Hunter’s pistol jam during a grizzly attack could…

Several factors may have caused a hunter’s pistol to jam twice during a grizzly attack in Wyoming early Thursday, but he still performed well under terrible pressure, some firearms experts said.

“The fact that he was able to free the pistol and get it to fire again in the middle of an attack shows that he trained with it frequently,” said Ryan Allen, owner of Frontier Arms in Cheyenne.

Georgia archer Landon Clement told Cowboy State Daily that his Glock 10mm pistol jammed twice during a grizzly attack in the remote Upper Green River Basin. Once in the middle of the attack and then after his final shot at the bear’s head, killing the grizzly.

The type of ammunition used, dirt or debris in the gun, or even the way the gun is held can play a role.

“Most cases of failure to insert a semi-automatic pistol are due to improper grip,” Art Huckfeldt, who works at Frontier Arms, told Cowboy State Daily.

Ammunition factors

Semi-automatic pistols like the 10mm Glock that Landon Clement said he used for self-defense are fickle when it comes to what ammunition they work well with.

Especially when it comes to the high-powered ammunition people typically use when hunting bears, retired Cody police officer and military veteran Vince Vanata told Cowboy State Daily.

For example, the force with which such cartridges are fired can cause the brass cartridge case to expand more than usual, he said.

This can cause problems when the pistol ejects the spent cartridge case and/or feeds the next cartridge from the magazine into the firing chamber.

And “jamming” isn’t really the right term for what likely happened to Clement’s pistol when he was attacked by the grizzly and bitten severely on his left thigh, the weapons experts said.

“Not feeding” is a more accurate description, Vanata, Allen and Huckfeldt said.

A jam indicates that something went wrong or the mechanism of the pistol itself broke. Glocks have an excellent reputation for ruggedness and reliability, they said.

Rather, if the feeding fails, it means that the ammunition, for whatever reason, did not make it through firing, ejecting, and loading the next shot.

Get the leadership out there

In addition to cartridge expansion, firing some high-powered ammunition can cause the primer in the rear center of the cartridge to be pushed back, Vanata said.

If the primer sticks out, it may prevent the pistol from ejecting the case and loading the next cartridge.

The gun inside the Glock barrels is also susceptible to “lead,” or the buildup of lead particles, which could lead to contamination, he said.

Rifle refers to the spiral grooves in the barrel of a weapon. These grooves cause the bullet to rotate as it leaves the muzzle. This spin makes the bullets more stable and precise in flight.

Most shooters use full metal jacket ammunition (FMJ) for target practice. This means that the lead bullet is completely surrounded by a copper jacket.

Much of the high-performance bear deterrent ammunition is loaded with cast, flat-tipped lead bullets.

Lead is naturally a soft metal, Vanata said. Cast lead simply means that another metal or lead has been added to harden the bullets.

Bears have heavy bones, thick skulls and small brain cavities, he said. For a bullet to be effective against an attacking bear, it must be hard enough to penetrate a bear’s skull. Or to break through the heavy shoulder bones, ribs, layers of fat and thick skin that protect the animal’s vital organs.

It’s critical to keep any firearm you’re willing to bet your life on clean, Vanata said. And when shooters run a lot of cast lead through a pistol, especially a Glock, extra caution is required.

The barrel should be cleaned regularly with a copper brush and solvents, he said.

Get a handle

The uninitiated might not realize how important the way you hold a semiautomatic pistol is to the weapon’s proper function, the experts said.

A semi-automatic pistol works by inertia, Allen said.

The explosive ignition of the cartridge in the chamber causes the breech (upper part of the pistol) to be pushed back, causing the spent cartridge case to be ejected.

As the bolt moves forward, it catches the next cartridge in the magazine (located in the handle of the pistol) and pushes it into the firing chamber.

This inertia relies on the gun having something solid to push against, so a proper grip is important.

Grip is something shooters need to practice and experiment with. Gripping a pistol too tightly can cause shots to ricochet. Handle it too loosely or it won’t run properly.

Huckfelt said if Clement’s grip weakened during the attack, it’s hard to blame him.

“When you’re about to be attacked by a grizzly, a thousand things go through your mind at once,” he said.

Know your gun and ammunition and practice

Whether Magnum caliber semi-automatic pistols or revolvers which ones are better for Bear defense is a debate that may never be settled.

Revolvers are generally considered to be less prone to failure, but semi-automatics have a higher ammunition capacity.

Vanata prefers revolvers in bear country. But no matter what gun you choose, the key is to get it out and shoot regularly, he said.

Handgun owners should try different ammunition to find out what works and what doesn’t work with their guns, he added.

Huckfeldt agreed that those who choose to carry a gun for self-defense in the background should budget plenty of time at the range and money for ammunition.

“Train, train, train,” he said.

Mark Heinz available at [email protected].