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Negligent Discharge in vehicle. Wake up call to the CCW community. Sig P238

26K views 72 replies 66 participants last post by  Mike in Texas 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm writing this out of a desire to warn others. This could happen to you. Please read and let this be a word of caution. It ended well, but I'll never be the same.

On Sunday, I had a negligent discharge inside of my vehicle. No one was hurt. My wife was in the vehicle with me and needless to say, it scared her.

Now, on to the story. My wife and I went away for a weekend getaway. My mother-in-law was babysitting the children, and we had a great time being by ourselves and investing in our marriage. We were in the North Georgia mountains, and since we live on the southside of Atlanta, we drove through downtown to get home on Sunday. We decided to eat lunch in the city and do a little shopping.

I have been around guns all my life. I have been actively carrying concealed for over five years. I take safety seriously. I was one of those guys who always smugly mocked those idiots who put holes in their big screen TV's or had a discharge while cleaning their guns. They were all ignorant, careless fools. They were nothing like me. Nothing like that could ever happen to me. I'm responsible, and careful. In reality, I was really just hubris, prideful, and it led to complacency.

I usually carry either a Sig Sauer P238 or a Sig Sauer P239. This day, I had my Sig P238 in the map pocket door of my car on the drivers side. It had a full magazine with a round in the chamber. The hammer was down, and the safety was on. For those of you who do not know, the P238 is .380 1911 style pocket pistol. It is single action only, and has a thumb safety. The resort where we stayed had a no gun rule, so I respected this, and left the gun in the car. As we drove through the downtown streets, we entered an area that seemed a little rough. There were a lot of people just milling about and the neighborhood looked very run down. We were about 3 miles from the restaurant, and pulled up to a stop light. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go ahead and holster my weapon since the area we were in looked a little unsafe. My wife was reading an email on her iPhone and was unaware of what I was doing. I reached down and grabbed my holstered gun, removed it from the holster, pointed it in a safe direction, cocked it, and put the safety on, and BANG.

The concussion of a gun being fired inside a closed vehicle was EXTREMELY loud and disorienting. I looked down at the gun. The safety was still on, and the expended case was jammed in the breech. My wife yelled, “AHHHHHH WHAT HAPPENED”. She was disoriented and thought we had been rear-ended, or that someone was shooting at us. I told her, “my gun fired, are you OK”? Thankfully she was. Just a ringing in her left ear. I looked around, and saw a hole in my door. I put the gun down, and looked around. The round had obviously not exited the vehicle. The light turned green and we proceeded to the restaurant.

All the way there, I was playing the events back in my mind over and over again. How had this happened. My finger was not in the trigger guard. I had not pulled the trigger. I honestly couldn't make sense of what happened. When we got to the restaurant, I spend some time in the parking lot reviewing the gun. I ejected the magazine and racked the slide to make sure it was clear. The bullet entered the interior door panel and then exited the same panel and lodged in the frame right at the door seal. When I opened the door, the lead fell out onto the ground. I examined the brass, it had obviously been struck by the firing pin, so it was not an ammunition malfunction.

The Sig P238 has a recall that affects early models of the gun. The recall is for the hammer inadvertently dropping when the safety was disengaged, or turned off. My gun is not in the serial number range for this recall, but the symptoms are eerily similar. I’m not convinced this was the cause of the discharge. Later that day, at home I tried to get the hammer to fall just by engaging the safety. I have a small range at my house because I live on some land. I was unable to reproduce this. I was really really hoping it was going to be an accidental discharge, but the more I think about it the more I’m willing to accept it was totally my fault.

Here is what I think happened based on what I can piece together from my fragmented recollection. The problem is that I simply cannot remember pulling the trigger. Most Negligent Discharges occur when someone thinks the chamber is empty, and pulls the trigger to decock the gun. Usually they will rack the slide, ejecting the cartridge, and then drop the mag. Since the mag was inserted when the slide was racked, all that happens is that another round is fed into the chamber, and the gun fires like it is supposed to when the trigger is pulled. They can always remember pulling the trigger. This was not what happened to me. I knew the gun was loaded, I was just cocking it and putting it on safe to insert into my holster. Even if my hand had slipped off the hammer, the gun will not fire because the trigger has to be engaged for the firing pin to be in the right position to strike the cartridge. I think that what happened was one of my other fingers, middle or ring reflexively clenched while engaging the safety. This is the only thing I can come up with that would cause a gun to fire, but end up with the safety on. I think that as my thumb was pushing up to engage the safety, one of my other fingers tripped the trigger, firing a round as my thumb continued upward to engage the safety.

