What are the immediate action procedures if the M9 pistol fails to fire with the slide forward?

Answer 1

First step is the most important: KEEP THE FIREARM POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION FOR 30 SECONDS. You do this because you may be experiencing what is called a hang fire. A hang fire occurs when the powder is not immediately ignited upon being struck and the firearm discharges a few seconds after the hammer drops.

The second step is to drop your magazine. On the M9, like most other pistols, you can press the mag release button usually found on the left side of the grip behind the trigger.

The third step is to pull back on the slide and engage the slide stop. The slide stop on an M9 sits above the trigger and under the slide. This will lock the slide back and eject the unfired round.

The last step is to discern the cause of the failure to fire. Examine the primer on the unfired round, is it dimpled? If it is, it may have not been properly charged (filled with enough powder or any powder at all). If it is not dimpled then the firearm needs inspecting by a professional gunsmith to ensure the firearm is functioning properly.

As an aside, in a combat situation the immediate actions are the standard tap, rack, bang actions. Smack the bottom of the magazine to make sure it's seated, rack the slide to cycle a new round, pull the trigger and hope it goes off. If not, the firearm is probably not functioning.