View Full Version : Handgun Reliability
At a recent USPSA match, which was my first one of the year due to some things happening, I witnessed what looked like young police or police-in-training (not 100% sure if either) have some issues.
5 or 6 glocks, most with magwells and im assuming trigger mods and 1 looked like a salient or other flavor of factory mod-glock, and 1 what looked like a stock XD.
These guns had multiple malfunctions, on more than 1 stage, and the malfunctions were not resolved quickly.
Just a reminder to check your gun/ammo combo before trusting it.
Test any mods you make before trusting them.
Reliability, followed by accuracy are more important than any gains made with mods that take away from either.
Train for malfunctions.
I hope these weren't duty or carry guns.
Train hard and be safe.
WickedWillis
07-24-15, 17:10
I had my Gen 4 19 stove-pipe last night, for the very first time. Completely took me by surprise and I was terrible trying to clear it, showed me I am not as proficient as I thought I was. Definitely not on my toes. This is a great message Mega, thank you for posting it.
I think it is safe to say that we live in a golden era of reliable semiautos. Even though this is true you still have to be adept at clearing malfs whatever your choice of pistol.
Some people insist on cheeseball parts or mods to fix things that don't need to be fixed.
Questions is did they power thru and finish despite the malfunction or did they just sit there and look at it? I try to work thru every stoppage every time as my life depends on it. Standard, tap , rack / access blah blah.. Even at the range I somewhat scold the wife when perhaps a round wasn't chambered and it didn't go boom, well make that thing go boom!
Honestly though any of us attend training with any regularity or qualify will see many issues. The guy that only brings 2 mags, one borrowed and one Korean or the swap meet reloads that they got a good deal on.
I try to reload meticulously and maintain my guns but every now and then something happens, clear it and move on. Guns of today are so damn reliable it's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security. I like to have my wife load an unknown mag with a dummy round so it gives me a chance to work it out. Especially if it's a wore out one that doesn't want to extract and puts me into double feed territory.
Practice practice practice.
1 guy knew what to do, but it didn't work until the third try. Maybe didn't let the slide slam forward so it didn't grab the fte? The others looked at the gun for a few seconds and slowly worked the slide.
One guy had either a critical failure or didn't know what to do. He gave up.
Practice for sure. It shouldn't even be thought about. I'm not there yet with malf, but getting semi comfortable, and this was a reminder to stay on it.
I've heard it said that the further you move away from the base design (mods, etc) the greater the odds of compromising reliability. Not true in all cases, of course, but a factor in some guns.
I think it is safe to say that we live in a golden era of reliable semiautos. Even though this is true you still have to be adept at clearing malfs whatever your choice of pistol.
Some people insist on cheeseball parts or mods to fix things that don't need to be fixed.
Agreed...
There is no progression from learning to shoot a stock pistol and moving up the ladder to the modified variants. Until you can shoot a sub 8 second El Presidente, the mods and tactical parts will do nothing for you. That stuff is for wringing out 10th's.
Most people's issues are software related, not hardware. Until you're shooting at higher levels most of us mortals won't see a difference.
When I was at the academy we had the usual firearms work but there was early morning steel shoots. Those early morning sessions are where I really wrung out my gear, item placement on my belt and malfunctions under time and competition stressors. Practice is the place to try your new stuff, not the match or the street.
1 guy knew what to do, but it didn't work until the third try. Maybe didn't let the slide slam forward so it didn't grab the fte?
My experience tells me that with Glocks (easily 8o% of what we see) the best course of action is to lock the slide to the rear and use the catch to release the slide forward onto the FTE.
We teach hand cycling to clear the malfunction, but everytime I have had a shooter having a hard time getting the extractor to snap over the case head, lockinf the slide to the rear and using the slide catch has worked. My theory is the slide moves forward under spring pressure faster than most folks cycle, so the impact at higher velocity is more apt to snap the extractor over the stuck case head. This is the way I practice it myself, unfortunately at our place the lesson plan is king.
^that or slide your hand off the back of the slide. Many of these guys were riding it trying to see what was going on.
As said, software rules. I had a sick trigger on my last gun (1st pistol) and perform better with a standard striker since I've put a couple k through it, and many k dryfire.
I haven't practiced malfunction drills much at all, just occasionally. I failed to fully seat a mag last year and didn't waste much time tap racking, but even in that, I dropped the gun low and looked down losing sight of the targets...BAD. I didn't realize it until reviewing video. Knowing what to do means nothing if you don't PRACTICE it.it took many hour of practice just to start reloading in front of my face.