I’m owning this and calling it a Negligent Discharge. I got complacent. For one of my other fingers to get in the trigger guard, I had to have not had a firm grip on the gun with my hand. I was rushing to get the gun into firing condition before the red light turned green. That was just dumb. Adrenaline dumped into my system, and my head hurt for hours. Having a gun discharge so close to your ear in a closed environment is PAINFUL. My pride is hurt, I feel embarrassed, horrified, and grateful all at the same time. I feel like a failure, unworthy to carry. I know we are not supposed to talk about religion on this forum, but I thank God for the wake up call. I could have been worse, and I learned a valuable lesson.

Here are my learnings from this incident. You can make fun of me, call me an idiot, and flame me if you wish. Frankly I deserve it. I put my life and the life of my wife at risk. Please just learn from my mistake instead of repeating it on your own. With the dearth of new CCW permit holders, we have to be extra vigilant.


Don’t get complacent. I have become very comfortable carrying a loaded handgun strapped to my waist. I think I’ve become a little too comfortable. Sometimes confidence leads to mindless repetitive actions. Have you ever had your mind on something else, and driven the wrong way thinking you were going to work? Our minds develop patterns and our body develops muscle memory. This is good and bad. Repetitive actions without being mentally engaged in what you are doing is dangerous when you are handling a gun.

NEVER EVER EVER manipulate your gun in the car. This is just asking for an accident to occur. I let myself do this because I felt very experienced, but it should never be done unless engaging a threat. Driving a car is mentally engaging enough. You should be fully engaged with vehicle operations, not weapon manipulation. I should have pulled off the roadway, put the car in park, and then holstered my weapon.

Keep it simple stupid. I’m getting rid of the P238. The single action hammer and safety is different from all my other guns. Having a simpler manual of arms would not have necessarily prevented this, but it could have. I’m going to have the same platform for all my guns from now on. I don’t want to have to deal with a hammer and safeties. I know there are people who will think I’m crazy, but I also don’t trust this gun anymore. While I’m 99% confident it was completely my fault, that 1% potential mechanical failure is nagging.

Remember the four rules! Practice them even when you KNOW your gun is safe. Luckily I had the muzzle in a safe direction. It would have been disastrous otherwise.


In closing, please don't be complacent. The posts I see about negligent discharges are full of flippant “keep your booger hook off the bang switch” type remarks. While I totally agree, this confidence can be deadly. Don't ever think you are good enough or experienced enough or smart enough. NEVER EVER EVER think, “that will never happen to me”. This makes you inherently less cautious. We should instead say, “oh wow, I need to be extra vigilant in my safety practices so that never happens to me”. Be humble and be safe.

I’ll be posting some pictures of the car, the bullet, and brass later today as time permits.



Entrance
White Rim


Exit
Automotive exterior Door Metal


Lodged in Gasket
Light Room Ceiling Floor Metal
 
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3
#55 ·
First- welcome to the forum.

Secondly- Thanks for sharing your story with all of us. Hopefully, we can all learn from others mistakes.

The primary thing I see you became complacent & negligent about was handling your firearm when it just wasn't necessary. IMHO, you should have either placed your firearm on before you got in the car or after you arrived at the restaurant. When you are handling your firearm, you don't want your attention divided on something else; especially, if your attention is divided on the most dangerous thing any of us do. (DRIVING)

Thanks again for sharing.

-
 
#56 ·
The SIG 238 is made fromthe COlt Mustang, which is a shrunk down 1911.
The Mk 80 mode to the 1911 which the Mustang (and 238) has requires the trigger to be held back to fire. If the trigger is not held back, a pin locks the firing pin from moving.
To test for this, and make damn sure its unloaded, is to cock the hammer. Press the rear of the firing pin with a wood tool. It should not go all the way in. Now Do the same while holding the trigger back. The firing pin should move all the way in. Thats what a Mk 80 does.

The reason for the mod was back in the 70s the Federal Govt was trying to stop the import of the cheap "Saturday Night Special" guns coming from Spain and South America. They came up with criteria, one of which to cock the gun and drop it on its hammer onto a wood floor from 3' and the gun should not fire. They dicovered the 1911 which was govt issue flunked this test. Hence, the Mk80 mod came into being.
For the OP: If you are sure that your finger was not on the trigger, your gun may have a problem.

