When you hear the word "stovepipe,” you might envision a cast iron, wood-burning stove with a round pipe sticking out of the back and rising toward the ceiling. You wouldn’t be wrong, either. However, to a shooter, the word "stovepipe" means something entirely different. When a firearm has a stovepipe malfunction, it means it’s unable to fire the following round until the ejection port is cleared and a new round is chambered.

Most of the time (when target shooting), a gun stovepipe malfunction is annoying or inconvenient at worst, but consider the other implications. A self-defense situation, you will typically need to fire at least one follow-up shot, if not multiple shots. A gun stovepipe malfunction in this situation can literally mean the difference between life and death.

So what causes a stovepipe malfunction? How do you fix them, and how do you prevent them from happening in the first place? Let’s answer these questions in detail so you can be prepared if this ever happens to you.

What Is a Stovepipe Malfunction?

A gun stovepipe malfunction occurs when an empty case gets lodged in the ejection port of a semi-automatic firearm, so the base of the case is trapped between the breech block or bolt face and the barrel's chamber mouth. When this happens, you’ll see the mouth of the empty case protruding outward through the ejection port, like so:

This, in turn, prevents the slide or bolt from fully closing and prevents the following round from being loaded into the barrel's chamber. In short, a stovepipe malfunction renders the firearm inoperable until the empty case is cleared.

This problem can occur in any semi-automatic firearm — be it a handgun, a rifle, a submachine gun, or a heavy machine gun. While stovepipes are certainly annoying when target shooting, they can literally cause you to lose your life in a self defense situation where your assailant may require more than one shot to disable them. That’s why it’s important to take intentional measures to prevent this malfunction in your self-defense and EDC firearm.

What Causes Stovepipe Malfunctions?

In order to prevent stovepipe malfunctions, we first need to understand what causes them. In most cases, these malfunctions are caused by three factors: underpowered ammunition, overpowered recoil springs, and weak grip/shooting position.

Underpowered Ammunition

All semi-automatic firearms depend on pressure created in the chamber (caused by the gunpowder burning in the case when a round is fired) to reload the next round. This pressure both propels the bullet forward through the barrel and propels the slide or bolt backwards out of the battery once the bullet has exited the muzzle.

Underpowered ammunition (usually containing less or lower quality powder) may not generate enough pressure in the barrel to force back the slide or bolt properly. When this happens, the case may not fully eject and could become lodged in the ejection port as the slide or bolt returns to battery, creating a stovepipe malfunction.

Overpowered Recoil Springs

When a cartridge is fired, the pressure generated by the burning powder propels the bullet down the barrel and also drives the spent casing back against the breech face. The recoil spring absorbs the rearward force of the slide, allowing it to cycle and eject the spent casing. Stronger, overpowered, recoil springs absorb more energy and can prevent the slide from moving fast enough to fully eject an empty case. This may cause the casing to get caught on the way out of the ejection port.

Weak Grip / Shooting Position

With handguns, a weak grip can cause stovepipe malfunctions because of inadequate support. The slide may move more than necessary during firing, leading to improper ejection of the spent casing.

With semi-automatic rifles, a weak shooting position can have a similar effect. If you are unstable while firing, this can make it hard to control the recoil. As the firearm jerks back, this creates excessive movement with the action and may cause the empty case to get trapped during ejection, causing the dreaded stovepipe malfunction.

Other Considerations

For these reasons, most stovepipe malfunctions occur in semi-automatic handguns rather than semi-automatic rifles or submachine guns. Most semi-automatic rifle and submachine gun rounds produce more than enough chamber pressure to fully cycle the bolt and eject the spent case.

The one exception to this rule is with subsonic rounds that have a muzzle velocity less than the speed of sound (1,125 fps or 767 mph). These rounds sometimes fail to produce enough chamber pressure to fully eject the spent case (even in rifles or submachine guns), thus causing a stovepipe malfunction.

How To Prevent Stovepipe Malfunctions

While stovepipe malfunctions are annoying and often unexpected, they can be prevented. Sometimes, this means modifying your firearm, but it may be as simple as using better ammo. For the best chances at preventing gun stovepipe malfunctions, it’s best to use a combination of these methods.

Don’t Use Underpowered Ammo

To prevent stovepipe malfunctions caused by underpowered ammunition, the simplest solution is to use full-powered ammunition.

