Some carry guns have a very stiff spring and it’s easy to make the mistake of not pulling it back all the way. You’ve got to get it all the way back, so that you open the ejection port all the way and allow the slide to pick up a new round to chamber. Rack – Rack the slide, making sure that you pull it all the way back and then release it to slam home.
So, the first thing to do is to tap the bottom of the magazine, in order to seat it. If you are not especially careful how you insert a new magazine, ensuring that it is fully seated and locked into place, it will fall out when you rack the slide. Some pistol’s magazines sit in such a way that they don’t seat easily. Tap – Many misfires or jams are caused by an improperly seated magazine. If you can do those three steps, you can get any semi-automatic pistol working again, unless it has a serious problem, like something breaking inside. That’s because no matter what the problem, the solution is the same. Fortunately, you don’t have to take time out to diagnose the problem. There are a number of different things that can cause a firearm to malfunction and jam. You’ll need to practice gun clearing techniques, so that you’re ready to use them, without even thinking about it. In that moment you won’t be able to think you’ll have to know what to do. Otherwise, you might just find yourself in a firefight with a gun that won’t work. If you’re going to take up arms, you need to be ready to deal with problems that occur. This is the real world and you’ve got to be ready for it. Add a round that is a touch off in size or with a slightly damaged case and you’re sitting there with a gun that won’t fire. What can often happen is the heat from the burning powder makes the parts of the gun nearest the chamber expand, while other parts that are farther from the chamber remain the same size.