I'm no master-class, or trying to cast stones here, it was just a major wakeup call.
Next to shooting reloads the greatest source of malfunctions I have seen on the handgun or rifle range were the result of a well worn aftermarket parts catalog. I rarely see a handgun or rifle that has only had sights changed puke when firing good ammunition.
^that or slide your hand off the back of the slide. Many of these guys were riding it trying to see what was going on.
As said, software rules. I had a sick trigger on my last gun (1st pistol) and perform better with a standard striker since I've put a couple k through it, and many k dryfire.
I haven't practiced malfunction drills much at all, just occasionally. I failed to fully seat a mag last year and didn't waste much time tap racking, but even in that, I dropped the gun low and looked down losing sight of the targets...BAD. I didn't realize it until reviewing video. Knowing what to do means nothing if you don't PRACTICE it.it took many hour of practice just to start reloading in front of my face.
I'm no master-class, or trying to cast stones here, it was just a major wakeup call.
A lot of times the problem shooters we work with do not have an excess of strength - if you let them slide their hands off the back of the slide there is usually a corresponding push forward on the weapon (they don't hold the frame rigid) so we have them pull slightly back and 'crisply release' the slide by flipping their hand/fingers open - same end result as holding the frame rigid and sliding the hand off the slide.
The things I see during reloads that bug the heck out of me are shooters that try to do everything at full extension and those that bring the weapon in and lower it causing them to look down at the weapon. Another problem with many shooters with rifles and shotguns is an artificial desire to hold the weapon into their shoulder and reload. Many shooters become so focused on holding the weapon in the proper position (like they saw on the training video) that they loose all situational awareness and take longer to reload. To me the priorities are head up in the fight, bring the weapon into the window/work space, do what it takes to reload.
Remember Murphy's Law.
I just spent a while Googling for a video I saw a few months back of a police shooting from the officer's body camera where his Glock malfunctioned and he immediately ducked behind cover while clearing it. It was a great demonstration of quick thinking and getting back in the game immediately when things went wrong at the worst time.
buckpatriot
07-26-15, 01:22
Remember Murphy's Law.
I just spent a while Googling for a video I saw a few months back of a police shooting from the officer's body camera where his Glock malfunctioned and he immediately ducked behind cover while clearing it. It was a great demonstration of quick thinking and getting back in the game immediately when things went wrong at the worst time.
This is a good example of real world. People get lost in trying to clear the malfunction and stand in place, creating an easy target. Heck, watch a decent 12 year old Call of Duty gamer play and even they have figured out you can't stand around reloading your weapon or you get smoked. They move or duck behind cover to get back into action before re-engaging. Obviously, in the real world you are doing all of this live, but the fact remains the same. You cannot create an easy target for the bad guy. Shoot, move , communicate!
A story old as time....
It never fails. Some new guy or somebody with a haul that would make Burt Gummers stash look quaint(but never shoots it) will buy all this extra stuff to try to make their gun better but ultimately makes it worse.
Then blame it on the stuff they modified.
The secret is discipwine. Lots aand lots of discipwine.
Yes you must say it with the speech impediment. Thats how it was told to me. Discipwine.
Once they get sick of their stuff messing up they'll buy a boring Gen 3 9mm and some shooting lessons
If it's in my safe I trust it 100%....and that includes an LCP. But then again I don't have any competition play toys like you mention in the OP of this thread, if they don't run you go home wondering what to add next...no big deal. Worst that happens is you leave with a bruised ego.
And it goes without saying (yet i'm saying it - I know:) - there will be times when you canNOT clear the malf then & there.
Had one at the range last month - entire front half of the case separated and stuck in the chamber. Back-ups rule!!!
john
The majority of the time it's bad mags, junk ammo, crappy and/or unnecessary aftermarket parts/mods.
The majority of the time it's bad mags, junk ammo, crappy and/or unnecessary aftermarket parts/mods.
Agree. I don't modify my semi-autos much from stock and after I learned the - always buy quality/factory magazine lesson - most issues went away. As a re-loader I sometimes like to experiment with different recipes and sometimes they aren't so good but that's a different matter...
I'm bumping this since it's somewhat related.
I am using safariland competition mag holders, metal and open on the font. At a recent match we had to sit and I had a mag pop out before starting. Half way through the stage I thought I felt one pop out again during a reload and reactively checked it and 180d. DQ.
So, another PSA: Test your equipment in every imaginable scenario and be careful! I usually carry them iwb so it's a non issue, but I need to get new mag holders for comp, or run them inside the belt.
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