Common handgun malfunctions and how to clear your weapon:
If you shoot a handgun, it’s only a matter of time before you experience a malfunction. It may be caused by your weapon, your ammunition or even you (the shooter). How you handle these malfunctions can mean the difference between life and death in a real gunfight.
By taking the time to buy dummy rounds and simulating malfunctions you can be prepared when the moment of truth comes. This isn’t something that is difficult to do, so go train!
Type I: Failure to fire/feed
The shooter pulls the trigger and the gun goes “click” instead of “bang”.
Causes:
- The shooter forgetting to chamber a round
- The magazine not being fully seated
- A bad magazine, bad round, or broken firing pin.
Malfunction drill:
- TAP- the bottom of the magazine to ensure it is fully seated
- RACK- the slide to extract a bad round and/or chamber a round
- BANG- fire, if the situation still dictates use of deadly force
Type II: Stove pipe
This is the failure of the expended round to clear the ejection port before the slide comes forward. The result is a case sticking out of the ejection port looking like a stove pipe.
Causes:
- Limp wristing is one of the primary causes.
- A worn extractor can also cause this to occur.
Malfunction drill is the same as above:
- TAP- the bottom of the magazine to ensure it is fully seated
- RACK- the slide to extract a bad round and/or chamber a round
- BANG- fire, if the situation still dictates use of deadly force
Type III: Double feed
The round in the chamber is not extracted and the nose of the next round in the magazine is pressed against the rear of this chambered case.
Causes:
- A broken or worn extractor is the most common cause.
- This can also be caused by a bad magazine.
The Type I & II malfunctions drills will not clear this.
Malfunction drill:
- LOCK – the slide to the rear
- RIP- the magazine out of the weapon. The magazine spring is putting pressure on the top round, which is being pressed against the chambered case by the slide. Locking the slide takes off the pressure, however the magazine will not drop free, which is why you grasp it and yank it out of the weapon.
- RUN – the slide several times to make sure the chambered case is extracted.
- RELOAD – a fresh magazine back into the weapon.
- TAP- the bottom of the magazine to ensure it is fully seated.
- RACK- the slide to extract a bad round and/or chamber a round.
- BANG- fire, if the situation still dictates use of deadly force
All of these malfunctions take a lot of training to learn how to clear. It takes repetition to build muscle memory. We are very happy to help you learn these skills in the training we offer.