CHAPTER 7

OPERATING A HANDGUN

HOW FIREARMS WORK

Firearms, no matter what type, are basically pretty simple. They all have certain parts. All firearms have a frame, a barrel, and an action. As stated before, firearms are just launching pads for bullets. They contain the bullet in the moment of firing and, using a barrel, direct the bullet toward its desired direction.

FRAME

The frame is the structure to which all other components are attached. The grips are attached to the lower part of the frame. Grips are usually constructed of wood, rubber, or plastic. The grips are attached to the portion of the frame called the back strap. On some guns, such as polymer framed guns, there is not an actual back strap that the grips attach to; however, we still use the term for reference purposes to cut down on confusion when we discuss things like the grip of the handgun.

The frame contains the trigger guard, which protects the trigger from being snagged and causing an unintentional discharge. The rear sight is also attached to the frame and is used in conjunction with the front sight post to aim the handgun.

BARREL

The barrel is the metal tube that the bullet passes through as it leaves the gun. The barrel contains a bore, which is the name for the inside of the barrel. Machined into the bore are grooves called rifling. This spiral machining inside the barrel puts spin on the bullet in order to stabilize it in flight. This is similar to a child’s top. As long as the toy is spinning the top is stable and upright. When it slows down or stops spinning, the top is wobbly, erratic, and falls sideways. You don’t want your fired bullet to move in a wobbly, erratic, or sideways movement.

A bullet without spin is inaccurate and may impact the target sideways, causing a keyhole-like puncture in the target.

The rifling that causes the bullet to spin is made of two parts. Lands are the high spots of the rifling. Grooves are low spots or troughs in the rifling. This is important to know because it is how the caliber is measured.

Caliber is the size of the inside of the barrel. The caliber is measured in hundredths of an inch (such as .38) or in millimeters (such as 9mm). Caliber is measured from land to land (i.e., from high spot to high spot) across the diameter of the inside of the barrel.

ACTION

The action consists of the moving parts used to load, fire, and unload the firearm. Most of the moving parts of a handgun make up the action. The trigger, hammer, firing pin, semiauto slide, and revolver cylinders are all parts of firearm actions. Unlike the frame or the barrel, the action is a group of parts and not a single piece.

THE MECHANICS BEHIND A REVOLVER

We have previously discussed that revolvers got their name from the revolving cylinder that contains multiple firing chambers. We did not discuss what a firing chamber is at that point, but we will now. A firing chamber is the location the round or bullet is in when it fires. Because a round in a revolver fires from its position in the cylinder, each position in the revolver’s cylinder is considered a firing chamber.

After you load the cylinder, close it, and pull the trigger, a few things will happen. In a double-action revolver (the only kind of revolver you should use for self-defense), the cylinder will rotate to place a firing chamber in line with the barrel. Simultaneously, the hammer will move rearward, cocking the handgun.

The revolver is timed so that the when the trigger is fully to the rear, the firing chamber will be lined up with the barrel and the hammer will be released from its rearmost or cocked position.

The hammer will then fall and either a firing pin attached to the hammer will strike the bullet’s primer, or the hammer will strike an internal firing pin inside the revolver. Either way, the hammer falling will cause the cartridge to ignite.

THE MECHANICS BEHIND A SEMIAUTOMATIC

This type of handgun is more complicated than revolvers, as the round is not stationary inside the pistol like it is in the revolver. The rounds are loaded into a removable magazine. This magazine is spring loaded, and as a cartridge or round is removed from the magazine into the gun, another will move up to replace it.

When a magazine is inserted into a semiautomatic pistol, the bottom of the pistol’s closed slide puts pressure on the top of the magazine. This pressure pushes the rounds slightly lower than the spring pressure from the magazine wants the rounds to sit. As the slide is pulled back, this release of pressure pushes a round upward so that when the slide moves forward it will catch on the tip of the extended round and push it forward. As the round moves forward it will butt against a feed ramp. This ramp is attached to the barrel and guides the round into the barrel. Since the round is fired while inside the barrel, the internal end of the barrel is also the pistol’s firing chamber.

