FBI Reports
Several of the law enforcement documents prepared by the FBI were obtained Tuesday by Law&Crime after terse and conclusory sections from the materials were published by ABC News late Friday.
The tests performed on the gun Baldwin used in the since-scuttled film indicate as follows:
Accidental Discharge Testing
Hammer at rest (de-cocked on a loaded chamber)
With the hammer at rest on a loaded chamber, Item 2 detonated a primer without a pull of the trigger when the hammer was struck directly. With a revolver of this design, when the hammer is at rest on a loaded chamber, the firing pin sits directly on the primer of the cartridge. When force is applied to the hammer, such as striking or dropping, it can fire the cartridge without a pull of the trigger. This is consistent with normal operation for a single-action revolver of this design.
Hammer at 1/4 and 1/2 cock positions
With the hammer in the 1/4 and 1/2 cock positions, Item 2 could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger. When enough pressure was applied to the trigger, each of these safety positions were overcome and the hammer fell. This is consistent with normal operation for a single-action revolver of this design.
With the hammer in the 1/4 cock position, pressure was applied to the trigger and the hammer fell, however the firing pin did not have enough force to detonate the primer and resulted in light firing pin strikes.
With the hammer in the 1/2 cock position, pressure was applied to the trigger and the hammer fell, however the cylinder could not be properly aligned to the bore, the firing pin struck the outer headstamp area and did not detonate the primer.
Hammer at full cock position
With the hammer in the full cock position, Item 2 could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional. During this testing, portions of the trigger sear and cylinder stop fractured while the hammer was struck. The fracture of these internal components allowed the hammer to fall and the firing pin and detonated the primer. This was the only successful discharge during this testing and it was attributed to the fracture of internal components, not the failure of the firearm or safety mechanisms.
Those tests, however, came with significant caveats, as the report explains:
Accidental Discharge
An accidental discharge test is conducted in all modes of fire for a particular firearm, utilizing a primed cartridge case or shotshell case. The firearm is struck with a rawhide or similar styled mallet on its six planes: front of muzzle, butt plate, top of breech and chamber, bottom of trigger guard and frame and both sides of the receiver/frame. If necessary, tests can be undertaken in order to attempt to duplicate the conditions under which the firearm discharged.
“When an accidental discharge examination is performed, it may not be possible to recreate or duplicate all of the circumstances which led to the discharge of a firearm without a pull of the trigger,” the reports also indicate.
It is unclear whether any any test involving “fanning,” the technique described by Baldwin, was requested; however, the reports suggest such a technique was not directly performed.
The FBI reports also say nothing of the weight necessary to “pull” the trigger. So-called “light” guns — with hair triggers — require as little as two pounds or fewer for a successful trigger pull; “heavy” guns require approximately eight pounds of force. Guns used for self-defense purposes tend to be heavier because the purpose of discharging the weapon is a deliberate act of protection; sport shooters sometimes prefer lighter guns because they can be more accurate. The latter, however, carry a greater capacity for accidental discharge.
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