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Slam Discharge in Semi Auto


Taileron
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Good evening, apologies if this is in the wrong area but I have not posted before and I’m in need of some advice. I have been clay/rough shooting for many years and have used many different brands/types/gauge of shotguns. Today at the clay range I had an alarmingly scary moment. My shotgun today is a brand new franchi Affinity sporting in 12 gauge. After around 60 shots I reloaded as usual and pressed the bolt release button to allow the working parts forward. The weapon discharged down range. I am also a military shooter so weapon safety is paramount and my finger is always out if the trigger guard. I have completely stripped down the weapon this evening and cannot find any issues. Prior to returning it under warranty has anyone else ever had this occur? And if so what was the cause?

Many Thanks in advance

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I have seen it happen once many moons ago but that was with a fairly well worn semi auto. Scary to say the least and another good lesson as to being safe when we close our guns.

I cannot suggest what may be wrong but I would think the spring holding the sear in place might be slack so not engaging fully and then the impact of the slide going for knocks it off.

I am certain more knowledgeable on here will have a better response and yes, return to sender !!

Apologies.....welcome aboard, just noticed it is your first post.

Edited by Walker570
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That is not good.  I have a Franchi Affinity One in 12g and shot I think over 10,0000 through it in the last couple of years without any problem.

Could it have been a dodgy cartridge, malformed in some way?

Otherwise I would put some more through it and see how it goes, the Franchi/Benelli inertia drives are about the \most reliable out there. So lets hope it is a one off.

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If you remove the bolt and push the rotating bolt head down with your fingers, do you get any firing-pin protrusion at the face of the bolt head? If the inertia spring inside the bolt head is a little too short and / or weak, this will be allowed to happen, resulting in a slam-fire. Worth checking out!

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Many Thanks for the responses and the warm welcomes. My thinking is it could be a weak firing pin return spring, if it’s not retracting the pin to the correct position, as the working parts move forward it will still be marginally protruding and would then strike the cartridge in the chamber. Does that sound valid ? When reading the responses, the suggestions also sound equally valid. Either way it was certainly an unsettling experience. Would you return it without delay or have another try and see if it behaves any better? I’m airing on the side of another attempt, however I would hate for it to occur again.

Thanks again.

12 minutes ago, Exudate said:

If you remove the bolt and push the rotating bolt head down with your fingers, do you get any firing-pin protrusion at the face of the bolt head? If the inertia spring inside the bolt head is a little too short and / or weak, this will be allowed to happen, resulting in a slam-fire. Worth checking out!

Thanks very much, I will check that now. 

Just checked it, no protrusion at the face.

Edited by Taileron
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Personally I would:

a.  take it out and put 50 or so through it and see what happens, hopefully all OK, or

b. If I have any lingering doubts I would take it back to the RFD for a check and any warranty claims. It is under warranty for 7 years so they should have excellent faith in their product.

Hope you get it sorted, says he who is about to buy a Benelli with almost the identical ID system

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10 minutes ago, B391 said:

Personally I would:

a.  take it out and put 50 or so through it and see what happens, hopefully all OK, or

b. If I have any lingering doubts I would take it back to the RFD for a check and any warranty claims. It is under warranty for 7 years so they should have excellent faith in their product.

Hope you get it sorted, says he who is about to buy a Benelli with almost the identical ID system

Cheers for the advice. I’m going to have another trip to the clay range tomorrow and see how it goes. Any further issues and I will take it back to my local RFD and have it returned to GMK for a comprehensive check.

It suffered from the “benelli click” on its first outing,  ( it’s 3 weeks old ) but after I intensively cleaned the thick grease out of the barrel locking lugs it’s not missed a beat...until today.

Thanks again.

Edited by Taileron
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29 minutes ago, vampire said:

I have a franchi raptor and never had that happen,Firing pin ?scary all the same,brother had it happen to him lucky for us he was in back of landrover and it shot out top of roof opening.

Why was he loading in the back of the truck? 

At the end of the day, once you close that bolt, or in the case of O/U close the gun, that gun needs to be pointed in a safe direction, it doesn't happen very often, but it does happen, whether a fault with gun, cartridge or operator, makes that negligent discharge happen. 

I once saw a lad loading his 2nd cartridge in a semi with it pointing at his foot, he had apparently always done it like that! It won't fire he said? If it does I replied, you will bitterly regret it. 

I'd bite the bullet and get it looked over by a gunsmith personally. 

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i have never heard or seen this happen and i have had my old berretta a303 from new..................BUT..... when i load and drop the bolt it always makes me wince slightly and as a result i always know where the barrel is pointing before i drop the bolt.....

that story gives me the eee-beee-jeeebees...just reading it.........i hope you do find a fault with it.........if you dont...i would be very surprised if you continue to use an auto..