This slide movement to the rear will also cock the hammer on most models of semiautos. Some semiautomatics are called Double-Action Only (DAO). A DAO pistol has a disconnector that does not allow the hammer to stay cocked (held to the rear); each trigger pull cocks the hammer just like a double-action revolver.

Either way, once a round is inside the pistol’s chamber and the handgun is cocked, the trigger can be pressed to the rear, releasing the hammer to strike the pistol’s firing pin. This in turn strikes the primer, and ignites the round.

Extractor.

Semiautomatics then use the power of the round’s inertia to push the slide to the rear. A small hook called an extractor clips itself to the rim at the base of the spent round and pulls it from the firing chamber. Once the round is hooked and the slide is fully to the rear, an additional small bar called an ejector is exposed from the face of the slide. This ejector pushes the round off the extractor and out and away from the gun.

Ejector.

The slide is then pulled forward under spring pressure, picking up another round and preparing the cycle to begin again. What is nice about a semiautomatic handgun is that all that is done automatically by the mechanics inside the pistol. Each trigger pull by the shooter not only fires a single round, but as long as there are rounds in the magazine, the semiautomatic will prepare itself to fire another round at the next trigger pull.

HOW BULLETS WORK IN THE FIREARM

I have said repeatedly that what is important is the bullet and not the firearm, so let’s examine how bullets actually work.

There are many terms used interchangeably when discussing rounds. Sometimes they are called rounds, bullets, cartridges, or ammunition. Each of these means something a little different, but for our purposes we will just discuss the component parts of a round of ammunition.

A cartridge is the complete, ready to use ammunition. It is what is loaded into the firearm to make it work.

A cartridge is made up of component parts:

The cartridge case is a brass, steel, aluminum or other metal cup that holds all the other parts. It can be thought as the frame for the round. The base of the case is called the head, which is marked with a stamp that shows what caliber the case is designed for and who made it. The head also contains the primer.

There are two main types of priming systems for ammunition. The type is determined by how the cartridge is initiated.

A centerfire primer is a small cup containing a small amount of pressure-sensitive explosive and a small anvil for the compound to be crushed against. When the firing pin strikes the primer held in the center of the cartridge head, the priming compound is crushed between the primer cup and the anvil, causing a small detonation. This causes a flame to flare inside the cartridge case, igniting the propellant.

In a rimfire case, there is no central primer; the priming compound is mechanically spun in the base of the case itself, so that when a firing pin strikes the rim of the case it causes the flame to be created.

Most centerfire ammunition can be taken apart with special tools and reloaded to be used again. It is outside the capabilities of the hobbyist to reload rimfire ammunition.

The most common ammunition in terms of caliber available is centerfire. Almost every firearm suitable for defensive use will be centerfire. Rimfire is more common in terms of quantity as it’s much smaller and cheaper. The .22 is the most common rimfire cartridge and sees much use as a target or practice round.

Inside the case is a propellant of some type. Modern ammunition contains smokeless gunpowder that when ignited by the primer rapidly burns, creating a large volume of gas very quickly. It is the increase in pressure caused by this gas that propels the bullet out of the barrel at high speed.

The mouth of the cartridge case is pressed around the bullet. When the round if ignited by the primer, the mouth of the cartridge case flares out slightly, creating a seal inside the firing chamber. This seal does not allow the hot gasses to flow anywhere but down the barrel. That is the main reason it’s not safe to use rounds not specifically made in the caliber of the handgun.

There are many types of bullets, from inexpensive cast lead bullets for target practice to specially designed bullets with an indention in the head that is designed to expand inside the target. Any bullet fired from a handgun faces a limitation in energy because of simple physics. Any round that is powerful enough to pick up the target and throw it across the room would pick up the shooter and throw them across the room at the same time. A hollow-point bullet is designed to maximize the release of its energy inside the target by rapidly opening up in size and staying inside the target rather than passing completely through them and possibly hitting an innocent bystander to the rear.

