At the Pistol range the other day a member was doing a test on his STI 2011. He was going to drop a round in the Chamber and let the slide slam down on it. We all had a discussion on weather that was the right thing to do. I said the round on a 1911-2011 must be stripped from the Mag, and the rim runs between the extractor hook and the Breach face.To drop the slide on a chambered round will flex the extractor past its designed limits. It might be ok for a couple of times but I sure would not do it, as it will loosen extractor tension. Any thoughts on this ???
Dropping the slide on a Chambered round
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gathert
Member
Ive done that a lot on many different guns and have never had a problem but I dont do it that often either. Dont you think there would be something in the manual stating not to do it if there was a problem? its generally a good practice not to do that though. Its just undue wear on gun parts. Though I did have a guy tell me that dropping the slide on an empty 1911 will somehow mangle up a sear and have the slide lock up and I would have to take it to a smith to get fixed. Not sure what he was talking about though.
1911s were designed to strip a round from the mag upon the slide closing, and it takes all of 2 seconds to load a mag then another 2 to put it in the gun so tell your friend not to be lazy.
1911s were designed to strip a round from the mag upon the slide closing, and it takes all of 2 seconds to load a mag then another 2 to put it in the gun so tell your friend not to be lazy.
rbernie
Contributing Member
For most pistols with spring-loaded external extractors, it's not that big of a deal. However, I learned the same thing that you did WRT the 1911 pattern pistols - the internal extractor *can* snap over the rim but it's really not meant to be used that way and it ought not be done as general practice.
Alec
Member
I know that Kimber and Springfield advise in their manuals not to load the chamber by dropping a round in and releasing the slide. Not sure about other modern 1911-pattern manufacturers.
Winkman822
Member
My Wilson Combat manual says likewise. Load from the mag only.
People who do that are asking for broken extractors and mauled case rims. The gun is designed to let the cartridge case rim slip behind the extractor as the slide is closing on a loaded mag. To do otherwise is contrary to design and moronic IMO.
tmoore912
Member
With regards to dropping the slide on an empty chamber with a 1911. http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=7255467&postcount=26
BRE346
Member
For What it's Worth, I've put a snap cap into an open chamber and snapped the slide onto it. Then I decided that's a little clumsy when I can put the snapcap into a mag and load it like it's s'posed to be. Yeah, that's better.
rellascout
member
+1 It will not distroy the pistol if done occasionally but I would certainly not do it to any 1911 style pistol I own.
mgmorden
Member
It's basically the same situation as you have with controlled-feed rifles vs push feed rifles. You have to strip from the mag on controlled, but its fine to just throw one in the chamber with a push feed.
MOST internal extractors tend to not be setup to cam to the side and snap over a round. Most external extractors are. If you plan on dropping a round right in, you have to know what you're working with.
Personally, despite knowing the difference, I feel it a good practice to always strip from the mag anyways.
MOST internal extractors tend to not be setup to cam to the side and snap over a round. Most external extractors are. If you plan on dropping a round right in, you have to know what you're working with.
Personally, despite knowing the difference, I feel it a good practice to always strip from the mag anyways.
Nushif
Member
This. I know my Kahr isn't supposed to have it done, but my Berettas actually say in the manual it's a design feature, if I remember right.
Sometimes reading the manual from front to back is actually really interesting.
ironhead7544
Member
The 1911 extractor should be clearanced to allow it to snap over the case rim. If chamber loading then ride the slide a little to slow it down so it just snaps over the rim. Loading from the magazine is fine but keep in mind that the top bullet will become loose if it is repeatedly loaded from the mag. It can get pushed into the case and can cause high pressure.
I have seen high speed movies of the 1911 and the round does not always slip under the extractor. If the extractor is not fitted properly with enough clearance it can damage parts.
I have seen high speed movies of the 1911 and the round does not always slip under the extractor. If the extractor is not fitted properly with enough clearance it can damage parts.
Zerodefect
member
There is no point in doing it anyways. It's stupid and slams the slide forward faster than normal feeding deos. All that 16-18lbs of recoil spring force is caught be the edge of the extractor getting hammered into the case.
Put the rounds in the mag where they belong and load that into the gun.
One round at a time dropped into the chamber is just nonsense.
Put the rounds in the mag where they belong and load that into the gun.
One round at a time dropped into the chamber is just nonsense.
I think the idea is to get one in the chamber without having to load the mag, rack a round, remove the mag, top it off, and reinsert it again (which always felt like a runaround to me). I wish they would just design the extractor to facilitate dropping in a round, but if it's not designed for that you should operate the according to its design and load from the mag.
It doesn't.
It was an original spec. (military spec. IIRC) for the pistol that it be able to handle that. I will look for the reference on that. IIRC, it was from one of the HKPro links.
What do the Beretta and USP have in common that allows that?
The long external extractor with the pivot point well behind the breach face. That allows the extractor to pivot less (in angle) to get over the rims.
1SOW
Member
I have a CZ75B that I handloaded 3 empty cases with primers to fire.--no problem
Less than a week later my extractor claw snapped off---coincidence? I don't think it is.
Less than a week later my extractor claw snapped off---coincidence? I don't think it is.
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