Dropping the slide on a Chambered round

[railroader]

My ruger manual says it's fine to drop a round in the chamber then drop the slide. I like that feature. It's the gun I keep loaded at home. I can unload it and go shooting. When I get home I can just drop in the round and put the loaded mag in the gun. If I kept reloading the same rounds from the mag I probably would get bullet set back after awhile. I don't dropping it in the chamber.

 

[Skylerbone]

Seems somehow relevant to me today that I attended a talk by Gordon Graham, former CHP officer, lawyer and risk analysis manager. He said (paraphrasing) that the first time you do something is as dangerous as the next time you do it. Just because you didn't fall off the ladder the last 100 times does not mean the risk of falling has been eliminated. By that reasoning no one can reasonably assert that only chamber loading a few times is OK. Murphy's Law.

 

[1stmarine]

7+1. After I wipe off the gun drop the +1 in the chamber slam it and then slide
the mag. I have been doing that for 25 years and never had an issue.
I take care of all my systems but I am not paranoid about this. I do preventive maintenance every 5-6K rounds and always use quality parts.
The 1911 was designed to take a beating like landing on a beach face down to get bore full of wet sand and still shoot well.

 

[Ben86]

If I kept reloading the same rounds from the mag I probably would get bullet set back after awhile.

You can still get bullet setback from dropping one in the chamber. Just alternate the rounds you chamber to prevent an excessive amount of damage from happening to any one round. Then replace your carry ammunition every 1-2 years.

 

[Scimmia]

Seems somehow relevant to me today that I attended a talk by Gordon Graham, former CHP officer, lawyer and risk analysis manager. He said (paraphrasing) that the first time you do something is as dangerous as the next time you do it. Just because you didn't fall off the ladder the last 100 times does not mean the risk of falling has been eliminated. By that reasoning no one can reasonably assert that only chamber loading a few times is OK. Murphy's Law.

This is completely different. In this case, we're talking about wear on the extractor which is cumulatively a risk, not the risk of an individual instance.

 

[Toforo]

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.

Why would someone want to do that?
What kind of "test" was he looking to achieve?
What kind of results was he looking for?

 

[Drail]

It was a test to see how "hard" the extractor was. If it breaks it's too hard. If it doesn't break it's now knocked out of adjustment. (I'm kidding) People do this because some "expert" told them it was absolutely OK and it won't hurt anything. A 1911 extractor is a precision spring. It's only designed to flex a little bit and maintain consistent tension on the case rim (controlled round feed) . Bend it too far (snap it over a case rim) and you are abusing it. Maybe it will break now and maybe it will break later.

 

[Skylerbone]

Every individual instance matters. Load 15 grains of Titegroup instead of 5 and the first round could be the last. Another sample may run 100 rounds but we have no idea when failure will occur. Damage and failure are two different things. We can surmise damage will occur every time and of course that will be cumulative but breakage will in this case be random and therefore unpredictable. Maybe the first time maybe 10 years from now. Not taking the risk is what removes the risk.

 

[Zerodefect]

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.

Pure laziness.

5 seconds tops, to do it the right way.

(ETA: I'm not calling anyone lazy. I'm calling the technique of dropping one in the chamber instead of mag feeding lazy)

 

[skolten]

Why would someone want to do that?
What kind of "test" was he looking to achieve?
What kind of results was he looking for?

It was a Single round that gave problems for what ever reason, as it would not load from the mag in the normal way the gun cycles, so he dropped it in the chamber. let the slide go and fired the gun. The discussion was, is dropping the slide on the round going to harm the gun.....

 

[rogerjames]

What is the purpose for doing this in this in the first place? Is it to carry fully loaded mag + 1? Good question though, I've never considered the mechanics. The way I see it... if I really need that +1, I probably need a bigger gun, a better plan, or a partner

 

[Slamfire]

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 ???

Load from the magazine. And that includes controlled round feed rifles. Your extractor will last longer in all of these mechanisms if you feed from the magazine.

 

[skolten]

Thanks Slamfire, that was my point to him when he did it...Case closed.

 

[kingcheese]

with a lot of new gun owners it is a common practice, i dont exactly like the idea because it is possible for the gun to go off, not real likely, and i will probably never see it happen, but still...