv8]

Steve, the guy has admitted more than once it was his fault.

Let's move on...

[spanky]

I was always told never clean your gun before a match!

The one time I ever cleaned my gun before a match was in the hotel before Area 4 this year and I found a broken trigger spring.

[Classic_jon]

I was always told never clean your gun before a match!

The one time I ever cleaned my gun before a match was in the hotel before Area 4 this year and I found a broken trigger spring.

So does that mean if you had not cleaned it, the trigger would not have been broken?

[spanky]

I was always told never clean your gun before a match!

The one time I ever cleaned my gun before a match was in the hotel before Area 4 this year and I found a broken trigger spring.

So does that mean if you had not cleaned it, the trigger would not have been broken?

It was already broken.

Part of the reason I took it down to clean it was because I was dry-firing it and the trigger wasn't resetting half the time when I racked the slide.