Malfunction Clearing

[ATLDave]

It's a matter of battle readiness. How ready do you want to be? Would you rather have the skill to clear stoppages quickly and not need it or or need the skill and not have it?

See holdencm9's recent reply for a well-explicated explanation. I would add only this:

There are many things that are good to have. Getting those things requires the expenditure of resources and/or the acceptance of risk. It is not possible to acquire all good things, because of resource constraints or the acceptance of unacceptable levels of risk. So you have to choose what resources to allocate and what risks to accept.

Blindly accepting risk for something that one may very, very unlikely to need is unwise. I could "train" to learn how to rappel down cliff faces, on the theory that someday that might be my only avenue of escape from some rampaging horde. But given my actual lifestyle, that's so unlikely that accepting the risks inherent in learning how to rapel vastly outweigh the risks of remaining unskilled in that area. Now, I may decide that rapelling would be fun, in which case the analysis may shift. Or I might have chosen a different occupation for myself, in which case the analysis may shift dramatically. But sitting here today, "training" myself to rapel would not be rational.

In fact, training myself to rapel would be like taking out an insurance policy where the premiums exceed the coverage. It would be crazy. Training oneself to a fast TRB is not as crazy, but for many people it is like taking an insurance policy for an extraordinarily unlikely event with non-trivial premiums. Those resources might be better directed elsewhere.

Unless ingraining a really fast TRB is fun. Then the acceptance of risk - like the acceptance of risk that is inherent in going to a shooting range - may make a lot of sense.

 

[Skylerbone]

I gather from what I've read that a quick default to TRB is necessary in training to make it "stick" and that it's a barrel of fun compared to getting stabbed or shot.

As I mentioned, I honestly don't ever expect to need it because I've yet to, except when learning the drills. Purposely loading dummy rounds should ready the shooter consciously for the procedure and if there is concern about an intended live round not going bang and causing damage you can load a full magazine of snap caps or dummys.

I've noticed Hornady has taken to adding 1 additional bullet in each of the last 8 boxes I loaded last week so it seems I've got some training fodder at the ready.

 

[Arp32]

Just out of curiosity, do you normally ride the thumbsafety with your strong thumb?

Where do you usually place your support thumb when shooting?

Usually thumbs facing target, support thumb high and outside strong hand thumb (say 10 or 11 o'clock as viewed from shooter), strong hand thumb on safety.



EDIT: Not having my 1911 handy when I posted the above, I tried an "imaginary" grip and completely misspoke... Weak thumb is actually just below the slide stop lever, strong thumb is high riding the safety. Sorry for the added thread derailment.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Sounds like you're clear of all the controls

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Blindly accepting risk for something that one may very, very unlikely to need is unwise.

Where’s the risk?

Given the frequency in which Tap/Rack is performed as the primary immediate action in the event of a stoppage I’d expect there to be reports in which the risks associated with Tap/Rack are actually realized.

But there aren’t any that I'm aware of. Why? Because in training the risk of a squib/hangfire is virtually eliminated by the use of a dummy cartridge to insert a “misfire” stoppage.

In addition the risk of encountering an actual squib/hangfire with live ammunition during training is pretty low – so low that’s it’s an acceptable risk given the fact that Tap/Rack quickly clears many types of stoppages IN ADDITION to the highly unlikely, “highly risky” defective cartridge.

 

[ATLDave]

In addition the risk of encountering an actual squib/hangfire with live ammunition during training is pretty low – so low that’s it’s an acceptable risk given the fact that Tap/Rack quickly clears many types of stoppages IN ADDITION to the highly unlikely, “highly risky” defective cartridge.

OK, that's a different argument, and one that makes sense to me. Now you're arguing probabilities, which is logical. Whether you are right or nor is an empirical question, though perhaps not one readily answered.