Can a Sig fire if you try and cock the hammer but drop it?

[Nachoman]

Kind of an odd title, so let me explain. My P2022 has an external hammer. If I try to cock it back with my thumb (to get a first pull as single action), but my thumb slips and the hammer falls, will the round fire? Bear in mind that the trigger isn't being touched at this point. It seems like it should, but I didn't know if there was an internal safety mechanism that prevented it without the trigger being pulled.

[Black Majik]

No, it will not fire. The internal safety prevents it from firing without the trigger being pulled.

[Nachoman]

Ok great, thanks!

[bussda]

While unlikely, it is possible. Practice safety, point in a safe direction when cocking hammer, because safeties sometimes fail.

[ldivinag]

No, it will not fire. The internal safety prevents it from firing without the trigger being pulled.

this ^^^^^^

a family relative who's with the local PD and also their range officer, who's dept issue was a 226/9 and now a 226/40, told me this years ago.

even with the hammer cocked, you can use the handgun as a hammer and unless the trigger is pulled, it wont fire.

[civilsnake]

You can try it yourself (without ammo anywhere NEAR the firearm!!) through dry firing. Take your (UNLOADED!!) SIG in hand, with finger off the trigger, and push the hammer into the slide. You'll notice it doesn't move. Now pull the trigger, and hold it back completely after the hammer has fallen again. While the trigger is held back, push the hammer toward the slide. You'll notice this time that you can actually push the hammer into the recess. That how the internal safety works on traditional SIGs. If the trigger isn't depressed, the hammer is intercepted before the firing pin.

[The Original Godfather]

this ^^^^^^

a family relative who's with the local PD and also their range officer, who's dept issue was a 226/9 and now a 226/40, told me this years ago.

even with the hammer cocked, you can use the handgun as a hammer and unless the trigger is pulled, it wont fire.

Just hope the internal safety doesn't fail after the hammering abuse!


But if it's a SIG, it should be able to withstand drops and hammer actions no problem.

[GKO]

There are two internal safeties at work. I'm pretty sure the SP2002 works the same way as a P-series, been a long time since I've checked on out.

The hammer has a "hammer intercept notch" which the sear goes into at rest. When you cock the hammer for a single action shot, the sear clicks into another notch on the hammer for single action mode. If your thumb should slip during cocking, and your finger is off the trigger, the hammer will go forward but the sear will go back into that hammer intercept notch preventing the hammer from hitting the firing pin.

This occurs because the sear is under spring tension which makes it contact the hammer and it requires a full pull of the trigger to fully lift the sear up allowing the hammer to go forward. Technically, the sear could break or slip out of the hammer intercept notch, or the notch could break and cause the hammer to go forward and hit the firing pin but I've never heard of that happening.

If the latter should happen, the gun also has a firing pin safety. You can see it as a little button on the underside of the slide near the right rear. When the trigger is fully pulled to the rear, a lever lifts up and pushes on that button, the firing pin safety, moving it out of the way allowing the firing pin to fly forward.

So, if the sear or hammer should slip or the gun take some other blow to the back of the firing pin or an inertial drop of the firing pin, the gun won't go off because the firing pin is prevented from going forward due to the firing pin safety. That safety could fail, since anything mechanical can fail, that's why the gun must be pointed in a safe direction and the finger off the trigger when handling them. I've never heard of either of these safeties failing but doesn't mean it hasn't or couldn't.

[vincnet11]

Not if its on the roster.

[Nachoman]

Thanks everyone, good explanations and I learned a lot from them.