Don’t “Limp Wrist” Your Carry Gun or It Will Jam
Dr. John Woods 08.02.15
Soon after attending the NRA Annual Meeting and show in Nashville this past spring, I had the opportunity to handle the new Glock 43. This is the new single stack magazine, 9mm pistol that has been long awaited. We were told at the show that shipments were to begin immediately after the NRA Show was over.
I had a good friend already asking me about a thin, lightweight, 9mm pistol for self-protection and concealed carry. I quickly recommended the new Glock 43. Nicknamed the “slimline” I knew this would be a viable choice of weapon for my friend. The trick was going to be to find one, and silly me I assumed it would be a while.
Two weeks later, my buddy called to tell me he just bought a Glock 43 from Academy. He just called around the two local stores to see when they might get one. The first store gun sales person had never heard of it. Welcome to Big Box gun service. However, at the second store the counter man told him he had just gotten in two of them and one had already sold.
He asked the guy to hold it for an hour and he would be there. The guy did, and my friend snapped up the only second G-43 I have known to be in our town at that time. He was pleased as punch and thrilled to have his new concealed weapon in hand. The joy was short lived.
Within a week he called to tell me the pistol jammed, stove-piped, and generally refused to shoot even several different types of ammo. He asked me if I had any idea or a solution to try. I suspected the cause immediately, mainly because I knew this guy did not have much experience shooting a semi-auto handgun. But, to be safe I made a call first.
I contacted the Glock armorer I often work with at gun shows to see what he thought. His prescription was exactly the same as mine. Tell the guy to get a firm grip on the pistol and stop “limp wristing” it. I passed that information on and got a good laugh from my friend, initially.
A week later he called back to say that was it. You have to get a strong, firm grip on a semi-auto pistol in order to create enough resistance to cause the recoiling slide to fully cycle, eject the empty case, strip a new round from the magazine, and then chamber it. A limp wrist can cause a jam or cycle malfunction much of the time.
