In handgun shooting, two malfunctions and their respective clearing techniques are generally part of any decent handgun training program. The first type of malfunction occurs when the shooter presses the trigger to the point that the weapon should fire and receives the infamous “click but no bang”. The remediation technique for this malfunction is universally accepted to be some variant of Tap (the bottom of magazine to ensure it is fully seated), Rack (the slide to eject a faulty cartridge if present and make sure the chamber is loaded), Bang (engage your target if still necessary).
This remediation covers the most common causes of malfunctions in semi-automatic handguns, those being a magazine that is not fully seated, an empty chamber that the shooter forgot to load and finally, a faulty cartridge.
The second common malfunction and especially the remediation technique is not quite so universally accepted. This second malfunction is a double feed, simply put two cartridges are trying to occupy the chamber at the same time. The most common causes for a double feed are a faulty magazine whose feed lips have separated to the point that multiple rounds are trying to feed at
once and a broken/faulty extractor that leaves a fired cartridge case in the chamber, preventing the next cartridge from being able to feed. In most modern handguns, the extractor assembly is extremely reliable and in my experience, the culprit is almost always the magazine.
Due to the wonders of modern manufacturing and the relatively low round count most firearms receive over their lifetime, we as shooters often forget that magazines are a wear item and will not last indefinitely. I have personally come across shooters trying to employ magazines that were very clearly beyond their useful life and were causing numerous malfunctions. I do
n’t know if there is a sentimental bond that develops to the original magazines packaged with a firearm but if you are a serious shooter please remember that they do indeed have as service life and must be replaced at some point.
This brings us to the debate about the clearance techniques commonly applied to the double feed malfunction. I once had a fellow instructor present to me no less than four techniques for clearance, that he advocated should all be added into our curriculum. While I admire my fellow instructor’s zeal, I have, not surprisingly, found that the K.I.S.S. method is usually the best whenever it can b
e applied to firearms manipulations and advised we stick to one remediation technique. Additionally, 3 of the 4 techniques involved reloading with the same magazine that was when in the weapon when the malfunction occurred, a problem which is discussed in detail later.
My preferred technique is outlined below and I use/teach it because I believe it to be the one that will most rel
iably get your weapon back in the fight. With a double feed, the forward spring tension of the slide is actively applying pressure to the head of the cartridge case of the rear most cartridge. This round is also usually still partially within the feed lips of the magazine and that is what causes the difficulty in removing this malfunction. Relieving the forward tension is accomplished by first locking the slide to the rear, before you try to remove the magazine. This allows for more freedom of movement for the top cartridge in the magazine, maki
ng the action of stripping the magazine much more likely to be successfully accomplished. With the magazine stripped out, the rearmost round will follow with it. Now, all that is left is to clear the chamber by racking the slide. With the chamber and magazine well both empty, complete a reload with a FRESH magazine and you are back in the fight, ready to engage if necessary. Keeping with the K.I.S.S. mentality, the above steps break down to Lock (slide to the rear), Rip (magazine out), Work (cock the slide), Load (a fresh magazine), Bang (complete your rounds).
One variation of double feed clearance that I have been shown involved simply removing the magazine and t
hen re-inserting the same magazine back into the firearm. The theory is that stripping the magazine will **hopefully** clear both of the cartridges and then you save time by re-inserting the original magazine instead of going for a reload. In my view, this technique cuts corners to try and save time however, it also fails to reliably clear your weapon. Sometimes both rounds will come out with the magazine, sometimes they won’t and when they don’t yo
u would now have to go back into manipulations and properly clear your firearm requiring more time than if you had not cut corners to start with. Additionally, there is the problem of reloading with the magazine that likely caused your problem to begin with.
As I stated earlier, the two main causes for a double feed are bad magazines and a faulty extractor, with bad magazines being the main culprit by far. Keeping this in mind, I would be hesi
tant to use the same magazine as a reload after performing your remedial action with one big asterisk. You are in the gunfight of your life and it is your only magazine. Not much of a choice in that scenario, other than to hope the malfunction was a one off and you have worked through it.
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