yeeeeeeeeeeha!!!
Return is NOT necessary...
I cleaned the daylights out of it and played around with it some more. It appears if you quickly rack the slide back, in a fast motion, the round gets hung up in the chute.
If you take your time and gently pull back completely on the slide, the cartridge is ejected properly. Go figure, it looks like I was trying to help the pistol and applied too much force. I am so doggone happy it doesn't have to leave my hands. This has been a very straight, very reliable shooter and I wasn't looking forward to anyone messing with it. I'll see if I get any more rounds back over my head, but those weren't really a show-stopper anyway...
Thanks for the input, folks.