It depends, Bob. If the bullet travels deep enough into the barrel for the slide to move to the linkdown position, the squib will very often drive it far enough to chamber another round...also very often wothout the shooter knowing it. The second round bulges the barrel if it's carbon steel...and splits it if it's stainless. I've actually watched that happen...was looking straight at the gun when the squib ejected the case, and couldn't get the shooter's attention before she fired the "killing" round. Scratch one very expensive barrel installation. The slide didn't move on the second round. The bulge in the barrel locked it up tight.Originally Posted by Bob_W
Without the bullet's continued forward drag on the barrel...it just doesn't take a lot of force to drive the slide.
But...If the bullet is completely blocked by the stuck bullet...no. The slide won't move. It can't. If the bullet bears forward on the barrel while the equal/opposite force is pushing the slide...the forces are balanced and nothing can move. As you know...things move when forces become unbalanced. Balanced force is equilibrium.
The added resistance of the small radiused firing pin stop is very small compared to the delaying force that the bullet places on it. It adds little to the total...but it adds it at just the right time, and as an engineer, you're well aware that sometimes a small thing can make a big difference...and that while nothing is everything, everything is something. Even the mass of a drop of water on the slide will have an effect.
Another delaying factor that many don't consider is that of the barrel's mass. The barrel weighs about 3 ounces, and that's added to the total reciprocating mass...and it's part of until the barrel is completely disconnected from the slide. That's about 1/5th the slide's mass. That's signifigant.
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