Inspection, cleaning and the practical test

Many accidents happen while a handgun is being cleaned, because someone thought it was empty. So before you clean: unload it, check it twice by looking and feeling, and take all the ammunition out of the room. Then strip it only as far as the manufacturer's manual shows. Basic maintenance in the unit standard means cleaning and lubricating without tools; a cleaning kit is fine.

A basic inspection, which the unit standard requires, includes checking that the barrel is clear and dry: with the handgun unloaded, look through it from the chamber end. Look for cracks or bulges on the barrel, slide, frame or cylinder. Check that the moving parts move freely, that the magazine is clean with a working spring and straight lips, and that the sights are firm. If anything is wrong, don't fire it: take it to a recognised expert or gunsmith.

Cleaning is simple. Push a brush and then clean patches through the barrel from the chamber end. Clean the chamber, or every chamber of a revolver. Wipe away dirt and old oil. Then lubricate lightly, only where the manual says; too much oil collects dirt and can cause the very malfunctions you met last lesson. Before you shoot, make sure the barrel is clear and dry.

After cleaning, put the handgun back together exactly as the manual shows. Then, still unloaded and pointed safely, do a simple function check: the slide moves freely and locks back, or the cylinder opens, turns and closes properly. Your trainer will show you the function check for your model. Then it goes straight back into the safe. If something doesn't work properly after cleaning, don't load it: take it to a gunsmith.

This is exactly what unit standard 119649 asks for accuracy. Ten hits out of ten on an A3 target, from 7 metres. The distance may be increased but never decreased, and the target may not be changed. There is no time limit. You fire unsupported, without resting the handgun on anything, though you may use two hands. A hit means where the bullet first strikes. You may be assessed on a revolver, a pistol or both. Your assessor also watches your safe handling the whole time.

On assessment day, the assessor watches everything you've learnt. Safe handling the whole time. Loading and unloading in the right order. Ten hits out of ten at 7 metres. Naming and clearing a malfunction, or knowing when to refer it to a gunsmith. Inspecting and cleaning the handgun. And following range commands at once. The knowledge parts, including the law and private defence, are tested too.

On assessment day Sipho shows clear before he starts, loads in the right order, puts ten out of ten on the A3 target at 7 metres, clears a failure to feed that Anel sets up with a dummy round, and inspects and cleans his pistol. Anel signs him off. His next step is his competency application at the police station, which you met in the Firearms Act course.

Your turn. Decide for each problem whether it is basic maintenance you can do, or a job for a gunsmith. Answer four quick questions. Then book your practical assessment with your accredited trainer. After that, the final quiz covers the whole course.