Drop the Slide? Or Not?

Is this another urban legend?

I'm sorry but I disagree with your concern, although of course I do not do it to other peoples or in gun shops -- bad form. However, I defer as I see you have strong feelings about it. I just wonder what you all really worry about -- how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

My mother always said if I knew how they handled food in a restaurant I would never want to eat there. I think your phobia may be somehow related, but tell me, do any of you not eat in restaurants? Just wondering...

[Edited by BigG on 01-06-2001 at 01:01 AM]
 
BigG, you're certainly free to disagree with the concerns about dropping the slide on an empty chamber. OTOH, if we should happen to meet, do us both a favor and never do it to any of my guns. :)
 
Incursion, I have been taught that unless the rounds are feed from the magazine into the chamber the extractor can be damaged when the slide is closed and the extractor rides over the rim of the cartridge. Most manufacturers caution against closing the slide on a round placed in the chamber (dummy or live) for the stated reason but if feed from the mag it should not be a problem.
 
This is one of the most argued questions since the beginning of autopistol history. I agree that the slide should not be dropped on an empty gun. But what about one with a loaded mag? Do you ease it foward then too, subjecting yourself to a "non battery" situation? or do you press the slide lock down and allow it to slam shut then too? I understand that a loaded mag does provide some resistance, but if u look at the little notch just above your slide lock lever u will see that simply pressing the lever down causes wear to the notch as well. Im sitting here looking at the slide lock notch on my S&W 659 and can see some wear already. This gun is only 2 weeks old. Am I going to experience some problems with the slide not staying back during my last fired round? These questions will be ongoing until the end of time unless we teach the youngsters good practice. I think the best practice is common sense. Like someone said above, why do something if you question its possibility of damage?

Another instance.... "shutting your computer off without clicking the start button and choosing the shut down feature may or may not cause damage to your hard drive. but if you have the shut down feature, why not use it?"

Ease the slide down on an empty gun. it just makes sense.

Tim : )
 
"Slingshotting" the slide with ammo in the gun is a totally different situation than with the gun empty, stripping the cartridge from the magazine and chambering it slows the slide impact significantly. Since that's going to happen after every shot, the gun should be able to handle it. :)

As far as using the slide lock lever with or without a loaded magazine in the gun, IMO that's not the most desirable way to chamber a round. Since small motor skills go to hell much faster than large motor skills in a crisis, it seems that grasping the slide and releasing it would be a more reliable chambering method.
 
5150, interesting comment. Just to clarify things, are you referring to dropping the slide on a round that's already in the chamber? I don't understand exactly what you mean. If you lock the slide back with a round in the chamber, the round will eject.
 
Reading through my Walther P99 hand book, it says specifically not to manipulate the slide in any way wile chambering a round. On the other hand, my Kimber is just the opposite. Kimber also said never to just "drop" a round in chamber because the slide and the springs are designed to push a round off the top of the mag which will help buffer the slide. Different guns, different operations.
 
I never do this...

Out of respect to the owners and shop owners, I have never dropped the slide on an empty chamber. I've told my friends never to do this, and one of them happened to have a brain fart and dropped the slide on an HK at the shop. I saw it all in slo-mo, and he even tried to slow it down by putting his hand over the ejection port. Cut himself and made him look stupid all at once. I chewed him out after we left. For those that don't think this doesn't affect your gun, that's fine, on YOUR gun. Ride the slide on mine, please.

You know what else irks me? People that go to gun stores who don't know how to handle guns. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen a worker hand a gun to a customer, only to have them immediately put their fingers on the trigger, while pointing the gun at the worker, I'd be able to afford a 2011 and all the high caps I want.
 
Dropping the slide on a chambered round, loaded or dummy...will damage the extractor...Dropping the slide on a loaded magazine with the slide lock lever is correct...Why else would it be there?



;)
 
When I first got my 1911, I was dropping the slide on a loaded chamber. I couldn't figure out why I kept losing a chunk of brass out of the ridge on my chambered round. Well, it has a pretty tough extractor. I was told later that it was supposed to be magazine fed only. I learned in time luckily. On an empty? OK, so I am guilty of that. More times than not though, I am chambering a round when it slams home.
 
I never drop the slide on an empty round, both out of respect to others' pistols as well as my own.

The reservations about dropping a slide on an empty chamber is largely directed at 1911s, Browning Hi-Powers and other Browning action pistols that have the ribbed barrels. Without the cushion of the chambering round the violent action of locking the barrel into battery can eventually pean (wear) off the metal of the locking ribs resulting is poorer fitting and accuracy over time. SIG remedied this problem with their substantially simplified Browning lock up that used a squared off breech to fit tightly into the ejection port. Either way I still don't do it because as much as I handle firearms it will eventually wear the pistol over time.

Incidentally, there is the possibility of slide stop levers losing their ability to hold the slide back. Ever wonder why the slide stop on a Glock is such a small lever? It's intended only for handling purposes -- not for dropping the slide while chambering rounds. The best way to chamber a round is to pull the slide back to full spring flexion and release. This ensures that you get the proper slide velocity to chamber rounds the same way every time -- just like when the pistol recoils. It is Glock's recommended manual of arms and I practice it on all my pistols. Plus, it's tactically sound as it will preclude the possibility of dropping the slide before a fresh magazine is fully seated and failing to chamber a round.

SS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top