on October 13, 2009 9:14 PM
At my last pistol class, on the first day we went over some common malfunctions and clearing techniques. You can get the gist of it in the video below. The specific malfunction I am having a problem with is the "stovepipe" jam.
On the first day I used my RIA Tactical and it worked pretty well.
The next day, we did it at the firing range, and I muffed it pretty good. I was using my EMP and while I thought I did it correctly it didn't work without me holding the slide back and shaking the gun around to get the round out. It was raining and was thinking that I must not have gotten a good grip on the slide to yank it back with enough authority.
I know should have practiced this a lot sooner, but I finally got around to it tonight and I think the problem is my hands are too big and/or my gun is too small. Even with a nice firm dry grip, I can not clear a stovepipe using this technique. The casing tends to come out just by taking a grip, but the round in the chamber bounces off my hand and causes a mess.
You can see the problem here. A good portion of the ejection port is covered by my pinky finger.
Compare that with the RIA Tactical where just a little bit of the port is covered by my pinky.
I first tried to see if I could just "teacup" it and dangle my pinky off. That "shadowed" the ejection port, and still had the potential to deflect the round back into the gun. Also, it was pretty un-natural feeling.
Next I tried to see if I could just raise up my pinky. That actually got more of the meat of my palm into the business area, and again is rather awkward to do.
Finally, I managed to get the technique essentially working by using my ring and pinky fingers against the rear sight. This is a real bear to do and if the gun was slick it wouldn't work at all.
So, while the technique as taught has advantages for most people, it just won't work for me and this gun.
I think it would be much quicker and less error prone to tap, wipe the shell, and rack. Yes, it adds an extra step, but it works, and like the original should work for me with any semi-automatic pistol.
Come to think of it, I also carry a diminutive Ruger LCP from to time and the original technique would be hopeless for me.
On the first day I used my RIA Tactical and it worked pretty well.
The next day, we did it at the firing range, and I muffed it pretty good. I was using my EMP and while I thought I did it correctly it didn't work without me holding the slide back and shaking the gun around to get the round out. It was raining and was thinking that I must not have gotten a good grip on the slide to yank it back with enough authority.
I know should have practiced this a lot sooner, but I finally got around to it tonight and I think the problem is my hands are too big and/or my gun is too small. Even with a nice firm dry grip, I can not clear a stovepipe using this technique. The casing tends to come out just by taking a grip, but the round in the chamber bounces off my hand and causes a mess.
You can see the problem here. A good portion of the ejection port is covered by my pinky finger.
Compare that with the RIA Tactical where just a little bit of the port is covered by my pinky.
I first tried to see if I could just "teacup" it and dangle my pinky off. That "shadowed" the ejection port, and still had the potential to deflect the round back into the gun. Also, it was pretty un-natural feeling.
Next I tried to see if I could just raise up my pinky. That actually got more of the meat of my palm into the business area, and again is rather awkward to do.
Finally, I managed to get the technique essentially working by using my ring and pinky fingers against the rear sight. This is a real bear to do and if the gun was slick it wouldn't work at all.
So, while the technique as taught has advantages for most people, it just won't work for me and this gun.
I think it would be much quicker and less error prone to tap, wipe the shell, and rack. Yes, it adds an extra step, but it works, and like the original should work for me with any semi-automatic pistol.
Come to think of it, I also carry a diminutive Ruger LCP from to time and the original technique would be hopeless for me.
Update:
Here's a guy with a Glock 21 doing what is going to be my drill. I'm sure Clint handles the malfunction faster, but it doesn't take a great deal longer. (I think it takes him longer to recognize the problem than it does to fix it.)
Here's a guy with a Glock 21 doing what is going to be my drill. I'm sure Clint handles the malfunction faster, but it doesn't take a great deal longer. (I think it takes him longer to recognize the problem than it does to fix it.)
This is very similar to what my CC instructor was demonstrating. It is nice to see it put into action in these videos.
I know that it is technically poor form, but perhaps for your small pistol you should try to slingshot the slide with your thumb and the side of your index finger instead of the proper over the top method.
You'd loose a bit of strength in the execution, but contorting your pinky finger is killing your power too. Racking it without the index finger in your last picture looks like you're asking for trouble. You probably have more strength in your index finger and thumb than you do in your three smaller fingers.
Great video. That's what I call instruction. KIS,S. That's either keep it simple, stupid or keep it shooting, shithead, whichever works. I'm glad I saw it. Is that the guy you go to or a commercial video or what?
I wouldn't want the habit of racking and re-firing to be so ingrained that I fired into a blocked barrel. You need to be sure to know when a stovepipe might be the result of a squibbed round that may have left a bullet lodged somewhere down the barrel. It happened to me, so it can happen to you.
My aunt and I were test firing her P38. It and the ammo had been in storage for a few years. It was my first 9mm. It happened almost immediately, maybe even the first round. I honestly can't remember if it was stovepiped and I re-racked or if the next round actually chambered, but even though I didn't know what it was, something was keeping me from pulling the trigger. The sound had been wrong, it hadn't felt right. It was the first time I'd fired a 9mm, but still... something wasn't right, I just didn't know what.
I dropped the clip, ejected the chambered round and found it covered in green and brown pellets. Even then I wasn't sure if it was powder or just crud. I looked down the barrel and all was made clear. Couldn't see diddly. Still spooks me to think how close I was to pulling off that next round and I often wonder if I will always be able to notice a squibbed round the next time. I just barely noticed the first.
I guess squibs don't happen much anymore. Maybe I would have gotten lucky and the next would have been just as big a dud. I'll never know. Threw it all away and took the gun to a smith. Bought it off my aunt and used it for years. Traded it for a mini-14.
That is Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch. I have taken classes from Karl Rehn (http://krtraining.com/) and Tom Givens (http://www.rangemaster.com/).
Actually you bring up a point that was mentioned in the class. The drill is called "Tap, Rack, Bang" or "TRB" for short. Givens was discussing an officer who had a jam, and performed the drill only to shoot a suspect who had given up. So, really you should "Tap, Rack, Assess".
At the range you should definitely stop if something didn't feel right. In a gun fight I bet you wouldn't even notice a squib, so I guess there's no point in worrying about it too much. Choosing a high quality self-defense round is about all you can do.