Malfunctions are a given when using semi automatic firearms. Some guns run better than others and there are a variety of reasons why they stop working. In many cases it comes down to maintenance, ammo and or magazine. Often those malfunctions are usually fail to feed and fail to eject. Sure there are other odd hiccups that can occur but this is definitely a new one to me. From the photo it appears the round has escaped and is trying to squeeze its way between the receiver and the dust cover. Perhaps this is a fail to feed? I imagine a failure to extract or a round is already chambered and a second round tried to be loaded. Since it has no where to go it took the path of least resistance. Is there another explanation besides the possibility it was staged?

Have you seen a malfunction like this before?

Thanks Miles for sharing this photo. Photo credit goes to Houston Moore.