Semi-Auto-- Load 1 in the Chamber??

[stansdds]

With semi-auto pistols, I always load out of the magazine.

I understand that this conversation is about pistols. However, it is equally important to know about how your rifle works. You can load rounds into the chamber of a Remington 700 until the cows come home. You must NOT with a Mauser '98. Some instruction manuals say that you normally load out of the magazine but can, on occasion, drop one in the chamber and allow the extractor to jump over the rim. If you have a Winchester Model 70, it depends on when it was made …

Yes, push feed vs controlled feed. Bolts with the big claw extractor on the exterior of the bolt like the Mauser are controlled feed and the extractor does not do well if you try to push it over a chambered round. Push feed bolts are easier and cheaper to manufacture and are designed to slip over the rim of a chambered round.

 

[rosewood]

In a 1911, always load from mag, the extractor isn't spring loaded and can be damaged by excessive loading by dropping in chamber. Ask me how I know.

However, lots of other guns have spring loaded extractors that are fine to do so. Knowing the issues with the 1911, I have made the habit of loading all guns from the mag.

Rosewood

 

[S-W4EVER]

...There is really no need to do it and if you wear the pistol for CCW or home protection you should treat your gun with care in case you really need it to save your life...

I am a FIRM believer in this philosophy. I own several firearms, all very good quality and I use them to punch holes in paper but every firearm I own could be used to defend my life if necessary.

 

[old tanker]

One more tale on the "Barney bullet." One of my contemporaries was a Division Sergeant Major during the invasion of Iraq twenty years ago. He reflated how he almost shot his driver when he chambered his "Barney bullet," inserted a full magazine and rifle went off when he hit the bolt release.

He may have had thirty tears of "experience" with an M16 series rifle but was clueless about the mechanics. Since the rifle has a floating firing pin, inertia causes it to "hit" the primer when the round chambers. ( I had to remind him you can see the little "peck" mark if you remove the round without firing it.

What set up the accident, was a "Division SOP" that required the rifle be cleared before entering the vehicle. (Three guesses who the Daddy of that was.) He would catch the cleared round and pocket it. When he got out of the vehicle he'd drop that same round in the chamber

The subsequent re-chambering of that same Barney round however many times resulted in finally reaching that one "tap" that was enough to cause a slam-fire. He didn't shoot outside of "work." Never heard the lore about slow fire slamfires and Match ammo. A SLED was something used in the snow, not during a rifle match.

The first recall hearing the reference to the "Barney bullet" was during USPSA matches 40 years ago.

 

[S-W4EVER]

It was the policy in the last department I worked at to never chamber a round twice in an AR15. We saved those rounds for practice ammo.

 

[OldSmithCollector]

That happened quite often when I was in. We had the A2 in the late 90's and you couldnt do anything with a group without someone slam-firing on accident when they thought it was empty. Amazing more people didnt get killed.

 

[TheTinMan]

It was the policy in the last department I worked at to never chamber a round twice in an AR15. We saved those rounds for practice ammo.

That's not a bad policy, and not just for AR-15s. A M14/M1A has a fairly violent loading cycle too. (That another rifle you shouldn't load directly into the chamber BTW) Some pistols are more prone to setback than others. 357 SIG cartridges have such a short neck I'd never chamber the same round twice for fear of setback.

For some reason my Les Baer 1911 chews up hollow point bullets. FMJ round nose and lead semi-wadcutters are fine, but some hollow points that gun just hates. I stopped using the Les Baer for nightstand duty because of this.