When a firearm is loaded and ready to fire, the trigger is pressed. This causes a firing pin to strike the back of the round or bullet at the primer. This primer contains a very small amount of a pressure sensitive explosive. This explosive is ignited by the slamming of the firing pin into the primer causing a hot flash of fire inside the bullet.

Once a gun is fired and the bullet leaves the barrel, the inertia caused by the fast-moving bullet will cause force to be applied in the opposite direction of the bullet’s travel. This opposite movement is recoil. Recoil is generally not very severe and is mitigated by bullet size, handgun size, type of handgun action, and the body mechanics of the person shooting. Larger bullets have more energy and therefore more recoil, but larger handguns absorb recoil, thereby reducing its force. Firearm design and how you hold the handgun also has an effect on the recoil you feel as you fire the handgun.

CLEARING (UNLOADING) PROCEDURES

Clearing is the process of unloading a firearm. It is a procedure that should be performed any time a firearm is handled. It is generally impossible to tell if a firearm is unloaded by sight alone.

There are different procedures for clearing revolvers and semiautomatics; however, the principles are the same.

UNLOADING A REVOLVER

If a revolver is going to be handled, pick it up in your strong hand by the grips. With your thumb, push the cylinder release lever. This lever (or button) is located on the left side of the pistol. Using your support hand, push the cylinder open and visually inspect the cylinder to ensure that no rounds are present.

If you see rounds present, raise the barrel of the pistol straight up, keeping the pistol between chest and waist level. Use the palm of your support hand to firmly press the ejector rod located on the muzzle end of the cylinder. Pushing this rod down toward the cylinder will push out any rounds. Once this is done, lower the barrel and inspect the cylinder again. At no time should your trigger finger be inside the trigger guard. You also need to be careful as you do this not to muzzle your support hand as you move it around the barrel. Even though you are unloading the handgun, you still need to be aware that you are pointing the muzzle in a safe direction.

If the rounds inside the cylinder are unfired, they will fall free as soon as you raise the barrel. If they have been fired, however, you will need to press ejector rod to push out the empty cases. This is because the mouth of the round was flared out to create that seal that was discussed earlier.

Unloading a revolver is simple.

When you are on the range you’re going to be tempted to dump these expended cases into your hand. Do not do it. When you do anything but let them fall to the ground you are training yourself to dump your empty casings in your hand. It will slow you down in a crisis situation. I can understand that on the range it is extra work to pick up the spent cases from the ground after you are finished, but time has shown that, under stress, you perform the actions you have practiced. Actual gunfights have resulted in dead policemen with unloaded guns and spent cases in their pockets.

In a fight you do not rise to the situation, you default to the level you have mastered. So always practice in the manner you intend to use your handgun.

UNLOADING A SEMIAUTOMATIC

The very first thing that should be done when clearing a semiautomatic is that the magazine should be removed. The magazine release is generally located behind the trigger on the grip or at the bottom of the grip near the floor plate of the magazine. Removing the magazine removes all rounds except the one in the chamber. If a round is removed from the chamber with rounds in the magazine, the slide will automatically pick up a new round and reload the chamber.

Failing to remove the magazine first is a major cause of handgun accidents. Many negligent discharges have occurred because the user removed the round from the chamber before removing the magazine and then removed the magazine, leaving one round still in the handgun.

Once the magazine has been removed, grasp the handgun in your strong hand as if you were going to use it. Then, with fingers off the trigger, using the support hand to grasp the rear of the slide and keeping the pistol pointed in a safe direction, pull the slide to the rear and either lock it back or hold it open.

With the slide to the rear, visually inspect the chamber and if the slide can be locked to the rear, lock it and physically inspect the chamber by sticking your little finger into it. This ensures that it is in fact empty and you did not just “go through the motions.” If you have ever moved and driven home on “auto-pilot” ending up at your old house, you understand that sometimes we get used to doing things a certain way. If you have cleared your handgun hundreds of times and never saw a round in the chamber, you can fool your brain so that the one time there is a round in the chamber you don’t see it. That’s why we physically check.

