The Ayoob files: when your gun jams in a firefight - Massad Ayoob

American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2004

Situation: Someone is trying to kill you. You attempt to return fire, and your defensive weapon jams.

Lesson: Carry (or, if it's your decision, issue) equipment of the most proven reliability. Be familiar with malfunction clearance drills. Carry backup. Know thy weapons.

We have all heard many versions of what happened to Pvt. Jessica Lynch and her brother and sister soldiers when they were overwhelmed and captured during the early days of the Iraq incursion. According to one story, those Americans with her who tried to return fire were frustrated in their attempt when their weapons jammed. There have been numerous reports out of Iraq and Afghanistan of US-issue M4 automatic rifles and Beretta M9 pistols jammed by sand during combat missions in hostile environments.

The jammed gun is literally the occupational nightmare of those who carry guns "for real." Informal surveys indicate a majority of the regularly and professionally armed have at least once had a dream in which they were fighting for their life and their weapon either wouldn't fire, or fired ammunition that had no effect. All too many lives have been lost when this nightmare became a reality, whether in combat against enemy soldiers or against indigenous criminals.

Let's examine some actual incidents and probe for the lessons they teach.

Armed Citizens

In the Midwest, a gun shop owner was disarmed of his HK P7 and herded into a back room of the shop, where he was certain the two robbers would execute him. He grabbed a concealed S&W .357 Magnum revolver and spun on the man who was leading him to his death at gunpoint. The robber pulled the trigger of the German squeeze-cocker pistol, but nothing happened. The storeowner began pulling his own trigger. Sometimes his revolver just went "click," and sometimes it roared with Magnum force. The first man fell. The gun dealer kept pulling the trigger, now engaging the second perpetrator, until the man fell dead.

Lessons: The unique design of the HK P7 pistol requires the cocking lever on the front of its grip-frame be firmly depressed for the pistol to fire. Thankfully, the bad guy in this case wasn't holding it firmly enough, and was unable to carry out his murderous intent before the good guy killed him and his equally homicidal partner in crime. The revolver had been in perfect working order except for having been fitted with lighter-than-factory springs in hopes of gaining an easier trigger pull. Fortunately, the good guy's many pulls of the trigger yielded enough successful primer ignitions to win the fight. It can be a life saver to have a gun that is "proprietary to the user," that is, which the legitimate user knows how to swiftly bring into action, and a punk who grabs the gun probably does not. Moreover, the light trigger pulls desired by target shooters can, and often do, compromise the reliability so desperately needed in a true defensive weapon.

In the Southwest, a well-intentioned good guy who was apparently a little ambivalent about his choice, decided to carry a gun. He purchased a Glock 23 and kept it in a fanny pack, loaded with a magazine of .40 S&W training ammunition but with nothing in the chamber.

The day came when he was faced with armed robbers. He grabbed the Glock out of the fanny pack and tried to chamber a round. but fumbled with the slide and jammed his pistol. The robbers shot him down. He survived--and sued Glock, Incorporated.

In the Southeast, a jeweler decided to augment his alarm system and security cameras with a gun on his person. He chose a Walther PPK .380, carried with a round in the chamber and on-safe, and virtually never practiced shooting it. His own security cameras captured the chilling moment when he pulled his .380 on a robber who had walked in with .38 revolver in-hand. In the chilling video-tape, the jeweler can be seen to whip out the little auto, point it at the gunman, and pull the trigger repeatedly. The pistol does not discharge. The gunman is then seen to extend his arm toward the jeweler and pump him full of lead with the revolver. The jeweler falls and the robber flees.

The jeweler survived to admit he had forgotten to release his thumb safety. When asked gently by an interviewer if he had ever practiced with his gun, the jeweler replied indignantly and defensively, "Hey, I'm not Rambo!" He blamed the gun for losing the upper hand his obvious courage had earned him, and reportedly now carries a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver.

The last two cases remind us that often, it is user-error that causes the gun to fail to shoot when defensive fire is desperately needed. A man not confident enough in his ability to carry a chamber-loaded semiautomatic pistol is better served with a revolver. Operating the slide before firing is a complex psycho-motor skill of the kind that does not survive stress well, and it's normally a two-handed operation. The history of gunfighting shows us at least half the time, we will fire our handgun one-handed when attacked by surprise. The gun must be in a condition that allows one-handed operation.