A critical malfunction is one in which there is no corrective action that can be made in the field, for example a broken firing pin. The weapon is useless at this point. The four types of noncritical malfunctions -- failure to feed, fire, eject, extract -- often have common causes and can be dealt with quickly in the field. Failure to feed occurs after a weapon has been fired and a round fails to feed from the top of the magazine and into the firing chamber. This almost always happens when the magazine is not properly seated into the weapon. Occasionally give the magazine a tug to make sure it does not come out. Failure to fire usually occurs because of a defective ammunition primer. Always remove excess solvents or oil from a weapon after cleaning, and replace the magazines and weapon with fresh ammunition after every qualification shoot. Failure to eject arises after the round is discharged and the empty bullet casing does not completely clear the ejection port before the slide completes its forward cycle. It is commonly caused by inadequate shooting hand support during recoil or by clothing or another object impeding the motion of the slide. Be sure when firing a weapon from position two of the four-point draw to cant the weapon away from the shooter. Failure to extract or double feed results after a round fires and the extractor fails to remove the empty shell from the chamber. This is often caused by either excessive expansion of the ammunition casing after discharge, internal ignition pressures, a dirty weapon, or worn extractor. Another reason, the article emphasizes, to keep firearms maintained and clean.