I carry my Mustang loaded, chambered and hammer down. I practice pulling cocking and shooting.
 
#57 ·
Thanks for sharing this. I can definitely understand your hesitance when you're not 100% sure it was your direct fault. It's a great lesson for guys like me, who are still early into their self defense carrying life that we can never be too cautious with our firearms.

Glad you're both safe!
 
#58 ·
Let me first just say, so glad that you and your wife are okay.

Now, that that's out of the way:

Rule #5 - Carry a Glock.


*sorry, could not help myself.
 
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#62 ·
Rule #5 - Carry a Glock.
*sorry, could not help myself.
Yes by all means carry one, but shoot a real gun........ :yup:
Sorry I could of helped myself but didn't........ :danceban:
 
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#59 ·
My wife was reading an email on her iPhone and was unaware of what I was doing. I reached down and grabbed my holstered gun, removed it from the holster, pointed it in a safe direction, cocked it, and put the safety on, and BANG.

I guess there is something to be said for a S&W 642 ....... I always prefer a DA/SA .... with a manual safety. My car gun is a 1911, and I just can never bring myself to keep a round in the chamber.
 
#60 ·
Glad you're all okay. Scary stuff. Welcome to the circus. I still cringe every time I decock my P89. Hearing that click on a loaded chamber scares me. I have developed a new clearing procedure for my gun. Might not be new, just new to me.
Drop the mag partially and grip it with my little finger. Hold the palm of my hand over the ejection port and rack the slide letting the round fall onto the mag. Remove mag and let the loose round fall into my hand.
 
#64 ·
MY BAD

[SIZE=3]The device I described in my last post, which locks the firing pin until the trigger is held back is not shown in the Sig 238 manual which I downloaded. Its not an EXACT copy of the mustang.
For those SIG 238 owners, the device is a spring loaded pin on the underside of the slide, near the rear, left side
If anyone has this on their 238 and the manual shows i, please scan the exploded view in the manual and post it here.

One test I tried with my mustang is if the gun is cocked, and the safety is on, if you press the trigger while taking off the safety, the hammer will drop and hit the firing pin
[/SIZE]
 
#65 ·
I'm writing this out of a desire to warn others. This could happen to you. Please read and let this be a word of caution. It ended well, but I'll never be the same.

On Sunday, I had a negligent discharge inside of my vehicle. No one was hurt. My wife was in the vehicle with me and needless to say, it scared her.

Now, on to the story. My wife and I went away for a weekend getaway. My mother-in-law was babysitting the children, and we had a great time being by ourselves and investing in our marriage. We were in the North Georgia mountains, and since we live on the southside of Atlanta, we drove through downtown to get home on Sunday. We decided to eat lunch in the city and do a little shopping.

I have been around guns all my life. I have been actively carrying concealed for over five years. I take safety seriously. I was one of those guys who always smugly mocked those idiots who put holes in their big screen TV's or had a discharge while cleaning their guns. They were all ignorant, careless fools. They were nothing like me. Nothing like that could ever happen to me. I'm responsible, and careful. In reality, I was really just hubris, prideful, and it led to complacency.

I usually carry either a Sig Sauer P238 or a Sig Sauer P239. This day, I had my Sig P238 in the map pocket door of my car on the drivers side. It had a full magazine with a round in the chamber. The hammer was down, and the safety was on. For those of you who do not know, the P238 is .380 1911 style pocket pistol. It is single action only, and has a thumb safety. The resort where we stayed had a no gun rule, so I respected this, and left the gun in the car. As we drove through the downtown streets, we entered an area that seemed a little rough. There were a lot of people just milling about and the neighborhood looked very run down. We were about 3 miles from the restaurant, and pulled up to a stop light. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go ahead and holster my weapon since the area we were in looked a little unsafe. My wife was reading an email on her iPhone and was unaware of what I was doing. I reached down and grabbed my holstered gun, removed it from the holster, pointed it in a safe direction, cocked it, and put the safety on, and BANG.

The concussion of a gun being fired inside a closed vehicle was EXTREMELY loud and disorienting. I looked down at the gun. The safety was still on, and the expended case was jammed in the breech. My wife yelled, “AHHHHHH WHAT HAPPENED”. She was disoriented and thought we had been rear-ended, or that someone was shooting at us. I told her, “my gun fired, are you OK”? Thankfully she was. Just a ringing in her left ear. I looked around, and saw a hole in my door. I put the gun down, and looked around. The round had obviously not exited the vehicle. The light turned green and we proceeded to the restaurant.

