Basic question: Dropped round?

[Doc Holloman]

If I were to drop or eject a live round during a stage (say in the process of clearing a 1911 malfunction , or an 1897 misfeed), is it permissible to replace that round from the "body" (belt loop or pocket?)  I have heard of shooters carrying an extra 1911 mag with one round, just for this eventuality.  Just want to be sure.

 

 

Doc sends.

[Elwood James]

You can always reload from the belt any legal round and you may also pick up a dropped round per SASS rules.  However some clubs do not allow you to pick up a round if it is on the ground.  Some shooters will carry an extra mag with one round—it is perfectly legal.  You also have the option of loading a full mag, release the slide, drop the mag (you now have a round in chamber and no mag) and fire.    The 1911 is now empty with slide forward.  You are  legal to move or set down the empty gun.

[Garrison Joe]

What you do NOT want to do is to load a "loose" round into the chamber of a 1911 and drop the slide on it.  The extractor is not designed to let the hook snap over the rim of a round as the slide goes into battery.  1911s feed new rounds by sliding the top cartridge in the mag up and behind the hook of the extractor. That way the extractor never has to flex more than a few thousandths of an inch. 

 

You may not chip or over-bend an extractor the first time you put a round in without sticking it in a magazine, but you will at some point damage the extractor so as to have to replace it.

 

So, carry an extra loaded magazine, as EJ has mentioned. Or even 2 extra loaded mags if you ever fumble one during a stage.

 

For rifle, yes you can do a reload to replace an ejected round, a round that failed to fire, a non-functioning or jammed round that you cleared

from the gun, and that reload can come from any legal carry of extra ammo.  Pockets and belt slides included.

 

For shotgun, you can do a reload for all those failures, too, and using the same sources of extra ammo. 

 

If an ejected round falls on a table or prop, you can still use it.  Catch it in the air - yep, reuse it.  On the ground, you can reuse it, but firearm(s) have to remain safely pointed in the 170 degree cone while you retrieve the round.  That is almost never the fastest way to reload, however.

 

You just can't run back to a cart or borrow a round off of another shooter, because it has to be ammo you brought properly to the firing line if you want to reload with it.

 

good luck, GJ

 

[Doc Holloman]

Thanks.  I had a belt slide made that holds two shotgun rounds for this eventuality, and am having one made that holds two rifle rounds.  Extra mag with one round can go in the last pouch or back pocket (for those stages that call for 6 mags.)  Just being sure.

[Garrison Joe]

My belt slide from Mernickle holds 4 shotgun and 5 rifle rounds.  Snaps over my belt buckle.  Would not be without it when shooting WB.

 

good luck, GJ

 

 

[Legendary Lawman]

If you are going to carry a one-round magazine, just make sure that it is always in the same place and you don't mix it up with a full magazine.  Loading the one-round mag when you think you are loading a full mag is embarrassing.  Loading a full magazine when you think you are loading a one-round mag can get you in a lot of trouble.

[Abe E.S. Corpus]

I used my one-round magazine by mistake once.  Fired the next round and thought for a second that I’d had a malfunction when the slide locked back.

 

Now I keep my “malfunction magazine” in a single mag pouch separated from my other magazines.