There’s no fooling the finger.

LOADING PROCEDURES

As with clearing a firearm, the procedures for loading are different depending on handgun type. Always read your manual before you use your firearm for the first time.

LOADING A REVOLVER

Using a speed loader. Photo by Oleg Volk.

Loading revolvers is simple. Once you have cleared the revolver, and with the barrel pointed at the ground, place a single round in each firing chamber. While this is simple, it is also slow. If you remember the earlier section on revolvers, the slowness to load is the main reason police agencies went to semiautomatics.

In order to reduce the movements it takes to load a revolver (to increase speed), various speed loading devices have been created. There are two basic types, the speed strip and the speed loader.

Using a speed strip. Photo by Oleg Volk.

A speed strip is a rubber bar with cutouts for six rounds. Using a speed strip allows the loading of two rounds at a time instead of one. This cuts the loading movements in half. It also allows for easier carrying of spare ammunition, as it keeps the rounds together.

The second type is the speed loader. A speed loader is a device that is shaped to match the chambers of the model of revolver for which it is made. A pin inside the speed loader holds the rounds by their rims. The speed loader is then lined up with the cylinder, allowing all chambers to be filled at the same time. This can be extremely fast if practiced.

It is not necessary to load the entire cylinder to fire the weapon. Law enforcement officers have been killed holding partially loaded cylinders while in the process of reloading. Your revolver will fire as long as there is a live round inline with the barrel (top cylinder) when the hammer falls.

The problem is that, as the hammer is drawn back, the cylinder rotates. If less than a full cylinder is loaded with ammunition you must ensure that the cylinder immediately behind the barrel is empty. You must also ensure that the first loaded round is directly next to the top cylinder opposite to the direction of rotation. This means that, if the cylinder rotates clockwise, the loaded round must be to the left of the top cylinder and if the cylinder rotates counterclockwise, the loaded round must be to the right of the top cylinder.

Because of this detail, it is important to become familiar with the rotation of your handgun cylinder. Luckily this will not change in your handgun, and most firearms rotate clockwise. There are a few types, such as Colt, that rotate counterclockwise.

LOADING A SEMIAUTOMATIC

Loading a semiautomatic involves inserting a loaded magazine and placing a round inside the chamber. There are two ways to do this: administrative loading and reloading from a locked open slide.

ADMINISTRATIVE LOAD

With the administrative load, you’re either on the range or preparing to carry. There is no time constraint placed upon you. Pick up the handgun in your dominant hand. Pick up a loaded magazine in your support hand. Place your index finger along the edge of the magazine on the bullet side of the magazine, with the flat head end of the round against your palm. Raise the handgun to eye level and while keeping the handgun pointed in a safe direction, insert the magazine into the base of the gun. Use your support hand index finger on the magazine to help your brain find the magazine well. This works because your brain keeps track of all of your appendages; otherwise you’d stab your eye instead of your mouth when eating spaghetti. Once the magazine is inserted, use the palm of your support hand to fully seat the magazine. You want to hear a “click.” If the magazine does not fully snap into the gun then the slide will not be able to pick up rounds, therefore causing a malfunction.

Finger indexed on magazine for a non-visual clue.

Once the magazine is in place, you need to chamber a round. This can be difficult for the first-time shooter, because they try to muscle the slide instead of using proper technique. While keeping the handgun pointed in a safe direction (meaning not to your side), grasp the top of the slide behind the ejection port with your support hand. While pushing forward on the handgun grip with your dominant hand, pull straight back on the slide with your support hand. Do this firmly; you are not going to break the gun. When the slide is moved as far as it will mechanically move, release the slide with your support hand and let the slide “slingshot” forward.

Proper grip on the slide to pull the slide to the rear. Photo by Oleg Volk.

