3 Malfunction Drills to Run at the Range
Picture this: You’re at a shooting competition, you pull the trigger, and nothing happens except a sinking feeling in your gut. Is the round stuck? Did it fail to feed? How do you clear your 308 AR and get it back in action without losing precious time? Practice is key, and the following drills can help you learn how to clear malfunctions quickly and effectively.
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| 9MM PCC |
The FTF Drill
A single, dreaded click signals a failure to feed or fire. It’s a
common malfunction, so you need to know how to clear it safely and
efficiently so you don’t sit around wasting precious time in a
competition. You can simulate this at the range by having a range buddy
randomly load a dummy round in your mag.
To clear your 9MM PCC
or other rifle of the malfunction, first forcefully tap the magazine
baseplate. This helps ensure the magazine is seated correctly. Next,
rack the bolt or slide, clearing the chamber of the round and cycling a
new round.
If you hear anything besides a click, like a poof or
pop, the round’s primer ignited, and the bullet could be stuck in the
barrel. Safety the gun and inspect the bore by breaking down the gun, as
you might have a squib.
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| 9MM PCC |
Doubling-Feeding the Chamber
A double-feed is when a second round tries to jump the line and join the round in front of it inside your AR15 upper receiver.
It can be frustrating, especially with rifles. The second round jams
against the base, and your slide can’t go into battery. To simulate
this, you need to insert a mag after pulling the bolt and locking it to
the rear. Drop a round into the chamber, which should be empty. Release
the bolt, which should try to pull a round from the mag, but there’s
already the round you dropped in.
The immediate action drill
starts with ejecting the mag. Rack the slide or bolt, which should clear
the chambered round. Slam in a new mag and rack the slide or bolt
again. Chances are good that just hitting the mag release button won’t
do anything, and you will have to pull it free, as the second round
locks everything in place. It may be tight, so it could take some
effort, and you may need to manually unjam the rounds before they fall
free.
The Stovepipe
The stovepipe gets
its name from making your gun suddenly look like it has a smokestack.
This happens when the casing does not fully clear the gun during
extraction, getting caught in the ejection port. It’s pretty easy to set
up this malfunction, as you can just place a round and lock it in by
releasing the bolt or slide.
It’s also often easy to clear. You
may just be able to slide your hand across the gun and sweep the casing
away. Otherwise, turn your gun so the casing faces down, slightly pull
the slide or bolt back to release the tension on the casing, and let
gravity pull it away.
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