Both good points. But in thinking about the broken firing pin on the duty gun you have to consider that if he had fired one less shot at the range everything would have looked fine when he cleaned the gun. The firing pin would have broken on his next shot on duty. Maybe it would have been enough, maybe not. If he had tried another shot at the range he would have known he had a problem. Still just a fluke.
Don't get me wrong. I take care of my guns, I just don't seem to clean them as often as many claim on this forum. Any of my firearms will cean up and sell for more than I paid for them so I'm not hurting them in the least. And no, my life does not depend on any of them. I do require them to work when I want to shoot them and that can be fairly often.
I think in that hypothetical situation where "one less shot" would have 'saved' the firing pin, that it is always impossible to predict, because parts can always fail. I've had new heat-treated ball joints fail within 10K miles of installation (by me, I am a very competent mechanic
) while driving down the highway. A fluke, yes. If I'd hit "one less" pothole maybe it would have lasted another mile. But the point is- it was going to fail regardless
So in the cop's firing pin failing scenario, that one shot could have saved his life. On the other hand, what if he needed two shots? Three? Eight? Impossible to tell. And in the stress situation, would he have X ringed that one extra shot? Also who can tell? If anyone can predict that, they need to play the lottery often!
But I do stand by my earlier comment: if my life depends on a thing, I pay attention to it and take as good care of it as I can.
To introduce another parallel- does a parachutist stuff a 'chute into his pack any which way? No, he does it right, following his procedure. His procedure is to follow maximum preparedness for his jump. If I was training cops, I would train them for maximum preparedness for their firearms, radios, cruisers, etc. That doesn't mean being an expert gunsmith or radio repairman or mechanic, but it would definitely include knowing the difference between 'good enough' and 'maximum efficiency'
Since a clean gun is more dependable than a dirty one- an argument to the contrary would be interesting to hear, something that explains how built up residue grit grime and shell shavings
increases efficiency in the machine- I would teach that a clean gun is desirable, if I was the teacher
I can't store the firearm dirty. You should see the engine on my street-driven muslce car. I can't abide a dirty machine if I can at all help it, something in me rebels
