How do you recognize a misfire versus a dud, and what is the general procedure?

• A. A misfire is a delayed ignition; a dud is a misfire that happens after a brief delay; not safe to proceed.
• B. A misfire is a failure to ignite when the trigger is pulled; a dud is a failure to ignite after a brief delay; treat both with caution, keep muzzle downrange, wait briefly, then clear.
• C. A misfire happens only with reloaded ammo; a dud occurs with factory ammo.
• D. A misfire always causes an explosion.

Answer: (B)

The main idea is understanding what you’re experiencing when a round doesn’t fire and how to handle it safely. A misfire is when you pull the trigger and there’s no ignition at all. A dud is a cartridge that fails to ignite after a brief delay—often described as a hang-fire. In both cases the safe approach is the same: keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction (muzzle downrange or toward a safe area), keep your finger outside the trigger, and wait a short period to rule out a delayed ignition.

After waiting, if nothing happens, you should clear the firearm by safely opening the action and removing the cartridge, then inspect and proceed with caution. The important point is to treat both situations with care and never assume it will fire on its own or try to fire again immediately.

Notes for context: distinctions like “only reloaded ammo” or “uses factory ammo” aren’t accurate ways to tell the difference, and a misfire is not something that inherently causes an explosion.