Larry Nichols, rangemaster of the Burbank, California, P.D., has long recommended only one malfunction-clearing drill, which is to unload and reload the gun. As I understand, after dumping the first magazine, the slide is vigorously worked at least twice, then a new magazine is inserted and a round chambered. This clears almost all jams (a loaded round or empty case reversed and chambered is not as clearable), but his advice only works well if the original magazine is discarded.

Revolvers can also fail to function due to defective ammunition, lack of or improper cleaning or the gun beginning to disassemble itself. Bad ammo is not as common now as it was years ago, when a cartridge might well have a high or protruding primer. As the cylinder turned, this movement would then wedge the bad round between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil shield. Factory ammo is made to higher standards these days, but some revolvers are now made using ultra-lightweight materials. So, while making the gun easier to carry, this combination of light weight and recoil can cause a bullet to be partially pulled from its case while in the cylinder, thus protruding enough to stop the cylinder's rotation.

A dirty gun can have debris in between the crane (holding the cylinder) and the frame as well as beneath the extractor. Junk in these locations prohibits the parts from fitting closely to each other, as they are designed to do. When the crane or the extractor is in this state, the gun will be hard to cycle through the firing stroke or might not cycle at all.

One other nasty revolver jam happens when a loaded or empty case slips beneath the extractor, usually while the gun is being unloaded. This is caused by failing to operate the extractor firmly and quickly, which can allow the round to slip off. This one pretty much shuts down the gun since the case has to be picked out with your fingertips or a pointed object.

While revolvers have a well-earned reputation for working despite neglect, they are not infallible. If screws and extractor rods come loose, the revolver will malfunction, and this condition is not field-repairable--at least not in any timely manner.

Reloading with your spare ammo will cure the pulled bullet and should also get debris out from behind the crane or beneath the extractor, but it will not correct the slipped cartridge or tighten loose parts. There are no immediate-action drills that will fix these, nor any drills that clear what is a terminal malfunction in a semiauto: an inverted round (empty or live) chambered backward. There's just nothing for the extractor to grab.

One last good reason for carrying spare ammo is one so obvious that I failed to include it in my notes for this column--thanks to Brian Dahmer, a fellow practical shooter, for revealing this forehead-slapping moment. He replied to my query about carrying spare ammo by observing that in the event the handgun is fired, it just makes too much sense to not reload the gun “afterward,” for the fight might not be over.

For instance, think of Bruce Willis in the first Lethal Weapon movie. He's embracing his wife outside the destroyed tower with all the bad guys now dead and is surrounded by police and onlookers when one of the “dead” bad guys rises up and tries to shoot him; he is instead shot by Willis' officer buddy. Hollywood teaches many poor tactics and gun handling, but this time the writers got it right. The officer was portrayed as alert and dialed in; he finished the fight--in the “afterward.”

Too bad he didn't then do a reload.