Delays and malfunctions during shooting

Every shooter, whether a professional athlete or hunting enthusiast, sooner or later faces delays and malfunctions during shooting.

A delay during shooting is understood as the inability to fire a shot for any technical reasons, for example, due to a misfire, slow fire, or failure to feed. It should be noted that it is impossible to completely eliminate delays during shooting. However, it is quite possible to reduce their probability and minimize the consequences.

In this article, we will understand why delays occur during shooting and what algorithm of actions should be used in one situation or another.

Delays during shooting from pistols, rifles, and machine guns can be divided into those that occur:

• during loading, that is, when the moving parts of automatic weapons move forward;
• directly during shooting;
• when the moving parts move backward.

The reasons for such situations can be:

• improper preparation of the weapon for shooting,
• untimely and improper inspection, cleaning, lubrication (especially of moving parts),
• damage to the barrel,
• use of low-quality, rusty, or dirty ammunition,
• exposure to severe cold and improper preparation for further use;
• failure to follow the rate of fire and barrel overheating.

The main action that should be taken when any delay occurs is to reload the automatic weapon.

If the delay does not disappear after reloading, you should carefully determine the nature and cause of the situation and then proceed to eliminate it.

Failure to feed a cartridge and its jamming is one type of delay that occurs when the moving parts of a weapon move forward, when a cartridge does not feed or does not advance from the magazine into the chamber. In this case, the bolt can be in the forward position, but there is no cartridge in the chamber. Or the bolt stops in the middle position along with the cartridge, without sending it into the chamber.

Common causes of failure to feed and jamming are contamination of the magazine and moving parts of the weapon, as well as bending of the upper edge of the magazine body.

To eliminate the malfunction, you should extract the cartridge while holding the bolt carrier handle. We also recommend cleaning the pistol and magazine, after which you can continue shooting. If reloading did not help and the delay repeats, you should replace the faulty magazine or send the barrel to an armorer.

With double feeding of cartridges, the first cartridge is in the chamber, and the next one from the magazine pushes against the one already in the chamber. This is one of the most unpleasant causes of delays during shooting, and eliminating it will take more time.

First, you need to make sure the bolt is in the rear position and remove the magazine from the weapon. We remove the magazine and cycle the bolt several times, ensuring that the chamber is empty and unwanted cartridges fall out of it. Then we insert a new magazine, chamber a round, and fire.

Additionally, after assessing the position of the bolt, you can forcefully pull the magazine out a few centimeters, which should bring the bolt to the normal position, while the cartridge remains in the chamber. We insert the same magazine back and fire.

A misfire is one of the most common causes of delays during shooting.

A common reason why a rifle misfires is a defect in the primer. These are elements necessary for igniting the powder charge and contain a so-called percussion mixture that ignites after sharp compression.

Other common causes caused by cartridge defects are:

• Poor quality percussion mixture. In primers stored for too long, the percussion mixture will work poorly due to loss of basic working properties. Therefore, it is not recommended to store complete cartridges for long periods. When purchasing ammunition and primers manufactured in a factory, pay attention to the manufacturing date and expiration date.
• Primer design. Old-type primers differ from modern ones in body thickness and hardness of the materials used. You should approach the choice of ammunition with special care and prefer proven ammunition manufacturers.

The second group of causes capable of causing a misfire during shooting is the condition of the weapon itself. Before heading to the range or hunting, you need to check the condition of the firing pin and mainspring. The working part of the firing pin must be smooth, without chips or hardening. If such defects were found, you need to grind the firing pin or, preferably, replace it with a new one.

The condition of the mainspring can also lead to misfires. For example, its weakening, when the force of expansion is no longer sufficient for proper primer strike. In this case, only spring replacement will help.

In addition, misfires are caused by jamming of the striker in the bolt, contamination of the weapon, or frozen lubricant.

To eliminate a misfire, you can inspect the cartridge extracted from the chamber. If there is no deep dent on the primer, you need to clean the bolt, chamber, and moving parts.

A separate category of malfunctions includes a slow fire. In this case, the firing mechanism works correctly, the primer is struck, but the shot does not occur. Then either there will be a misfire, that is, the shot will not happen, or it will happen, but after some time.

