Month: October 2010

Function Testing: Why and How

Posted on by Marketing Action Target

Written by Benjamin Kurata

I’ve had the benefit of traveling to many different locations and training with many different departments and agencies. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to train with the men and women who are on the front line protecting our country and society. That being said, a universally neglected area is proper preventative maintenance of the semiautomatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns issued and carried. IF YOUR WEAPON DOESN’T WORK, YOU CAN’T PROTECT YOURSELF, YOUR PARTNER, OR OTHERS!

Cleaning and Lubrication:

Here, I have to defer to, and ask you to do that most unnatural thing: read the Owner’s Manual that comes with every firearm. If you don’t have a copy, you can go to the manufacturer’s website and download a copy, or see your department RangeMaster. (S)he will likely have a copy. The other unnatural thing that I will ask of you is to follow the instructions. Light lubrication means a light coat of lubricant, not half of the 4 oz. squeeze bottle of CLP. We all have our favorite concoctions and potions to use on our firearms, just keep in mind two things:

1. In general, solvents are good at dissolving carbon, fouling, and copper from the surfaces of your firearm. They are not good at lubricating the same surfaces. A really good solvent will strip away all the residue on the surface being treated and LEAVE THE METAL BARE AND UNPROTECTED.

2. In general, lubricants are good at protecting metal-to-metal contact surfaces and metal parts / finishes from corrosion, but they are not necessarily good as a solvent.

Firearms Function Test

Which means, yes, in general, you will have to use two bottles of magical mystery stuff. I’m sure in saying this I will get barraged with spam about the latest and greatest whatever, and if it’s out there, please feel free to hook me up with lots of free samples. I’m just saying that I haven’t encountered the ultimate all-in-one product yet.

In a future article I’ll go over general guidelines for preventative maintenance for semiautomatic pistols, but for now, let’s assume that you have successfully disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated both your weapon and any associated magazines. Yes, I am a proponent of cleaning and lightly lubricating your magazines every time you clean and lubricate your weapon. Let’s think about it. Magazines are your weapon’s ammunition feeding system. If a magazine fails, your weapon will likely no longer fire with that magazine. That’s why we practice stoppage clearance drills every time we practice. (See previous article on magazine maintenance and function testing.)

To Function Test a Semiautomatic Pistol:

  1. Make certain that there is no live ammunition in the pistol or any of the associated magazines. Check a second time.

    2. How and Why Firearms Function Test

  2. With the hammer down / striker in the “fired” position, insert and lock an empty magazine into the magazine well. This checks to see that the magazine locking notch(es) line up with magazine release, and the magazine release spring has enough power to retain the magazine in the magazine well..

    3. How and Why Firearms Function Test

  3. Smartly rack the slide to the rear. The slide should stay open. This tests the magazine follower, magazine spring, and the alignment of the follower with the slide stop. If the slide does not stay open, you may have reassembled the magazine with the spring backwards or upside down.

    4. Function Test Magazine Release Step

  4. Press the magazine release. The magazine should fall free of the magazine well under its own weight. If it doesn’t, the magazine tube may be bent.

    5. How and Why Function Test Firearms

  5. Using the slide stop / catch, release the slide and let it fly forward under it’s own action. DO NOT “RIDE” the slide with the support hand. You are testing the recoil spring’s capability to drive the slide into battery and lockup.
  6. If your handgun has an external hammer and full cock notch, press under the hammer spur, attempting to push the hammer into the fired position without pressing the trigger. If the hammer slips or wobbles, the handgun is unsafe, do not use it, turn it over to a qualified armorer immedi ately!

    7. How and Why to Function Test Firearms

  7. If your handgun has a safety lever, put it on “safe”. Press the trigger. Nothing should happen.

    8. How and Why to Function Test Firearms

  8. If your handgun has a decock lever (like a SIG), decock. Again, nothing should happen except the hammer being lowered safety to the decock notch.

