shootpar

I was wondering.....if your primary protection weapon has just been disassembled, cleaned, and put back together, how do you know it is ready to protect you without firing it first? I just cleaned my handgun after 50 rounds at the range. How am I sure it is ready and how do you feel about this? Thanks for the opinions and answers, D

Kerbouchard

Experience. And then, there is always dry-firing.

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TucAzRider

Yep... know your personal defense tool WELL!!!... Shouldn't ever be a question at all. I know mine will go BANG!!!!

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Urk 22

Just put it back together the way you took it apart and you should know it will work. The more you get familiar with your gun the less you will worry, and you wont have to think about the gun not firing.

pcon

Our ccw instructor taught us something too. Upon re-assembling the weapon MAKE SURE THE WEAPON IS UNLOADED and pull the trigger. Keep the trigger held back (don't release the pull) and rack the slide. After racking the slide, slowly release the trigger pull. You should feel a little click and you should be able to hear an audible click also. If this is the case, it seems as though it was put back together correctly and should fire.

I in NO WAY claim this is surefire and the safest means to do so, I'm just passing along instruction my CCW teacher gave to us.

Again, MAKE DOUBLE SURE IT'S UNLOADED if you do this.

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retsupt99

My Kimbers are dry fired after cleaning, my Glocks...well, they're Glocks!

(Life has no guarantees...and mechanical stuff CAN fail at the wrong times.)

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Hopyard

Maybe I'm too naive, but I always just figured if it went back together easily and smoothly and there are no extra parts on the table, it is likely to be just fine. I'll dry fire one. Can't try it on the neighbor' cat because then I'd have to clean it again. Toes count too. You gotta clean it again.

Seriously, once you are familiar with your weapon I don't think this is a real issue. You will sense that something isn't going into place the way it should.

Another solution, use a wheel gun.

Bunny

After cleaning and reassembly, I always perform at least 5-10 function checks before I load the mag. I've only had my gun 8 weeks, but it's had well over 1000 rounds in 8 trips to the range since then, and I clean after every range trip -- so far, so good. It goes BANG every time I need it to.

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Sig Sauer P239 DAK (9mm)
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boscobeans

After cleaning and reassembly, cycle it a few times, dry fire it a few times then drop a pencil (eraser side first) or wooden dowel down the barrel. If it flies out of the barrel when you pull the trigger chances are that you are ready to go. It will come out fast so don't look at it or "You'll shoot your eye out."

bosco

Anubis

Nothing is 100% certain. If I inspect all the parts, find them OK, assemble the pistol, perform the appropriate function checks, I at least know there's no broken or worn part to cause failure. But I won't know absolutely whether the pistol actually will fire until I actually fire it later at the range (then I know at that point that it would have functioned in an emergency prior to the range trip). Once it's fired, of course, it's then possible a part could have broken that will cause a failure the next time I try to fire it.

Even if the pistol works fine, the same applies to the cartridge: you can't be 100% sure the next cartridge will fire until after the fact...

So one can never know with 100% certainty that a pistol will work until it actually does fire. I find it best not to obsess over this too much. On every trip to the range, I fire the first self-defense round I have been carrying. It has always worked; that's good enough for me.

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