How do you perform immediate action on the M9 pistol?

• A. Tap the magazine; Rack the slide; Squeeze the trigger
• B. Rack the slide; Tap the magazine; Squeeze the trigger
• C. Squeeze the trigger; Tap the magazine; Rack the slide
• D. Tap the magazine; Squeeze the trigger; Rack the slide

Answer: (D)

Immediate action for a semi-automatic pistol centers on quickly diagnosing and clearing a stoppage so you can get back to firing. Start by ensuring the magazine is properly seated; tapping the magazine helps snap it fully in and can fix a feed lip issue that prevents a round from entering the chamber.

Next, attempt to fire by squeezing the trigger. This checks whether a round is actually in the chamber and ready to ignite. If the firearm still doesn’t fire, the following step is to rack the slide. Cycling the slide ejects the round (or a dud) and chambers a fresh one, clearing the malfunction so you can try again.

This sequence—tap the magazine, squeeze the trigger, rack the slide—addresses the common causes of a failure to fire and provides a quick path to restoring operation.