Failure to eject cause?

R

RAfiringline

New member
I was at the range shooting away and suddenly my SA/DA CZp01 doesn't fire when the trigger is pressed.

I stop, look at it, the slide is closed, no spent round showing, I rack it, a spent round ejects, a new round gets chambered, and I finish shooting the mag.

This has to be a round w/ too little power to have cycled the weapon, right? If it was a stuck casing, I probably would have noticed when I racked the weapon, and the weapon should have cycled anyway, w/ a new round jammed against the unejected round, right?

I was using Fiocchi 115g fmj.

This is the only stoppage I've had w/ this weapon in 1192 rds., and I'm wondering if it was the gun or the ammo.

Thanks
 
That is unusual for that to happen and only happen once, it would have to be a very under powered load for that to cause the issue, did you inspect that casing that didn't get ejected? I don't know much about CZs so I can't comment on it as far as technicalities go, but it would seem the slide either didn't travel back at all or just barely traveled back and the spring closed it again chambering the empty case. Keep a close eye on this, it probably was the ammo but if not maybe your chamber is super dirty or your recoil spring or hammer spring malfunctioned?
 
Most likely ammo... Did you not notice a difference in recoil or report?


A stuck case would have resulted in a second round trying to feed behind the stuck case.
 
>That is unusual for that to happen and only happen once, it would have to be a very under powered load for that to cause the issue, did you inspect that casing that didn't get ejected?<

I did, and I didn't see any bulge or splitting, or anything on the rim that looked unusual.

> I don't know much about CZs so I can't comment on it as far as technicalities go, but it would seem the slide either didn't travel back at all or just barely traveled back and the spring closed it again chambering the empty case. Keep a close eye on this, it probably was the ammo but if not maybe your chamber is super dirty or your recoil spring or hammer spring malfunctioned?<

The gun was pretty clean. It gets cleaned every 50 rds. of range shooting, and the next appx. 30 rds. went ok, with the same ammo.

After I did my first post on this, I looked at my shooting notes and saw my G19g3 had 2 FT feeds nose up w/ this same ammo lot. 3 total stoppages in 350 rds. fired.
 
Last edited:
>Most likely ammo... Did you not notice a difference in recoil or report?


A stuck case would have resulted in a second round trying to feed behind the stuck case.<

I didn't notice any difference in recoil or sound, but I was trying to get rounds off as fast as possible so I might have just been less aware than I would have been if I was slow shooting.
 
I rack it, a spent round ejects, a new round gets chambered, and I finish shooting the mag.
Click to expand...

You didn't mention it, but did you, by any chance STOP and look in the barrel to see if it was clear before finishing off the mag??

Not that there is anything wrong with the immediate "Tap rack bang" to get your gun running in a combat situation, and they are something worth having a drill for practicing, when someone is NOT shooting back at you, the "tactical" response is not the safest thing to do.

I'm not familiar with your exact gun, but its a hammer gun isn't it? Do you remember if when the gun didn't fire, if the hammer fell, or not??

Perfectly normal if you don't, of course.

A severely underloaded case can cycle the slide enough to recock, partially recock, the hammer, but not enough to have the case fully clear the chamber, and be fed right back in when the slide shuts.

Much more common is the stove pipe jam where the case clears the chamber but does not eject. It's pretty rare for the short 9mm to not clear the chamber unless the extractor lets go of it. completely before pulling it all the way out, and residual pressure also fails.

It appears you got a squib round, one with, fortunately, enough pressure to clear the bullet from the barrel but not do anything else.

Not checking to ensure the bore was clear apparently didn't bite you this time, but it could have had much more serious consequences if the bore had been plugged. When something goes wrong in practice, I think its important to stop, and be sure you are safe. Its only practice.
 
Possible reasons for a failure to extract (http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/firearm-malfunctions-failure-to-extract.html):

- Dirt and corrosion: This is the #1 reason for failure to extract. Dirt or corrosion in the extractor claw or firing chamber can cause the empty cartridge to not be picked up correctly.

- Damaged extractor: A damaged or bent extraction claw may not pick up empty cartridges correctly. A weak extractor spring could also cause this malfunction to happen.

- Defective cartridge: Due to damage around the cartridge rim, the cartridge may slip off the extraction claw and remain behind in the chamber. Bulges in the cartridge could cause excess friction on the sides, which causes the cartridge to slip off the extraction claw.

Sounds like your sidearm is well maintained. Assuming you know what you're doing whwn you clean it, dirt and corrosion can be ruled out.

I don't recall you mentioning examining the extractor or its spring, but given that this was a one-time occurrence, they are either okay or just starting to fail.

Defective ammo is the most likely culprit, as you've experienced problems with it in two guns. Also, a failure caused by dirt or a bad extractor should have stripped another round from the mag and tried to feed it into the rear of the unextracted case.
 
>You didn't mention it, but did you, by any chance STOP and look in the barrel to see if it was clear before finishing off the mag??<

A good point - I didn't check to see if the barrel was clear.
 
" I didn't check to see if the barrel was clear."

You are lucky; had the bullet been stuck in the barrel, the barrel (and maybe the gun) would have been ruined.

It sounds as if the round had a light charge, just enough to send the bullet out of the barrel but not quite enough to fully function the slide. Probably the gun partially functioned, but the slide didn't come back far enough for the case to eject and the slide closed back on the empty. I would shoot up the rest of that ammo batch (carefully) and then get a different brand. Ordinarily, Fiocchi is good ammo, but ammo can get old or deteriorate under some conditions so put at least that lot on your "don't shoot" list.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top