Too many people do not understand the need to run a Function Check on their guns prior to breaking them down for cleaning or maintenance to check them again after cleaning or maintenance. On the surface, it makes sense that you need to know that your gun works before you tear it down, even if it is just a field strip. You should also check it after cleaning or maintenance.
You Need
-
Your pistol
-
A magazine for guns that use a magazine
-
Dummy rounds
-
A safe area
The Basic Steps
Load the gun using dummy rounds, if none are available, you can still perform most of the steps with an empty gun.
Insert the magazine into the gun. If you don’t have dummy rounds, you can still do the other tests besides 1 and 3. Please do NOT run any function tests with live ammunition.
-
Chamber a round – Rack the slide to chamber the dummy round. This step verifies that your chamber is not obstructed and that the slide will pick up a round out of the magazine and will, using its springs, drive the round into the chamber.
-
Test the trigger – With all safeties disabled, pull the trigger and verify that the trigger activates. You should hear the click of the hammer hitting the firing pin or the striker being
released. -
Test the extractor and the ejector – Rack the slide, again to eject a dummy round and chamber another dummy round. This step verifies that the extractor and the ejector are working property to pull the round out of the chamber and to eject it out of the ejector port of the gun.
-
Test the trigger reset – With the safeties disabled, pull the trigger, hold the trigger back, rack the gun while continuing to hold the trigger back, then slowly release the trigger. You should hear a click from the trigger resetting.
Pull the trigger again, just after you hear the reset click, and verify that the trigger activates again. -
Test the firing pin – Remove any dummy rounds. Rack the slide again with the chamber empty and nothing in the chamber after racking the slide. While pointing the gun straight up, insert a pencil, a pen, or a dowel of some time into the barrel. Pull the trigger again while watching the pencil or pen to see if it jumps when the firing pin hits it. This verifies that the pin isn’t broken and isn’t obstructed.
-
Test the trigger safety (if one exists) – See the top picture. Rack the slide, and, without depressing the trigger safety, pull the trigger. The trigger should not activate.
-
Test the grip safety (if one exists) – See the middle picture. Rack the slide, and without depressing the grip safety, pull the trigger. The trigger should not activate.
-
Test the manual safety (if one exists) – See the bottom picture. Rack the slide, engage the the safety, and pull the trigger. The trigger should activate.
It is important to understand the current condition of your gun before cleaning or performing maintenance, then run the function checks again after cleaning or maintenance to make sure your gun is functioning before putting it away or putting it back in its holster to be carried.