  9. With the muzzle pointing in a safe direction, take the safety off (if applicable), and press the trigger AND HOLD THE TRIGGER IN THE REARMOST POSITION OF ITS TRAVEL. The hammer / striker should fHow and Why Function Firearm Test all normally.How and Why to Function Test Firearms
  10. Continue to HOLD THE TRIGGER TO THE REAR and manually cycle the slide.
  11. SLOWLY let the trigger go forward until you feel / hear the disconnector reset “click”.
  12. Press the trigger. Again, you should get a normal hammer / striker fall. Steps 9 -12 test the disconnector, the integrated safety mechanism that makes the semiautomatic weapon semiautomatic. A broken disconnector means your wea pon may go full auto on you. While that sounds exciting, it really is a nasty suprise!
  13. Repeat steps 1 – 12 with all remaining magazines.

If you are thinking, “That’s a lot of work!”, consider the following:

1. When you get the hang of it, it will take you 5 – 10 seconds to function test your weapon with each magazine. Most officers carry 3 magazines, so 15 – 30 seconds total!

2. Do you really want to charge your weapon with live ammo, holster it, and not know if it is mechanically functioning properly? A gunfight is not the place to perform a function test!

Next up: function testing the AR-15 (and similar) patrol rifle and the semiautomatic or pump shotgun.

Weapon Clearing

Posted on by Marketing Action Target

How to Clean Your WeaponThere is no shortage of techniques for clearing a stoppage or malfunction; just trying to explain the difference between the two sets off a never ending debate. Unfortunately, those who have time to engage in never ending debates lose track of what is important. You’re fighting for your life. Whatever works is what is important.

Stoppages usually occur in the cycle of operation of the semiautomatic pistol or rifle, usually caused by a dirty, un-lubricated weapon, bad magazines (covered in a previous article) under powered ammunition, poor grip (including unlocking the wrist while shooting). There are other contributing factors, but these are the primary ones.

A malfunction relates to a mechanically broken weapon that usually cannot be fixed on short notice. I would like to deal with the stoppage techniques in this article.

First, prevention or at least steps we can take to prevent this from happening are important, but please keep in mind there are no guarantees. It is hard to believe that in 2010 the primary cause of stoppages is still dirty, un-lubricated firearms. With all the training and preaching about the importance of cleaning and maintaining our weapons systems many of our fellow officers continue to not take this seriously. A properly maintained and lubricated firearm following the manufacturer’s guidelines is as important to you and those that rely on you as understanding sound tactics and techniques to survive a firefight on the street.

Every time a firearm is taken apart, cleaned, lubricated, and put back together, you should perform a function check. Often at the beginning of a training class I will have the students unload, make the weapon safe and perform a function check. I am often surprised by the number of officers that have been “trained” and carrying the firearm for some time that still do not know how to properly perform a function check on their side arm or a shoulder mounted weapon they may be using. While specific firearms require specific manipulation for a weapon-specific function check, general guidelines for a function check will be covered in a later article.

Inspection of duty ammo as we load our magazines is as equally important. The primary objective is to keep our weapons at peak operational readiness so when we draw the firearm we are confident it will go BANG! (Preventative maintenance guide coming soon.)

So, let’s move on to some more terms such as slide forward, slide to the rear, primary stoppage, secondary stoppage, etc. Slide (or bolt on a semi-automatic rifle or shotgun) forward means that the slide or bolt is all the way forward in the normal locked (firing) position but the weapon did not go BANG! Slide (or bolt) to the rear means that the slide is locked to the rearward position. Primary stoppage means that when you pressed the trigger you heard or felt a hammer / striker fall. Secondary stoppage means that when you pressed he trigger you did not hear or feel a hammer / striker fall.

First, if you have to press the trigger and the weapon doesn’t go “BANG!”, your first immediate action is to MOVE!, preferably toward cover, but if none is available, remember that a moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one.

Reload:

If the indicators are:
(1) Slide or bolt locked to the rear, AND
(2) no hammer or striker fall, chances are that the weapon is empty and needs to be reloaded.
The fix is to reload the weapon and get back into the fight! Sounds simple enough, but how many times have you seen in training shooters; (a) catch an empty magazine, (b) place an empty magazine in a pocket, etc.? If you need to continue shooting, the most important thing is to get the fresh magazine into the weapon and chamber a round. The empty magazine is worthless!

