Beretta Stampede Biesley

Question
QUESTION: I have a Beretta Stampede Beisley 45LC single six. While hunting deer last fall the revolver went off when in my holster. The bullet entered above the knee and exited below the calf of my leg. The company advertises you can safely load all six chambers as it is equipped with a safety Bar. Do you or can you give me an expert opinion on this matter?

Sincerely,

Dave

ANSWER: Hello Dave.

I am very sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you are ok!

I cannot offer a complete analysis or true expert opinion on this matter without receiving a complete and detailed account of the incident and many related factors but I will offer a few general points for your consideration.

1 - Most single action revolvers cannot and will not fire until they have been manually cocked by the operator. It takes significant effort to manually cock the hammer, usually more than 13 lbs. of force. Once fully cocked, the revolver can then be fired with minimal pressure being applied to the trigger, typically less than 5 lbs. of force and sometimes as little as 1-2 lbs. For this reason it is generally not considered safe to cock the hammer until the firearm is pointed in a safe direction and you are ready to fire, and it is generally not considered safe to store a cocked firearm in a holster. Some semi-automatic pistols such as the Colt 1911 have one or more additional safety devices that will allow you to safely carry the firearm in a fully cocked position however these features are generally not found on single action revolvers.

2 - Most modern revolvers have a transfer safety bar feature which will prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin if the trigger is not pulled completely to the rear. This is designed to prevent an accidental discharge if the gun is dropped or the hammer slips while it is being manually cocked or uncocked.

3 - Any firearm can malfunction at any time. The odds of a defect are low but they increase if the firearms are not propoerly used and maintained according to the manufacturer's instructions.

4- The fundamental rules of gun safety are: Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use. Treat all firearms as if they were loaded. Most firearm accidents occur when the operator ignores one or more of these rules thus the firearms are rarely at fault.

My best guess is that you were probably carrying the revolver in your holster fully loaded in the fully cocked position - something which was not safe and is contrary to the manufacturer's instructions and the basic gun safety rules. Something came into contact with the trigger while you were carrying or attempting to draw the handgun, possibly the holster itself, your clothing, your hand or finger, or a nearby object such as a branch. The hammer was released from the fully cocked position and the transfer bar safety did not engage because the trigger was pulled to the rear as it would be in a normal firing scenario.

If you suspect that the firearm was physically defective then I would notify the manufacturer immediately and ask to have it inspected by a qualified gunsmith. I doubt that the firearm was at fault but it may help to ease your mind if you can confirm the root cause of the accident.

Good luck, speedy recovery, and God bless!

Bob

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Was the hammer cocked?

The answer is no, I was standing on the road waiting for my hunting party to assemble for the first walk of the day. I shouldered my gun and it must have brushed against the revolver {not cocked} that was in my holster. Beretta advertises that you can safely carry the gun with all 6 chambers loaded. As I said the hammer was not in the cocked position.

Answer
Very odd Dave.

As I mentioned before, most modern single action revolvers require significant force to cock the hammer before they will fire. I can't think of many scenarios where you would accidentally apply enough pressure to cock the hammer fully without being aware of it.

And even if you did cock the hammer somehow, the gun still should not fire unless you pulled the trigger all the way to the rear and held it there while the hammer started to fall.

So for your gun to fire the hammer would have to be cocked, the trigger pulled to the rear and held there. If the transfer bar safety was defective then it could possibly fire without pulling the trigger but the hammer would still need to be cocked.

If it was never cocked then it should not have been possible to fire no matter what you did, unless of course you had a very old or defective gun which kept the firing pin in contact with the hammer at rest, and then you dropped the gun or hit the hammer hard enough to make it fire from the rested position. But this would be very rare.

And then there is the matter of your holster. Any decent holster, especially hunting holsters, should fully cover the trigger guard area and most also have a safty strap which will prevent the hammer from being cocked or the gun falling out.

The only possible scenario which somes to mind is that you somehow cocked the gun, maybe not realizing it, maybe if your clothing got snagged on it while you were suiting up, walking, or whatever. And then when you shouldered your long gun you brushed the gun or holster in a way that it pulled the trigger to the rear allowing it to fire. If your holster didn't fit well then it might have pinched the trigger back to start with.

There are literally hundreds of variables involved so I can't offer much more without knowing the full story. If you are convinced that the gun was somehow defective or at fault then take it to several local gunsmiths which have been in business a long time and have it checked out. If they find any defects then take photos and contact the manufacturer. But the bottom line is that you should not have holstered a loaded gun unless you had the proper holster to protect it from firing, and if you didn't intend to fire soon then it shouldn't have been loaded at all. Single action revolvers are generally some of the safest designs on the market, especially Ruger's which are known for their strength and durability.

Best of luck with your research and recovery.