[Moose4]

I'm a total ignoramus about guns (only ever been shooting once, and that was with a friend's .38 revolver), so help me here...if he removed the magazine and pulled back the slide, shouldn't that have cleared the round that would've been chambered? And is it normal for the gun to go off if he let the slide go back forward too quickly?

And I am still allowed on FR if I don't know the answers to these questions already? :)

}:-)4

[no more apples]

Depends on the weapon and since he was pointing the gun down, the round would not just pop out.

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm a total ignoramus about guns (only ever been shooting once, and that was with a friend's .38 revolver), so help me here...if he removed the magazine and pulled back the slide, shouldn't that have cleared the round that would've been chambered? And is it normal for the gun to go off if he let the slide go back forward too quickly?

It all depends on the gun, but
1. Depends how he was pointing the gun. He should have looked and put his finger in the chamber to make sure.

2. Probably not, but I'd REALLY like to know where his index finger was.........my guess is it was on the trigger.

[Lurker]

1.) Yes

2.) No

3.) Yes, you're still allowed here, but only temporarily. Now get thee to a gun store and buy something that goes 'Bang'.

L

[bondjamesbond]

I'm a total ignoramus about guns (only ever been shooting once, and that was with a friend's .38 revolver), so help me here...if he removed the magazine and pulled back the slide, shouldn't that have cleared the round that would've been chambered?

Yes, it should have.

But check back to Rule 1: The gun is always loaded.

Even after you verify that it is not loaded, the gun is always loaded.

[Deguello]

"shouldn't that have cleared the round"...

What he said he did and what he really did are two differnt events.

Its kind of like the LEO that was caught putting tire chains on his upside down patrol vehicle.

[ahadams2]

In non-technical terms [note to instructors and gun buffs - I'm oversimplifying this]: most semiautomatic firearms utilize some form of a small spring steel device called an ejector. The ejector has a hook on the end of it which snaps over the rim of the base of the cartridge being loaded into the firing chamber (the place at the rear of the barrel where the cartridge sits until the trigger is pulled). when the cartridge is fired, the bullet goes forward through the barrel while the slide goes backward with the now fired (and thus empty) brass cartridge case. When the cartridge comes parallel with the ejection port the spring steel ejector is putting enough pressure on one part of the rim of the case that the brass flies out the ejection port. If there is a live cartridge in the chamber and the slide is pulled back *sharply*, the live cartridge *should* also be ejected in a similar manner.

In a clean, well built firearm the extractor will work 99.9% of the time. It's that other .1% that will get you if you're not paying attention.

Bottom line here is that the only possible absolutely reliable safety mechanism isn't mechanical - it's the guy or gal operating the firearm; and that only works when said guy or gal makes an absolute habit of doing everything right (including visually inspecting the chamber of the firearm) every single time.

[ought-six]

He had to have pulled back the slide BEFORE he removed the magazine. Which Gun-Handling 101 tells you NEVER to do, unless you are intent on shooting that one round at that time.

[SauronOfMordor]

if he removed the magazine and pulled back the slide, shouldn't that have cleared the round that would've been chambered? And is it normal for the gun to go off if he let the slide go back forward too quickly?

Not knowing the brand of gun, it's hard to tell what happened. I'm thinking a failure to eject caused by having the gun pointing down. I wouldn't be surprised at finding failure to ever clean the gun, and the firing pin being stuck in the forward position

But a cop in Philly has him beat. A year or two ago a cop was in a classroom and passed around her duty Glock for show and tell, removing the mag but not noticing the round still in the chamber. It dropped, she grabbed for it, it went off, slightly wounding a little kid.