Also, some shooters practice the method of pointing the muzzle of the semiautomatic pistol straight up and flipping it in their hand so the magazine well points out at a ninety degree angle. The theory is that you can see the opening of the magazine well out of your peripheral vision or “combat window” and are less likely to fumble a reload. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of this technique, as pointing the muzzle straight up on a semiautomatic pistol with the slide locked to the rear tells the whole world (including, possibly, your assailant(s)) that YOU’RE EMPTY. I’ve also seen shooters that get the steps wrong and flip the pistol to the ninety degree angle before pressing the magazine release, and then wonder why the magazine doesn’t fall out. (Sir Isaac Newton figured this out a few centuries ago.) I prefer to keep the muzzle pointed at the threat / threat area with the magazine well pointed down while executing the reload.

Primary Method of Stoppage Clearing:

If the indicators are:

How to Clean Your Weapon(1) Slide or bolt forward, AND
(2) hammer or striker fall, your primary method of immediate action is to:
(a) TAP and TUG on the magazine to make sure it is seated;
(b) RACK the slide or bolt,
(c) READY.

All of this should happen as you are moving and the weapon is still up, pointed toward to threat or threat area. With a semi-automatic pistol, a good “par time” for a tap, rack, ready is about 1.0 – 1.5 seconds. With a semiautomatic rifle, about 1.5 seconds. Dipping the muzzle toward the ground and staring at the weapon does nothing except alert your assailant(s) that you are out of the fight.

Secondary Method of Stoppage Clearing:

If the indicators are:
(1) Slide or bolt locked to the rear, AND
(2) no hammer or striker fall, AND
(3) When you press the magazine release, the magazine does not fall out of the weapon, you may have a failure to extract combined with a failure to feed, also known as a “double feed”. We refer to it as a “secondary stoppage”.

The traditional steps to correct this have been:

(a) LOCK the slide / bolt to the rear,
(b) RIP the magazine out,
(c) RACK the slide / bolt to clear the chamber, then
(d) TAP a new magazine into place,
(e) RACK the slide / bolt and
(f) READY.

That’s a lot of moving parts to memorize, and under low stress on the range we’ve seen a lot of shooters get the steps out of order, making the stoppage even worse.

We’ve simplified this “secondary method” into three steps that are more easily remembered under stress:

(a) UNLOAD the weapon, which usually means removing the
magazine, sometimes forcefully;
(b) CLEAR THE CHAMBER (I prefer a physical check with a fingertip
as opposed to a visual check, which assumes that you will have
sufficient light to see the chamber);
(c) RELOAD the weapon, preferably with a fresh magazine, as a faulty
magazine may have caused the stoppage in the first place.

To recap, the best way to minimize the need for stoppage clearing is to:

(a) Have your weapons clean and properly lubricated;
(b) Function test all of your magazines;
(c) Make certain that all of the cartridges in the magazines are
defect-free.

That being said, practice your stoppage drills. You can do them in any safe area that allows movement and has simulated cover. Make certain to remove all live rounds from the area and use only inert training cartridges.

Product Partnership

Posted on by Marketing Action Target

Action Target believes only the best of everything should be associated with all we do. One example of our continuous search for the best is our partnership with Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. After extensive review, we have aligned ourselves with Carey’s to use their heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems in order to provide our indoor range customers with the safest air conditions in the world. Action Target feels it is important for our readers to know more about Carey’s and the integral role they play in the industry. They are not only another provider of air flow products, Carey’s has been an innovator and pioneer with their systems. This article provided by Carey’s below is a little insight into the company. After reading, it will be clear to see why Action Target recommends their systems for our indoor projects.

Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning has been developing, designing and installing successful Indoor Range projects for over 15 years. They have specialized their designs in the control of contaminants created by indoor ranges and are currently known as a National leader in the field. They have worked with the United States Navy to develop the current range ventilation standards as described in the Unified Force Criteria. Carey’s wrote the ventilation standards for Region #5 of the GSA, edited the standards for the United States Air Force as published in the ETL, and have been consultants for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Department of Homeland Security) and FBI. With that background, it is safe to say Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning is the leader in contained range ventilation and the Subject Matter Expert.

There are three purposes for properly ventilating indoor small arms ranges:

1.     Remove air-borne contaminates from human respiration created by the firing of a gun in an enclosed range. These include lead, other heavy metals and carbon monoxide. Left unaddressed, OSHA levels for safe operation are quickly surpassed.

