A civilian LEO heard that most unwelcome of clicks when a suspect’s actions necessitated deadly force…and the round failed to fire. The cause was related to ammunition cycling during repeated loading and unloading iterations of his duty weapon. Read the original story for details.
Kit Up: Do you practice malfunction drills and train for weapon failure?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
One of the biggest things they teach us with the Beretta 92 and Glock 17 and AR-15/M-16 is round misfire drills and that’s is great training.
It’s good to see an after action report on failed equipment which positively identifies the malfunction and suggestions on how to avoid.
Could this also happen if you do a brass check before you start your shift?
Because that´s what I do, since I figured out that my duty ammo doesn´t likes it to get chambered and ejected 20 times a month. I just lock my gun away with a chamberd round after each shift.
I presume that it is more related to actual chambering and unchambering of the same round over and over. A “press check” does not apply the same force on the cartridge that a full feed and a full ejection does. I have come across material on this subject in the past and it was suggested that the operator not utilize the same cartridge over and over but to rotate it out after a couple of cycles.
I had a habit of clearing my gun and then inserting the ejected cartridge back in the beginning of the line. I noticed drag marks and mild brass deformities as well as some instances in which the bullet gets seated deeper and can cause a Kilo Bravo due to increased pressure….all from excessively cycling the same round in and out of the chamber.
Thank you for this gem! Although I knew of possible bullet setback if used for chambering and rechambering, I am absolutely amazed that the primer composition can come out. The old mil-spec and high quality defense ammunition went the extra step of putting something like asphaltum around the primer to seal it since it is also the most vulnerable part to wetting or (horrors) penetrating solvents. Great to know – thanks!
of course this can happen, anytime you have a free floating firing pin and you chamber a round it will put a small dent in the primer, if you do this enough it will put a deep enough one that it may not ignite the primer when fired, you should always do a brass check before going out on duty
Ah, I just love real excuses for getting out the range and burning through ammo…
Yeah, that’s what occurred to me. More than three months between visits to the range? Really?
Solution: Shoot enough to keep a bare minimum of proficiency and there will be no problem with cycling ammunition.
On the flip side to this I have seen negligent discharges occur due to this. A soldier would clear his weapon after coming in from a patrol,t hen put the round back at the top of the masgazine. He would head out on mission and chamber the round and then clear it again placing the same round over and over at the top of the magazine. Then on a few occasions the bolt would ride forward and the round would go off. I only know of this happening a hand full of times but all it takes is one time to wound or kill a fellow service member. Just a little FYI.
I see this as a direct result of the typical nanny system in place in the Army and elsewhere.
Even in country, every single round most soldiers are issued must be accounted for. And your duty weapon has to be loaded and cleared on a regular basis. “Tossed a round in the garbage because it had a dent in the primer from chambering” isn’t going to fly if you report that same thing fifty times because of how often you’ve got to unload.
Of course, the Army could fix this with a return spring on the firing pin. It works in the AUG, which has a nearly identical bolt.
When I saw the article title, I thought it was going to be about suitable ammo for bicycle riding…
Great article. It’s a good reminder that we need to ensure that we cycle through our duty ammo.
The smart ones always use this drill it is a must /basic thing to know.My advice from this great article is if you don’t practice this you are hurting yourself by not doing so.