I meant to post this a while ago, but had a lot going on at the time(Grandma/Grandfather passing, etc.) First off, I'd like to start by letting it be known that I am a huge advocate of firearm safety. I grew up around firearms, have taken many firearm safety classes/courses, and am VERY strict about following ALL firearm safety rules and precautions. Like me, I know many of you like to carry the CZ-82 Makarov variant pistols. Particularly, for Winter CCW. As such, I feel a moral obligation to share this story with you. This incident took place in late October 2016.
I came home from work late one night and on the way stopped to pick up some groceries for dinner. After loading most of the groceries from my car, I remembered that I still needed to bring in my beloved CZ. It's normally on my person, but I do usually carry a backup, as well. So, sometimes it's left in the glovebox. Seeing that there were a few neighbors outside, I rolled the CZ in a towel to carry it in(Yes, I now realize this was a mistake). As I was opening the backdoor of my Jeep Cherokee(To grab the last grocery bag), I fumbled the towel and the CZ and towel dropped to the ground. I look down and all of a sudden-- BANG!!! The CZ had drop fired!! I couldn't believe it.. Worst of all it was pointed upwards and probably inches from my face(I saw the blast). I (frantically) checked my body for entry/exit wounds, but luckily had not been hit. I then took out the mag, cleared the round(Condition 4), and grabbed the now spent casing off the ground. After getting inside, I inspected the (Hornady Critical Defense FTX) casing and sure enough the firing pin had striked the primer just hard enough to detonate. I also inspected the gun and there was also a mark on the tip of hammer where it had landed just right to push down the firing pin.
I guess the lesson learned here is.. First off, never rollup your loaded firearm in a towel or shirt or really put it in ANY situation where it may not be completely secure. While an incident like this seems unlikely, all it takes is ONE time to have a freak accident and ruin yours or someone else's life. Freak accidents happen every single day people. So, there's never such a thing as being "too safe" while handling firearms. Secondly, I'm not here to tell you your CZ-82 isn't safe to carry. That's a judgement call only you can make. I'm just here to warn people and share my story. Personally, I will never again trust a gun with a free floating firing pin(And no internal safety block), to be carried with a round chambered. I know this is just one incident, but if it happens once it can happen again. Btw for those interested, I was carrying in Condition 2- (Round chambered, hammer down, safety off). In other words, I was relying on the double action first pull. From everything I had read this gun was supposed to be safe to carry this way. And yes, I do realize things probably would've been different had it been "Cocked & Locked" or Condition 1- (Round chambered, hammer back, safety on) But now I just can't trust this gun with a round chambered. For now on, I carry it Condition 3- (No round chambered, hammer down). That said, I do trust my life with my normal Makarovs in Condition 2. I hope this information is helpful and maybe prevents another incident like this from happening. Be safe, my friends.
-Mike V
I came home from work late one night and on the way stopped to pick up some groceries for dinner. After loading most of the groceries from my car, I remembered that I still needed to bring in my beloved CZ. It's normally on my person, but I do usually carry a backup, as well. So, sometimes it's left in the glovebox. Seeing that there were a few neighbors outside, I rolled the CZ in a towel to carry it in(Yes, I now realize this was a mistake). As I was opening the backdoor of my Jeep Cherokee(To grab the last grocery bag), I fumbled the towel and the CZ and towel dropped to the ground. I look down and all of a sudden-- BANG!!! The CZ had drop fired!! I couldn't believe it.. Worst of all it was pointed upwards and probably inches from my face(I saw the blast). I (frantically) checked my body for entry/exit wounds, but luckily had not been hit. I then took out the mag, cleared the round(Condition 4), and grabbed the now spent casing off the ground. After getting inside, I inspected the (Hornady Critical Defense FTX) casing and sure enough the firing pin had striked the primer just hard enough to detonate. I also inspected the gun and there was also a mark on the tip of hammer where it had landed just right to push down the firing pin.
I guess the lesson learned here is.. First off, never rollup your loaded firearm in a towel or shirt or really put it in ANY situation where it may not be completely secure. While an incident like this seems unlikely, all it takes is ONE time to have a freak accident and ruin yours or someone else's life. Freak accidents happen every single day people. So, there's never such a thing as being "too safe" while handling firearms. Secondly, I'm not here to tell you your CZ-82 isn't safe to carry. That's a judgement call only you can make. I'm just here to warn people and share my story. Personally, I will never again trust a gun with a free floating firing pin(And no internal safety block), to be carried with a round chambered. I know this is just one incident, but if it happens once it can happen again. Btw for those interested, I was carrying in Condition 2- (Round chambered, hammer down, safety off). In other words, I was relying on the double action first pull. From everything I had read this gun was supposed to be safe to carry this way. And yes, I do realize things probably would've been different had it been "Cocked & Locked" or Condition 1- (Round chambered, hammer back, safety on) But now I just can't trust this gun with a round chambered. For now on, I carry it Condition 3- (No round chambered, hammer down). That said, I do trust my life with my normal Makarovs in Condition 2. I hope this information is helpful and maybe prevents another incident like this from happening. Be safe, my friends.
-Mike V