We’re about to see a lesson learned on the gun range that may just save someone’s life in the real world, and it’s all about technique.
Second Amendment Foundation Director of Legal Research and Education Konstadinos Moros provided us all with this important piece of knowledge with a video posted to X Tuesday. Moros had been trying to figure out why his Colt 1902 Pocket Hammerless pistol kept jamming, discussing the problem in a July 27 video before he figured out the issue.
“The pocket hammerless shoots real soft, but can’t seem to eject the spent casing,” Moros posted July 27, discussing the jamming issues. “I get either this or stovepipe after each shot. Will try another mag and a more thorough cleaning.”
A “stovepipe” jam involves a casing that is not completely ejected when a semiautomatic pistol has fired a round, often sticking out like a smokestack on a locomotive, according to a 2018 Shooting Illustrated article. The cause of this jam is usually ammo that doesn’t have enough kick to drive the slide all the way to the rear, but in this case, it took a little bit of troubleshooting, shall we say?
After getting feedback from comments on the July 27 post, Moros tried using a different round for the “pocket hammerless,” switching from 60-grain jacketed hollow points. However, the problem persisted, and he ultimately replaced the recoil springs on the pistol, until the debugging effort finally produced an answer.
“While a fresh recoil spring helped, the actual cause of the problem seems to be more silly,” Moros posted Tuesday, explaining in the video that his thumb being on the pistol’s slide was causing the jamming. A slight adjustment in his grip, and the pistol was soon being properly functional.
In the comments, a firearms instructor pointed out that Moros’ experience was why he taught his students to never have their thumb on the pistol’s slide. Following some conversation in the comments, the instructor tagged a colleague, offering to help Moros polish up his technique.
Let’s be real folks, there is a moral to this story: Exercising your Second Amendment rights is important, but in addition to saving your money for a good firearm and ammo, you may also want to be sure to have some money salted away for a good firearms safety course as well.
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