Do not catch ejected rounds

[ellis4538]

Usually happens with an extended ejector and following the procedure outlined by Solus.  Most competitive shooters have gotten away from this procedure and yank the slide back and catch the live round in their hand.  Looks kool but most of them get free ammo and can afford to let the round hit the ground!

Richard

[Big Frank]

I'll err on the side of caution and pick a round off of the ground rather than a finger.

[OldCommander45]

I call rubbish. In the unlikely event that a round would go off in the manner described, there would be nothing for the shooter to catch as the round would go off in the ejection port. It would all be over before the shooter could release the slide.

[alfsauve]

I know Ellis and Les and others have watched millions more rounds downrange at matches than I, so I'll bow to their experience.   But I find it difficult to believe the ejector, which isn't (or shouldn't be) pointed could possibly hit the primer exactly in the middle and with enough force, by hand, to set off a primer. 

Maybe my recoil springs are so heavy that I couldn't possibly pull my slide back fast enough to make it happen.


It just seems one of the things you couldn't make happen on purpose in a gazillion years.

[les snyder]

years ago, we had a young Coast Guardsman that shot with us... his carry pistol was a Commander which has an extended ejector... he was working live rounds through the action when one detonated... a piece of brass clipped his neck, and caused a lot of blood loss... he placed a towel on his neck, dialed 911 and went outside to sit on the curb for the EMTs.... when they got there, one questioned him as to what happened... when he raised his neck to show the cut, the artery let loose... luckily the EMT had a hemostat to immediately clamp it off...

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

I call rubbish. In the unlikely event that a round would go off in the manner described, there would be nothing for the shooter to catch as the round would go off in the ejection port. It would all be over before the shooter could release the slide.

In this procedure you don't let go of the slide.

[vincewarde]

Ok, confession time.   I keep my 9mm reloads in sealed plastic bags.  One day I tossed a 50 round bag into a bucket containing my 9mm bagged ammo.  You guessed it - a primer got hit just right and went off.  No one hurt, but I learned my lesson.....

In regards to catching rounds, I would never do it if I was wearing a ring.  To much chance that it might result in a bang...

[Shoot the guns of history]

I was going thru a pistol class and the shooter next to me had a springfield XD. During the class he had a stove pipe on ejection, he went thru the clearing drill and when he swept the slide back, he managed to catch the spent case between the face of the slide and the new round being loaded, when the slide slammed forward, it went off, he had good muzzle control as it was pointed downrange, so no damage or injuries other than his shorts.

[MikeBjerum]

The idea that it takes a hard strike from a sharp item to set off a primer is a misconception.  The first gun I built was fired by tapping the primer with a pliers.  I have witnessed twice a shotgun primer being set off in the reloading press when a single shot had fallen into the primer seating die.  Neither of these are classic sharp blow with pointed item.

While I hate it when a competitor flips their round in the air and catches it, there is no danger of this round going off.  However, a round that does not fully eject could be set off with even slow pressure from the slide closing.

Good discussion, and it does remind me of the danger in being lazy and trying to slowly clear a firearm and not letting the round fall to the ground.

[Big Frank]

I keep thinking that this may be a one in a million occurrence but I don't want to be the one. I could see this easily happening if a round has a high primer and I know even good brands of factory ammo aren't perfect. I once had a .45 round without an extractor groove. It's hard to believe it missed a step like that and ended up in the box.