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The Second Strike Fallacy - How to clear malfunctions in semi-auto handguns By Don Burke (2002) AZOD Guest Writer
Every so often I have read articles about pretty good semi-auto handguns that catch some grief because they do not have "second strike capability". As a firearms trainer, this intrigued me because I had never heard of this "problem" before. It also intrigued me because, if your weapon malfunctions having this "second strike capability" certainly isn't the way to properly clear a malfunction.
Apparently, some think it is important to have the capability to strike the primer of a cartridge in the chamber more than once without cycling the action. If the round does not fire the first time (like its supposed to) maybe it'll go bang with the second hit from the firing pin. What would cause the weapon to malfunction like this? It could be a faulty primer or maybe a light hit from the firing pin. In the case of the faulty primer, maybe a second hit will work, maybe not. With a light hit, which usually indicates a weapon problem, usually a second hit will do the trick. Usually. Maybe. How about a round that is not fully seated in the chamber? In this case, striking the primer again or a hundred times ain't gonna work. When a weapon is out of battery it is designed not to fire (guns that fire out of battery tend to be sort of hard on the shooter). Depending on the weapon, the firing mechanism may work, but the internal safety will prevent the firing pin from reaching the primer.
So, what is the solution? Well first of all, this second strike business is bunk. In a defensive situation, standing there pulling the trigger again and again going clicka-clicka just wastes time if it doesn't fix the problem. Before I discuss how to properly fix a malfunction (not jam, malfunction; jam is something that goes on toast), let’s talk about different kinds of malfunctions.
One type is failing to fire. It can be caused by faulty ammunition. Another is the weapon not being fully in battery can also seem like a failure to fire. If the fired case gets caught in the ejection port, this is called a failure to eject. Then we have failure to feed where the round from the magazine does not feed into the chamber. Those are four basic malfunctions, although there are many different names for them. Malfunctions can also be caused by a broken weapon, faulty ammunition, faulty magazines, failing to seat the magazine properly...well, you get the idea. It used to be there were many different clearance drills too, one for each type of malfunction. This can be time consuming, realizing the malfunction type, deciding the proper clearance for it and clearing the weapon takes time. In a defensive situation time is a luxury you may not have.
Clearance drills need to be simple and easily performed under stress. They also should be practiced until they are second nature so that under stress one does not have to think about it to perform successfully. A stage one clearance drill, sometimes called a tap, rack, bang or tap, rack assess will usually clear the majority of malfunctions.
Stage one goes like this: when the weapon fails to fire the immediate action with the weapon should be to tap the magazine, making sure it is fully seated. Then, grasping the slide behind the ejection port, smartly cycle the weapon adding a slight twist to the right to help anything in the ejection port come free. When done properly this usually clears the majority of malfunctions. If not, go to stage two.
First lock the slide to the rear. This makes it easier to perform the next step, which is to remove the magazine. Some weapons, like the Glock will allow you to strip the magazine out without locking the slide back. However, when there is a round caught under the feed lips of the magazine and into the feed ramp on the barrel, some weapons will need to have the slide locked to the rear in order to strip out the magazine. Most teach to toss this magazine away, since it could be the cause of the malfunction. However if this is your last magazine it may be wiser to keep it. So, after locking the slide to the rear, strip out the magazine, either tossing it to the deck or sticking it somewhere out of the way. Now, pull back slightly on the slide and release it, allowing it to smartly go into battery. Then cycle the slide smartly twice. This should clear the action. Reload a magazine, making sure it is locked in place, cycle the slide to chamber a round and your weapon should be ready to go.
If the weapon is still not operational at this point, I've always felt that the ability to run away fast and far is a useful skill to have. For me however, I'm fat and can't run very fast so I make up for my shortcomings by carrying lots of guns and bullets (that was humor folks, its ok to laugh).
Stage one takes a practiced shooter less than a second to complete. Stage two can take a little longer, sometimes eight or so seconds, although most shooters can accomplish it in around six seconds. Something else to think about would be using cover effectively while fixing your weapon, but that's something for another time. Second strike? Sounds like an answer to a non-existent problem to me.
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