Avoiding the Malfunctions That Can Ruin Your Match

by Tracy Barnes

Other Common Malfunctions

Failure to Feed

This is a malfunction that occurs when your firearm fails to feed a round into the chamber after a round is fired and during the cycle of operation. This can result of any of the following:

  • Accumulation of dirt or fouling
  • Improperly loaded or defective magazine
  • Fouled gas tube causing a short recoil
  • Broken or damaged action spring

Prevention

Properly clean and maintain your equipment. Also, test your magazines. If you get a new magazine make sure it works properly with your firearm.

Load-check your firearm when you are in the "make ready" stage. That is, visually inspect your chamber for a round when you either drop the bolt or drop the slide. Also, make sure that you properly load your magazine when making a mag. change. If you do not seat the magazine properly a round may not be loaded into the chamber.

Reaction

Tap, Rack, Roll, Look, Bang.

Okay, so I added a few more onto the normal, Tap, Rack, & Roll. If it were up to me, I'd even go so far as to change "Tap" to "Smack."

For those of you who've never heard of Tap, Rack & Roll, let me explain.

  1. You tap (very forcefully) the bottom of your mag to see if it is, in fact, seated properly in the gun.

  2. You simultaneously rack the firearm and

  3. Roll it towards in the direction that the chamber opens. This will help any obstructions or un-ejected rounds to fall out of the chamber.

  4. Then—and this is where I added look—roll the firearm back to the other side to view a now empty chamber. A new round should feed into the chamber as the slide/bolt closes on top of it.

    Although slower, this step will help you to identify if you've had a squib and help you to avoid any disastrous situations. You can also confirm that a round is, in fact, loading into the chamber.

  5. Then, of course, the last step: bang! Fire your now safely cleared and reloaded firearm.

Failure to Fire

This type of malfunction occurs when a round that is in the chamber and struck by the firing pin does not fire. Our old friend the squib falls into this category but isn't the only possible problem.

A failure to fire is typically caused by carbon buildup on the firing pin or faulty ammunition. It can also occur if the round was not properly seated or the bolt was not properly closed.

Prevention

Properly clean and maintain your equipment. Use quality ammunition. Make sure you slam home the bolt or slide on your firearm to ensure that it is closed.

Reaction

If you experience a failure to fire, place the firearm on safe and point it in a safe direction. Follow the same steps for Failure to Feed: "Tap, Rack, Roll, Look, Bang."

If you get a chance, look at the back of the faulty round to see if the firing pin struck or not. If there is a dent from the firing pin, then the ammunition is likely faulty. If there isn't a dent, make sure there isn't any buildup of fouling around the firing pin and bolt.

Failure to Eject

This is a malfunction that occurs when a spent cartridge is not ejected through the ejection port. The cartridge could be partially ejected or not ejected at all. Another round also jam up behind it in the process of the cycling.

This is often caused by a buildup of fouling in the extractor or ejection spring, short recoil or carbon buildup in the chamber.

Prevention

Properly clean and maintain your equipment. This malfunction is mostly caused by buildup of fouling or carbon. If you keep your equipment clean and well-lubricated, you'll prevent most occurrences of this malfunction.

Reaction

You can again use the Tap, Rack, Roll & Look method to clear this malfunction. Usually, racking the bolt or slide should free the round and help to eject it. If your equipment isn't clean, then you might end up experiencing this after every shot you fire. However, if you work quickly to free the un-ejected round, you can stay in the fight.

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