How to deal with hangfires?

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  • guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    Tl;dr Had my first hangfire. Realized how dangerous these situations can really be. What are your experiences, thoughts, and safety practices in dealing with hangfires/dud ammunition?


    I had my first hangfire at the range (bad primers from handloads) where they went off in about half a second after hammer strike. From what I read in the range rules, they say the proper etiquette is to hold the firearm downrange for at least 30 seconds in the event of a failure to fire and clear out the dud round.

    I didn't really think of the dangers of a hangfire, but it can apparently lead to catastrophic failures and injuries on revolvers where the misfired round can go off in the cylinder if the misfire was not cleared out with the proper procedure. Come to think of it, the very thought of ejecting what is literally a miniature frag grenade (potential hang fire of an unsupported cartridge) really changed my perception on how to deal with freshly ejected dud rounds and the importance of wearing safety glasses and possibly a nice pair of rugged shooting gloves.

    Maybe I'm overthinking this, but better to be informed than sorry. What are your experiences, thoughts, and safety practices in dealing with hangfires/dud ammunition? Any input is much appreciated, thanks!

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
     

    Tungsten

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 1, 2012
    7,231
    Elkridge, Leftistan
    I've always heard that best practice is to wait 30 secs, then clear the firearm and inspect the round. However, it seems like a lot of people practice tap rack immediately upon having a dud with no time between click and clearing the gun.
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    I've always heard that best practice is to wait 30 secs, then clear the firearm and inspect the round. However, it seems like a lot of people practice tap rack immediately upon having a dud with no time between click and clearing the gun.
    I suppose in stressed environments you don't have that kind of luxury. Not really worried about it in autoloaders so much on bolt actions and revolvers since pulling the slide/charging handle to eject a round is streamlined.

    In a revolver, you actually have to open the cylinder to clear out a misfired round and many just cycle the next round in the cylinder without much thought.

    In a bolt action, a hangfire while unlocking the breech sounds like an accident waiting to happen, especially if the bolt travel is situated to your cheek.

    I'd practice tap rack clearings solely with marked dummy dry firings at home or even mixed with live ammo I know shoots reliably at the range.

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    gwchem

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 18, 2014
    3,434
    SoMD
    30 seconds then eject if it happens during practice. Immediate tap, rack if during competition.

    If it goes off outside the gun, it'll pop and scare you, but you're mostly unharmed. Without the chamber, physics says the bullet mostly stays in place, and the weaker, lighter casing gets broken apart.
     

    Mark75H

    MD Wear&Carry Instructor
    Industry Partner
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 25, 2011
    17,173
    Outside the Gates
    30 seconds then eject if it happens during practice. Immediate tap, rack if during competition.

    If it goes off outside the gun, it'll pop and scare you, but you're mostly unharmed. Without the chamber, physics says the bullet mostly stays in place, and the weaker, lighter casing gets broken apart.

    Or the primer is ejected, which ever offers the least resistance.


    Wait 30 seconds is the standard before moving the cylinder or starting the ejection
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    Also in the 30 second camp. Depending on the gun, I will have a second go at it before extracting it.
     

    mac1_131

    MSI Executive Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 31, 2009
    3,280
    Also in the 30 second camp. Depending on the gun, I will have a second go at it before extracting it.
    That's where some bolt actions get scary. Mausers come to mind, no option to re-cock and try it again. US bolt actions can be re-cocked.

    If that sucker fires while you are opening the bolt you will not have a good outcome.

    I give those plenty of time and stand to the side and prepare to get blowed up when I open those.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    That's where some bolt actions get scary. Mausers come to mind, no option to re-cock and try it again. US bolt actions can be re-cocked.

    If that sucker fires while you are opening the bolt you will not have a good outcome.

    I give those plenty of time and stand to the side and prepare to get blowed up when I open those.
    Always do the 30 second wait, no mater what you do. Then move on to the next step. :thumbsup:
     

    JB01

    Member
    Nov 11, 2017
    99
    With the round remaining in the chamber and with a revolver chamber aligned with the barrel and firearm pointed in a safe direction, wait 30 seconds then eject the round and leave it alone until I feel better.
    JB
     

    teratos

    My hair is amazing
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Jan 22, 2009
    59,775
    Bel Air
    30 seconds. If you want to practice FTF in drills, use dummy rounds...
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,733
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Waiting makes sense when hunting or range shooting. For me, whenever I have shot for certification quals or in competition, it was tap, rack, bang. That said, I can it only happened twice that I can recall under those circumstances. When shooting reloads, it has happened a few more times than I like and I have waited jic.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    sooooo, here's something to chew on. For those who ride the slide release on a semi, it keeps it from locking back on empty. How do you know it's not a failure to fire? You really don't.
    I did it so much on a 229 that doing a malfunction drill became my regular shooting ritual when it happened. Which to me is a good thing.
    Train like we fight, right? If that's your thing. You go through that malfunction drill. Of all the rounds I've fired, I have never had a failure to fire that I know of, or a squib. I know in a self defense situation I am not waiting and pointing the pistol forward to wait for something to happen. I guess this is something that happens more often on hand loads.

    YMMV
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,156
    If you want experience with hangfires start shooting flintlocks. If everything is right a flint lock will actually fire faster than a percussion cap but if any thing is wrong you can get hangfires that take a lot of time to go off. Keep it pointed in a safe direction and wait 30 seconds, more if something is happening, then with a flint lock we usually clean the flash hole reprime and try again.
     

    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    If you want experience with hangfires start shooting flintlocks. If everything is right a flint lock will actually fire faster than a percussion cap but if any thing is wrong you can get hangfires that take a lot of time to go off. Keep it pointed in a safe direction and wait 30 seconds, more if something is happening, then with a flint lock we usually clean the flash hole reprime and try again.

    ****Yea. Geez. THIS. I was an RSO at a DNR hunter qualification a few years back and one of the folks was using a blackpowder rifle that experienced a hangfire during qualification. Thankfully, the RSO assigned to the guy knew exactly what had happened and forced the guy to hold the rifle down range for a minute (our ranges SOP is 1 minute for a hangfire versus 30 seconds the NRA recommends..).

    The rifle basically did a big "poof" sound and sent the projectile downrange versus into his hand or someone's nuts as he was ready to just try and clear his rifle... Somebody had a hygrometer of some sort that tests powder and told the guy his powder was wet. Guess that dude didn't keep his powder dry!!! I always wondered about that saying until that day!:lol2:
     

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