1911 dropping the slide on a live round

[TGO David]

Well I reckon I am a dumbass because I have done this on every semi auto pistol I have ever owned. Never has hurt a thing. I bet I am not the only one who does this either.

First, sorry you had to find out this way. Second, just because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't make it any smarter.

[Mike.357]

I'll chamber the first round from the magazine. Then I'll release the magazine and insert an extra bullet to replace the one I used.

correct procedure noted here

[willis68]

I saw on channel 6 last night some footage of a man dropping the slide on a bobtailed 1911 when they were talking about the guns in bars bill. Anyone else see it? Any one else think "They shouldn't have done that".

If it had a full magazine loaded, it will not hurt a thing, if it was done otherwise the guy is very ignorant to how a 1911 is built and should get some training before he damages his weapon

[I_Like_Pie]

First, sorry you had to find out this way. Second, just because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't make it any smarter.

Smarter, again, is knowing one's gun. Unless it is a claw extractor found on a rifle or a internal extractor on either a 1911 or the early Brownings (and a couple of select pistols)...won't hurt a thing.

Folks reading this who are confused...The guy in the vignette dropped a round, via the ejection port, into the chamber of an above mentioned gun and dropped the slide.

On a gun with an external extractor it would simply slide over like normal, but the internal bits on an above mentioned gun will be way overstressed because the capture should have happened way earlier in the cycle. The extractor will be bent at the wrong axis potentially causing problems later on. That being said...the gun should still be able to perform this overstressed action. Thus tricking people into thinking it is normal operating protocol.

It can cause problems, but is akin to whipping a cylinder into a revolver with a flip of your wrist. Won't break it, but if you do it too much things will go downhill fast.

edit....the guy in the vid was a yahoo either way.

[Guest CK1]

Never drop the slide on a round in the chamber unless you are being paid to do so as an actor in a movie... because in the real world it is punishing your extractor, good running guns will feed empty brass too, think it a good idea to do it over and over?

Hear me now and believe me later, it is not the right way an extractor was designed to work. Strip one off a mag than drop it and add another to your mag if you desire full capacity.

[Guest Straight Shooter]

Its un-necessary, un-needed, and amateurish at best.

Its also one way I use to determine someone's gun savvy. But, you cant tell some people anything.

[TGO David]

Smarter, again, is knowing one's gun. Unless it is a claw extractor found on a rifle or a internal extractor on either a 1911 or the early Brownings (and a couple of select pistols)...won't hurt a thing.

Ooo, look! Someone's never had a slam fire happen to them!!!

Wrong. It's stupid and not the right way to top it off for +1 carry.

PS: I'm just curious... do people ever feel bad later about perpetuating bad practices when they get smart and realize the error of their former ways? Because if they do, you should come back when you figure it out and amend the post you made.

[Guest Plainsman]

Its amazing to me that this argument is still ongoing.

[Guest 70below]

On a side note.......dropping the slide on a chambered round in even the mighty Glock is highly discouraged.

Perhaps someone could explain to me how dropping the slide on an empty chamber provides undue stress on the main pin? I would have thought far more stress is directed on that pin during a firing cycle than one could impart through dropping the slide. But, you're never too old to learn....well maybe you are....but I can retain a few things.

[I_Like_Pie]

Ooo, look! Someone's never had a slam fire happen to them!!!

I have a bucket in my reloading room that likely has one hundred thousand of my spent primers. Not one slam fire. I will have 10 more buckets just like that and not have a single slam fire...100% guaranteed.

Wrong. It's stupid and not the right way to top it off for +1 carry.

Never said that it is the correct way to do it. Happen to agree with you to the "T". I am saying that it will not cause a malfunction or problem with a non-captive external extractor. There are two different conversations in this thread.

Its amazing to me that this argument is still ongoing.

It is Saturday night with nothing else to do.

[Guest Jamie]

On a side note.......dropping the slide on a chambered round in even the mighty Glock is highly discouraged.

Perhaps someone could explain to me how dropping the slide on an empty chamber provides undue stress on the main pin? I would have thought far more stress is directed on that pin during a firing cycle than one could impart through dropping the slide. But, you're never too old to learn....well maybe you are....but I can retain a few things.

Because dropping the slide on a loaded magazine, and the friction and force provided by stripping the round out, then pushing it up the feed ramp, provide a braking, buffering effect that is completely absent when you just hit the slide release when there's no loaded mag present. The whole force of the recoil spring and the mass and inertia of the slide have to be stopped - abruptly - by that one thin piece of steel alone.

It's the same basic reason why you shouldn't dry fire a bow; things happen more quickly and with more force than was intended.

Let's put it this way... how long do you think the cross pin would take having a hammer that weighs the same as your pistol slide pound on it, when it had both ends supported, but not it's middle? While using a quarter inch square bar as a punch or chisel to transfer the blow? I'll bet it wouldn't take long to bend or break it.

J.

[Spiffy]

I think we need clarification from the OP as to what exactly he saw.

If you put a round in the chamber and then slam the slide home on a 1911 with a traditional extractor you can mess up the tuning of the extractor. If the 1911 has an aftec or something that uses a spring for the tension on the round then it's way less of an issue.

When in slide lock with nothing in the gun and you release the slide, most times you wont hurt anything. But if it is not your gun then I consider it rude and you should walk the slide down even if it is a glock. A 1911 with a light trigger job it is particularly important not to do this because the hammer and sear will bounce off of each other and with habitual frequency you will reduce the life of a good trigger job.

He dropped the slide with the release on cartridge in the chamber then put a full mag in the grip. He didn't drop the slide on a mag and chamber a round the correct way.