Rifle Jamming

Spy_on_the_Inside

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I have never fired a gun in my life, and this fact is becoming a problem, as I am currently writing a piece that includes a lot of gunfights.

Today, I have a specific question about rifles. If they were jammed (assuming this is a model of gun that does jam), what would that look like and how would you know? And how do you fix it?
 

Chase

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I have never fired a gun in my life, and this fact is becoming a problem, as I am currently writing a piece that includes a lot of gunfights.

Today, I have a specific question about rifles. If they were jammed (assuming this is a model of gun that does jam), what would that look like and how would you know? And how do you fix it?

I'll assume we're talking a semi-automatic.

One jam is a "stove-pipe" where the casing fails to eject properly and the bolt catches it, usually sticking straight up like a . . . nuff said?

Another is failure to feed, where the bolt fails to pick and load the next round in the magazine.

Another malfunction is failure to fire (the cartridge is a dud).

To clear all of the above, pull the bolt to the rear and watch the next round to make sure it feeds and chambers as the bolt snaps forward into battery. Continue firing.
 

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I have never fired a gun in my life, and this fact is becoming a problem, as I am currently writing a piece that includes a lot of gunfights.

Go to the local shooting range and ask what it would cost for you to be given a first lesson.
 

KBooks

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Go to the local shooting range and ask what it would cost for you to be given a first lesson.

This^^ If it were one quick scene, a paragraph or two, I'd say do some research online, but if your entire piece is going to be full of gunfights, you'd write much more authentically if you just went to the range and fired a gun then asked the instructor a few questions.
 

BlackKnight1974

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As has been mentioned, if you can, go to a gun range and have a go. Experiencing the feeling (and noise) of firing a gun will really help with writing about it. You’ll also find people to ask questions like this. What’s more, it’s a boat load of fun!

As for the jam question, what Chase said is pretty much all you need to know. The only thing I would add is if you’ve had a misfeed in a semi-auto, make sure the chamber is clear before closing the action/releasing the cocking handle - otherwise you risk making things worse (speaking from experience!) with a double feed.

When shooting timed exposures in a competition (and experiencing a stoppage), I would normally release the magazine and cycle the action (pull and release the cocking handle/slide) as well as doing a visual check to make sure it’s clear, before reinserting the magazine and cocking the rifle again.

Some versions of modern assault rifles have a “forward assist” which is a button you hit with the heel of your hand to help force the action closed - however this would only really be used when a gun fails to fire because the action hasn’t closed properly (which may be because it’s dirty) rather than a jam.
A gun should not fire unless the action is closed. To do so would be referred to as “firing out of battery” and is dangerous to the shooter.

As is always the case with handling guns - safety always come first, so you’d make sure that throughout your stoppage drill you’re pointing the gun in a safe direction and your finger is off the trigger etc
 

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Al X.

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Just as a point of clarification, as far as I know, the forward assist is unique to AR pattern assault rifles from the M16A1 on. Most assault rifles have the charging handle integral with the bolt, and a failure to fully close as described above would be remedied by a whack to the charging handle to push the bolt forward. AR pattern rifles have a slotted charging handle that can pull the bolt rearward, but do not otherwise contact the bolt when the charging handle is in the forward position, eliminating the option to use the charging handle to push the bolt forward.

It was found in the early versions of the M16 that jams were problematic because there was no quick way to fully seat the bolt if a round didn't chamber completely, thus the addition of the forward assist, to allow a means of manually pushing the bolt forward.
 

Thomas Vail

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I have never fired a gun in my life, and this fact is becoming a problem, as I am currently writing a piece that includes a lot of gunfights.

Today, I have a specific question about rifles. If they were jammed (assuming this is a model of gun that does jam), what would that look like and how would you know? And how do you fix it?
Depends on the jam. If it's jammed because the round's casing failed to clear and it got stuck, that's very obvious, and should be pretty easy to clear out and chamber another round. If the failure was somewhere in the feed mechanism, it could be easy, or hard. Some guns were historically notorious that if they had a feed failure you had to pretty much take them apart to clear the jam and get them operational again.

It's hard to give a general answer to because there's a lot of different ways for something to go wrong, and some designs are more prone to foul-up than others.
 

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There are a million ways to jam a rifle and a million types of rifles to jam. More or less. :)

What do you need for your story? For total failure, you could have a part break or simply run out of ammunition. On the AR style rifle, semi or full auto, failure to clean can result in jams. On a Mosin Nagant bolt action rifle, used by a million or so Russian troops in WWII, cleaning or the lack thereof will never jam the rifle. Same with an AK.

You could have ammunition failure. You could have a jam that can be easily cleared, every military rifleman is taught to clear jams. You could have a squib round where the bullet never exits the barrel and the second shot jams the gun permanently or even blows it up. You could have a locking lug shear off and the rifle bolt recoil through the shooter's eye and kill him. So many options...

Give us an era, soldier or civilian and how bad you need a jam and we can give you far more specific answers.

Jeff
 

Jason

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There's an age old adage in writing, and that's to write what you know. Writing on subjects that you don't know ultimately leads to at a minimum - bad writing. At it's worst, it leads to misinformation. Not intending to discredit any of the suggestions here, but perhaps you might be better served in approaching stories where you do have more knowledge.

For instance, I wanted to write a story about a blacksmith in the middle ages, but realized quickly that I knew nothing about blacksmithing. I am now addicted to a show called Forged in Fire, and have taken an intro to blacksmithing from a local guy. it was a one day class and was fun, but I am still woefully ignorant on the topic enough to write intelligently about it. The suggestions thus far are good ones, but you really need to "walk a mile" in the shoes of the characters (both protagonists and antagonists) to really be able to spin a good story about them. Don't do your readers the disservice of not knowing your subject matter. Take a class or two (firearms safety classes are offered everywhere, often for free), practice with rentals at gun ranges, and READ A TON about them before even approaching writing on the topic. Your lack of knowledge and experience will be obvious to readers and will not do much for your visibility if you don't know what you're talking about.
 

