Clearing handgun jam/ drop mag first?

[338lapua]

So how many here drop the mag first before they clear a jam in a pistol? I have watched many videos on this subject and every one I have seen they dropped the mag first. So does everyone here think drop mag first and clear or leave the mag in and clear?

I used to be of the belief drop magazine first then clear but I will not ever be doing that again. After a few responses I will tell you why I will clear all jams with a magazine in the pistol.

BTW I did let the range manager know what happened.

 

[Elk34]

Well there are 2 schools of thought here. On a firing range some if not all RO's will want you to drop mag and proceed to unfu@k your weapon. On a 2 way range depending on the malfunction leave the mag in. Hence if you have a stove pipe rack your hand over the top of your slide it should clear the slide jam and load the next round. If you crushed a case pull to the rear observe , turn to the side the case would eject from shake clear jam load next round. If the person has no combat experience, drop mag, unfu$k weapon.

 

[PK90]

1. On Click = Tap mag, then rack slide.
2. Double Feed = Pull mag, rack slide, insert mag, then rack slide.
3. Stove Pipe = Rip empty casing out while racking slide.

 

[338lapua]

I was always taught a overhand grip on the pistol then slam the web between the thumb and index finger into the back strap of the pistol. Sometimes it may take a couple hits to remove the round sometimes it comes out the first time. Last Monday it was a double tap of the hand and when it cleared on the second hit there was a boom and extremely warm feeling in my hand. Before I put the pistol down I saw a bullet laying on the table. When I went to release it it was stuck to my hand and I had to pull it free. Then the blood flowed. Got it cleaned out best I could there and wrapped it to stop the bleeding. Loaded the truck and called it a day.

Evidently when dropping the magazine this gives the round the possibility of engaging the ejector which the hole in the primer exactly matches. So from here on out I will clear jams with a magazine in the mag well loaded with at least a dummy round. With a dummy round it is not possible to fire on the ejector, without one it is a ever so slight chance.

With more pistols having optics mounted on the slide you may have a grip like mine to avoid knocking your optic off so be aware that if you drop that magazine this can possibly happen to you should the planets align against you. I got all but one piece of metal out my hand and it is embedded in the bone of my index finger. I got lucky that just some skin got blown out of the way as while researching this I found one person who lost a chunk of his hand when this happened to him, his was towards the pinky finger and required surgery to repair.

I watched about 15 videos last Monday and every one of them dropped the mag first, gripped the pistol and slammed the web of the hand into the pistol. Just wanted to let people know that it is possible to fire a live round with the ejector.

 

[338lapua]

Anyone who is a firearms instructor or a RSO has my permission to use the story and the photos to maybe make people clear jams in a different way. I have cleared jams like this hundreds of times over the years but last Monday it went a little sideways. A few of the pieces to the left of the case I dug out of my hand.

 

[QuietM4]

I've seen that happen even with a magazine in the gun....and it's why I would never put my hand anywhere near the ejection port when clearing a malfunction.

 

[xerts1191]

Ouch 338, drop the mag first yes, muzzle pointed in a safe direction, pull the slide back and lock, peek in and see wtf is going on yes.

 

[338lapua]

Magazine in much less likely to contact the ejector. So from now on I clear a really stuck jam with a magazine with a dummy round in it.



Magazine out it is a clear shot to the ejector which is a perfect match for the hole in the primer.

 

[Lobo2087]

Yeah it is possible to set one off with the ejector, we were warned about that possibility in armorer school but I havent seen it happen. Glad you are ok and your hand will be whole.

 

[338lapua]

I've seen that happen even with a magazine in the gun....and it's why I would never put my hand anywhere near the ejection port when clearing a malfunction.

With a lot of pistols having MRDS on them this will become more of a problem as it is hard to get a hold on the slide at the rear to clear a case where it is really jammed in there. Grasp the sight with as hard as you have to hit the back strap to clear some jams and you may shear the mounting screws off. Not having the ejection port covered can also direct shrapnel towards you face or possibly another person.

My other part to this solution will be a heavy glove or a piece of Kevlar several layers thick to prevent this from happening again.

Third part of the solution is to go back to completely resizing the case. Rimless sizing gets the bulge out and roll sizing does as well but does not deal with the extractor groove. I think I am going to add a Case Pro to my home line up as most days I am too lazy to leave the house and go to the shop and use the case processor or the rimless sizer. The case pro also goes into the extractor groove and rolls it back into shape. Will probably start annealing pistol cases again or fire them a couple times and rotate them out.

 

[338lapua]

Yeah it is possible to set one off with the ejector, we were warned about that possibility in armorer school but I havent seen it happen. Glad you are ok and your hand will be whole.

Well now you have seen it happen, feel free to grab the photos and share them with others so my accident becomes a learning experience. Most of the people I hang with are high volume shooter and are in disbelief of what happened to me last Monday morning. Done this hundreds of times without issue but last week this happened.

I mostly shoot reloads and have fired over a million rounds of them through pistols over the years so I have done this a few times without issue. Don't fool yourself that a factory round capable of jamming up the works can't slip out because they can.

 

[338lapua]

Well there are 2 schools of thought here. On a firing range some if not all RO's will want you to drop mag and proceed to unfu@k your weapon. On a 2 way range depending on the malfunction leave the mag in. Hence if you have a stove pipe rack your hand over the top of your slide it should clear the slide jam and load the next round. If you crushed a case pull to the rear observe , turn to the side the case would eject from shake clear jam load next round. If the person has no combat experience, drop mag, unfu$k weapon.

One of the reasons I will no longer shoot at places like Ben Avery is their so called RSO's if they see a jam like this will try to take your gun and clear it for you. I always had visions of it going sideways and now I have a RSO suing me. Seen them clear it the same damn way I do.

When I do have a jam like this I always check the next round up as well.

 

[338lapua]

Ouch 338, drop the mag first yes, muzzle pointed in a safe direction, pull the slide back and lock, peek in and see wtf is going on yes.

It was pointed down range. This is one of those jams that sometimes happen where the case is out of spec and no amount of pulling the slide back is going to clear it. I have even had it happen with factory rounds but it is very rare. I was the only one on the range when it happened, rain scared everyone else off.

 

[Elk34]

At one range, I had to ask the RO if I could use the table to rack my slide. There was no one else there so he let me. Thank good for wooden tables. Out of spec case was stuck, slide jammed. The round left case already so I put the slide muzzle down on edge of table and tapped on the lower with a brick. Thank good for good extractors. It came out with no problems but I don't know where else you could do that without making some RO's pissed off.

 

[xerts1191]

338 Glad you didn’t get hurt any worse than you did, carry on!