It just occured to me that, in terms of simplifying the response to a gun failure to a single decision, tap-rack-bang is insufficient.
There are four basic reasons why a gun won't go bang when the trigger is pulled.
1. Jammed.
2. Dud round.
3. Empty.
4. Bumped slide lock.
3 is the most common scenario by far, as long as you're using a decent gun and decent ammo. And in the middle of a fight for your life, with a massive adrenaline dump, possibly in poor lighting, it will probably not be possible to distinguish between any of the above. You also most likely won't have enough presence of mind to count your shots. Some people have accidentally carried around their guns with empty mags, so the same could certainly happen with a partially filled mag instead. The slide stop may fail, and you may end up with a "click" that's actually caused by an empty chamber, not a dud round. If the last round in the magazine jams/clicks, tap-rack-bang will leave you with a slide-locked empty gun.
Just as it's a bad idea to have different responses for failure to fire vs. failure to feed (restrike vs. t-r-b), it's probably a bad idea to have different responses for ftf (either) vs. empty gun.
So basically, a true "universal" response to the gun not going bang is to:
1. Drop the mag.
2. Rack the slide.
3. Insert a new mag.
4. Rack the slide.
Pros: It should fix any reason for the gun not firing short of catastrophic mechanical failure, including a double feed jam or empty magazine. No decision making required, just have to notice the gun didn't fire. Running out of ammo is much more likely than a jam (provided you use a good quality gun and ammo), so it will be an appropriate responce a higher percentage of the time. It'll encourage people to carry at least one reload, which is definitely a good idea.
Cons: It's slower than tap-rack-bang, and slower than a conventional reload. If it's in response to a jam, you lose the contents of that magazine. Some guns may break small parts if you slam the slide home on an empty chamber.
Any thoughts?
There are four basic reasons why a gun won't go bang when the trigger is pulled.
1. Jammed.
2. Dud round.
3. Empty.
4. Bumped slide lock.
3 is the most common scenario by far, as long as you're using a decent gun and decent ammo. And in the middle of a fight for your life, with a massive adrenaline dump, possibly in poor lighting, it will probably not be possible to distinguish between any of the above. You also most likely won't have enough presence of mind to count your shots. Some people have accidentally carried around their guns with empty mags, so the same could certainly happen with a partially filled mag instead. The slide stop may fail, and you may end up with a "click" that's actually caused by an empty chamber, not a dud round. If the last round in the magazine jams/clicks, tap-rack-bang will leave you with a slide-locked empty gun.
Just as it's a bad idea to have different responses for failure to fire vs. failure to feed (restrike vs. t-r-b), it's probably a bad idea to have different responses for ftf (either) vs. empty gun.
So basically, a true "universal" response to the gun not going bang is to:
1. Drop the mag.
2. Rack the slide.
3. Insert a new mag.
4. Rack the slide.
Pros: It should fix any reason for the gun not firing short of catastrophic mechanical failure, including a double feed jam or empty magazine. No decision making required, just have to notice the gun didn't fire. Running out of ammo is much more likely than a jam (provided you use a good quality gun and ammo), so it will be an appropriate responce a higher percentage of the time. It'll encourage people to carry at least one reload, which is definitely a good idea.
Cons: It's slower than tap-rack-bang, and slower than a conventional reload. If it's in response to a jam, you lose the contents of that magazine. Some guns may break small parts if you slam the slide home on an empty chamber.
Any thoughts?
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