Captain Crunch

You can always do like I do, I guess...

I take it on faith, because,

a.) I carry an established name brand pistol of proven quality & reliability.

b.) I have reassembled it correctly.

c.) I use an established name brand of ammunition of proven quality and reliability.

But since I'm cautious by nature, I always do this little drill after every cleaning session. (With a three times verified unloaded pistol.)

Cock the hammer. Point pistol at the ceiling. Drop a number 2 lead pencil, eraser end down, down the bore. Pull the trigger. When the pencil is propelled out of the barrel, I'm assured the firing pin is functional and will strike a primer as intended.

Of course, this tends to leave little black marks on your ceiling.

__________________


When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier.

Rudyard Kipling

Terry

boscobeans

Another use of the pencil in the barrel:

Put a small dot on a wall (in your shop.LOL) and with the pencil in place and your pistol just a few inches from the wall aim at the dot. See how far a spread you get at the pencil's point of contact after a few shots. Teaches good trigger control.

I learned this from a guy 40 years ago. He was strictly a slowfire target shooter and wore one of those pinhole gizmo's over his shooting eye.

bosco

Captain Crunch

Learned this technique in the Army years ago, with the M1911/1911A1 pistol. Excellent drill.

__________________


When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier.

Rudyard Kipling

Terry

Dal1Celt

Wonder if that will work with my Glock??

Hmmmmm......

__________________
What? Me worry?

farronwolf

Another one here for placing a pencil down the barrel and holding the gun up to see if it is propelled upwards if for some reason your not sure or completly confident in your reassembly.

__________________
Just remember that shot placement is much more important with what you carry than how big a bang you get with each trigger pull.

bmcgilvray

A revolver is simplicity itself.

billfromtx

Good idea!!!!!!!!

__________________
USMC 1984-1992
To err is human.
To forgive is divine.
Neither of which is Marine Corps policy.

"It's all about shot placement."- David (Slayer of Goliath)

Captain Crunch

Why wouldn't it?

You just have to rack the slide to reset the striker.

With the 1911, you just manually cock the hammer.

Same thing.

__________________


When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier.

Rudyard Kipling

Terry

BradyM77

Keep it clean, lubed, and use quality ammo in a quality gun and it will go bang. Can I guarantee that 100% of the time no matter what it will go bang? No. Will I trust my life that I have done all I can to assure my pistol will go bang? Yes.

Practice clearing drills and carry a BUG.

__________________
Having a gun and saying you're armed is like having a guitar and saying you're a musician. Jeff Cooper

QKShooter

Using a BIC pen.
You can also use that to see how good your trigger control is.
Illustration is an exaggeration on the dot size and the "flyer" is intentional.
Naturally your group will always be below your aiming point but, it will be quite representative of how steady you are holding your firearm during the trigger pull.

About 1' away from the wall.