Know the drill, and practice it, sure, but I'm not so certain about "automatic".
I recently had a squib (first one in nearly 40 years) in a .44 Magnum auto pistol. If I were one of the "automatic" tactical "Tap, rack, bang" crowd, it would have been Tap, rack KA-BOOM!!!!
The bullet was about an inch ahead of the chamber.
Now, I admit, was at the range, and had all the time in the world, and had I been in a gunfight, I most likely would have done tap rack bang, and lived (or not) with the consequences.
I'm fine with clearing the gun as an automatic response to a malfunction, but going beyond that to chambering and firing another round, without knowing the cause of the malfunction is something I would do only in gravest extreme (and not at a shooting match, either).
Youre pretty much stuck with doing the TRB in a gunfight, as you dont have time to analyse the problem, you do what you have to do, to get the gun back in the fight, as quick as you can.
I do the TRB/TRRB in practice, right up to the "bang" part. There I just go "bang" in my head, and if there are other targets, mentally continue to deal with them, without actually shooting. Then I clear the gun and check it.
I shoot mostly reloads in practice, and I reload the brass to failure. Ive found this to actually be a plus, as you start to get random failures as the brass nears the end of its life. The case rims seem to be the biggest cause, and extraction/ejection isnt always as positive as the rims get chewed up with use. Stovepipes and double feeds seem to be the two failures I see the most. Great "realistic" practice for failures, as you never know when they will happen.
Now, this also applies to revolvers, the vaunted "simply pull the trigger for the next round" can be a really bad thing with a squib as well, and is actually much easier to have happen.
Thats the scary thing about revolvers. If youre not paying close attention, especially when shooting fast, things can get ugly FAST, and much more so than an auto.
When it comes to stoppages, Ill take one in an auto over a revolver, any day! The autos are usually back into action pretty quick. The revolvers are usually DRT.
Glenn said it here, I've said it other places, EVERYTHING JAMS!!!!
Somethings are more likely than others, but if man made it, it can screw up. Accept that, and plan accordingly.
And for all those with XZY thousand rounds through their pet pistol, congrats, but don't say it never jams, be truthful, and admit that it hasn't jammed YET.
If your gun has yet to jam, then youre not shooting enough. Although, its really not all that common a thing, usually.
How did the powder get wet? Curious cause?
When my dad moved up from the beach, he gave me a half dozen or so boxes of Blazer 9mm, that had been in a cabinet out in the unheated garage. The first box I tried, I had number of failures to fire in the first 20 or so rounds. Some didnt fire at all, some had the primer fire, but the powder did not ignite, and the powder was in the case and chamber, with the bullet just stuck in the throat, and had to be poked out.
I called them up and they asked to have all the boxes back (all were the same lot), and they would get back to me when they looked at them. A while later, I got a package from them, and they replaced what Id sent them, 2 for 1. The explanation as to the cause was, they appeared to have been stored in, or exposed to damp conditions, as the powder and primers were degraded.
I was kind of surprised at that, as there was a lot of other ammo, rifle and pistol, that came with it, that didnt have any problems, nor did he ever have any issues with anything in the 20 or so years they lived there, but thats what their answer was. It was really nice of them to replace it, let alone, double up on the replacements. If it really was improper storage, it really wasnt their fault.
