Covering the ejection port to catch the live round

[Lon]

I was reading this thread about catching the live round when unloading by covering the ejection port over on FT&T:
http://www.firearmstrainingandtactic...ead.php?t=1391
In the thread the OP talks about watching another shooter whose pistol's ejector detonated the live round he was ejecting and remembered I had video of this very same thing happening to me. I was shooting a state USPSA match down in KY a couple years ago and on the third stage I shot, my gun jammed after the 2nd round. Slide was locked up pretty bad. I could not clear it conventionally, so I grabbed the front part of the slide in front of the ejection port with my left hand and used my right to smack the backstrap to see if that would clear it. It did, but I got more than I bargained for. The unfired round came back at a funky angle and the ejector hit the primer, detonating said round. It blew the magazine outta the pistol and sent a piece of the jacket into my finger. After I cleared the pistol and holstered, we were able to find the casing on the ground at my feet. The primer had an ejector mark on it that matched the ejector on my pistol perfectly.

I cut the piece of jacket outta my finger and put a bandaid on it. Later that week, I had to do a little more surgery to get the rest of the jacket out. I'm not sure if it was caused by this or not, but I inspected my pistol (STI 2011 custom job from R&R racing) and found a crack on the top of the slide where the ejection port and breech face meet.

Freakishly, this same thing happened to a buddy of mine while he was unloading a 2011 style open gun. He wasnt so lucky. He got Care Flighted from the range cuz a piece of the jacket knicked his carotid (or jugular, cant remember for sure).

Anyway, here's the vid:


Here's the pic of the casing:

[Tamara]

A personal pet peeve of mine that I've blogged about twice (here, and here) and eventually turned into a column for Concealed Carry Magazine.

Aside from the chances of accidentally busting a cap with the ejector, or with some random corner of the ejection port should the hand on the slide slip, it encourages paying way too much attention to the round being ejected and not enough to the gun itself.

[JFK]

A personal pet peeve of mine that I've blogged about twice (here, and here) and eventually turned into a column for Concealed Carry Magazine.

Aside from the chances of accidentally busting a cap with the ejector, or with some random corner of the ejection port should the hand on the slide slip, it encourages paying way too much attention to the round being ejected and not enough to the gun itself.

This for sure...

Also good on you for good gun handling. This is why we have 4 safety rules. Although there was an AD (and truly an AD not a ND) you saved disaster by keeping the muzzle under control.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I don't generally do this, being young and flexible enough to pick things up off the ground without much drama.

But I don't get hot under the collar about people doing it AS LONG AS they're keeping the gun pointed away from me and things I would like to remain intact, which, I guess, makes it equivalent to most activities people might engage in with a gun.

But I do have a great Hackathorn quote which fits perfectly in this thread:

"Some people get bent out of shape about this because they think that the ejector is going to hit the primer and set your round off, but it won't do that unless you're using some piece of shit gameboy gun like an STI."

[zRxz]

I don't generally do this, being young and flexible enough to pick things up off the ground without much drama.

But I don't get hot under the collar about people doing it AS LONG AS they're keeping the gun pointed away from me and things I would like to remain intact, which, I guess, makes it equivalent to most activities people might engage in with a gun.

But I do have a great Hackathorn quote which fits perfectly in this thread:

"Some people get bent out of shape about this because they think that the ejector is going to hit the primer and set your round off, but it won't do that unless you're using some piece of shit gameboy gun like an STI."

LOL. I saw this thread and thought that exactly. Nice one, dude.

[Tamara]

But I do have a great Hackathorn quote which fits perfectly in this thread:

"Some people get bent out of shape about this because they think that the ejector is going to hit the primer and set your round off, but it won't do that unless you're using some piece of shit gameboy gun like an STI."

I've been in the next room when it happened with a dead-nuts stock Glock.

(And I don't get "hot under the collar" about it; as long as Mr. OhMyGodICan'tLetMyPreciousCartridgeTouchDirt is watching where his muzzle is pointing while he obsesses over his .29¢ Faberge egg, then it's his fingers over the ejection port, not mine. )

[Slavex]

I catch the live round, but not by covering the port. I just roll the gun so the ejection port is up and muzzle is straight down range or even pointing down slightly and rack it. Round goes straight up and falls into my hand. If it doesn't I don't go chasing it, let it fall where it may. Muzzle control is number one, observing the ejection path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage ejection path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage.
path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage.

[joshs]

I catch the live round, but not by covering the port. I just roll the gun so the ejection port is up and muzzle is straight down range or even pointing down slightly and rack it. Round goes straight up and falls into my hand. If it doesn't I don't go chasing it, let it fall where it may. Muzzle control is number one, observing the ejection path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage ejection path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage.
path is number 2. If the round ejects funny I then know to go inspect my extractor and ejector for damage.

I've seen this cause a round to detonate off the ejector as well. Any technique for ejecting a live round that gets the slide moving quickly can cause an unwanted detonation, if the round slips out from under the extractor and the primer hits something pointy. I now eject live rounds slowly with my hand on the rear cocking serrations.

[Slavex]

I've seen it happen with a .40 Para once. But I'm none too worried my ejection port is facing away from me and the weak hand is no where near it on the rack. Given that I do have my hand closer to the ejection port when doing malf clearances, I would expect more trouble there if I'm young to have any.

[fuse]

I rack with the weak hand at the rear of the slide, and catch it in the air. If the round hasn't detonated by the time it gets near my hand, it won't detonate.

I'll probably do this until something bad happens. Real talk.