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A while back, some smart cracker told you something he learned: Do not try to catch a dropped gun.
Along that same line, comes another bit of advice that may save your life:
Don’t try and catch the round you’re ejecting. Don’t put your hand over the ejection port. Keep your hand away from it and let the round fall on the ground. It will be there when you get ready to pick it up, I promise.
I have never seen it happen but I’m not gonna risk it. Don’t die for pennies.
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 am
I saw it constantly at the Pro-Am the other weekend. But generally, these guys and gals would eject the round upwards, let it arc, and catch it on the way down, well away from the pistol. It was more ‘show’ I think than anything, but it did keep their hands away from the ports.
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:29 am
I don’t think much of people that eject a round in the air and catch it. It means that they are taking their eye off their gun handling.
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:00 am
I dont see what the big deal is about letting the round fall into your cupped hand that is grasping the slide.
With no magazine in there, how would another round feed in? And who doesnt verify the chamber to make sure after anyhow?
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:12 am
I thought it was mainly a Glock thing (?) or is it a race-aspect, from guys who spend as much time and money gaming the competition system with exotic doo-dads. It’s not Tactical at least.
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:45 am
DirtCrashr,
It can happen with pretty much any Browning-pattern pistol, from the oldest 1911 to the newest SIG.
Bryan S.,
Another round doesn’t “feed in”. If, for whatever reason, the round you are attempting to catch in your cupped hand does not eject cleanly, your hand will knock it back into the feedway. At that point most people jiggle the pistol to get the cartridge to drop into their hand, but some will instinctively try and run the slide two or three times, which can cause the primer to come into sharp contact with various protrusions or angles that can detonate it. It happens. Ask anybody who’s RSO’d long enough.
More importantly, what function do you gain by cupping the hand over the ejection port?
Robb Allen,
“I saw it constantly at the Pro-Am the other weekend. But generally, these guys and gals would eject the round upwards, let it arc, and catch it on the way down, well away from the pistol. It was more ‘show’ I think than anything, but it did keep their hands away from the ports.”
Every time I see that, I think “Hey, Ken Griffey Junior! How about paying a bit more attention to the pistol in your hand than the cartridge in the air?” For Christ’s sake, holster the gun safely, and then go look for your priceless and irreplaceable round of Free-From-Your-Sponsor 9mm FMJ in the dirt…
July 22nd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Well, actually it’s more like “don’t get stitches after the ER docs pick the brass shards our of your palm for pennies”, but yeah. 🙂
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Seen it twice, both times on 1911’s. Very nasty…
July 22nd, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I’m gonna have to re-think my SoCal training options…
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:06 pm
My little brother likes to catch the ejected brass in the air, and then throw it at me while I take the next shot. It’s his version of stress training. 😉
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:41 pm
The IDPA and IPSC RSOs around here all want to see the round drop to the ground. I stopped using the hand cup method after proving to myself that you can get the primer to contact pointy parts in the pistol. I do use the pop fly method to clear. I’ve saved over $3500 in rounds so far and it’s a lot more fun than just dumping 🙂 If you have to move your hand much to catch the round you didn’t do it right; you should be looking at the pistol when you catch the round.
July 23rd, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I personally knew a guy, ex-small-town cop who would do this. The worst part was the supervisor would not stop him from doing it. He was just showing off. It looks completely stupid, and you’re obviously distracted. I’m one of the many guys who has caused a negligent discharge into my wall due to distraction or fatigue. Don’t do stuff that distracts from gun handling!
July 24th, 2011 at 8:46 am
Don’t try and catch the round you’re ejecting.
“See? Now, because of me, now they have a warning.” — Homer Simpson
July 24th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
At least one gun school teaches the cup/catch method. It would appear this was to alleviate problems caused by shooters picking up the wrong round from the ground (especially mixing a .40 with .45), and muzzling each other by sweeping while bending over, or just getting close to the ground where most of the guns are pointing. I expect it will change after a case or two of “grenade hand”.
The instructors seemed unable to visualize the possible unintended consequences of the process. Reminded me of politicians and laws.