Jason

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Yup. Possibly the most over quoted and least useful adage out there.

Jeff

I respectfully disagree - people writing on topics they know nothing about is the worst thing imaginable. Why would you suggest that writing on a topic you know nothing about is a good idea? Seriously, what are you trying to imply or suggest with that? I really want to know your line of thinking here... That success as an author comes from making shit up when it comes to known facts that can be learned from verifiable sources, research and due diligence?
 

Al X.

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I'm not sure I understand what the argument is here. If an author only wrote about what he or she knew about, that would be fairly limiting, I think. I see nothing wrong with researching a subject one knows little to nothing about and then presenting it in an appropriate level of detail to the knowledge acquired. I do it myself.
 

Chase

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Like any all-or-nothing view of a basic tenant, proponents of "Write what you know" mean it's better to have a basic knowledge of a subject before writing reams about it.

If you've "never fired a gun" in your life, I've no doubt writing "a lot of gunfights" will become a problem. The very naïveté of the original question shows some validity to Jason's suggestion to tackle a subject you know more about.

I do a great deal of editing for writers of mysteries and thrillers. As a longtime firearms instructor on army and civilian ranges, I need to offer lots and lots of fact checks to writers making minor to major errors about guns. It's not an easy lore to explore with no background.

If you have good knowledge about other aspects of your story, perhaps finding a beta-reader or two who are gun gurus will do the trick for you to do the research for plausible writing of details.
 

WeaselFire

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I really want to know your line of thinking here... That success as an author comes from making shit up when it comes to known facts that can be learned from verifiable sources, research and due diligence?

Just eliminated every Sci-Fi or Fantasy story out there. Post apocalyptic, prehistoric, alternate worlds... How do you know about these and write about them when they don't exist? Every journalist learns the story, they don't already know it. How the heck are Marvel Comics so darned profitable if the authors and creators had to know about superhero powers that nobody has managed to discover?

Jim Grant (Lee Child) has never been in the US Army but writes Jack Reacher's army career. Janet Evanovich has never been a bounty hunter, but Stephanie Plum is. Robert Ludlum was an actor, producer and author, not a CIA agent or clandestine operator.

If most authors only wrote what they knew, we would have a lot of very boring and unpopular novels out there.

Jeff
 

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I have a scene in my novel where one of the MCs uses a deer rifle to exact revenge on the antagonist. I did a bit of research on deer rifles and am pretty sure I got it right, but I'm going to post that scene before I publish my book -- just in case. Gun owners are sticklers for details about gun usage, which is fine. I'm that way with other subjects... like when something defies the laws of physics, and I'm like: That couldn't happen in real life. :Wha:
 

BlackKnight1974

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I have a scene in my novel where one of the MCs uses a deer rifle to exact revenge on the antagonist. I did a bit of research on deer rifles and am pretty sure I got it right, but I'm going to post that scene before I publish my book -- just in case. Gun owners are sticklers for details about gun usage, which is fine. I'm that way with other subjects... like when something defies the laws of physics, and I'm like: That couldn't happen in real life. :Wha:

This is an excellent point. I drive my wife crazy by pointing out not only mistakes directly relating to guns, but also tactical mistakes. Gun owners almost approach it as a badge of honour. Guns are also different to other subjects because they are incredibly common occurrence in stories.

That said, as long as you do your research and don't try to be too clever about it, you should be okay.
 

Thomas Vail

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Yup. Possibly the most over quoted and least useful adage out there.

Jeff
Yep, there's a reason why it came up pretty fast in the last 'worst writing advice you've received' thread. Especially in the case of this thread, it's utter tosh.
That success as an author comes from making shit up when it comes to known facts that can be learned from verifiable sources, research and due diligence?

...

If only there was a place somewhere on this site that someone could turn to when they want help with research and learning about stuff they don't know. Maybe even a subforum for it? Someone should ping the admins about getting on that.
 

Chase

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Taking an extreme side usually isn't helpful. Writing sci-fi is apples to firearm oranges, but even there, some write-with--basic knowledge is a springboard when extrapolating science, physics, astronomy, etc.

I've started to read some pretty funny stories. one where people without gear walked about normally in airless heat and cold like downtown Salem, Oregon. The mark is still on the wall where the book bounced.

There's a middle ground between "write what you know" and "ignorance is bliss." :greenie
 

ironmikezero

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The less informed your target audience, the more you can get away with. The more informed your target audience, the more the details had better be right.

Even in fiction, a thick skin can be an author's best insulation.
 

Al X.

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The less informed your target audience, the more you can get away with. The more informed your target audience, the more the details had better be right.

Even in fiction, a thick skin can be an author's best insulation.

That is exactly right. A romance novelist can flub an operational detail of a firearm. An action adventure novelist cannot.
 

Jason

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That is exactly right. A romance novelist can flub an operational detail of a firearm. An action adventure novelist cannot.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
 

Dave Williams

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Any type of jam is vanishingly rare in a manually-operated bolt-action rifle.

For semiautos... it's theoretically possible, and you hear stories, but outside of low-quality .22LRs with iffy ammunition, it's rare enough I've never personally had it happen.

If you dented or otherwise damaged the ammunition, or tossed enough sand, dirt, or mud into the works, it would be possible, but manufacturers go to great pains to make rifles as reliable as possible, because what you're shooting at might have claws and fangs, or be shooting back.