All the way there, I was playing the events back in my mind over and over again. How had this happened. My finger was not in the trigger guard. I had not pulled the trigger. I honestly couldn't make sense of what happened. When we got to the restaurant, I spend some time in the parking lot reviewing the gun. I ejected the magazine and racked the slide to make sure it was clear. The bullet entered the interior door panel and then exited the same panel and lodged in the frame right at the door seal. When I opened the door, the lead fell out onto the ground. I examined the brass, it had obviously been struck by the firing pin, so it was not an ammunition malfunction.

The Sig P238 has a recall that affects early models of the gun. The recall is for the hammer inadvertently dropping when the safety was disengaged, or turned off. My gun is not in the serial number range for this recall, but the symptoms are eerily similar. I’m not convinced this was the cause of the discharge. Later that day, at home I tried to get the hammer to fall just by engaging the safety. I have a small range at my house because I live on some land. I was unable to reproduce this. I was really really hoping it was going to be an accidental discharge, but the more I think about it the more I’m willing to accept it was totally my fault.

Here is what I think happened based on what I can piece together from my fragmented recollection. The problem is that I simply cannot remember pulling the trigger. Most Negligent Discharges occur when someone thinks the chamber is empty, and pulls the trigger to decock the gun. Usually they will rack the slide, ejecting the cartridge, and then drop the mag. Since the mag was inserted when the slide was racked, all that happens is that another round is fed into the chamber, and the gun fires like it is supposed to when the trigger is pulled. They can always remember pulling the trigger. This was not what happened to me. I knew the gun was loaded, I was just cocking it and putting it on safe to insert into my holster. Even if my hand had slipped off the hammer, the gun will not fire because the trigger has to be engaged for the firing pin to be in the right position to strike the cartridge. I think that what happened was one of my other fingers, middle or ring reflexively clenched while engaging the safety. This is the only thing I can come up with that would cause a gun to fire, but end up with the safety on. I think that as my thumb was pushing up to engage the safety, one of my other fingers tripped the trigger, firing a round as my thumb continued upward to engage the safety.

I’m owning this and calling it a Negligent Discharge. I got complacent. For one of my other fingers to get in the trigger guard, I had to have not had a firm grip on the gun with my hand. I was rushing to get the gun into firing condition before the red light turned green. That was just dumb. Adrenaline dumped into my system, and my head hurt for hours. Having a gun discharge so close to your ear in a closed environment is PAINFUL. My pride is hurt, I feel embarrassed, horrified, and grateful all at the same time. I feel like a failure, unworthy to carry. I know we are not supposed to talk about religion on this forum, but I thank God for the wake up call. I could have been worse, and I learned a valuable lesson.

Here are my learnings from this incident. You can make fun of me, call me an idiot, and flame me if you wish. Frankly I deserve it. I put my life and the life of my wife at risk. Please just learn from my mistake instead of repeating it on your own. With the dearth of new CCW permit holders, we have to be extra vigilant.


Don’t get complacent. I have become very comfortable carrying a loaded handgun strapped to my waist. I think I’ve become a little too comfortable. Sometimes confidence leads to mindless repetitive actions. Have you ever had your mind on something else, and driven the wrong way thinking you were going to work? Our minds develop patterns and our body develops muscle memory. This is good and bad. Repetitive actions without being mentally engaged in what you are doing is dangerous when you are handling a gun.

NEVER EVER EVER manipulate your gun in the car. This is just asking for an accident to occur. I let myself do this because I felt very experienced, but it should never be done unless engaging a threat. Driving a car is mentally engaging enough. You should be fully engaged with vehicle operations, not weapon manipulation. I should have pulled off the roadway, put the car in park, and then holstered my weapon.

Keep it simple stupid. I’m getting rid of the P238. The single action hammer and safety is different from all my other guns. Having a simpler manual of arms would not have necessarily prevented this, but it could have. I’m going to have the same platform for all my guns from now on. I don’t want to have to deal with a hammer and safeties. I know there are people who will think I’m crazy, but I also don’t trust this gun anymore. While I’m 99% confident it was completely my fault, that 1% potential mechanical failure is nagging.

Remember the four rules! Practice them even when you KNOW your gun is safe. Luckily I had the muzzle in a safe direction. It would have been disastrous otherwise.


