Firearm & Ammo Malfunctions

Firearm Malfunctions Causes:

Failure to Fire:

Firearm malfunction caused by a bad primer, light firing-pin strike, bolt not fully in battery, improper seated magazine.

Failure to Eject Spent Case:

Firearm malfunction caused by a broken or weak extractor or ejector, bad ammo, dirty chamber. The empty shell casing may remain in the chamber, or may partially ejected and hang out of the ejection port. This is referred to as a “stovepipe”, as seen pictured right.

Failure to Properly Feed a Round Into Chamber:

Firearm malfunction caused by poorly seated or broken magazine.

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Firearm Malfunction Clearing:

Slam magazine into the magazine well. Tug to make sure it is seated. Tilt gun to the right so that any loose debris will fail out of the ejection port. Cycle Action rapidly. Pull back all the way and allow it to slam home. Hit forward assist (on AR’s).

If that does not work: Lock bolt or slide to rear. Remove magazine. Reach in and clear out chamber. Roll gun to right so ejection port is down. Cycle action three times. Insert new magazine (old one may be causing problem) Chamber round. Use forward assist (on AR’s).

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Ammunition Malfunctions:

Hang-fire:

If handled correctly this will be a non-event. The rare case of the priming compound not igniting immediately. It may ignite after a delay. Keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction for at least 30 seconds before unloading the firearm. If the round does fire while the weapon is pointed in a safe direction then there should not be any more problems unless you have a bad batch of ammunition.

Misfire:

If handled correctly this will be a non-event. Happens when a cartridge does not fire when the firing pin hits the primer. When this happens, the shooter must keep the gun pointed in a safe direction and wait for at least 30 seconds before opening the bot. The misfire normally happens because the strike by the firing pin was too weak to fire the priming compound or because there was no priming compound where the fining pin hit the cartridge’s primer.

Squib:

If not handled correctly, this can result in a catastrophic event. The rare case where the primer ignites, but there are not enough gasses to force the bullet out of the barrel. If the round fired did not sound right, nor did it hit the target, stop and do not fire another round. A bullet may be lodged in the barrel and the firearm may burst if another round is fired as seen in the photos above. If possible, remove the bolt or open the action and inspect the barrel from the breech. If a bullet is in the breech, use a rod and push it out from the breech. Never push it back in from the muzzle. Clean the barrel before shooting again.

Double-Charge:

This will most likely result in a catastrophic event. It is the result of an accidental over-charging of propellant during the manufacturing of the ammunition cartridge.

“Kaboom”:

A slang term for when a firearm explodes (see photos above). This is usually due to an obstruction in the barrel, such as firing another round into a squib, or a double-charge of propellant (as discussed above).