Tap Rack? Not Always a Good Idea

Many instructors teach that the proper response to a click instead of a bang when firing your pistol is to tap the magazine and rack the slide—tap-rack—because this will often clear the malfunction. I teach this to my students as well because this maneuver does correct several malfunctions including magazines that are not properly seated, some failures to feed, and perhaps others and is generally an effective technique. But automatically executing a tap-rack maneuver is not always good idea depending upon the circumstances.

When a cartridge’s propellant does not fully ignite or when there is an insufficient powder charge, it may still generate enough pressure to cause the bullet to enter the barrel and lodge in the pistol's bore. Commonly known as a squib, if the cartridge's failure causes a bullet to be lodged in the barrel, subsequently loading and firing another round with the bore obstructed can result in serious damage to your firearm and potentially serious injury to you or a bystander.

In a recent match, a competitor had a failure to fire. Before the safety officer could stop the shooter, another competitor on the squad shouted “Tap – Rack!” The competitor did exactly that—he chambered and fired another round. Suddenly his pistol was out of action. The competitor had a squib and a bullet was lodged in the barrel. The round he chambered and fired behind the lodged bullet destroyed the barrel. In the picture below, arrows indicate a bulge in the barrel and an area where the chamber fractured and feed ramp was damaged. My quick examination showed that the slide and frame appeared to be undamaged—a testament to the Canik METE SFx’s strength. Regardless, I suggested that the competitor contact the manufacturer and have the pistol components examined to ensure that they were still within specifications and safe to use.

 

In the past couple of years, I have personally seen or have direct knowledge of several instances of factory rounds with insufficient powder charges. SIG SAUER, Hornady, Browning, Herter’s and Winchester have all recalled 9mm ammunition that may not have had proper powder charges. In 2021, Winchester recalled sixty lots which I would guess is a lot of bullets—some of it may still be around.

In competition or training when you are not working on malfunction clearance, it is important to pause and check the firearm’s status if there is even a remote possibility of a squib. This is particularly important in a match since firing in an adjacent bay can mask the sound of a squib. Since squib loads generally fail to expel the bullet from the barrel, you must use a metal rod or wooden dowel and some impact (e.g. a hammer or hard surface) to drive the bullet out before the firearm can be placed back into action. Matches and training are not life and death situations, if a competitor or student has a malfunction that could produce a squib, we are better off stopping them and ensuring that their firearm is safe to continue and then to re-shoot the stage or continue training before we permit something that may result in an injury to a shooter or someone nearby.

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The “New” Bakersfield Police Department Qualification -- An Update

In an earlier post, I used the term “old” to describe the Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) qualification that I was discussing because I had seen several internet sources describing what they said was the “new” BPD qualification. At the time, I did not believe that the discussions concerning the new qualification were accurate since from my research, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) requires a minimum of thirty-six rounds to be fired at five, seven, and fifteen yards with the handgun (LD 35 of the PC 832 Arrest and Firearms Training Specifications).

I mentioned in my article that I could find no official document concerning the current BPD qualification course of fire and asked for official references that provided this information. In the article, I also mentioned Bob Jewell’s well-researched article in the July 2024 edition of USCCA’s Concealed Carry Magazine which provided additional information and some pictures of Mike Waidelich, the Bakersfield Officer that created the “old” qualification.*

Long story short, Bob contacted me and we discussed the current status of the BPD qualification. The current BPD qualification is as follows:

• Stage 1: Two rounds at 10 feet in 2 seconds

• Stage 2: Two rounds at 20 feet in 3 seconds

• Stage 3: Two rounds, combat reload and two rounds at 30 feet in 7 seconds

• Stage 4: Two rounds at 60 feet in 4 seconds

Per Bob, the BPD rangemaster stated that the department is now using the more readily available IPSC/USPSA target rather than the older Waidelich-designed target. There are no longer any penalties for time over the limit as in Waidelich’s original qualification because the BPD now uses a turning target system. Officers must score 80 or better to pass using the following scoring:

• A-Zone: 10 points

• C-Zone: 9 points

• D-Zone: 6 points

How does this qualification fit within the California POST requirement mentioned above? Per my conversation with Bob Jewell, the BPD fires their qualification quarterly with BPD Officers firing each ten round qualification three times (30 rounds). Their qualification score is the average of the three runs. The April 2024 update to California POST LD 35 of the PC 832 Arrest and Firearms Training specification requires peace officers to fire a minimum of 30 rounds of service ammunition using a presenter approved service handgun, with acceptable accuracy standards and under time restrictions the firearms instructor establishes. In other words, the new BPD qualification does meet California POST April 2024 updated requirements.

Bob mentioned that in mid 2024, the BPD began awarding a coin to any officer who shot a perfect score on the qualification three times in a row. Bob indicated that as of December 2024, the BPD had only awarded coins to two officers. The BPD gave Bob the opportunity to shoot the “new” qualification and he successfully did so with three perfect runs on October 13, 2024—thus earning him a coin. Way to go Bob!

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* https://www.firearmtrainerpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USCCA-July-2024-Waidelich.pdf

Another Blown Up Pistol!

Although ammo shortages have eased a bit, ammo prices generally have not and still create challenges for many shooters. As a result, some shooters are turning away from major brands and buying reloaded ammo from smaller ammo manufacturers. While the quality is acceptable for many, sometimes it is not.

