Loading a .45 auto

[team5150]

I just recently found this site - it's great. Lot's of great advise and some pretty god deals on stuff.

I have a question though. I read a post by a guy that said he was cleaning his .45 auto (don't rember what kind - maybe a Llama) and he said that he put a loaded mag in, racked the slide forward and it went off blowing a hole through his wifes clothes in her closet and into the wall. No one hurt thankfully.

The discussion that followed was interesting because of the opinions expressed.

Some people told him he sould NEVER release the slide with a mag in to load the pistol because it COULD accidently release the trigger and fire if the sear spring is weak.

Others told him to load one round in the chamber and slowly let the slide go forward by hand - in case the trigger followed.

Still others said he should never load a round in by letting the slide go unless he was at a range.

My question is - is there something wrong with loading your mag and then releasing the slide to load the pistol ?
I keep my home protection guns locked and loaded with the safety on. I have done it that way forever and never had a trigger follow the slide down.

In the end the guy said he found out the sear spring was weak and probably caused the firing.

I'm wondering if he just left out the part that he had his finger on the trigger when he let the slide go forward !

[Doheny]

I'm wondering if he just left out the part that he had his finger on the trigger when he let the slide go forward !

My thoughts exactly.

Welcome to Cal Guns.

[Teletiger7]

I bet he had his finger on the trigger. BTW putting a round in chamber through the ejection port then releasing slide on it can damage the extractor. It bends it in a way it wasn't designed to do and makes it looser. Always better to load from a mag.

[team5150]

Have any of you experienced a unexpected firing of a auto .45 in this way ?

That is the point of the dual safety right ??

[heycorey]

My question is - is there something wrong with loading your mag and then releasing the slide to load the pistol ?

If you have to baby the gun, there's something wrong with the gun ...

[tziggs]

Never had this issue and hope to never experience it. However, I always point in a safe direction when chambering any firearm.

[tiko]

Never had this issue and hope to never experience it. However, I always point in a safe direction when chambering any firearm.

+100, I do the same way when load the chamber. I think that guy put his finger unconciously on the trigger.
On my MP45, with the slide lock back, some times I push a loaded mag in and the slide come forward to full battery automatically, but not all the times.

[Sgt5811]

Do you really want to load that gun again before getting it checked out by a gunsmith? Or maybe he should just remember that special rule we all know as "keep your finger straight and off the trigger untill you intend to fire?"

[The SoCal Gunner]

Guns can malfunction if they aren't taken care of and if parts are broken. Doesn't matter what brand the gun is but I'd stay away from cheap brands for self-defense as they do have misfires.

If you place a single round into the chamber and let the slide forward slowly, there may not be enough force to chamber the round all the way which means the gun may be out of battery and won't fire. This method will damage the extractor over time. You need enough force for the extractor to slide over the rim of the cartridge for proper extraction as well.

If a gun will go off when you chamber a round through a loaded mag, then the gun will be shooting like a full auto either way.

Loading a round through the mag is the proper way to load a gun.

[devildog999]

At the range, I let the slide go forward to chamber. At home, the few times I have had to do so (police looking for someone and being ready) I don't. Guess better safe than sorry.

[mrhappy]

If his gun discharged in the manner described, his sear spring was not the only problem--the hammer should have fallen to the half-cock notch and stopped. Broken half-cock notches and bad trigger jobs = follow-down and discharge.

[Turbinator]

If his gun discharged in the manner described, his sear spring was not the only problem--the hammer should have fallen to the half-cock notch and stopped. Broken half-cock notches and bad trigger jobs = follow-down and discharge.

Good call, the half cock notch would have caught the hammer. Interesting observation.

Turby

[BigDogatPlay]

The half cock notch should have caught the hammer. However, 1911 half cock notches are notoriously weak, hence why we never, ever put a 1911 on half cock.

See my post in the AD / ND thread... hammer follow in 1911 happens. Most of the time it's bad sear engagement or some other mechanical defect. Or maybe someone's booger hook was brushing the trigger. We don't know. But I can attest that I was trained way back when to control the hammer while letting the slide run home when charging the weapon for carry (not while reloading during shooting) because of exactly that type of scenario.