Lesson 9: Malfunctions, Jams and Stoppages

In this lesson you will learn about common pistol malfunctions, jams, and stoppages. You will practice clearing jams and malfunctions during your next scheduled range day.

Failure to Fire

This occurs when the trigger is pressed, the sear releases the hammer, the firing pin hits the cartridge, but it does not fire. There is an indentation (called “light primer strike”) on the round’s primer or rim, but there is no bang. The Misfire occurs because either the round was a dud or there was a hang fire. It may be due to a faulty primer or the handgun’s firing pin, etc. The primer or gunpowder in the cartridge malfunctions and does not work causing the handgun to not discharge. The primer is a metal cup and a chemical priming compound is inside the cup. The idea is that the firing pin impacts the chemical compound causing the chemical to ignite. A “Dud” cartridge does not fire at all and the problem is usually the ammo.

Failure to Feed (FTF)

A FTF is when a cartridge does not load into the chamber. The handgun fails to feed a cartridge into the firing chamber for some reason. Usually the ammo or magazine are the culprits, but it could be more serious. In a semi-automatic pistol this means that the cartridge is not properly transferred from the magazine to the chamber and the slide remains partially open.

Failure to Extract

The cartridge fires, but the extractor does not pull the fired case from the chamber so it can be ejected. The cartridge case remains in the chamber. Another round cannot be fed into the chamber because of this. A cartridge must extract before it can be ejected. A live round feeding into the rear of an already- fired round is a Failure to Extract. Sometimes there is a “Double-Feed” in which two live rounds are trying to feed into the chamber at the same time. An un-fired live round is still in the chamber and a second live round has been picked up from the magazine and forced against the unfired round also in the chamber. The gun is out of battery with the slide partially open or locked back, so you can see both the first cartridge and the second cartridge wedged together.

Failure to Eject

The fired case is pulled from the chamber by the extractor, but not fully ejected through the ejection port, causing the slide to lock partially open on the empty case. Sometimes the case is trapped by the slide and held in an upright position with the empty open part of the case pointing up like a chimney of a stove. Thus, the nickname for this failure of “Stovepipe.” FTE can be caused by a buildup of lead, carbon, or some fouling on the ejector spring or extractor. Also, there can be resistance in the cycling process from a corroded chamber that can hinder extraction, so then there would be a FTE the cartridge. “Limp Wristing” may again also be the problem.