In one of my recent matches, I heard a substantially louder report from the bay next to me. Upon investigation, I discovered that a shooter’s revolver had essentially detonated.

I asked him if he was OK and he said yes. He only had some soot spots in several areas on his hands. The round in the firing chamber (the blue arrow in the picture below) had discharged with enough pressure that gas burned through the adjacent cylinder walls (red arrows in picture) and caused those rounds to fire as well. There was no obstruction in the bore; however, one the adjacent rounds struck the revolver’s frame. The shooter’s brand new S&W Performance Center® Model 327 Jerry Miculek World Record Revolver and its associated optic were toast—a $3500.00 ouch.

I asked if he was using factory ammunition and he said he was; however, when I asked what brand he replied that he didn’t know. He said it was a company in San Antonio that manufactured reloaded ammunition, but he didn’t remember the name.

I strongly suspect that the round that detonated was substantially overcharged. As we see in this incident, an overcharge can destroy your firearm and could cause serious injury depending upon the circumstances.

How do we prevent this? The obvious answer is to limit your purchases to major manufacturers and avoid companies that reload ammunition. However, that is not necessarily the best answer as many smaller companies produce excellent ammunition. Additionally, over the past several years I have seen quality control problems with ammunition from several of the major manufacturers as well.

One way to reduce risk would be to purchase a digital reloading scale and weigh every round. Although this is tedious, it would identify any round that weighs markedly less (undercharge) or greater (overcharge) than the average for that box. One caveat, brass from different manufacturers will have different weights so you will need to separate the rounds by brass manufacturer if the box has mixed brass.

As of this writing, a simple digital reloading scale costs less than $50.00. This is quite a bit less than a $3500.00 custom pistol.

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A Low Light SSD-Academy Short Range Match

Benelli M2 w/ 14-Inch Barrel

We recently completed our first Sensible Self Defense Academy low light Short Range Match for 2025—a good time and a good learning experience for all. For this match, we allowed shooters to use a pistol, shotgun, or pistol caliber carbine (PCC). We had a number of new shooters who, while very well versed in competition and day-time shooting, had never tried to run their firearms under low light conditions. For those who did not have lights on their gun, we provided sufficient light to enable them to engage the targets.

The match had four stages—two were standards stages similar to a Steel Challenge stage and two were home invasion scenario stages. Shooters ran each stage once during daylight and once the sun sets, the shooters ran each stage in low light. The daylight runs allowed shooters to get a feel for the stages and what was required for a successful run. The daylight segment also allowed Safety Officers to identify any shooters who would likely have been out of their depth in low light conditions.

A Daylight Run

Low light environments pose additional challenges. To be successful in low light conditions, you should have solid mastery of your firearm’s manual of arms. At this match, there was no light provided to the shooters for administrative tasks such as making ready, loading, confirming a round was chambered, reloading, etc. This posed a problem for some. Per one of the new shooters: “Did my first ever night match. Went in fully prepared (not) by installing the light in the last minute. It was fun but kind of disorienting with it being so dark out there!” This shooter failed to drop their PCC’s bolt when loading and reloading on several occasions.

One of the Peace Officers attending the match asked if he could practice the tactics he would use on duty during the match. ABSOLUTELY! That is the main goal of the Short Range Match -- I prefer that people use their everyday carry equipment and practice solid tactics rather than gaming the match. The officer used his issued duty equipment which included an older Benelli M2 with a 14-inch barrel that his department purchased in the early 1990’s. It ran fine throughout the match with no hiccups. His department issued shotgun round was the Remington 000 magnum buckshot load. Out of a 14-inch barrel, this load had an impressive muzzle flash under low light conditions (see lead picture above).

A lesson learned: You must practice low light techniques just like any other skill to have any hope of using them under stress as several shooters in the match discovered. Thankfully, you can practice the techniques with live fire during daylight if your range will not allow night shooting.

How do you practice engaging multiple threats with these techniques? If your local range has IDPA matches, shoot the course of fire using your flashlight if the match director will permit it. Your score probably will not win the match; however, you will learn how to shoot and manipulate your light under some stress. Remember to practice turning the light on and off and you move through the stage.

Practicing how to search a structure (like your house when nobody is home) in the dark is important as well. Do this empty handed, with a blue gun, or with an UNLOADED firearm (check it 3 times!). This helps you identify how the various angles and corners in your house make a given technique a better option than the others.

Some might ask why we should learn and practice low light techniques. I suppose the answer to this question depends upon your personal circumstances and perhaps where you live. If you live in a large city where it is literally never dark due to streetlights, lighted parking lots, etc., then learning and practicing low light techniques may not worth the time and effort. However, even though I live in San Antonio, Texas, in my neighborhood there are no streetlights and you can easily find yourself effectively in the dark when outside at night if there is little or no moon.

To my knowledge, no data exists concerning private citizen-involved shootings with criminals under low light conditions; however, since a lot of criminal activity occurs after dark we can assume that there is a likely correlation. There are several reasons to use a flashlight: to observe and detect, to illuminate and navigate, to eliminate anonymity, and to identify and engage threats. Used properly, a flashlight lets you see danger before it can affect you and it can encourage the potential danger waiting in the dark to go elsewhere.

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