 

keep us updated on this one....

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1) I applaud you for having the gun pointed in a safe direction. As we now know, if it had been pointed elsewhere the day could have ended very badly. 

 

2) Do you now trust the gun not to do it again? The story alone has made me very afraid to use my own semi auto - let alone yours 😕

 

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20 hours ago, ditchman said:

i have never heard or seen this happen and i have had my old berretta a303 from new..................BUT..... when i load and drop the bolt it always makes me wince slightly and as a result i always know where the barrel is pointing before i drop the bolt.....

that story gives me the eee-beee-jeeebees...just reading it.........i hope you do find a fault with it.........if you dont...i would be very surprised if you continue to use an auto..

 

keep us updated on this one....

Which is why I always ease the bolt forwards using my right hand on my 303. I just hate that 'slam' as it closes, too  !

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Many thanks for all the responses. Unfortunately because this shotgun uses the benelli system I cannot ease the working parts forward, if I do that the locking lugs don’t engage correctly and it gives the “benelli click”, the hammer hits the firing pin but there is a gap between the bolt head and the cartridge face and it won’t fire.

I took it out today and put 50 through it, it didn’t miss a beat and thankfully no reoccurrence, but I’m left feeling very uneasy about it. I spoke to a couple of military small arms armourers today who have also suggested it could have been a raised primer which caused the incident.

On balance, it’s getting sent back via my RFD for full safety inspection, but I’m not sure that even if they give me the green light I will trust it again, which is a shame because it seem to hit 80% of what I aim at at the clay range compared to 65% with my 525. Age and a bulging disk has steered me back into the semi auto world. Not sure of what to do now, perhaps a Beretta A400 could be on the cards as a replacement (just as long as the Mrs doesn’t find out).

 

Thanks again for all the help.

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for a really soft shoot the Winchester SX3 or SX4 might suit you, they are gas but are very reliable. A couple of friends have them and they are awesome guns. The only reason I have not bought one is cleaning the gas parts. After years of Remington and Beretta gas guns I felt like a gun that in relative terms needs less cleaning  

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1 hour ago, B391 said:

for a really soft shoot the Winchester SX3 or SX4 might suit you, they are gas but are very reliable. A couple of friends have them and they are awesome guns. The only reason I have not bought one is cleaning the gas parts. After years of Remington and Beretta gas guns I felt like a gun that in relative terms needs less cleaning  

That’s precisely the reason I bought the Affinity. It’s a dream to clean even after 150 carts, not a great deal longer than my 525. I have seen the red receiver sx4, it did stand out to say the least. Not had one in the shoulder but thanks for the recommendation I will keep my eye out for one and see if I can try it out.  I wish I had not parted with my technys a few years back, not sure now why I did, but hindsight is always right.

 

Thanks for the information.

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What happened could happen with any semi automatic if it was a poorly seated and raised primer.

You can ease the bolt forward on the Benelli you just need to give the bolt handle a tap with your hand to close the gap. So no more Benelli click.

I would have the gun inspected and what it comes back keep.using it. Keep your barrel in safe direction as with any gun and you have nothing to worry about.

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3 hours ago, B725 said:

I always release mine but hold onto it as it never seems right to release it by just pushing the button maybe I'm just over cautious. 

I adopt the same action when releasing the bolt Do'nt like the idea of them slamming forward when first loading

2 hours ago, B391 said:

for a really soft shoot the Winchester SX3 or SX4 might suit you, they are gas but are very reliable. A couple of friends have them and they are awesome guns. The only reason I have not bought one is cleaning the gas parts. After years of Remington and Beretta gas guns I felt like a gun that in relative terms needs less cleaning  

Have to agree as i have the SX3 in 8 shot fac and also Browning Maxis 3 shot  3 1/2" chamber  both good to shoot  and fast recycling

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On 14/02/2019 at 18:06, Taileron said:

I took it out today and put 50 through it, it didn’t miss a beat and thankfully no reoccurrence, but I’m left feeling very uneasy about it. I spoke to a couple of military small arms armourers today who have also suggested it could have been a raised primer which caused the incident.

On balance, it’s getting sent back via my RFD for full safety inspection, but I’m not sure that even if they give me the green light I will trust it again, which is a shame because it seem to hit 80% of what I aim at at the clay range compared to 65% with my 525. Age and a bulging disk has steered me back into the semi auto world. Not sure of what to do now, perhaps a Beretta A400 could be on the cards as a replacement (just as long as the Mrs doesn’t find out).

 

Thanks again for all the help.

Just being the Devils advocate here but if the gun is returned with no fault found would you be happy to pay for the costs involved?

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