Funky Things Folks Do

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What's wrong with catching the ejected round, it's not dangerous in any way is it?
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The act of catching it isn't dangerous. The problem is, or may be, or could be, that in ejecting a live round very vigorously so that it flies up in the air and you can catch it, you may be so unlucky as to impart enough energy to the round -- and have it turn JUST so, so that the primer impacts a corner or sharp point -- and the round detonates outside the gun.

That could be startling, and could even hurt someone with bits of the case blasted out at you.

I've heard that it actually has happened. Never seen it, of course.
 
Blackstone said:
What's wrong with catching the ejected round, it's not dangerous in any way is it?
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My thinking is....

If you are going to catch the ejected round, you kinda have to think about it before/during the slide rack. Doing this can easily distract you from a safe rack.

Sent from my CZ85 Combat
 
Sam1911 said:
That could be startling, and could even hurt someone with bits of the case blasted out at you.

I've heard that it actually has happened. Never seen it, of course.
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Happened to Todd Jarrett one year at Nationals. I didn't see it happen, but saw his bleeding hand immediately afterwards.
 
Then there's the semi auto guy that carries chamber empty but still puts the safety on.
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I do this with my FN 5.7 night stand gun - it makes 'oops' acidents less likely if another family member needs to use the gun. Its the old "I forgot it was loaded" thing.

In that situation, I deem the risk of negligent discharge to be greater than needing to quick draw my pistol. YMMV.

Yes, the best safety is between your ears ... but I like to think with that same brain, not with my $&#* or bravado, so I have learned to embrace mechanical aids.
 
Blackstone wrote,
What's wrong with catching the ejected round, it's not dangerous in any way is it?
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As mentioned, you could shoot yourself. In the event you haven't read all the posts in this thread, in post #8 I wrote, and linked the following.

Clint Smith says he's seen it happen 5 times in advanced pistol classes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntpSu0c-tLo

He begins discussing unloading the pistol around 2:30 into the video. At around 3:05 he begins to cover the guys shooting themselves.
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Clint Smith says he's seen it happen 5 times in advanced pistol classes.
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Well, he's showing the technique where you actually wrap your hand over the ejection port to let the live round drop into it as it comes out.

What some of us are describing is a little different, where you rack the slide back forcefully to toss the live round up in the air (like an empty case is ejected) and then catch it as it's flying. Still a potential to set the round off, but not with your hand right over the port.

"Larry" does it in slow-motion in the first few seconds of this video intro:
 
Covering the ejection port with your hand to catch a live round can indeed be bad mojo...seen it once. Ejector hit primer on 1911. Knocked a good slice out of palm...
 
I have a friend that will not go to the outdoor range when it is raining because he doesn't want to get his guns wet.

They are not made of sugar and neither are you.
 
People who make long posts!

Someone may have mentioned this already. I don't know if it belongs in a "Funky things folks do" category or a "think" category. Maybe it's a pet peeve. But here it is...

I sight in my handguns at ten yards. It is fun to shoot at 25 yards sometimes, but it is inconceivable that it would ever be legal to shoot at a bad guy at such a distance. Ten yards combines a challenge with practicality.
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You can read this thing a lot on forums. I think folks pick it up from gun rags or some instructor someplace.

A few things about it.

1. The only reason it seems this fella has guns is for shooting folks. He shoots beyond 10 yards just for fun sometimes but all the rest is defensive oriented. Really? No plinking, no hunting, no shooting just cuz it's fun to shoot? You let the idea of what distance you think a self defense shooting would be "legal" at determine how you shoot? I wonder if that's really true.

2. I wonder what gun and ammo the fella is shooting that he's getting such a radical difference in his point of aim, point of impact between 10 yards and 25 yards or so. The usual difference is not so great. Fixed sight revolvers and semis usually need no major operations to be accurate at both 10 and 25 yards. Not so different that it makes much difference in defensive shooting anyways. Unless you expect to shoot people's eyebrows off. It does make a difference in bullseye shooting but our fella don't play such silly games.