Do not attempt to assist or help the slide go forward. To do so will only keep the firearm from functioning as designed and may cause a feeding malfunction. This is a good example of where you need to decide to what to do and then do it. Hesitation, or a stop and go approach will cause you to only half rack the slide. It is not under extreme pressure, but there is a spring you have to compress. Failure to fully pull the slide to the rear and release it in a single motion can cause malfunctions such as a double feed or failure to load. Do not let this frustrate you. I have never had a student that had trouble racking the slide once they began using proper technique decisively.

SLIDE LOCK RELOAD

You may need to load the gun after firing it dry. Most defensive firearms have a feature that will cause the slide to lock open when the magazine is empty. If your firearm does not do this, then simply reload it using the previous technique.

If your slide locks open on an empty magazine, then slightly invert and turn the muzzle about 45 degrees inboard, which means that the barrel should still be pointed downrange, but slightly to the left if you’re holding the pistol in your right hand. This movement causes the gun to slide slightly in your hand so that the magazine release (if it’s located behind and below the trigger, as is normal) is now under the thumb of your shooting hand.

You should simultaneously reach for the loaded magazine with your support hand. Index your finger on the front of the new magazine just as with the administrative load. Once you have the loaded magazine in your hand, use the thumb of your shooting hand to release the empty magazine. Let it fall free just as you would empty cases from a revolver.

Your gun should be at eye level and your focus should be on your target. You do not want to be fumbling and looking at your magazines and let your attacker have the opportunity to hide out of your sight. Slide your new magazine inside the handgun just as before. Once it locks in place, you can release the slide and your gun will once again be fully loaded.

Some firearms have a release on the slide that will send it forward; however, it’s a lot easier under stress to reach up and grasp the back of the slide with your support hand, just as you did to rack it, and pull the slide slightly to the rear. Once you have moved the slide backwards slightly, the slide lock will be released and you can let the slide go and it will slingshot forward just as it did administratively.

Done correctly, and with practice, this is a very quick method to reload and can be done without having to take your eyes off of your threat.

Some things to be aware of are:

• If you are reloading during a fight, do so behind cover. You do not want to be standing in the middle of the street cursing your empty gun while bullets are coming at you.

• Never take your eyes off the threat. You don’t want him to sneak away and come at you from a blind spot while you are reloading.

• Never drop your magazine until you have a full one in your hand. Sometimes people reload their gun without fully emptying the magazine. But some guns are designed not to work without a magazine in the handgun even if there is a round in the chamber. If you have such a gun, and drop your magazine, but your spare somehow gets lost, your gun is worthless. It has happened, so just don’t let it happen to you.

• Do not try to reload at warp speed. If you try to move faster than your training you only cause yourself to fumble. Try for smooth. Going slow enough to make sure you only have to do it once is many times faster than fumbling at speed.

• Keep movements to a minimum. Keep the gun at eye level and near the same extension you use to shoot. Bringing the gun down to your waist is natural, but it makes you look down, and takes time to get the gun back into position.

MECHANICAL SAFETIES

A safety is a mechanical device on a firearm intended to prevent the weapon from discharging. There are numerous types of safeties, both internal and external.

Revolvers generally do not have any external safeties; however, new revolvers might have a lock built into them that will render the hammer unable to be cocked. Modern revolvers also have a hammer block, which protects the primer in the top cylinder from being impacted by the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled.

Semiautomatics have a much wider variety of safeties. Some have a grip safety that must be depressed by the firing hand in order for the weapon to fire. Various levers could be built into the handgun to lock the hammer and prevent the handgun from firing.

Some of these levers disconnect the trigger so that they must be turned on for the trigger to activate the firing pin. Others will safely release (or drop) the hammer without firing the handgun. This type of safety is known as a de-cocker. As you may imagine, the ability to de-cock a firearm that must be cocked to fire (such as a single action revolver or semiauto) is an important safety feature.

