Hang fire refers to an unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant. This failure was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, due to the poor or inconsistent quality of the powder. Modern weapons are susceptible, particularly if the ammunition has been stored in an environment outside of the design specifications. The delay is typically too brief to be noticed, but may be disruptive in processes where accurate timing is important, such as synchronization gear in propeller driven aircraft.

A hangfire should be suspected whenever a weapon fails to fire, but has not clearly malfunctioned. In modern, serviceable weapons it is more likely that the round is a "dud" (one that will never fire at all), but it is important not to immediately remove the round from the chamber. If a hangfire has in fact occurred, a round detonating outside of the weapon could cause serious fragmentation injury. If the operator believes that the weapon correctly cycled a fresh round and the action is not visibly jammed, the correct procedure is to keep the weapon pointed at a safe target for sixty seconds, then remove and safely discard the round. This rule is usually not followed in combat, where being without a working weapon is the bigger risk.

James Asher is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer, focusing on world music, trance music and New Age music.

Born in a suburb of London in the early 1950s, Asher began to study the violin at the age of seven. As a teenager, he participated in his school choir and orchestra, of which his father was the chief instructor.

Following his traditional musical education, Asher taught himself the drums and the keyboard and later apprenticed himself at several recording studios in the UK. In 1979, Asher opened his own studio, Starfield, and released his first single, "Peppermint Lump", which was produced by Pete Townshend. However, Asher's initial focus at Starfield was primarily on the bread-and-butter work afforded by the commercial soundtrack industry. During its first decade of operation, Asher licensed over 20 soundtracks to the likes of Cinema Euro Group, Central TV, Grenada TV, Channel Four and MTV.

In 1988, Asher released his first full-length, commercial album, The Great Wheel, which reached number 13 on Billboard magazine's New Age Music Chart. In 1996, Asher signed with New Earth Records and released Feet in the Soil, which combined elements of African percussion, Australian aboriginal music, and electronic programming. Edified by the success of the burgeoning "world music" category, as evidenced by releases by contemporaries Peter Gabriel, Johnny Clegg, David and Steve Gordon (Sacred Earth Drums) and David Byrne's world music record label, Luaka Bop, Feet in the Soil sold nearly 100,000 copies within the first 18 months of its initial release and has sold nearly 200,000 copies overall, according to New Earth Records president, Bhikkhu Schober.