3. The criteria for what makes a shooting "good" or "bad" is the same whether it's 5 yards or 25. If a shooting is "justified" distance isn't the determining factor. If a person is pointing a shotgun at you and threatening to kill you distance is not the major criteria for whether you have the right to use lethal force in self defense or not.

4. If all your shooting and practice is for only defensive shooting yet you rarely shoot beyond 10 yards you won't know if you can reliably make the longer shot if there is a need. But the fella already decided that such a need is "inconceivable".

5. Some of what the man said, and it's a real quote, seems to be posturing. Or maybe someone new to shooting who hasn't figured out that shooting is mostly about fun. Yep defensive skills can be developed but there is hunting, competitive shooting of a wide variety of types, and plinking for the fun of it as well.

tipoc
 
Vern Humphrey said:
I was under the impression he ejected a hang fire, and it went off.
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A hang fire would've had to happen during the CoF, where every precious micro-second counts, so it's hard to imagine him covering the ejection port racking the slide in that circumstance.

I saw him seconds after and was told then that it was during unload and show clear phase.
 
tipoc, don't you know? All the real keyboard commandos, shoot peoples eyebrows off.
You know? A warning shot, like in the Navy.
A shot across the "brow."
 
perish the thought the bad guy has a rifle. maybe if you ask nicely, he will not shoot till you get within ten yards.

people just don't make a lot of sense sometimes.

murf
 
Folks who justify less than reliable firearms because "I'm not going to war" or
"It's just a range toy". Firearms that malfunction are just tedious and reliable or not, they are never "toys".

I think it's strange when people post that you need to spend $3500 on a 1911 just to get it to work. Strange, my Colt worked right out of the box and it only cost $900.

When my brother was an MP in the Army, he had to carry a 1911 with only five rounds in the magazine and the hammer down on an empty chamber.

Folks who insist a certain brand of ammo is the best in the world, yet they've never even bought a box to shoot.

Folks who insist on using awkward shooting forms.

Old timers who show me a box of 30-30 shells they've had for the last 20 years- full except for the four empties they used to take three deer.

A drunk relative that fired an 8x57 through his '06
 
If an old timer shows me a 20 year old box of 30-30 shells with four missing that killed three deer, I'm gonna show that old guy some respect. Lots of us love to burn ammo but to others the firearm is just a tool used to do a job. Quite a few meat hunters can't afford to blaze away just for fun yet they manage to put game down cleanly.

Along the lines of the old "self defense doesn't happen at 25 yards" saw, I watched a dash-cam video last night of a cop who was killed in a shootout with a guy armed with an M1 carbine. Horrific video, and not easy to watch, but hopefully we can learn from it. Some of his mistakes were tactical but I have to point out that his first/best chance to end the encounter was probably in the 20 yard range or so. You can never know at what range you may have to engage an assailant.
 
When people say "the average gun fight is at 7 yards" (or some other figure) remember the story of the man who drowned crossing a creek that averaged six inches deep.
 
Great point Vern, I'm always amazed by the people who look at an average and feel that is what they need to prepare for. I wonder if they have a misunderstanding of the meaning.
 
Older folks that insist on leaving the chamber under the hammer empty on a DA revolver. I've known one and heard of another that ended up turning a family member off of revolvers because of misinformation.
 
Good point Vern. If we all planned for the average? We wouldn't carry. Odds are you won't need it, on any given day.
We are the people who plan (not hope) for the unlikely.
 
Clearing a firearm to put it in the safe, only to reload it the next morning when they take it out of the safe.

Loading mags 1 or 2 rounds lite to save the mag spring, i.e. giving a higher priority to a $10 spring vs. self-defense.
 
Clearing a firearm to put it in the safe, only to reload it the next morning when they take it out of the safe.
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Agreed on that.
I'll never understand why people feel a need to handle their boomsticks for no good reason. You're not required to turn in your weapons to the armory at the end of shift, kids, just leave it safely in the holster!
(I'm super lazy about this, sometimes I just leave the weapon in the holster on the belt on the pants)
 
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