I shouldn't say anything because I know everybody with an opinion will be on my back, but...
I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer and an avid shooter. We did our personal drop tests with a series 70 and a regular factory firing pin spring.
In 1,000 drops from a height of a Chevy Blazer to the gravel driveway (the pistol was loaded, locked on an empty case with a primer only) the pistol landed on the muzzle 4 times out of the 1,000 drops. Every other time it was flat on the side. It never dripped on the hammer. Now this was a realistic height, but later we dropped it another thousand times from the top of the tallest stepladder I could find. That time it landed directly on the muzzle only once.
After a bit of calculation, using the factory firing pin spring as a basis, and given that it might drop swuarely on the muzzle, the figures showed that the pistol would have to impact a hard surface from a height of five stories to fire.
I do know of one case where a person had a factory firing pin spring installed in a loaded and locked pistol, threw it with all of his strength a distance of 25 feet against the corner of a log cabin, the pistol impacted directly on the hammer and the rebound from the firing pin stop was great enough to ignite the cartridge. The pistol had been thrown end over end.
All in all, I'd say that when the departments did their purely unscientific studies of the 1911 that there was a Glock salesman standing in the wings, offering free loaners for life.
The U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps used the 1911 for the better part of the 20th century without any drop/ignition problems. It was only when competing firearms came onto the scene that doubt was cast on the safety of the 1911. But, try to get Glock to admit to the large number of accidents using their pistols. I know of several right in this area. More accidents in 10 years than in nearly 100 yearws of 1911 use.
Go ahead, howl, scream any yowl, but it is just hot air until you prove otherwise, and NOBODY is willing to conduct an impartial test. Air pressure inslures that a slabsided pistol will almost never impact on the muzzle when dropped. The kicker is that long before firing pin locks, the Army regulations demanded that pistols be carried with a loaded magazine, but a dry chamber. The Air Force proved that with practice, the pistol could be drawn, cocked and fired as fast as a pistol loaded and locked could be drawn and fired. The tapes of the Air AForce demo are still in existence. And, finally, the Israelis do not allow loaded chambers in carry guns. Shooters are trained to draw, cock and fire. I have a tape of this training, and the shooter gets off his shots lightening fast.
Therefore, I suspect skull diggery on the part of some competing firearm company to obfuscate the truth in order to sell their product.
Take it for what it's worth, but if lyou disagree...show your proof and be able to repeat the demonstration on demand.
If you want a completely safe police weapon, why not go to the Model 15 Smith. I know of no cases of unintentional discharge with this revolver when it is used double action only.