In closing, please don't be complacent. The posts I see about negligent discharges are full of flippant “keep your booger hook off the bang switch” type remarks. While I totally agree, this confidence can be deadly. Don't ever think you are good enough or experienced enough or smart enough. NEVER EVER EVER think, “that will never happen to me”. This makes you inherently less cautious. We should instead say, “oh wow, I need to be extra vigilant in my safety practices so that never happens to me”. Be humble and be safe.

I’ll be posting some pictures of the car, the bullet, and brass later today as time permits.



Entrance
View attachment 65329

Exit
View attachment 65330

Lodged in Gasket
View attachment 65331
 
#66 ·
I'm writing this out of a desire to warn others. This could happen to you. Please read and let this be a word of caution. It ended well, but I'll never be the same.

On Sunday, I had a negligent discharge inside of my vehicle. No one was hurt. My wife was in the vehicle with me and needless to say, it scared her.

Now, on to the story. My wife and I went away for a weekend getaway. My mother-in-law was babysitting the children, and we had a great time being by ourselves and investing in our marriage. We were in the North Georgia mountains, and since we live on the southside of Atlanta, we drove through downtown to get home on Sunday. We decided to eat lunch in the city and do a little shopping.

I have been around guns all my life. I have been actively carrying concealed for over five years. I take safety seriously. I was one of those guys who always smugly mocked those idiots who put holes in their big screen TV's or had a discharge while cleaning their guns. They were all ignorant, careless fools. They were nothing like me. Nothing like that could ever happen to me. I'm responsible, and careful. In reality, I was really just hubris, prideful, and it led to complacency.

I usually carry either a Sig Sauer P238 or a Sig Sauer P239. This day, I had my Sig P238 in the map pocket door of my car on the drivers side. It had a full magazine with a round in the chamber. The hammer was down, and the safety was on. For those of you who do not know, the P238 is .380 1911 style pocket pistol. It is single action only, and has a thumb safety. The resort where we stayed had a no gun rule, so I respected this, and left the gun in the car. As we drove through the downtown streets, we entered an area that seemed a little rough. There were a lot of people just milling about and the neighborhood looked very run down. We were about 3 miles from the restaurant, and pulled up to a stop light. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go ahead and holster my weapon since the area we were in looked a little unsafe. My wife was reading an email on her iPhone and was unaware of what I was doing. I reached down and grabbed my holstered gun, removed it from the holster, pointed it in a safe direction, cocked it, and put the safety on, and BANG.

The concussion of a gun being fired inside a closed vehicle was EXTREMELY loud and disorienting. I looked down at the gun. The safety was still on, and the expended case was jammed in the breech. My wife yelled, “AHHHHHH WHAT HAPPENED”. She was disoriented and thought we had been rear-ended, or that someone was shooting at us. I told her, “my gun fired, are you OK”? Thankfully she was. Just a ringing in her left ear. I looked around, and saw a hole in my door. I put the gun down, and looked around. The round had obviously not exited the vehicle. The light turned green and we proceeded to the restaurant.

All the way there, I was playing the events back in my mind over and over again. How had this happened. My finger was not in the trigger guard. I had not pulled the trigger. I honestly couldn't make sense of what happened. When we got to the restaurant, I spend some time in the parking lot reviewing the gun. I ejected the magazine and racked the slide to make sure it was clear. The bullet entered the interior door panel and then exited the same panel and lodged in the frame right at the door seal. When I opened the door, the lead fell out onto the ground. I examined the brass, it had obviously been struck by the firing pin, so it was not an ammunition malfunction.

The Sig P238 has a recall that affects early models of the gun. The recall is for the hammer inadvertently dropping when the safety was disengaged, or turned off. My gun is not in the serial number range for this recall, but the symptoms are eerily similar. I’m not convinced this was the cause of the discharge. Later that day, at home I tried to get the hammer to fall just by engaging the safety. I have a small range at my house because I live on some land. I was unable to reproduce this. I was really really hoping it was going to be an accidental discharge, but the more I think about it the more I’m willing to accept it was totally my fault.

