in the case of delayed firing of a cartridge or a so - called hang - fire condition in an externally powered firing weapon there must be prevented that further cartridges are fed into the firing weapon . in a known safety or monitoring apparatus of this type a deflector must be pivoted such that the infed cartridges , instead of arriving at the firing weapon , arrive at an ejection channel . the change - over of this deflector requires high acceleration forces because a great mass must be pivoted through a large pivot angle in a short period of time . in accordance with the invention the deflector comprises two segment members which are displaceable in the direction of the cartridge axes , one of which segment members selectively protrudes into the travel path of the cartridges .