Handgun Cook Off??

B

BarryLee

New member
No, not about food - sorry.

Ok, just got home from the range and there were two guys next to me shooting a GLOCK maybe a G17. Anyway, I had stepped back from the line for a short break and was watching one of them shoot. As he was shooting the gun he suddenly shot two rounds in rapid succession. He stopped and a laid the gun down and yelled, “hold on dude I just cooked one off that things too hot we gotta let it cool”.

So, I understand that there is something know as “cooking off”, but I thought it was primarily limited to certain types of artillery during hard use. Could this happen in a handgun? Could two duffusses shooting a few hundred rounds at an indoor range ever cause it to occur?
 
Maybe even worse, unknowingly double tapped.
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I was accused of that. Probably true.

Quite a while ago HK came to the range and let us shoot several of their rifles. Shooting one of their semi-auto .308 (the wood furniture version--not the model 91) the gun doubled on me.

The HK reps were VERY quick to point out that their gun did NOT malfunction it was the shooter's fault and indeed I think so too...I was squeeeeezing the trigger ever so slowly to get the best possible shot off.
 
I've had pistols so hot I had to break out nomex gloves to shoot them. They were so hot that it was uncomfortable to leave them in a quality leather IWB holster for very long. I've never seen a pistol cook off.
 
To have a "cookoff" in a firearm, the mass of the gun metal in contact with the cartridge has to be large enough to attain and retain a massive amount of heat. That is why cookoffs are fairly common in air-cooled machineguns* and have been known in semi-and full-auto rifles, but are rare (if known at all) in handguns. Two factors are against it: 1) the mass of the gun is not enough to absorb and retain the heat needed, and (2) the magazine needs to be removed and replaced instantly, with an almost endless supply of loaded magazines kept ready.

To "cook off" a round, the receiver and chamber area of the barrel has to be fired almost continuously until it is near red-hot, but then has to be stopped with a round in the chamber and kept there long enough for it to attain firing temperature. A handgun "cooking off" from firing? I think I would call that one "busted."

*And why most machineguns fire from a open bolt.

Jim
 
or maybe somebody did a kitchen table "trigger job"...I would think an accidental double tap would be difficult with a Glock.
 
Unintended double tap ? yes I've experienced that ! Do to shooting with an injured wrist [ not involving limp wristing ]
 
Quite a while ago HK came to the range and let us shoot several of their rifles. Shooting one of their semi-auto .308 (the wood furniture version--not the model 91) the gun doubled on me.
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Not terribly uncommon in semi-auto rifles with significant recoil when the shooter tries to operate the trigger very deliberately/slowly, especially shooting from the bench. I've had it happen with a Garand.

Doubling is pretty different from a cookoff. A doubled shot can come from what amounts to unintentionally bump-firing (as the example with the HK91 and my experience with an M1) or from a malfunction of the trigger mechanism.

Cookoffs are the result of the chamber/barrel absorbing so much heat that the heat of the chamber/barrel is sufficient to ignite the powder/primer. I can't recall hearing of it happen with a handgun. However, I'm not saying it's impossible.
 
I've seen one youtube video in which a shooter shoots a full auto Glock to failure using a tabletop full of pre-loaded magazines. It took a lot of ammunition, and there were no cook-offs.

Of course, he wasn't trying to get cook-offs either. Maybe if he had chambered a round and let it sit in the chamber for several seconds after having put several hundred rounds downrange in a few minutes, it might have cooked off.
 
A gun doesn't have to get "red hot" to have a cookoff, but it does have to get "oven hot" (like on broil 350-400+) not something you are going to hold in your hand for very long.

An unintentional "double fire" in a handgun is almost always due to trigger manipulation. I even saw a guy do it with a DA revolver once.

Its a long known fact that a Garand, and some others can be "doubled" my working the trigger in just the right way. And it is not a malfunction, and not a "machine gun" by definition, as JohnKSa mentioned, its actually a "bump fire" the trigger is "pulled" twice, and so not a fed law violation.

Odds very high the shooter pulled the trigger, without thinking he did, and called it a cook off.
 
Shooter bump fired a burst with a tired grip. I have NEVER heard of a pistol cook off even with a full auto.

I have done the same thing. I have "burst fired" a Glock 19 when I got lazy and basically bump fired it. It happens to the best of us. Either that or the sear is jacked up which is a REAL problem that needs to be addressed.
 
A Glock will start to melt and eat itself alive before one gets a cook-off.


If in doubt, consult the all-knowing YouTube. (Not a joke. It's been tested about a dozen times.)
 
My first Glock which was a 19....and just after they started importation of them, would burp off 2 or 3 shots fairly regularly. It was a problem with the pistol and had to go back to Glock for warranty work. It did it from the get-go and was not a result of wear or anything other than an ill fitted part.
I think Duffus is the key word here..as the guy didn't know what a cook off was in the first place.
 
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