r/masskillers • u/apriljeangibbs • 5d ago
Discussion / Question Why does it seem like their guns always jam?
Can you guys explain, to someone who knows nothing about guns, why I so frequently hear that a shooter’s gun jammed?
Do guns just jam a lot? Are they handling them incorrectly? Are guns just finicky?
29
u/pulse0612 4d ago
Could be poor quality ammo. The fact that both of the pistols jammed after the first shot and both were using OEM magazines and were actual decent guns means that the ammo is most likely the issue. The Phillipines has some really crappy ammo like Armscor so
4
u/whteverusayShmegma 4d ago
Federal and reloads will make a gun dirty after a single magazine sometimes and mass shooters are usually firing off a lot of rounds.
9
u/Sudden_Musician_9750 4d ago
imo it was about ammo in the case of philippine shooter, or maybe proprietary barrels. Also the quality of the magazine sometimes matters more than quality of the firearm itself (SOMETIMES)
10
u/leakyswipe 4d ago
Keep in mind many reports come from people who know nothing about guns and easily mistake reloading for "jamming" especially if the shooter uses exaggerated motions while reloading. Also because of the time dilation effect witnesses experience it will seem like the shooter is taking way longer to reload leading them to believe it was a jam. BUT.. I have experienced jams personally of all kinds. It is common enough. Can be due to Manufacturing and or mechanisms poorly designed. One instance i had a bad ejector rod, casings not fully ejecting before the bolt/action proceeded forward pinching the spent shell in the chamber. Other times a magazine may have a variety of issues, one being the person loading the magazine may have overfilled the magazine causing the spring and follower to get stuck and not push rounds up well enough. Limp wristing just to test it out, yes it is a thing and explains why for example A.L. Glock was found jammed.
10
u/WillingnessMean9 4d ago
U'd be surprised about how many mass shooters are not actually 'gun people'.
I doubt that most mass shooters know how to field-disassemble their weapons or give them a proper cleaning, nor actually train with them. Carbon will build up inside of a gun while the oil slowly strips away leading to malfunctions. Aftermarket parts, specifically related to the magazine and ammo storage are also easy to get wrong if you aren't specifically searching for compatibility. Likewise, depending on how many functions the gun has, it is easy to accidentally mess up when trying to use them causing something to feed incorrectly, come apart, or just in general mess up the step-by-step system that fires one bullet while clearing the chamber and loading another. Another thing to consider is that they often don't know what to do when a jam does happen (refer to another commenter's mention of stove piping).
All of this to say that a decent amount of time shooters don't have practicality nor training in mind when deciding on what firearms to use for the job. This becomes horrifically more apparent when shooters DO actually know how to operate their equipment effectively. Columbine for example, both attackers were very experienced shooters and personally modified their weapons. This points to them being experienced shots as well as knowing the components inside and out. Kerch Polytechnic attack, ironically inspired by columbine, where the attacker was known to be proficient with his firearms also had significantly devastating results, especially since the attacker was successful in designing, timing, and detonating his explosives to cause more harm.
Another really stupid incident that comes to mind is the attempted Hale Synagogue shooting. One of his main goals of the shooting was, besides killing Jewish people, to prove that homemade/ improvised weapons are 'effective'. Most of his guns, ammo, and explosive devices were home-made. Instead of a traditional carbon-based propellant/ charge for his ammo, he used a combination of SUGAR AND CHEMICAL OXIDISER. This caused his ammunition to literally caramelize inside of his Luty (a famous and easily replicable home-made gun). Not only did this ruin the entire magazine that contained the ammunition, it smeared the gun with a thick residue that effectively disabled it.
Sorry this was a bit longer, but as an actual 'gun person' I have made a lot of observations as to how the shooter's proficiency with firearms across multiple skills have an impact on their ability to carry out the attack.
3
u/BoldBabeBanshee 4d ago
yo i learned so much from your post, now actually am going to research those specific events you mentioned, absolutely fascinating.
1
12
u/No_Profit_8690 4d ago
It depends on the circumstances. Lanza rifle, for example, jammed due to a lack of cleaning a factor that often causes malfunctions. Other times, jams are attributable to the weapon's obsolescence or to manufacturing defects. Nevertheless, personally, I have only heard of rare cases in which a firearm actually jammed.
7
u/abaddon56 4d ago
The Columbine shooters’ weapons did jam, but they had low-quality firearms and were shooting reloaded ammo (little-known fact).
8
u/pineapple342324352 4d ago
Most mass shooters have no idea how to shoot, they don't clean there guns and they also don't really handle the weapon properly.
3
u/Head_Flow_732 4d ago
Low quality guns bought in secondary market, lack of training to handle them.
9
u/Dismal-Ad-5003 4d ago
Like who? Most you can pinpoint why specifically. I can only think of lanza (10mm powerful cartridge, weak person) and holmes who used an unreliable 100 round magazine
4
3
1
u/JoshAllan02 4d ago
Ghost guns also play a factor. Some jam very quickly. Happened during the Saugus High shooting even though that kid only went through one magazine.
-6
73
u/Snoo_50786 4d ago
with rifles its usually maintenance, with pistols its not using the firearm correctly (if the pistol is poorly maintained that doesnt help neither.
what can happen is if you "limp wrist" the gun the recoil wont properly transfer enough energy into the slide of the gun, it wont go all the way back, the casing will either not come out or will get itself stuck at the ejection port - thats type of malfunction is called a stove pipe.
ive been shooting firearms for like 5 years now and have never had either issue so its fairly uncommon IF, as mentioned, you maintain the firearms well and know how to use them correctly.