Handgun malfunctions

Millie

Millie

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Well, I've just given myself more stuff to think about!
Ran across a video of a guy showing 4 common malfunctions with your handgun.....
I knew things happen, and the "snap cap in with live rounds" thing I did a couple of weeks ago showed me how to deal with one of them, but now I know how to take care of the other ones he showed.

Also googled about how a squib sounds....weird. And I get why I shouldn't listen to Metallica thru my ear muffs at the range.

As to the slide not locking back every single time (a recent development), I've marked my magazines, and cleaned the gun, so if it happens again, I'll at least know which of 3 magazines was in there when it did, and can then proceed to figure out why it did it!
 
You may need to clean the magazine(s), if the follower can't move freely it will not move up to lock the slide back.
Generic video on cleaning.

 
Button Pusher said:
You may need to clean the magazine(s), if the follower can't move freely it will not move up to lock the slide back.
Generic video on cleaning.

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Thanks, that was interesting. And another thing I'll get to experience in due time! I'll check all 3 and see how they look before next range trip.
 
NKD said:
You can also be deactivating/riding your slide lock while shooting, which is very common.
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Ok saw videos. My right thumb sits on top the safety, ready to push it down/off, and the slide stop is way far forward from my thumb, a bit hard to reach. My left thumb isn't on it, either, it's in front of it towards the muzzle end of the gun. Is this making sense? My slide lock is in between my thumbs.
Thanks for making me aware of that, and I'm thinking it's not the issue, but I'll get my trainer to double check my grip.
Weeding things out, slowly. Lol.
 
Grim said:
That cheap steel cased Winchester ammo can induce failures to extract as well. You'll want to avoid that stuff like the plague.
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I've never used that ammo, lucky for me I guess! Also watched a video about "riding the slide"....happily, I'm not doing that.
 
Grim said:
That cheap steel cased Winchester ammo can induce failures to extract as well. You'll want to avoid that stuff like the plague.
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I shoot that stuff almost exclusively, it’s dirty but I rarely have any issues with it. Which is unfortunate because it would prefer it to malfunction a little more than it does. I like when I get malfunctions on the range, not a ton, maybe like 1-2 every hundred rounds or so, but it’s a great opportunity to practice clearing it quickly. Snap caps are good too, but you do know that it’s coming at some point so you can kind of game the game with that method.
 
BTW, please wear eye protection when taking down magazines, springs will go BOING.
 
Button Pusher said:
BTW, please wear eye protection when taking down magazines, springs will go BOING.
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Well, are reading glasses ok? Lol. That's what I wear when cleaning my guns....and many months ago, I did have to chase a spring around!
 
dmarbell said:
Do you mean this video?

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Different video. The other guy cleared the stovepipe by sweeping his hand over the slide, not racking, moving the case out. I think everything else was about the same.
 
Millie said:
Different video. The other guy cleared the stovepipe by sweeping his hand over the slide, not racking, moving the case out. I think everything else was about the same.
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Can you post it, please? Because Clint is the standard of how to do this, I believe. Clearing the stovepipe without the "tap" part might get you an empty chamber, in which case you have added an extra step into the equation. Not sure until I see the other vid.
 
dmarbell said:
Can you post it, please? Because Clint is the standard of how to do this, I believe. Clearing the stovepipe without the "tap" part might get you an empty chamber, in which case you have added an extra step into the equation. Not sure until I see the other vid.
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I doubt I can find it but I'll try. My guy did the tap, but then swept his hand back towards him to pull out the case, then racked. He didn't rack to remove it.
 

Ok, no tap, just sweep the case out...about 4 min. in.
Your thoughts?
 
Millie said:

Ok, no tap, just sweep the case out...about 4 min. in.
Your thoughts?
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Dont know who they guy is in the video or his credentials but I would go with Clint on this one. The whole inspect thing he keeps preaching does not make much sense to me. In a defensive situation you don’t want to waste time inspecting the slide or the malfunction. The guy in this video is just parroting and not well IMHO too many myths and cliches about shooting handguns to be taken seriously.

Watch at 3:25 ish of the Thunder Ranch video if you “attack” the slide as you should the brass will take care of itself.
 
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wvsig said:
...but I would go with Clint on this one...Watch at 3:25 ish of the Thunder Ranch video if you “attack” the slide as you should the brass will take care of itself.
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That was my thinking as well, but I'm not experienced enough to critique an instructor. I can tell you that I had a double feed during an IDPA stage, and the rack part had to be done very aggressively to clear the chamber. After a few feeble attempts, the SO yelled "rack it hard," and it took all my strength to get the slide back. I lost about 30 seconds on that fiasco.

So based on my experience, you won't be gently pulling the slide back so the stovepiped case can fall down into the gun. From now on I'll pull the slide back as hard as I can.
 
dmarbell said:
That was my thinking as well, but I'm not experienced enough to critique an instructor. I can tell you that I had a double feed during an IDPA stage, and the rack part had to be done very aggressively to clear the chamber. After a few feeble attempts, the SO yelled "rack it hard," and it took all my strength to get the slide back. I lost about 30 seconds on that fiasco.

So based on my experience, you won't be gently pulling the slide back so the stovepiped case can fall down into the gun. From now on I'll pull the slide back as hard as I can.
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Yup 100% on you have to aggressively attack the slide when you have a stove pipe. If you do it without enough strength it will not clean and or the brass will remain the chamber. Some malfunctions are going to be harder to clear than others. Doubles are a bitch because you have to either keep hold of your mag and reuse it or have another available. I am not a great shooter and would not claim to know everything about training but I hate when trainers tell me that you will loose all fine motor skills in stressful situation. It is simply not the case. There are millions of examples of people being able to train the ability to do all sorts of fine motor skills under all kinds of stress. When I hear trainers saying that it is hard for me not to tune them out a bit.
 
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I shoot CZ’s and some Hk’s. What are these malfunction things you all speak about? :cool:

I vaguely remember something with the P22 I owned...
 
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