Weak ejection when clearing live rounds

[Cump]

My Bersa 380 cc does not fully eject rounds when clearing a loaded chamber. With most factory ammo, rounds "eject" through the magwell. The exception is with rounds of longer oal, for instance those loaded with Barnes bullets.

The issue only appears when clearing live rounds. I have not recently had any failures, and during the break-in period, I had some FTFs but no ejection issues.

My guess is that spent cases eject reliably since the slide during recoil is quicker than my hands can be (and I'm not being meek and mild about it). When clearing live rounds, I suspect the shorter oal may also make for more unsupported space between bullet and chamber before case contact with the ejector, allowing the nose to dip a little before it's kicked out. The longer rounds appear to contact the ejector just as the bullet leaves the chamber, if that makes sense. The ejection port also does not have a lot of tolerance.

Is this typical for .380s or blowbacks? Do you think it signifies a need for service, or just intelligent selection and reloading of ammo? And are there any safety concerns with allowing a live round to clear through the magwell, other than making sure it does so?

 

[98Redline]

As long as the live round comes out of the gun you are good to go.

There are a number of reasons why you will see non typical ejection when clearing a loaded gun.

1) As you noted, your ability to rack the slide pails in comparison to the speed and force that the slide cycles under the force of a discharged round.

2) The OAL might have something to do with it, especially if the nose of the bullet hangs up in the ejection port.

3) The weight of the loaded round (nose heavy) will want to hang down when supported only by the extractor. When it finally does clear the chamber it wants to nose down and drop out through the mag well.

Pretty much all of my semis work this way, the only notable exception is my custom Para P14-45 which would probably eject bricks if I could get them loaded into the chamber.

 

[Sam1911]

Guns really aren't made to eject live rounds, at least not forcefully and reliably. They're tuned to toss empty brass perfectly (one hopes) but heavy loaded rounds with a bullet still in the case (so comparatively 30% longer length to deal with) make for hit or miss ejection on "showing clear."

As long as the round comes out one way or t'other, it's fine.

(This is one of the original reasons for opening up the ejection port on 1911s which has become an almost universal standard feature.)

 

[Cump]

Thanks. I didn't really think it was an issue, but haven't noticed before on my other semis -- most of which have allowed a better grip on the slide and probably have larger ejection ports (relative to caliber).

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Guns of a straight blowback design can do this. The Beretta bobcat doesn't even have an extractor on the slide!

 

[MedWheeler]

This is true with my Bersa, and with my two Kel-Tecs. My P32 all but demands that you rack the slide, then shake the round downward through the mag well to retrieve it.

 

[Walkalong]

Some loaded rounds (length) in some guns have trouble clearing the ejection port, making it even worse than just having to move more weight than ejecting a fired case.

 

[marv]

No one has mentioned that when the trigger is pulled the explosion goes in all directions. It blows the bullet out the barrel. Hopefully it doesn't blow out the sides. Finally it blows the empty case back out of the chamber. The breechface of the slide being in front of the case's direction of travel is pushed ahead of it. On its way back the case strikes the ejector, causing it to change direction and exit the gun while inertia enables the slide to continue on back to its stop.. All this happens in a fraction of an instant. How could anyone hope to duplicate it by pulling back on the slide?

 

[Sam1911]

Well...not all guns allow pressure from the chamber to push the case out. A few ONLY use that. Some use it in conjunction with the extractor. Most locked-breech pistols, though, let the pressure in the barrel fall way down before extraction starts.

 

[Jim K]

One problem can be the extractor. In extracting and ejecting a live round, the extractor should grip the case tightly and hold it until the case hits the ejector and is thrown clear. Of course, gun makers cut ejection ports so that a live round within the COAL specs will clear; they don't take into consideration handloads with longer overall lengths.

Failure of the extractor might not be noticed in firing a blowback pistol, where the extractor only acts as a pivot point for ejection. (The case is pushed out of the chamber, not extracted, when firing.)

Jim