Unless you’re trying to make your shots “hollywood quiet” for fun, subsonic ammo is most often used to reduce the noise of your firearm to protect your hearing. While deafening yourself is a valid concern (especially if you have to fire your gun inside for self-defense), a high-quality suppressor will still protect your hearing such that you won’t need to compromise on muzzle velocity or power by using subsonic rounds. Aside from that, underpowered ammo that’s poorly manufactured or uses low-quality powder isn't really in your best interest to use anyway.

You can also use hyper-velocity ammunition. Not only does hyper velocity ammunition such as Hornady's American Gunner and Critical Duty prevent stovepipe malfunctions in semi-automatic handguns and pistol caliber carbines, it also provides greater stopping power in some cases.

Replace Your Recoil Spring

Getting around the recoil springs problem is a bit more complicated. In the case of semi-automatic handguns, some manufacturers install heavier recoil springs than others. There are a couple reasons why:

• Less Felt Recoil: Heavier recoil springs require more energy to compress. This means they reduce felt recoil by absorbing more of the muzzle energy produced by firing a round.
• Less Stress on the Slide: Heavier springs also cause the front of the slide to strike the frame at a slower speed. In turn, this also reduces stress on the slide, specifically at the point where the slim band of metal at the bottom of the ejection port meets the solid section of the slide in front. This design makes the slide less likely to break at that point.

Unfortunately, heavier springs can also cause stovepipe malfunctions. If your semi-automatic handgun has a particularly strong recoil spring, then you might want to consider replacing it with one that’s less powerful or simply adjusting its strength (if you have the ability to do so).

Otherwise, you may consider using more powerful ammunition with a higher muzzle velocity. However, hyper velocity ammunition also produces a louder muzzle rapport and generates more felt recoil than standard velocity ammunition. Some firearms may require a stronger recoil spring to safely fire hyper velocity ammunition.

Use a Longer Ejection Pin

Shooters who frequently participate in shooting competitions typically win by (accurately) firing the required number of rounds at each target in the least amount of time. To do this, they often fire rounds with very low muzzle velocities that produce as little felt recoil as possible. In addition to installing a weak recoil spring in their handguns, they sometimes have a gunsmith install a longer than normal ejection pin to eject the spent case with greater force. This decreases the likelihood of a stovepipe malfunction, as the case is more likely to completely clear with greater force behind it.

Lower and Relieve the Ejection Port

Sometimes a gunsmith can lower and relieve the ejection port to allow spent casings to more easily eject from the gun. The process of lowering and relieving is a modification that involves removing metal from the bottom and sides of the ejection port in order to make the port slightly lower and wider.

This also creates a divot with a size and shape that matches the curvature of the spent case, allowing it to rotate more fully as it is ejected. Combined with a lower ejection port, this tends to completely eliminate stovepipe malfunctions, even with reduced pressure loads.

How to Clear a Stovepipe Malfunction

No matter what you do to prevent stovepipe malfunctions, Murphy’s Law still stands. That is to say, sh*t happens.

But, don’t let that stop you. If you experience a stovepipe malfunction, you’ll want to clear it right away to make sure your firearm is operational again. Here’s how to do that in 3 easy steps:

1. Release Pressure: First, grasp the back of the slide on your semi-automatic handgun (or the charging handle of your rifle or submachine gun). Pull it all of the way back to release the pressure on the empty case.
2. Release the Case: Tilt your firearm to the side on which the ejection port is located so that the empty case falls out of the ejection port.
3. Release the Slide: Once the empty case has cleared the ejection port, return the firearm to the upright position. Release the slide or the charging handle. This allows the slide or bolt to return to battery so you can load a new round into the barrel's chamber.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

The important thing is to practice this on a regular basis. If you do get a stovepipe malfunction, frequent practice will help you deal with it quickly, so you’re ready to fire again in seconds.

Final Thoughts

For most shooters in most situations, the best solution for preventing stovepipe malfunctions is to simply use full powered ammunition or adjust the strength of the recoil spring to match the power level of the rounds being fired.

Regardless of which method you choose, it's imperative that you take the necessary steps to prevent stovepipe malfunctions in your defensive firearm. Otherwise, you may lose your life fiddling around with a jammed gun.

Part of that preparation means having a reliable firearm and using reliable, high-quality ammunition for self-defense. At Pro Armory, we offer a wide selection of ammo products that are tested and proven to perform well in various firearms and situations.

Browse Pro Armory today to find reliable ammo you can trust for your self-defense and EDC firearms.