A final safety device on some semiautomatic handguns is a magazine disconnect. In firearms with this type of safety, the handgun cannot fire if the magazine is removed. The idea behind this is that, in the event of an assault, the handgun owner may remove or drop the magazine so that the attacker cannot use the gun if the attacker is able to take it away from the owner.

No matter what type of safety the handgun has, it is no good if you cannot use it under stress. Finally, be aware that all safeties are mechanical devices and are prone to failure. Never use the safety as a crutch and expect it to protect you from unsafe handling procedures.

GIVING THE HANDGUN TO ANOTHER PERSON

There is an etiquette that has evolved to ensure the safety of others around handguns. If you are clearing the handgun in order to either give or show the handgun to another or to demonstrate using the handgun, you should show the empty chambers to the other person. It is polite to give the handgun to the other person grips first, so that they can take the handgun from you by the grips. Do so with the action open or the cylinder swung out on a revolver.

Never point a handgun, either loaded or unloaded, at another person unless you are legally justified to shoot that person.

MALFUNCTIONS

There are two types of malfunctions—ammunition and weapon. In this modern age, both can be reduced to near 100 percent function levels by purchasing quality equipment and then giving your equipment proper care.

One of the reasons to fire many hundreds of rounds of practice ammunition in your self-defense handgun is to ensure that it is 100 percent reliable. I can tolerate a supremely accurate gun that is so finely machined with tolerances so tight that a grain of sand or grit causes it to malfunction a time or two every couple hundred rounds if it’s a target gun. But on a gun that I depend on to save my life I do not tolerate any malfunctions. I ensure that my defense gun and defense ammunition work together flawlessly.

AMMUNITION MALFUNCTIONS

Malfunctions of ammunition are rare when using quality factory ammunition; however, they do happen. On a range, there are specific administrative practices to increase safety that would be ignored in the event the same malfunction occurred in a lethal force situation.

As we discuss these practices, it will hopefully be clear why this is one of the only areas that you train differently than you would desire to act in an actual hostile shooting incident.

MISFIRE

A misfire is a failure of the round to fire after the primer has been struck. This is the most common type of malfunction. Its causes are many: Reloaded ammunition with poor primers, a broken firing pin, or a firing pin that does not strike the primer deep enough to ignite the cartridge are common causes. Another overlooked cause is using WD-40 or some other non-gun cleaner when cleaning your gun. Cleaners such as these are notorious for finding a way into the ammunition and deactivating the primer compound.

HANGFIRE

A perceptible delay in ignition of the cartridge after the primer was struck is known as a hangfire. When you have a hangfire, you pull the trigger and nothing happens, just like a misfire; however, after a noticeable delay the round will fire. This can be devastating if a hangfire is thought to be a misfire and the round is ejected before it goes off.

When a cartridge fails to fire immediately, it will not be known if it is a hangfire or a misfire. Therefore, in a training situation, always act the safest way possible and treat them both as if it is a hangfire. To do this, keep the handgun pointed downrange, and wait at least fifteen seconds before opening the action and removing the cartridge.

During a lethal force encounter, one must balance the dangers of misdiagnosing a hangfire with the danger of not returning fire. Obviously, when someone is trying to shoot you, they are more dangerous than the slight possibility of injury from a hangfire that may or may not exist. In a lethal force scenario, if your handgun fails to fire, treat it as a misfire and perform the tap-rack-assess maneuver that we will discuss shortly.

SQUIB LOAD

A squib load is when less than normal pressure is developed after the ignition of the cartridge. It is indicated by reduced noise or recoil. Keep the handgun pointed downrange and unload. Check the chamber and barrel for obstructions.

The obstruction in the center of the barrel is a bullet.

The danger with a squib load is that the bullet becomes stuck in the barrel. If another round is fired, causing the second bullet to impact the first bullet inside the barrel, a huge increase in pressure inside the barrel results. This pressure could be enough to cause the barrel to explode. I don’t want that to happen when it is in my hand, and I am sure you feel the same way.

