Misfires at the Range

[MrMcCoy]

A few days ago I was at the range firing away when a young chap entered the booth next to me to fire off some rounds in his .45. I didn't realize it at first, but after a little while it was clear that he was new to shooting and was very apprehensive.

About 10 minutes into his range time, he encountered a mis-fire and just plain freaked out. The guy drops his gun on the bench and starts yelling for the rangemaster. The master rolls in, clearly grumpy, and quickly clears the guy's weapon and "kindly" escorts him out of the range area for a little one-on-one.

Now I don't blame the guy for being upset with the kid--these aren't squirt guns after all. However, what is the EXACT procedure for clearing a gun jam at an indoor range in Cali? Everything I've ever read says "call the rangemaster." Clearly the kid was uncomfortable and had no business packing a monster firearm if he wasn't prepared to safely and confidently operate it on his own, but strickly on paper, what is the proper procedure?

[anotherted]

I believe that you are suppost to keep it pointed in a safe direction and wait 10 seconds or so in case of a delayed detonation of the primer. Then simply clear the firearm.

[MrMcCoy]

It looked to me like this guy tried to clear the firearm, but panicked when the round did not simply fall out. I wanted to try and help this guy, but before I could even introduce myself, he was hollering for the RM.

[ArmedBear]

Step 1: if unsure, wait a minute with the gun gripped firmly and pointed downrange. Hangfires are rare with centerfire guns, but if you've experienced one, it's startling. No reason to be in a hurry.


Step 2: eject the round. Keep shooting.

2a: If that doesn't work, close the slide and shine a little flashlight down the barrel and look in through the muzzle. This often helps you to understand the problem.

Step 3: Point the gun downrange and hit the hammer or the back of the slide if a DAO with a brass drift. Keep hitting it harder. If it STILL doesn't go off, toss the gun six feet in front of you downrange and go home cussing.

(I hope you know that steps 2a and 3 are a joke.)

[ajwells]

Well from the ranges Ive been to most of the RMs there seem to have a "I'm not here to handle your problems" type of attitude. So, despite the law, I can easily see some RM being grumpy at having to go handle that.

[ArmedBear]

FTF .22LR rounds are fun. Go home, remove the bullet and powder. I repeat REMOVE THE BULLET AND POWDER.

Put the rimfire shell -- NOT THE BULLET OR POWDER, JUST THE SHELL -- on the sidewalk. Smash it with a good-sized steel hammer. It will go BANG.

Yes, this is sort of stupid. But what isn't?

[ArmedBear]

Well from the ranges Ive been to most of the RMs there seem to have a "I'm not here to handle your problems" type of attitude. So, despite the law, I can easily see some RM being grumpy at having to go handle that.

Interesting. Where I go, they're either more than happy to NOT have someone do something stupid and dangerous, or they're more than happy to do anything short of gunsmithing just because they're bored.

[CWM4A1]

Being RM my self, I have no problem dealing with guy who have issue with their firearm. Sometimes I found that amusing beacuse some funny things do happen (wrong caliber, safety is ON, etc). My biggest concerns are idiots who just bring the jammed gun to me, that WILL piss me off immediately and make me grumpy. Leave the weapon on the bench, barrel point down the range before calling RM would be best.

[blacklisted]

FTF .22LR rounds are fun. Go home, remove the bullet and powder. I repeat REMOVE THE BULLET AND POWDER.

Put the rimfire shell -- NOT THE BULLET OR POWDER, JUST THE SHELL -- on the sidewalk. Smash it with a good-sized steel hammer. It will go BANG.

Yes, this is sort of stupid. But what isn't?

I made the mistake of doing this in a vice in my garage, my ears were ringing for quite a while! Then I did it again.

[Gunsrruss]

Armedbear/Blacklisted

You boys are a couple works of art. Nice to have a sense of humor

[Turbinator]

I had what ultimately ended up being a true "jam" at least a couple of times in two different handguns. What had happened was I was sloppy in my reloading - I let a couple of oversized cases make it through my setup, and these got fairly well jammed up in the chamber. Couldn't eject, couldn't fire them as the action was half open. Had to eventually use a rubber mallet and pound on the slide using a block of wood, hoping the extractor wouldn't break in the meantime. These are indeed nervous times - kinda scary as it typically means you need to drive home with a technically loaded gun.

Turby

[saki302]

A to-remain-nameless famous child actor in the 80s who was a good friend of mine took an old aluminum airsoft barrel I had and detonated .22 cartridges in it- with the other end in the dirt! Still makes me wonder why the barrel didn't blow up to this day
We never found the casings....

-Dave

[ohsmily]

Uh, either you clear your own malfunction safely or someone else does it (maybe the rangemaster who may or may not know anything about guns). Or, in the case of a truly jammed gun, which isn't common (where that sucker is really locked closed) break out the tools and keep it in a safe direction.

Did someone think there would be some great answer like "put it in the jammed gun container and mail it to the jammed gun institute for analysis" or "call the police" or something?

[MrMcCoy]

It was a question about California law regarding misfires at the range and ettitqute when a difficult jam occurs. You didn't have to be an *** about it, pal. That's what these forums are for - feedback.

[ohsmily]

It was a question about California law regarding misfires at the range and ettitqute when a difficult jam occurs. You didn't have to be an *** about it, pal. That's what these forums are for - feedback.

etiquette

YOU COULD....

Call the jammed gun squad next time...they will respond in an armored vehicle and vanquish the offending "monster gun" as you called it in your original post...

OR

If they are busy, give Feinstein a ring, she will respond quickly in a pink, organically-fueled gun-grabber wagon and confiscate the "monster gun" all the while putting her finger on the trigger as she does in press conferences involving guns.

There's your feedback.