Nothing will put you out of a fight faster than panic, which can quickly be caused by a stoppage or malfunction if you don’t know what you’re doing and haven’t practiced clearing your handgun under pressure. While there are numerous drills for practicing malfunctions and stoppages, a basic stovepipe—when an empty case fails to fully eject—is a great starting point.

The stovepipe is easily handled with the Tap & Rack, a procedure named for its actions. It’s very simple, and can be practiced both at the range with live ammunition, or at home with dummy ammo. If fact, you should really practice both ways.

First, you “tap” the bottom of the magazine to ensure it’s fully seated in the gun. Then, you “rack” the slide to clear the stoppage while loading another round in the chamber. While all you really have to do is rack the slide, I prefer to come from in front of the ejection port to contact the caught casing with my hand during the rack. This ensures the case is ejected, but opens the potential for the hand to be scratched or cut on the sights.

Any gun can have a malfunction or stoppage, and if Murphy is correct, it will happen at the worst possible moment. This week, practice the Tap & Rack at least three times over two different days, and soon I’ll bring out another malfunction that you should know.