2.     Maintain a negative range pressure to the surrounding areas of the building. This keeps contaminates created in the range from entering adjoining areas. Heavy metals such as lead that are allowed to enter into non-range spaces can cause levels above OSHA allowable limits for surface contaminations. These high levels are unsafe due to the chance of ingestion.

3.     Remove smoke from the range for proper vision of the targets.

The design, installation and commissioning of the range ventilation system can be the difference between an unsafe range and a range that meets the OSHA, EPA and NIOSH standards. The critical components are custom fabricated in Carey’s facility and are the summation of the lessons learned from the completion of hundreds of prior range ventilation projects.

AT Partners with Carey'sSpecifically, the radial air diffusers and plenums are custom built and have been tested to provide laminar air flow at the firing line after proper commissioning. “Laminar” flow is a steady, even airflow required to safely clear contaminate from the respiratory zone of the users of the range. These special diffusers are not available from a standard diffuser supplier. The control system and programming uses standard parts from Johnson Control, but the programming of the equipment is critical. The programming is done by an experienced programmer who has worked on all of the ranges that Carey’s has completed. It is also critical to have the control system installed and tested to automatically shut down if unsafe conditions are detected. This will protect both the occupants of the range and the adjoining areas.

The on site supervision provided by Carey’s Heating & Air Conditioning is necessary to ensure guaranteed results in meeting these standards. If the project does not have the proper oversight, it can result in unsatisfactory results and finger pointing. Unlike a standard ventilation project where the system is installed and the air test and balancer sets the design air flow at each system outlet, a range ventilation system is designed for proper air flow at the firing line that is ten to fifteen feet from the distribution point. It must be the designer’s responsibility. An installing contractor can only install the project as shown on the drawings and control the air flow to the distribution device.

Due to the potential of over exposure to carbon monoxide, lead and other heavy metals on the range as well as the potential to contaminate adjoining areas with surface contaminates, the only way to guarantee performance is to have the system installation and design managed by someone with the experience to see potential problems with the installation. The site reviews also look at the building construction to identify potential problems such as a breach in the range walls that could present problems for the end users.

Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning has completed hundreds of range ventilation projects at facilities that have met all of the required standards, including projects for the US Navy, Air Force, US Marshals, Police / Sheriff Departments and private / commercial ranges.

  • Pasadena Police Department – Pasadena, CA
  • Milwaukee County Sheriff Department – Franklin WI
  • Matteson Police Department – Matteson, IL
  • Lake Forest Police Department, Lake Forest, IL
  • Great Lakes Naval Base – Great Lakes, IL
  • Oak Creek Police Department, Oak Creek, IL
  • Greenfield Police Department, Greenfield, WI
  • Unites States Air Force Reserves – Milwaukee, WI
  • Council Bluffs Police Department – Council Bluffs, IO
  • Boulder Police Department – Boulder, CO
  • Coronado Naval Base – San Diego, CA
  • San Diego Naval Base – San Diego, CA
  • Bangor Submarine Base – Silverdale, WA
  • Annapolis Naval Academy – Annapolis, MD
  • Patuxcent River Naval Base – Patuxcent River, MD
  • Annapolis Naval Academy – Annapolis, MD
  • Quantico Marine Base – Quantico, VA
  • Little Creek Naval Base, Virginia Beach, VA
  • Dam Neck Seal Base, Virginia Beach, VA
  • Portsmouth Ship Yard, Portsmouth, VA
  • New Orleans Naval Air Station, New Orleans, LA
  • Northeast Texas Community College, Texas
  • Newport Naval Base, Newport, RI
  • Middletown Police Department, Langhorne, PA
  • Sherwood Police Department, Sherwood, OR
  • Aviano NATO Base, Aviano, Italy
  • Sigonella Naval Air Station, Sigonella, Sicily
  • Gibraltar Training Range, Gibraltar, Great Brittan
  • Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, HI
  • Federal Reserve Bank – St. Louis, MO
  • Eagleton Courthouse, St. Louis, MO
  • Kansas City Police Department, Kansas City, MO
  • Montgomery County Police Department, Conshohocken, PA

Management

The management team assigned to any range project are key personnel at Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. and will ensure its successful and professional completion within the parameters previously established.

