How to unjam your gun in Escape from Tarkov

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A gun being reloaded in a dark room
Image via Battlestate Games

In the unforgiving battlefield of Escape from Tarkov, many different things could go wrong. From poor positioning to bad communication between teammates, there are only a few things worse in the field than a weapon jam while you’re in the middle of a gunfight.

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There are many different weapons, but sometimes, they can jam when they’re left in poor condition or when used without care. The lower the condition, the more likely it is that the weapon will jam in the field, and you might be forced to fix the problem while under fire against multiple combatants. You’ll need to keep your wits about you as you unjam your weapon and prepare for a fight.

Here is how to unjam your gun in Escape from Tarkov.

Unjamming weapons in Escape from Tarkov, explained

The sun shining through some powerlines in a screenshot from Escape From Tarkov.
Keep your weapon in tip-top condition. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To unjam your weapon in Escape from Tarkov, you must first inspect your weapon to figure out what kind of malfunction it’s dealing with, either mechanical malfunctions or overheating. Weapons that are over 93 percent durability will not suffer mechanical malfunctions, but once your gun stops shooting, you only have a little bit of time to rectify the issue.

You can check out your weapon by pressing the Inspect key, which is usually bound to L. Afterward, you’ll need to fix the jam by pressing left-shift and the T key together to clear the chamber or fix the issue. You can also change these keybinds in your settings for your most optimal setup. Afterward, you should be able to fire your weapon again, although you should expect more and more malfunctions as the durability of your weapon lowers.

Types of weapon malfunctions

There are multiple types of weapon malfunctions in Escape from Tarkov that you’ll need to fix on the fly, with four mechanical malfunctions and four overheating malfunctions. Here are all of the types of malfunctions you’ll need to keep an eye out for while in a gunfight.

Mechanical malfunctions

  • Misfires
  • Failure to eject
  • Failure to feed
  • Jammed bolt

Overheating

  • Slight overheating
  • Medium overheating
  • Severe overheating
  • Maximum overheating

With overheating, players will need to deal with different effects on their weapon, depending on how bad the overheating issue is. For example, slight overheating will cause the barrel of your weapon to glow in thermal scopes, while medium overheating causes a decrease in accuracy, a max durability reduction, and increased malfunction chance. Severe overheating will change the weapon’s fire rate and cooking-off chance along with all of the previous effects, while the maximum overheating effect jams the bolt.

Author
Image of Tyler Esguerra
Tyler Esguerra
Lead League of Legends writer for Dot Esports. Forever an LCS supporter, AD carry main, with more than five years in the industry. Sometimes I like clicking heads in Call of Duty or VALORANT. Creator of the Critical Strike Podcast.