When it comes time to unload your weapon and show clear, what do you do? Some shooters rack the slide and let the live cartridge fall where it may. Others cup their palm over the ejection port and catch the cartridge. One shooter chose the latter option and it cost him the use of his hand.

The following images and story were shared by a man named Scott B. on The Firearm Blog,

The following is a story relayed to me. I do not have first hand knowledge of this, but I do trust the source.

The pictures are of a recovered case and projectile after a shooter attempted to eject a live round during an unloading evolution. The shooter covered the ejection port with his hand and attempted to capture the live round rather than letting it eject freely from the ejection port. The round was trapped, under pressure of the recoil spring, in-between the edge of the ejection port along the edge of the breach face and the front of the ejection port on the right side of the slide.

There is a noticeable linear denting on the nose of the projectile and an obvious strike point on the rear of the case and the primer. The projectile could not escape and the resulting effect was for the case to burst. The pressure from the burning propellent was absorbed by the shooter’s hand. He will not be able to make this mistake again.

It is a sobering lesson for many shooters. No one ever really believes that this could happen to them.

Take a look at that second photo. It’s clear the primer was never struck by the hammer. The vertical lines on the bullet and primer show where the cartridge was trapped by the slide and the edge of the ejection port.

Will this change your unload technique?