I was surfing the web today and found this article, it is from may of 07 so some of you may have already seen it, but for those that havn't this guy represents the worst this sport has to offer and he is the kind of person the gunmakers are thinking about when they put a 6lb trigger pull on a revolver. Accidents happen but don't blame someone else for your screw up.

Man sues Freedom Arms after leg is amputated...Darwin chortles...




ZANESVILLE - "A Zanesville man is hoping his attorney will be able to convince a Muskingum County jury that the single-action revolver he was wearing was defective and caused him to lose his right leg.

Robert Taylor, 51, purchased the Freedom Arms Model 83 .454 Casull revolver from One Stop Sportsmen Shop in July 1997. That business no longer sells firearms and is not involved in the lawsuit that is being heard this week.

Taylor was wearing the revolver in a holster when he was visiting Wyoming in 2003, according to the complaint. The gun discharged as Taylor was pulling back the long duster he was wearing, the bullet ripping into his right leg in the back near the knee and exiting through his bone below the knee in the front of his leg.

Taylor had to have his leg amputated from the wound, according to court records.
"It snap fired," said Taylor's Wyoming attorney, Kent Spence, on Wednesday.

According to testimony by a firearms and design expert Tom Butters, of Texas, the transfer bar in the revolver did not work correctly.

Butters told jurors there was not a proper internal safety device in the revolver or it would not have been able to snap fire if the safety was on.

Butters testified for several hours Wednesday showing videos and explaining slides to jurors. Butters is expected to continue his testimony today. The trial is scheduled for the rest of this week and next week.

"We're here to get justice for Bobby," Spence said.

But, John Renzulli, an attorney from New York representing Freedom Arms Inc. and company president, Bob Baker, said the revolver is "a well made, reliable single action revolver that is not defective."

The gun is manufactured for hunting medium to large game, such as cape buffalo or lions, and serious silhouette competition.

"This gun is very reliable with a durable safety," Renzulli said. "This particular incident occurred because Mr. Taylor did not learn the function of the gun or read the manual."

Renzulli said he is confident the jury will find no reason to find a judgment for Taylor.

"Freedom Arms promotes gun safety and encourages all firearm users to learn the function of whatever gun they purchase and to read the owners manual before using the gun," Renzulli said.

Trial resumes today at the Muskingum County Courthouse in Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle's courtroom."

Since ALL Freedom Arms revolvers have either a manual sliding bar or transfer bar safety, the only way this mental midget could have shot himself would have been to cock the hammer, then squeeze the trigger. I have never, in all my years around firearms, even heard of someone shooting himself with a single action. To make matters worse, it SEEMS that since the "expert" mentioned transfer-bar, that the FA was one of their Premier versions that hails for around $1700. These are flat out some of the best revolvers you can buy, bar none, and without knowing a lot more all we can offer is that the klutz cocked then fired the .454 into his own leg, and should therefore be held responsible for his own negligence.

"The long duster he was wearing." LMAO

If "Expert" Mr. Tom Butters of Texas did indeed testify that the FA Mdl 83 transfer bar did not work properly, he's an idiot. The Model 83 does not have and never did have a transfer bar. It has a sliding bar which functions as a safety.It is, indeed, the opposite of a transfer bar.
I'm parsing or mincing words that amount to a "legal technicality" you say ? The fact that you're allowed to walk down the street safely is a "legal technicality". Personally, I'm fed up with idiots of all types. Those who shoot themselves, and those who complain and criticize without having adequate knowledge or facts. You don't have to look too far to find some of them on this forum, as well as most places in the world.

Its all right, natural selection will finish the job sooner or later.

Actually this case was decided a couple of months ago and FA lost to the tune of quite a bit of money.

Yep, $375 G's, although the appeals will go on for a while I'm sure. I understand the "cowboy" thing with S-A's, empty chamber et al, but why not a transfer bar safety on all of the FA. I have a few Ruger S-A's, all with it, and cannot understand the objection by some to it. It works, and if something bad CAN happen it WILL (Murphy A-Hole rule) so why not. If you have a 5-holer or 6-holer someone is going to feel like he needs all of them to ward off the charging heard of whiteys so it's gonna get packed full, guaranteed, sometime, somewhere, someone, even though it's unlikely there'd be time or need for more than one or two. Someone 'splain their objection to the transfer bar safety system, I don't get it. Rod.

I've got an old 3 screw Ruger that I refuse to have upgraded because the action is smoother than the transfer bar system and although I don't own an FA revolver the ones I've handled are also smoother than the new model Ruger. I figure if your going to hang a hammer over a full cylinder on a gun without a safety device then what ever happens is your problem not the gun manufacturer. I put this in the same category as suing McDonalds for being fat or tobacco companies for getting cancer. I chew and I'm a few pounds overweight but I'm responsible not anyone else. I've gone into life knowing the risks and I've made my choices, if I have a heart attack or get mouth cancer that is my problem, but then again thats the world we live in, no personal responsibility.

