Ejecting Live Rounds From 1911

[Chie]

Been there done that ! One thing I can advice is always guage (fit) all your ammo in your barrels chamber! So, you will not jam while practicing or during the match.

[Richard Jones]

Here's what happens when a large redneck type (not me) has a go with an unfired, overlength round in a standard length chamber. This or another piece hit him in the head and/or chest, lots-o-blood, etc. He was/is OK. He had to have the piece in his chest surgically removed some months later.

Some people think it's cool to snap that slide back and catch the round in the air.

If I'm the RO, you get preached to the first time..............then,...............

Rich

[Carlos]

Saw a lot of the "rack-flip-catch" stunt at the Nationals. Above photo is the argument why its a very bad idea & ought to be discouraged by NROI. Officially, though an announcement in FrontSite, that is. Feel free to disagree; from what I saw in Barry, many do. C.

[gmshooter]

A few years back a partner and i were running each other thru a couple of field courses. At the end of one of his runs he had a round stuck in the chamber. He turned away from me little to put a little force into getting it unstuck and as he did i heard a muffled pop. He just stood there as i kept asking if he was alright . When he turned around he was bleeding from the chest and had gouges in his glasses from the brass. When i r.o. i will let the round drop to the ground and always stay a little back from the shooters. If it is a match that i dont know alot of the shooters during my walk thru i always ask not to flip the round in air and catch it.

[spd522]

I see guys go to great lengths to salvage that one round out of the chamber. The minute value of that one round can never compare to the injuries that could occur trying to catch it.

I always let them hit the ground. If that round is so important, I can always bend down and pick it back up once the line is clear.

[CSEMARTIN]

Last year at a local match, another shooter had a round detonate while unloading and showing clear. He was shooting a .40 Para.

I didn't realize, until I read this thread, that this is so common. Perhaps we should change how we unload and show clear? Why not drop the magazine, fire the last round down range, show the SO and empty chamber and holster?

[XRe]

My suggestion would be to tilt the gun down to the right, and grab the slide by the back, or from underneath (ala Todd) (or slide racker on an Open gun). That keeps the left side of the slide shielding the shooter and RO as much as possible, and doesn't put a body part in the way. Once the live round is ejected, the gun can be tilted upright and shown to the RO.

[slowsure]

Ejector fire is not that uncommon. If you put it in the perspective of "what caused the gun to go off when I dont want it to". I would say that finger in the triger guard would be the most common. Ejector fire second.

I RO'ed a shooter that had a ejector fire round out of battery. He pulled brass out of his chest and had a healthy dose of powder blast in the face. We wear glasses for a reason, SAFETY thankfully.

I'm glad this issue comes up here at brians site quite often because it brings to light the frequency that this happens. Not offten but often enough to be a SAFETY problem.

Why do I keep yelling SAFETY? Because IMHO it is a safety issue and not a gun malfunction as USPSA has deemed it. If a shooter has this happen to him, he should be sent to the showers for the day. Not allowed to fix the problem and get back into the match (as the new rule in USPSA allows). The RO should take the rest of the day of too at least allowed to change shorts . I know I was alittle shaken when it happened to me but, lucky for me not bleeding, very lucky. What rule can you think of that lets the shooter put holes in him/herself or the RO and not get a DQ? If you havent figured out this IS mt pet peeve

Sorry for the thread hijack.

If you read this thread, check you gun for the mentioned above problems! I know of one RO that will be happy you did!!!

[GENE S]

Right on.

I have seen this happen at the Nationals in Fredricksburg, VA. Just a good thing that we have Jay working with us.

Gene

[dajarrel]

I've heard it said that an accident is usually a string of events that lead up to the accident. This thread has shown me several items that can lead up to an out of battery detonation.

long ejectors

long-loaded rounds

un-relieved ejector ports

flippin' and catching your round

cupping your hand over the ejection port

Throw one, two or several of these together with a dose of bad luck and the potential is there for the detonations.

Thanks to the folks who shared thier experiences. I'll use them to work toward preventing an unwanted detonation in my gun and perhaps in those around me.

dj

[mcoliver]

FWIW, my smith, who's suffered detonation twice already, has recently started using extended 45 cal ejectors in the guns he's been building. I never really thought how wide it was until I saw it relative to the 40 case. From the looks of it, you'd really be one unlucky dude to have another ejector fire with it.