Originally Posted by
Dan Lehr
As I noted in an earlier thread I believe we should get away from the 'tacticool' verbage and identify by 'fail to....feed, fire, extract, eject. In reality you can get by with 'pistol doesn't go boom, I tap, rack and roll, then try to shoot, if that doesn't work I unload the pistol clear the chamber, and reload' if the shooter knows in detail how to clear the chamber.
Everyone trains the 'double feed fail to extract' which was described above. I've seen a lot of real life FTEX's on the firing line and they also routinely present with the slide forward and the extractor not engaging the case head, or with the round firmly in the chamber and the extractor still engaged.
In the case of the slide forward and the extractor not engaged, with striker fired pistols especially, the shooter often thinks the slide is slightly out of battery and taps it forward. This wastes time as the shooter attempts to fire a round and then goes through FTF clearance, this results in either setting up the FTEX as is commonly done, or presents the shooter with the slide locked forward scenario. In any event the shooter has wasted time.
By the way, this seems to be a good time to emphasize that if you are standing still and shooting, you are probably wrong, unless, of course, you are behind cover. Likewise if you are standing still trying to clear a malfunction/stoppage, unless you are behind cover you are likely to be dead wrong. The problem is that on square ranges with multiple shooters this is hard to safely train, which is a good reason to do these drills solo or when it is just you and a buddy - take turns in that case.
Back to the FTEX clearance...in the third case, with the slide forward, round firmly in the chamber, extractor still engaged, the shooter will often try immediate action and find the slide immobile. In this case they have a shot at perhaps clearing this mess as quickly as can be done: get a firm overhand grip on the back of the slide, take the master hand away from the pistol and forcefully come into the backstrap as high and hard as possible. You need to grab the grip as you accomplish this. Often the impact will extract the case, sometimes the extractor jumps off the case rim and the slide comes to the rear. It is also not unlikely that some pistols will hit the deck while training this method.
Finally, regarding slide manipulation, the shooter needs to have a firm grip on the slide, and get serious about moving the slide forward to positively engage the extractor, and positively to the rear to extract the case. If they don't do this, they will be unlikely to extract the stuck case.
Let's be honest, some shooters just won't have the requisite strength to work the slide and hold the pistol's frame relatively immobile. In working with such shooters what I've found effective is having them lock the slide to the rear, grip the pistol firmly and disengage the slide catch/release using a finger or thumb. I've had some folks need to use their support hand to release the slide in order to hold the frame as motionless as possible. With the frame held rigid and the slide released in this manner all the spring energy is used to propel the slide forward and overcome the extractor.
I had such good success with this that I believe this should be the first step, it's what I do know rather than overhand racking from the get go.
Sor4ry if I rambled, hope this makes sense and is somewhat helpful.