500WE, I agree 100% (as long as I'm not one of those people on this forum your talking about). Even with a transfer bar, I always carry with the hammer down on an empty cylinder. I don't trust a mechanical safety. I carry my Glock "hot" for work, but hate that feeling of having one in the tube aimed down my leg all night. Paranoid? Maybe, but paranoids live longer. Lets hope this is not the end of Freedom Arms!

That individual is pathetic. Too bad Freedom Arms is the victim. Let this moron be a example, safety should always be our #1 priority, especially with a .454. Still nobody should treat even a .22 with such a lack of respect, because accident DO happen, especially when we think they wont ever happen to us.

From what I read the court awarded around 600 K and then reduced it by 50% because they felt he was 50% responsible so he was left with 300K. I thought perhaps we could have a drawing to raise the other 300 K for the guy and who ever gets their name drawn gets to shoot his other leg off.

enter me in the drawing Gary!

Well said!!

LOL<LOL<LOL Not that I want to see another person suffer harm but, that's funny right there!!!

s4s4u,
Personally, I have no objection to transfer bars. In fact, I'm in favor of them, and like them. The Mdl. 97 FA, introduced in 1997, does have a transfer bar that was engineered by Bob Baker. The Mdl. 83 does not have one, and the owner's manual clearly emphasizes that, as well as the necessary safety precautions. That's why I can't abide carelessness.

Some have indeed said that the trigger and action of FA 83's are superior to the transfer bar actions of the 97, but that has definitely not been my experience. If anything I find the 97's to be superior in that regard, and I have in-depth shooting experience with 4 97's and 12 83's.

I don’t get on for a couple of days and I am already out of the loop. It is a bloody shame that ignorance will win in court.

Duane

Sounds like a legit accident to me and one that he was due compensation for. If he had the hammer down on an empty and the coat had enough force to move the next round into position and then fire, we all need to consider a hammerless revolver for carry.

If he was trusting the transfer bar to protect him when he had the hammer down on a loaded chamber, he is an idiot and desearved nothing from FA.

Well Said.

There is no transfer bar on that revolver, and he is an idiot for filling it full. I have no problem filling my SBH Hunter's six, there is no way it can fire without the trigger being held all the way back. This will happen again, somewhere by someone, as it has happened before. This case got the press 'cause of the award and the lawyer and a STUPID jury, that's all. If you are going to carry a revolver without a T-bar safety then you are only to blame if something bad happens, but in today's society it's always somebody else's fault, sucks. Rod.

LOL>LOL>LOL Sign me up Gary...you guys are too funny!
That's why I love this site.

You know, if you shot a little high, you could take him out of the gene pool. If you say you flinched, who is to know what would happen with “that” flyer? “No officer, I didn’t mean to hit him there!”

Duane

I wonder what he'd sell that Model 83 for? I'd be happy to own that "defective" firearm. Sure would like to add one to the collection!

Looks like it was worth about 300K...or maybe that was the appendage, or the combo.

You should ask if the good leg goes with the deal as an accessory.

Sorry, I certainly don't mean to make fun of persons with disabilities but this guy is a jackass and there is no way for it to have happened unless he either loaded 5 rounds or had his finger on the trigger. I would have said he was 100% responsible.

Just remember that you are the head “Moderator!” But I couldn’t agree with you more!

Duane

it sounds like maybe he was trying to play wyatt earp, I'd say he got what he had coming.

I've been thinking about this and I feel the NRA should contact this guy and take him to hunter safety classes to show how not to do things, maybe even include ER pics and field pics if there are any. I think that might make some of the not so sharp up and comers think twice. I'm having a hell of a time with my kids, the ex is on a power trip and refusing to let me have the kids when I would normally get them so I havn't been able to stay on top of their firearms training, which is why all 4 of their hunting rifles stay with me.

I remember when I first read of this....then as now I cannot figure out how it happened. Correct me if I am wrong, but loading 4 or 5 rounds would not be the issue if the hammer was cocked somehow? "Snap fired"....???

I still think this guy pulled the gun from the holster, somehow cocked the hammer, and HAD to pull the trigger. I am confident that he is guilty of perjury...."caught it on his duster"....anyone ever pull the hammer on a FA??? ( I know many of you have...they have STRONG main springs)

We know we ALL lose from this kind of crap. All guns are more expensive just because of Dumb A**'s like this one.

Story has it that the hammer was down on a loaded chamber and when he removed his outergarment it caught the hammer, raising it just a bit. When freed of the snag the hammer fell on the pin and BOOM it went.
And you are right, it IS because of idiots like this, and city lawyers that blame crime on the tools used, that make it hard for the rest of us.

That scenario would also imply he didn't have the gun strapped down if the hammer was lifted slightly.

No affiance, I take my firearm out before I ever take my holster off anyway.

Duane