A squib load is commonly diagnosed by a “pop without a bang” when firing. Just remember, if you’re firing your handgun and you see, feel, or hear anything that is not normal, stop firing and check your handgun for any defects.

MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS

Malfunctions happen; that’s why we learn how to deal with them. In the worst-case scenario of a lethal force situation, do not allow a weapon malfunction to cost you your life. Maintain your handgun regularly, inspect it before use, fire enough ammunition to learn what brand of ammunition works best in your handgun, and practice how to fix malfunctions.

REVOLVERS

A malfunction in a double-action revolver is generally easy to resolve. If the gun fails to fire, pull the trigger again. Keep pulling the trigger until the handgun fires, or you have attempted to shoot it as many times as the revolver has chambers. Once you have attempted this, dump the rounds and reload.

SEMIAUTOMATICS

These are a little more complicated, as the round is part of the firing mechanism and moves in the course of loading, firing, extracting, and ejecting.

FAILURE TO FIRE

Click, no bang; your weapon is loaded, but nothing happened. It could be a misfire, or it could be a magazine that is not fully seated. Either way, there is a simple universal first step to attempting to fix the problem.

TAP–RACK–ASSESS

Tap the bottom of the magazine to ensure the magazine is fully seated in the handgun.

Rack the slide sharply to the rear by grasping it firmly and pulling it backwards. Then once it is fully to the rear, let it go to allow it to slingshot forward. This will remove the malfunctioning round and load a fresh cartridge into the barrel of the handgun.

Assess the situation and determine if a shot needs to be fired. The military teaches this as tap-rack-bang, and trains its members to fire a round after racking the slide; however, the armed citizen never has the luxury of firing a shot without consideration as to where the bullet will go.

STOVEPIPE

Stovepipe. Photo by Oleg Volk.

A stovepipe malfunction is a partially ejected bullet case that binds the slide and does not allow the slide to fully close (go into battery). A portion of the spent casing will protrude from the slide much like a stovepipe protrudes from a wood stove.

Remedial action is simple. Forcefully rake your support hand across the top of the slide from the front of the gun to the rear. The purpose of this action is to catch and push the protruding round out and away from the handgun. Do this while pointing the handgun downrange, and ensure that the muzzle never points at your support hand.

Once the round is knocked clear, rack the slide to the rear to feed a new round and assess the situation.

DOUBLE FEED

Double feed. Photo by Oleg Volk.

This is an intensive malfunction that takes some work to correct. This malfunction is caused when, for whatever reason, a round is not extracted from the barrel of the firearm and another round is picked up by the slide and stuck inside the handgun.

In order to clear this malfunction, the first thing needed is to lock the slide to the rear if the firearm has a slide lock. If the firearm does not have a slide lock, move to the next step, which is to remove the magazine from the pistol.

This could be difficult and the magazine might need to be pried out with the fingers. After the magazine is removed, grasp the rear of the slide in the support hand and rapidly and positively rack the slide three or four times to clear the action. Then re-insert a loaded magazine. Charge the pistol (by racking the slide to insert another round into the chamber). Reassess the situation.

CLEANING

Handgun cleaning is often overlooked or disregarded. It can be thought of as a chore. It is sometimes thought to be unnecessary when the firearm operator owns a polymer handgun such as a Glock. This is not true. There are many reasons and times for cleaning your handgun. This is especially true if your handgun is to be used for defensive purposes. If you stake your life on a piece of equipment, do you not think that equipment deserves proper care?

WHEN TO CLEAN

You should clean your handgun every time it is used. After each range session, disassemble your handgun and clean it. You should also clean your firearm before use if stored for long periods. Lastly, when you first purchase a new firearm, you should clean it before you use it for the first time.

Before you begin to clean your handgun for the first time, it is very important to read the manual. When I bought my first new Glock pistol, I immediately broke it down and cleaned it. I noticed copper grease on the slides and thought it was residue from the factory’s test firing. It wasn’t until after shooting my first five hundred rounds that I bothered to read the manual. Once I did, I learned that this grease was a lapping compound that was designed to properly form the gun slide and frame rails to match each other, and was put there on purpose. I also learned that the manufacturer recommended that the gun not be cleaned until this residue was naturally removed by firing.