Here is what I think happened based on what I can piece together from my fragmented recollection. The problem is that I simply cannot remember pulling the trigger. Most Negligent Discharges occur when someone thinks the chamber is empty, and pulls the trigger to decock the gun. Usually they will rack the slide, ejecting the cartridge, and then drop the mag. Since the mag was inserted when the slide was racked, all that happens is that another round is fed into the chamber, and the gun fires like it is supposed to when the trigger is pulled. They can always remember pulling the trigger. This was not what happened to me. I knew the gun was loaded, I was just cocking it and putting it on safe to insert into my holster. Even if my hand had slipped off the hammer, the gun will not fire because the trigger has to be engaged for the firing pin to be in the right position to strike the cartridge. I think that what happened was one of my other fingers, middle or ring reflexively clenched while engaging the safety. This is the only thing I can come up with that would cause a gun to fire, but end up with the safety on. I think that as my thumb was pushing up to engage the safety, one of my other fingers tripped the trigger, firing a round as my thumb continued upward to engage the safety.

I’m owning this and calling it a Negligent Discharge. I got complacent. For one of my other fingers to get in the trigger guard, I had to have not had a firm grip on the gun with my hand. I was rushing to get the gun into firing condition before the red light turned green. That was just dumb. Adrenaline dumped into my system, and my head hurt for hours. Having a gun discharge so close to your ear in a closed environment is PAINFUL. My pride is hurt, I feel embarrassed, horrified, and grateful all at the same time. I feel like a failure, unworthy to carry. I know we are not supposed to talk about religion on this forum, but I thank God for the wake up call. I could have been worse, and I learned a valuable lesson.

Here are my learnings from this incident. You can make fun of me, call me an idiot, and flame me if you wish. Frankly I deserve it. I put my life and the life of my wife at risk. Please just learn from my mistake instead of repeating it on your own. With the dearth of new CCW permit holders, we have to be extra vigilant.


Don’t get complacent. I have become very comfortable carrying a loaded handgun strapped to my waist. I think I’ve become a little too comfortable. Sometimes confidence leads to mindless repetitive actions. Have you ever had your mind on something else, and driven the wrong way thinking you were going to work? Our minds develop patterns and our body develops muscle memory. This is good and bad. Repetitive actions without being mentally engaged in what you are doing is dangerous when you are handling a gun.

NEVER EVER EVER manipulate your gun in the car. This is just asking for an accident to occur. I let myself do this because I felt very experienced, but it should never be done unless engaging a threat. Driving a car is mentally engaging enough. You should be fully engaged with vehicle operations, not weapon manipulation. I should have pulled off the roadway, put the car in park, and then holstered my weapon.

Keep it simple stupid. I’m getting rid of the P238. The single action hammer and safety is different from all my other guns. Having a simpler manual of arms would not have necessarily prevented this, but it could have. I’m going to have the same platform for all my guns from now on. I don’t want to have to deal with a hammer and safeties. I know there are people who will think I’m crazy, but I also don’t trust this gun anymore. While I’m 99% confident it was completely my fault, that 1% potential mechanical failure is nagging.

Remember the four rules! Practice them even when you KNOW your gun is safe. Luckily I had the muzzle in a safe direction. It would have been disastrous otherwise.


In closing, please don't be complacent. The posts I see about negligent discharges are full of flippant “keep your booger hook off the bang switch” type remarks. While I totally agree, this confidence can be deadly. Don't ever think you are good enough or experienced enough or smart enough. NEVER EVER EVER think, “that will never happen to me”. This makes you inherently less cautious. We should instead say, “oh wow, I need to be extra vigilant in my safety practices so that never happens to me”. Be humble and be safe.

I’ll be posting some pictures of the car, the bullet, and brass later today as time permits.



Entrance
View attachment 65329

Exit
View attachment 65330

Lodged in Gasket
View attachment 65331
I had an almost identical situation occur with my P238. I was in Pigeon Forge and holstering in my car, and the gun discharged into the door. My wife and kids, along with a couple personal friends were in the car. Thankfully, my barrel was pointed in a directionally safe location and nobody was hurt. I could not figure out the why the discharge occurred … I am absolutely confident it was not human error. I have run this scenario through my head 1,000’s of times. I specifically recalled every action, as I was very present in my process at the moment. I spent hours, days, and weeks researching similar incidents. There are quite a few on the P238 that I could find. Seeing more evidence of similar situations with the same gun seems to be leading down a venue of faulty equipment. I have since put that gun away and carry my S&W 380 Bodyguard. It had been almost a year, and I still run that scenario through my head. Same conclusion … it was not human error.
 
#73 ·
Old post, but it's never a bad thing for everyone to get a reminder... I had a Browning Hi Power that would discharge if you dropped the safety on occasion if the gun was cocked... It would also drop the safety into half cock if you pulled the trigger. Needless to say I got it repaired as soon as possible....
 
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