The cause of slow fire is a change in the physical properties of the powder, that is, improper ignition due to expiration, or dampness. The main danger is that the shooter, wanting to fire again, opens the chamber to replace the defective cartridge. But you cannot do this immediately because of the possibility of an uncontrolled shot that can damage the weapon and injure the shooter or those around him. If a delay occurs, wait 10 seconds, point the weapon in a safe direction, and only then open the chamber.

Another cause of delay during shooting is failure to eject the shell. The casing is in the chamber, the next cartridge pushes against it, and the moving parts have stopped in the middle position.

Failure to eject the casing occurs due to:

• A dirty cartridge or chamber.
• Damage or contamination of the ejector or spring.

If the reason lies in a dirty cartridge or chamber, you need to pull the bolt carrier handle back and in this position extract the magazine and the stuck cartridge. Then, using the bolt or cleaning rod, remove the casing from the chamber and continue shooting. If the situation repeats, you need to clean the chamber and cartridges.

If the cause lies in the ejector or spring, inspect and clean them and continue shooting. If the ejector is faulty, you will need to send the weapon for repair.

Case sticking occurs when the casing is not ejected from the receiver but remains in it in front of the bolt or is caught by the bolt back into the chamber. The reason lies in the contamination of parts of the gas ports or chamber, as well as contamination or malfunction of the ejector.

To fix the situation, pull back the bolt carrier handle and eject the casing. If the delay persists, you should clean the gas ports and lubricate the chamber. It is best to take the rifle to an armorer.

The main malfunctions of key rifle components occur due to contamination, wear, or failure of parts, which leads to impaired functioning, delays, and failure to fire. These components include the bolt carrier and bolt, the firing mechanism, the barrel, the gas system, and the magazine.

Examples of malfunctions by key components:

• Bolt carrier, bolt, and return mechanism. Incomplete bolt closure or failure to eject the casing can occur due to contamination, wear, or spring failure. Also, the cartridge may not feed into the barrel, which often happens due to damage to the magazine and bolt carrier.
• Barrel and gas system. Such failures are fraught with powder gas leakage, which reduces recoil energy and leads to a delay during shooting. Barrel wear and overheating can negatively affect shooting accuracy. And contamination of the gas chamber leads to jamming of the bolt carrier.
• Firing mechanism. In addition to misfires due to wear of the hammer, mainspring, and contamination, a malfunction of the safety or parts of the firing mechanism manifests itself as an automatic fire or unintended discharge.
• Magazine. In this case, we are talking about cartridge jamming due to deformation or wear of the magazine or bending of the catch. Failure to feed results in an empty shot or failure to lock the cartridge by the bolt and sticking of the casing in the chamber.
• Jamming of moving parts. When the bolt carrier is affected, it moves poorly and with jerks. The reason is failures in the parts of the moving system or a bent deflector.

In addition to checking the weapon itself before shooting, maintenance and safety procedures include checking the condition of the ammunition.

Poor-quality cartridges are one of the common causes of misfires, delays, slow fires, reduced bullet velocity, and other problems. Thus, ammunition can have damp powder and primer composition, changes in the chemical composition of the powder due to prolonged storage, or corroded casings.

Before shooting, check your ammunition and inspect it for the following indirect signs of quality degradation:

• Green coating on the casing and primer, corrosive damage to the metal.
• Deformations on cartridge elements — dents, deep scratches that prevent entry into the chamber.
• Breach of cartridge seal — looseness, bullet pulling when pressed with fingers.
• Improper primer position, when it protrudes beyond the edge of the casing.

If you suspect a cartridge is defective, it should be replaced. If oxidation or contamination is minor, it is permissible to remove it with a soft cloth. Do not attempt to fix, clean, compress, or file obvious damage. This is unsafe and risks reducing reliability.

You should not repair cartridges yourself. It is simpler and safer to follow storage and handling conditions, regularly inspect, and reject defective ammunition.

The weapon requires constant care. Regular, thorough cleaning and lubrication allow you to:

• Maintain operational characteristics, which means the reliability and effectiveness of the weapon. This is the best prevention of jamming and malfunctions.
• Extend the service life. Regular care helps prevent wear and corrosion.
• Use the barrel safely, since dirt and debris are common causes of accidents.
• Maintain an attractive appearance.