Posted: 5/21/2006 2:19:10 PM EDT
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A buddy of mine, who is an NRA instructor and does a lot of classes both as trainer and trainee asked me a simple question the other day. "How do you empty your weapon and know that it's unloaded?" Well, gee, that's not too tough. I tell him I drop the mag, lock the action open and inspect the chamber visually and manually while pointing the weapon in a safe direction. Almost but not quite, apparently. He tells me that the latest thing, mandated by those in Federal law enforcement, is to do the above but also cycle the action 3 times. Something about compensating for weak extractors. Seems pretty weird to me. If the extractor is weak who's to say it will work anyhow? And how is this better than visually and manually inspecting the chamber? Can anyone confirm this new 'practice' or has my buddy been the victim of gunshop BS syndrome? |
| DarkNite: That maybe a good idea. At my now closed local indoor range, Santa Anita Firing Range, Monrovia Calif(10 miles east of Los Angeles), they had a 22LR bullet hole in one of the vending machines. A customer returned a rental 22LR lever-action rifle, the gun worked the lever and pulled the trigger 2 times, on the 3rd time, the gun went "Bang!" They put a piece of black electrical tape over the hole, but it shows that you can't be too careful. Apparently a 22LR round was stuck in the tube mag, and on the 3rd try, the round dislodged itself and fed into the chamber and...... |
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I'm always been told racking 3 times is the proper way. On the show COPS the officers usually rack three times before inspecting the chamber/barrel. The LE I know do the same. I don't think it's a new thing. My way: 1. Rack once and look in the chamber. 2. Rack 3 times 3. On the third, point to a light source and look for blockage in the barrel 4. If I want to know it's safe, i'll leave the slide back. I usually check revolvers twice as well. Take the bullets out, count them, open the cylinder and check again. It may seem excessive, but it saved me from a discharge once. Of course, I usually carry a glock, so I'm more careful when disarming the weapon since I have to pull the trigger to disarm. |
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" He tells me that the latest thing, mandated by those in Federal law enforcement, is to do the above but also cycle the action 3 times. Something about compensating for weak extractors." I don't normally worry about extractors , but I have done this as part of my clearing procedure for years When I go shooting , alone or with friends, there are usually MULTIPLE Weapons in use , sometimes Unfamiliar to me. Makes me feel more secure  |
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Never underestimate what a fatigued mind is capable of rationalizing. The most interresting ND while I was deployed was a soldier clearing his weapon at the barrel managed to make his weapon go bang as such: Drop the magazine, lock bolt to the rear, inspect by sight and feel that chamber was empty. Put magazine back in, release bolt and drop the hammer. Whooops. After running for days on very little sleep it's easy to have your brain short circuit somewhere when all you can think about is how tired and hungry you are, and visions of a hot shower dance in your head. Would manually working the bolt three times before dropping the hammer on an empty chamber have prevented the above ND? Probably. The soldier would have thought it strange he had rounds ejecting from an empty rifle. Assuming he was actually paying attention and not so tired and disconnected that he was just going through the motions. |
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OK, I will. I am a retired Fed (November 2005). Rangemaster/Senior Firearms instructor. I many years ago learned the work the action 3 times from Phil Singleton. Phil was the Lead Instructor for H&K at the time, and is former SAS. Basically one can put it this way. Often people get the magazine out then work the action drill reversed, or they forget to drop the mag before clearing the round out ot the chamber. By working the action three times you do two things. ONE... Should a round slip off the extractor, you give it a couple more times to catch and pull the live round out. SECOND... Also, if when you work the action three times you start seeing live rounds tossed out each time... that is an indication you forgot to remove the magazine. I met and was trained by Phil very early in my career. I picked up the mag out, work action three times, inspect chamber drill from him. I continued to teach it from that point on. I always explained that if you worked the action three times and you keep seeing live rounds tossed out. That is what in the profession of law enforcement that we call a "Clue". It's a clue you forgot to pull the magazine out first! I think it is more of a check of removing the magazine than dealing with the chance of a bad extractor, but it is valid for both. I know of many NDs that were caused by a goof of tossing the round out of the chamber BEFORE removing the magazine. I know of a police car with a hole in the windshield because the clearing drill was done backwards. With ringing ears, an OH SHIT look on both faces... and a couple of seconds... they figured out how an "empty" pistol fired! 1. Finger off trigger, muzzle in safe direction... MAGAZINE OUT. Set it aside, get the magazine out of your hands. 2. Finger off trigger, muzzle in safe direction... WORK THE ACTION 3 TIMES. Observe the ejection port to watch for the live round to be extracted. There should only be one during the working of the action three times. (If more than one round comes out, go to step 1, and begin again.) 3. Finger off trigger, muzzle in safe direction... CHECK CHAMBER. Look in there and if needed carefully stick your finger in there to feel for a clear chamber (some chambers are recessed and hard to see in poor lighting.) Be careful to not let the action close on that finger! |
Not sure how new it is but that's how we were taught at FLETC. Sticking a finger in the magwell and chamber is also taught to physically make sure there are no rounds in the firearm should we unlaod it in low/no light. |
Looks like I have a new SOP...
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x2. Let me add that I always use my finger to check the chamber, as well. |
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