Welcome to the fifth and last installment of this series on concealed carry considerations.  In this article we will discuss the necessity for pistol reliability and actions we can take to achieve high reliability in our pistol.

Just as a reminder, this series covers the following topics.  If you didn’t get any of the previous articles, email me at wakefirearmstraining@mindspring.com, let me know which one you are missing and I will forward it to you.

• Choosing the right tool for the mission.  What type of engagement am I training for? 
• How much ammo is enough?
• Clothing considerations and concealment.  It’s hot in NC in the summer.
• Caliber size.  Is bigger always better?
• Reliability; if it doesn’t go bang it’s a club.

So, to start off, let’s define what reliability means in terms of the pistol.  In the most basic case, the gun must go bang.  But to achieve that result, a number of things must happen consistently and repeatedly.  For simplicity we will be discussing a semi-automatic pistol.  First, ammo must seat into the magazine properly and feed efficiently from the mag.  Second, the slide must cycle fully to the rear in order to engage the top round and strip it from the mag.  Third, only one round must leave the magazine.  If more than one round leaves, a double feed occurs.  Fourth, the round must fully seat in the chamber.  Fifth, the trigger releases the firing pin that strikes the round primer with sufficient force to create a spark to ignite the powder.  Sixth, the powder must fully burn, creating sufficient force to propel the bullet down the barrel and toward the target.  Seventh, the slide must release and travel to the rear, activating the extractor which pulls the spent case from the chamber.  And finally, eighth, the ejector redirects the spent case out the ejection port.  Then the process repeats.

As we think through these steps, it quickly becomes clear that pistol reliability is built on two components; the pistol and the ammo.  In other words, failure to go bang is either the result of a failure of a component in the pistol or in the ammo.

So how do we ensure high reliability?  Actually, it’s pretty simple.  Buy good stuff!  Having shot and worked at ranges for years, the issues that are most common are because of inferior parts.  Inexpensive pistols have issues and break.  Cheap magazines fail.  Ultra low-priced ammo is unreliable.  Now that’s not to say that name brand parts don’t fail and quality pistols don’t break.  That’s where testing comes in.

Remember, we are talking about pistols and ammo for concealed carry to protect yourself and others.  In this environment, where lives may be on the line, failure is not an option.  So, for your personal defense, buy quality.  Spend the extra money on a name brand pistol and factory ammo from a reputable manufacturer.  Then go test.  Run the gun with the ammo that you are going to carry.  Make sure the ammo feeds every time and it goes bang every time.  Even one failure in testing is too many because that failure may occur when you or your loved ones are under eminent threat.

I hope you enjoyed and learned something from this series.  If you have questions, reach out to me at wakefirearmstraining@mindspring.com.

Until next time….

Train Hard!  Stay Frosty!  Never Give Up!

John