Video: Range Officer Catches Dangerous Malfunction at Last Second
OutdoorHub Reporters 10.13.15
There are a number of malfunctions that can happen at the range, and the odds are that if you like to practice shooting regularly, you’ve already run into a few of them. Failures to feed, stovepipes, and other common handgun malfunctions can solved easily enough by the tap-rack-bang drill, but not this one. No, this rarely-seen malfunction has the potential the blow up your gun—and take your hand with it.
It’s a squib.
A squib is what happens when the round does not have enough powder to propel the bullet out of the barrel. There is still a pop when the trigger is pulled and even a puff of smoke, but th e bullet is now lodged inside your barrel instead of speeding towards your target. At this point, chambering another round and firing it will collide it with the bullet already in your barrel, leading to a catastrophic failure.
Luckily for this shooter, an attentive range officer caught the malfunction just before he was able to get another round off, likely saving him from a broken gun and painful injuries to boot. Footage of the shooting begins at 1:16 and the squib occurs at roughly 1:38.