The Carey’s team consists of the following:

  • Bill Provencher: President and CEO – oversees all aspects of project
  • Pat Tovey: Secretary Treasure and CFO – responsible all material acquisition, contracts and project coordination.
  • Jim Provencher: Vice President – responsible for all custom material fabrication and delivery.
  • Jim McKay: Control Manager – Designs, supervises the assembly and start up of the range control system. Commissions the systems.
  • Kristofer Williams: Engineer – Designs equipment and distribution system for the range ventilation.

The team of professionals that Carey’s brings to this project are among the most knowledgeable and complete authorities in the range ventilation field.

Responsiveness

Carey’s is the only range ventilation supplier that has a 24 hour, seven day per week response center that can support and troubleshoot the range ventilation system though the direct digital control system. Their level of commitment to ensuring that our range is fully operational and functioning is extraordinary. Roselle is confident that no other company in the industry is capable of providing this degree of service and maintenance.

Experience of Contractor Personnel

Carey’s personnel have 13 years of experience installing ranges. In addition to seasoned employees and industry leading partners, Carey’s has extensive sub-contractor relationships with all the disciplines of range construction. Carey’s success in hiring experienced, professional employees, partners and sub-contractors is evidenced by their track record in building some of the most advanced, complex, state-of-the-art firearms training facilities in the world.

Uniqueness

Carey’s Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. has been an innovative force in range ventilation design for over 15 years.

If you would like more information on Carey’s products, indoor ranges, ventilation or have other questions, please contact the Territory Manager for your area.

Latest Projects in the Great Lakes Region

Posted on by Marketing Action Target

No matter how big or small, if you need a target, range, ventilation system or custom facility, Action Target has a solution. Starting with our portable steel targets, graduating to our Tactical Application Scenario Kit (TASK) for the ultimate in portable options to the designing and building of a more permanent solution with a member of our staff, we can help.

Holding numerous patents on the products we produce and working with some of the best partners, such as Carey’s for ventilation, Action Target will construct the finest range solution for your needs. We have built, maintained and updated ranges for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, all branches of the United States Military, professional / competitive organizations and various private / commercial entities.

We feel it is important to highlight some of our most recent projects and acknowledge those involved. Many times it is not an easy process, but whether building new or updating an existing facility, Action Target and our team of dedicated professionals will get the job done right. With that, we would like to announce the completion of two projects. Both of the following ranges were facilitated by Jason Snell, the Great Lakes Territory Manager, and the team he assembled.

AT Installs TCT for Dearorn PDFirst up is the renovation of Dearborn Police Departments (DPD) firing range. Located in the basement of Michigan’s DPD, this project took careful planning and execution. With the help of several dedicated companies, Action Target managed the removal of DPD’s existing bullet trap, modified the existing target systems, cleaned the range and installed two 16′ Total Containment Bullet Traps (TCT).

A special thanks goes to Mancom, Best Technology Systems, Inc., Truxell Electric, Arch Environmental Group, Dearborn PD Procurement, Dearborn PD Project Manager, Stephen White, Action Target Great Lakes Territory Manager, Jason Snell, Project Manager, Mark Ostebo, and many others for their hard work and a job well done!

Equipment provided and installed by Action Target includes the following:

  • (2) AR550 Steel Total Containment Bullet Traps
  • (1) Dust Collection Unit (DCU)

AT Provides Ranges and Equipment for Nashville PDCongratulations to Dearborn Police Department and all those involved!

The second project recently completed in the Great Lakes Region is the updated Metro Nashville Police Academy Outdoor Firing Range. Located in Tennessee at Nashville’s outdoor training facility, this project included the removal of all old targeting systems from two separate ranges and the installation of new Action Target equipment.

AT Installs Outdoor Fiiring RangeA special thanks goes to Officers Bob Allen and Greg Lee, City and State Officials, Metro Nashville Procurement, Action Target Great Lakes Territory Manager – Jason Snell, Action Target Project Manager – Brian Sanders, and many others for their hard work and a job well done!

Equipment provided and installed by Action Target includes the following:

Congratulations to Metro Nashville Police Academy and all those involved!

AT Installs Power 90 Turning Targets

AT Installed Track Runners for Nashville PD

If you are in the Great Lakes region and would like more information about any of our products or services, please contact the Territory Manager, Jason Snell.

801-377-8033 ext. 158
801-809-6966 cell
[email protected]