Witness/CZ Ejector Question

[rachilders]

I posted this same question under another club, but it does apply to all semi-auto's. Also, you probably put more ammunition and time in at the range in one year than any 10 of us will normally do during a lifetime and I figured a "second opinion" from a pro couldn't hurt!

I was looking at an EAA Witness in 40 S&W recently and after I'd removed the magazine, I closed the slide by pressing the slide release. I sometimes do this to a new gun to gauge the strength of the recoil spring and to get a feel for how tight the slide/frame are. When I did it this time however, the store owner almost had a stroke!! He got a look of horror on his face, his voice raised about three octaves and he quickly, and several times, let me know that you NEVER let the slide on ANY auto close without a round in the chamber unless you close it slowly by holding the slide with your hand. He then went into a long rant about guns he's seen with broken or loose ejectors caused (according to him) by the force of the slide closing on an empty chamber. I didn't argue with him since he owned the shop, but I did wonder about his reaction to my not closing the slide slowly.

I'm in my mid 50's, owned over two dozen semi-auto's (and as many non auto handguns) over the past 35 years, from .22's to .45's and have never had an ejector break. I also know probably a dozen people who've owned auto's for at least 20 years and none of them have had any problems with broken ejectors. The Witness is almost a clone of the CZ and CZ's are based on the Browning HP, so I assume what applies to one should work with the others.

My question is have I been doing something wrong all these years by letting the slide close without slowing it down or was this an over reaction on the part of my local dealer?

[Walt-Sherrill]

See my answer in the other area.

First of all, its not the EJECTOR that is arguably at risk, its the EXTRACTOR -- and only with some 1911s, and them only if the gun has a round in the chamber.

Also, folks with 1911s which have had a lot of "fine" tuning say letting the slide slam forward can damage the sear, but holding back the hammer prevents this.  This is addressed in more detail elsewhere.

Your dealer doesn't know what he's talking about.

(Its not a good idea to post the same message to a number of different areas -- pick the best and stick with it, there.  Home Gunsmithing is probably the best place for this topic.)

[rachilders]

I hope I didn't upset anyone by asking the same question twice? I did read your reply in the other club. As for the  ejector vs the extractor, I was pointing out what the dealer said, not my opinion and I didn't thing to try "ASK ANGUS" until I had already posted the question elswhere. I figured with his experience, he should be as qualified as anyone to give an opinion on the question.

[TY44934]

ANother 1911/glock/CZ problem with releasing the slide that way (albeit a small problem indeed) is that the corners of the notch in the slide & the slide stop itself become rounded off the more you release the slide that way. Eventually, the corners can become so rounded that the stop releases prematurely, inconsistently, or not at all. Good news on this is:

1) You'll likely break the stop in a CZ before it gets that rounded off and

2) Any gunsmith should be able to restore the corners (except the ones on the Glock slide - they are tennifer).

I got out of the habit with shooting 1911s in competition; I simply grab the slide, pull & release. For those who do drop the slide with the slide stop, I don't think its that big of a deal nor as harmful as some might imagine.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

[angus hobdell]

IF the extractor is cut back right it should not contact the barrel on any semi auto. HAving said that with 1911 especially the damage I have always for-seen is to the hammer sear engagement, having said this not too much harm if the trigger is facotry and heavy. But if you have a "race" trigger then you can cause some damage real quick.

I personally don't slam the slide forward on anything.