Malfunction Clearance

**Malfunction clearance** is the set of techniques for restoring a stoppped firearm to running condition under stress. For semi-automatic handguns, three stoppage types cover the overwhelming majority of what a shooter will encounter: **Type 1 — Failure to Fire:** the most common. Tap (the base of the magazine, seating it firmly), Rack (the slide to chamber a fresh round), Ready (target re-acquired, resume firing). **Type 2 — Stovepipe / Failure to Eject:** empty case trapped in the ejection port. Same fix: Tap, Rack, Ready. The rack action sweeps the case clear. **Type 3 — Double Feed:** two rounds competing to enter the chamber. Requires a full clearance: strip the magazine (often requires racking the slide multiple times with the magazine removed), rack the slide clear, reload with a fresh magazine, resume. These are all trained drills. They are not improvisation. A shooter who has drilled all three runs clearances in under two seconds; a shooter who hasn't looks at the gun, looks back at the target, and gets shot.