You use quality ammo, keep your firearm clean and in good working order, and have a firm grip on the gun – and you still might have a misfire. What happens when your gun goes click, not bang?
On the range we have time to take our firearm apart, if needed, to resolve an issue, but during a self-defense incident, we don’t have the luxury of time.
In U.S. Concealed Carry Association Classes, we train shooters that during a high-stress situation, using the slap, rack, roll method when there is a misfire can help them get their firearm back in working order as quickly as possible.
Slap the magazine into place to ensure it is seated correctly.
Rack the slide to the back quickly.
With the slide racked to the back, roll to the right to help the misfire round exit the firearm.
Release the slide and return to shooting.
If the bang happens, but it’s not as strong as it usually is, you may have a different issue (a squib load) that we’re not going to go into here.
Do you use the slap, rack, roll method? How do you mimic a misfire in your training?
I do. There is nothing worse than malfunction in self defense situation.
At the very beginning of my shooting journey I didn’t care about malfunctions (you cannot do everything trying to understand how to fire accurately).
Now, attending self defense classes, I see how very important is to practice “tap-rack”. It is a part of my everyday dry fire routine.
How to mimic it? The best is to combine it with laser cartridge and TRT-Dummy-Ammo.
Laser gives feedback if I’m still accurate, TRT-Dummy-Ammo prevents slide lock (I hate practicing without magazine).
So how it goes (easy version)
Load laser cartridge into the chamber and TRT to mag
Draw form the holster aiming and hitting any target you want
First shot - I’ve got hit (red dot), the second shot is dead trigger (it cannot be DA handgun) - means malfunction.
Tap, rack - press out and another hit (red dot)
Next step would be adding reloads and shooting while moving.
I don’t do “roll”… That’s why left hand shooting is a better way to shoot.
When I go to the range with one of my sons, I will have them load my magazines with the option to insert dummy rounds whenever they feel like it. I don’t know if a magazine will have a dummy round or how many. I just work through the dummy rounds when I encounter them.
I use a Glock. It does it for me! Understanding the function of the gun regulates to process you take to clear a gun. If it locks up to the rear but still has ammo in it you have two choices. Change mag or release slide and carry on. If it stove pipes on you then slap, rack and roll. If it pops weakly, don’t try to shoot it. These things should be practiced at the range and you should be quick at remedying any problem. You go to pull the trigger and it will not fire, What do you do? Pull the slide back to put a bullet into the chamber. If you are empty it should lock to the back. If it will not slide back take off the safety then fire. The possibilities of firing problems are abundant but the clearing procedure correlates to the operation of the gun. Round chambered, safety off, pull the trigger.
I was taught the Tap, Rack and Bang method in NYPD. In case of a misfire, tap the magazine floor plate to make sure the magazine and round are properly seated, rack the slide to eject and insert the next round, pull the trigger and you are back in the fight. It’s tougher with a double feed because then you have to rip the magazine out of the well to clear it, get the firearm back into battery, once it’s clear you can do a tactical reload by inserting a fresh magazine and your back in the fight.
I was also taught the tap, rack, bang method in my defensive handgun class. If we got another click instead of bang then it was strip the mag, rack, rack, rack, insert new mag, rack again and bang.
I have also seen instructors teach a tap, rack/inspect (very quickly) the chamber then bang or drop the mag as needed.
I guess the roll method could be useful if you got a round that wasn’t being grabbed properly by the extractor and maybe it might clear some double feed issues?? As a lefty it would be easy for me to simply train in some extra tilt during the rack. But I would think the majority of clicks would be ammo related and the rack would take care of that.
My little LCP 2 will be going back to Ruger shortly for a couple of worsening issues that were mostly resolved by a tap on the magazine. Other than that I don’t remember running into a malfunction that I haven’t intentionally created with snap caps or that were caused by cheap .22 ammo.
Would be interesting to hear clearing ideas from people who have had to actually do it when it matters. I think clearing while moving or after getting behind cover would be an important skill to develop as apposed to standing still in a shooting stance playing with your firearm while being shot at.
If your mag is empty let it hit the ground and forget about it and put in a fresh magazine but if you still have rounds in it after clearing it you can put it in your pocket or squeeze it between your pinky and ring finger, that’s how I was trained.
Would any one pull the trigger again with a hammer fire auto loader or tap & rack. Just curious, not issue with my wheel gun. I did see a video on this, let’s see what you think ?
I’ve had many students have trouble with the Slap Rack and Roll.
When they rack, they do a full rack which doesn’t allow time for a round to be fully ejected or “roll” out of the chamber.
So, I teach them to Slap, Roll and Rack. This will dump the bad round as gravity is working with you from the start.
Pulling the trigger again was not mentioned, that’s why I asked. I did see a video regarding additional Time pulling the trigger again rather than slap and rack first. The difference in time wasn’t very much but it did take longer pulling the trigger again. Maybe that’s why S&R is recommended.
OK. I got it now.
Pulling the trigger was not mentioned, because every well trained semi auto owner knows that the first choice is always “tap, rack”. If time matters, “tap,track” can fix malfunction in second and you are ready to fight again.
Pulling the trigger is just wasting the time and can be used at range conditions when you care about $0.60 (#) for each round.
Have you watched recent video posted by Tactical Hyve?
It’s really worth to watch and see that sometimes “tap, rack” may be not enough or even not needed during the attack.
“Tap, Rack, Bang” is slightly inadequate. It should be “Tap, Rack, Roll” (to the right to assist the casing/cartridge out and away from the chamber.
I can remember being taught for years that Tap/Rack was good enough. It isn’t and that is why we teach “Tap, Rack, Roll (to the right) and then Bang” in our USCCA course of instruction. I have experienced and witnessed malfunctions from stove pipes (hand-sweep) to the very odd casing being pinned at the extractor. Also, when a spent casing fails to completely clear the ejection port, it needs that sideways roll to assist in a complete clear. Learning to roll the weapon to the right after the racking of the slide works well.
I never call it “Tap/Rack/Bang” and always use “Tap/Rack”… roll is natural for left handed and I don’t even think about it.
“Bang” part is also confused. I came through few scenarios, where the assailant backed out after “tap-rack”… so no bang was needed.
