[orfeo]

First of all, I want to point out that absolutely no fighting, arguing, denigrating, insulting, or condescending is welcome on this thread. I'm just throwing this out there for a little fun brainstorming. A puzzle to try and solve. All friendly posts & opinions are welcome.

Look at this picture. I shot it about a decade ago of my wife shooting her Variant 1 USP Compact 9mm. The moment captured is right at ignition and just before recoil. You can see that the trigger is pressed all the way to the rear. Here is the question:

Why is the hammer back?

In a later post, I'll present my theory on a possibility. I have shown this picture to a number of "experts" and also many regular smart people over the years. . . What say you?

 

[bystok]

You had the prototype smart chip and it anticipated the next shot!

 

[3two8]

You had the prototype smart chip and it anticipated the next shot!

Photoshop?
JK

Long exposure time?

 

[bastardsonofelvis]

Is that your wife shooting or Billy Idol?

 

[orfeo]

Photoshop?
JK
Long exposure time?

Nope. Just a genuine, honest, no tricks photo. . . shot with a Nikon D70 set to auto at around dusk on a chilly day.

 

[Wild Bill]

Gas or heat leaving the barrel captured on film, not visible to the naked eye Pryor to her follow up shot.

 

[orfeo]

Gas or heat leaving the barrel captured on film, not visible to the naked eye Pryor to her follow up shot.

Why is the hammer back?

 

[3two8]

Nope. Just a genuine, honest, no tricks photo. . . shot with a Nikon D70 set to auto at around dusk on a chilly day.

Do you have the exif data on exposure/shutter speed and aperture?
The picture looks pretty sharp/in focus, but maybe you captured the hammer a little bit longer in the cocked than fired position (although there is no blur around the hammer).
That, or a case of serious hammer rebound...

 

[Wild Bill]

Why is the hammer back?

Captured slightly before the trigger break, the heat, gas is residue from the Pryor shot. That's my best guess that's a great shot I might add.

 

[diesel1959]

It's NOT the "moment of ignition". The bullet is downrange, the fireball is extant, and the weapon has already cycled, hence, hammer back. Your wife has not yet reset the sear for the next round.

 

[JNAP94]

First of all, I want to point out that absolutely no fighting, arguing, denigrating, insulting, or condescending is welcome on this thread. I'm just throwing this out there for a little fun brainstorming. A puzzle to try and solve. All friendly posts & opinions are welcome.

Look at this picture. I shot it about a decade ago of my wife shooting her Variant 1 USP Compact 9mm. The moment captured is right at ignition and just before recoil. You can see that the trigger is pressed all the way to the rear. Here is the question:

Why is the hammer back?

In a later post, I'll present my theory on a possibility. I have shown this picture to a number of "experts" and also many regular smart people over the years. . . What say you?

Hammer Bounce!!!

 

[FS1]

Gas or heat leaving the barrel captured on film, not visible to the naked eye Pryor to her follow up shot.

And the gas is coming out because as the slide returned back into lock up the forward motion pressurized the barrel slightly with air.

Why is the hammer back?

The slide has already cycled but she has not.

 

[FS1]

It's NOT the "moment of ignition". The bullet is downrange, the fireball is extant, and the weapon has already cycled, hence, hammer back. Your wife has not yet reset the sear for the next round.

Bingo we have a winner.

 

[mneblett]

Bingo we have a winner.

Yep. The slide has already started to move rearward (the barrel has yet to move rearward enough to cam down and unlock from the slide, but I'd wager that if you closely observe the rear of the slide when the gun is fully in battery, you'll find the rear of the slide is slightly forward of rear edge of the frame, unlike the exactly even position shown in the picture). Plus, the point of contact between the hammer and the slide is very low on the hammer face, hence it takes very little slide movement to get get a large hammer rotation angle. You should be able to duplicate the same by slowly hand-manipulating the slide.

Great pic, BTW.

 

[Ezra]

It's NOT the "moment of ignition". The bullet is downrange, the fireball is extant, and the weapon has already cycled, hence, hammer back. Your wife has not yet reset the sear for the next round.

Plausible, and probable.

Ez

 

[orfeo]

It's NOT the "moment of ignition". The bullet is downrange, the fireball is extant, and the weapon has already cycled, hence, hammer back. Your wife has not yet reset the sear for the next round.

So you're saying that all this happened BEFORE that fireball?



Great thought, but no. That would be too easy. After recoil, I'm sad to admit, my wife is nowhere near being on target again!

 

[orfeo]

In fact, here's another pic showing a moment immediately after recoil when the slide has returned and re-locked, but before the trigger has reset. Notice how far off-target she is. And where is the fireball? Has it not come out yet? I believe these pics were all shot within a few minutes of each other as I recall. . .

 

[orfeo]

Another reason that the "Fireball Picture" could not have happened after the slide had cycled is that the barrel is completely de-pressurized by the time the gun finishes cycling. Not only via the muzzle, but also via the open action when the chamber is open and the slide is rearward.

 

[Wild Bill]

In fact, here's another pic showing a moment immediately after recoil when the slide has returned and re-locked, but before the trigger has reset. Notice how far off-target she is. And where is the fireball? Has it not come out yet? I believe these pics were all shot within a few minutes of each other as I recall. . .

So collectively we are all right.

 

[K5GHOST]

I too thought that maybe its the camera and the long exposure.