This shows that no matter how experienced or knowledgeable you think you are, nobody knows everything. Always read the manual before handling a new firearm.

WHY CLEAN?

Correct cleaning helps ensure handguns will operate properly. When the inside of the handgun is full of dirt, grime, carbon, rust, pocket lint, etc., the levers and springs cannot function properly. In some extreme cases, fouling of the barrel can even increase pressures inside the pistol to dangerous levels. Cleaning a handgun also allows a level of inspection that general use does not. When you are closely looking at the internal portions of your pistol to ensure your gun is clean, you can also see any broken pieces.

Cleaning preserves the finish and protects against rust. A handgun can be an expensive investment. It is common for new firearms to cost over $1,000. When you factor in resale value which is calculated partly by the amount of finish left on the gun, it makes sense to keep your gun free of rust. The natural oil on your hands alone can cause rust; it is important that you clean this off after you handle the firearm.

Lastly, and as importantly as any other reason, cleaning reinforces handgun use. Once you have cleaned your gun, you need to operate it without ammunition to ensure that it has been put back together properly. This manipulation of the handgun, without ammunition, will reinforce in your head the operations you need to take in order to properly use the weapon.

CLEANING MATERIALS

While it is usually easiest to buy your cleaning materials in kit form at a store, it is not necessary. A sporting goods store will normally carry the basic items needed to clean a handgun. These items are:

• Cloth patches

• Cleaning rod

• Soft cloth

• Cleaning rod attachments (screwed into end of rod)

• Bore brush

• Tip to hold patches

• Small brush (old toothbrush works fine)

• Bore cleaner

• Lubricant

Common cleaning materials.

When buying a kit, the label will designate whether the kit is for a rifle, a shotgun, or a pistol. It will also designate the calibers for which the kit is used. It is not necessary to purchase a new kit for each handgun you buy, as most parts are interchangeable. If you already have a pistol cleaning kit, and have a new gun in a different caliber, simply buy cleaning rod attachments (and maybe patches) for the new caliber.

HOW TO CLEAN

• Be sure the gun is unloaded, action open, and no ammunition is present.

• Attach bore brush to rod and dip brush in bore cleaner.

• Run the soaked bore brush through the gun bore several times.

• Remove bore brush and attach patch tip and patch, and dip the tip in bore cleaner.

• Run patch through bore of pistol barrel ten to twelve times.

• Attach a clean patch in the patch tip and run it through the barrel several times.

• Inspect the patch; if it is dirty, repeat the above actions until the patch is clean.

• Run a lightly oiled patch through the bore.

• If cleaning a revolver, repeat the above for each chamber of the cylinder.

• Use the small brush, dipped in bore cleaner, to clean other areas.

• Wipe the outside of the pistol with a cloth and add a light coat of oil.

Lightly lubricate (lubrication points vary with each type of handgun). Ensure that you use the type of oil and lubrication points designated in the firearm’s instruction manual. Too much or the wrong kind of oil can hurt performance. Too much oil will attract dirt and grime that can mix together to make an abrasive paste that wears your firearm or causes it to jam. The wrong kind of oil (like WD-40) can seep into your ammunition and cause ammunition malfunctions.

Once you have finished cleaning the handgun and reassembled it, perform a function check of each operation of the pistol. This is performed before you reunite the pistol with its ammunition. Make sure everything works, including all the safeties and all the levers. Now is the time to locate any broken parts, not when your life hangs in the balance.

There have been accidents during cleaning when the shooter function checks the firearm a couple times, gets distracted, loads the gun, and then fires what he thinks is an empty firearm causing a very bad, very loud day. Anytime you are finished function checking or dry firing your firearm set it down and say out loud, “I am done dry firing my firearm.” This may seem silly at first, but it creates a mental stop that may prevent a tragedy.