Hard to pull back slide

P

Plaz

New member
I have a Sig 220 pistol which I bought recently. I am having a terrible time getting a good grip on the slide and pulling it back. I am sure that part of my problem is because I am 84 years old.

Can someone tell me if there is anything I can do to the gun to help correct this problem?

Does anyone know what weight recoil spring comes with these guns?
 
Don't modify the gun, modify your technique

Plaz,

Thanks for asking our advice.

Knowing your experience level (and how bad your arthritis is would help in composing an answer to your question. Is this your first semi-auto handgun?

I would try everything to modify my technique before I started modifying the gun. Proper weight recoil springs absorb recoil, reducing the battering on the gun and on your gun hand(s) and also have the proper strength to feed rounds from the magazine into the chamber. Too light of a spring, and the gun wears prematurely or breaks something, your hand takes more shock loads and misfeeds can occur.

The first thing I would do is cock the hammer before racking the slide. I estimate this simple expedient reduces the force required to rack the slide by 25% to 40%. You only have to compress one spring at a time that way.

Purists will object to my next suggestion, but this is not for usual operation, but just to test your hand strength. With the gun empty. No bullets in the magazine (or no magazine in the magazine well) and no bullet in the chamber. Put the muzzle of the gun into a couch cushion and hold onto the gun with your shooting hand and push into the cushion. Lean on it, elbow straight. Now, grasp the rear of the slide with the heel of your hand and thumb on one side and your fingers on the other. Get as much skin on the gun as you can. Can you pull the slide all the way back? If you can't, you may not have enough strength to operate the gun unmodified. If you can, then you should just learn and practice the proper techniques.

If you don't have a couch cushion, you could have a friend hold the (unloaded, cleared) gun while you use one hand to pull back on the slide. Either "crutch" allows you to concentrate on one hand at a time.

If you can't, we can talk about modifying the gun later.


Caveat:

Remember, only believe half of what you see and one quarter of what you hear. That goes double for what you get from the internet. Even this post. Maybe especially this post.

Do your own independent, confirming research when ANYONE gives you new facts on the web.

Also remember, even the idiotic stuff might have a kernel of truth buried in there somewhere.

Lost Sheep
 
racking lever

See if you can get a racking lever fitted to the slide, I have a Tanfoglio 9mm and the racking lever is an optional extra. See what your local gunsmith can do for you.
 
Another thing to perhaps try is use an overhand grip with your slide hand, and simply hold the slide tightly. Now push forward with your grip hand instead of pulling back with your slide hand.
 
The first thing I would do is cock the hammer before racking the slide. I estimate this simple expedient reduces the force required to rack the slide by 25% to 40%. You only have to compress one spring at a time that way.
Click to expand...

+1 on that


Another thing to perhaps try is use an overhand grip with your slide hand, and simply hold the slide tightly. Now push forward with your grip hand instead of pulling back with your slide hand.
Click to expand...

Yeah, bring both hands in real close to your body, to about the center of your chest. You can get better leverage on the gun that way. Establish a firm firing grip on the gun, then put your other hand on the top of the slide. Then, just try to push, or "punch" the gun out with your firing hand, and pull back with your other hand on top of the slide.
 
Not an answer that you'll want to hear, but I'd recommend getting a Glock with it's blocky, easy-to-grip slide and installing a reduced-power recoil spring. You can also get a slide-racker that replaces the slide cover plate.
 
You should try pulling the slide back with my Colt Delta Elite with it's 23lbs recoil spring.

What I recommend with the P220 is that you cock the hammer first, and then pull the slide back, keeping your finger clear of the trigger of course.
 
I would say a combo of the two...

Pull the hammer back first
Click to expand...

... then ...

Another thing to perhaps try is use an overhand grip with your slide hand, and simply hold the slide tightly. Now push forward with your grip hand instead of pulling back with your slide hand.
Click to expand...

If this combo doesn't work I would look about getting a lever added, by a qualified smith.

But whatever you do... ignore the comment about the ugly brick that AlleyKat made... just the thought makes me a feel a little like :barf:
 
As has been said, try cocking the hammer before attempting to rack the slide. It makes racking the slide quite a bit easier.
 
Even though the Sig 220 is one of the finest guns ever made, a K-frame Smith & Wesson revolver is pretty hard to beat. It has a great trigger, and .38+Ps are great self-defense rounds. I've got nine S&W revolvers in all shapes and sizes, and I have yet to land one that wasn't excellent.

One of my favorites is a 2.5" Model 19. It is so incredibly balanced it is like pointing your finger. My automatics will all go before my S&Ws.
 

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Go for a nice revolver. Any decent gun has a pain in the ass slide charge for the first 1000 rounds. Especially Glock. (they DO loosen up.) :D
 
this solution comes from another old man, my grandfather. find a solid object with a defined corner, a table will do. catch the bottom edge of the table with the rear sight, push forward.
 
I haven't owned a Sig 220 for about 15 years and don't recall if this was an issue at all, but I know that with some pistols the slide is much more difficult to rack if the magazine is fully loaded, particularly those magazines that advertise an optimistic round count and require a hammer and press to get the last round in. :-)
 
Humbling posting after Hickok45!! Love the videos!

I have owned dozens of 1911s and Hi Powers over the years.

Just got a Glock Gen 4 21 and a Sig P220.
Fun!

The Glock is a bit stiff to rack with a full mag. Did not raise my eyebrows though.

The Sig P-220 is a different story. I went to rack it with a full mag and my left hand came right off the pistol. Slide did not move!

I have owned all sorts of large semi-auto pistols and just got done shooting the Glock 21 -----.

I though I had a real problem mechanically.

I gave it another try and was successful. But -- it was uncomfortable and a real wrestling match.

This with the 8 round mags full.

With seven in, it was easy, no different from the Glock. Both pistols brand new Oct 2013 mfg.

Hopefully it will loosen up, it's a bear,no great problem, just uncomfortable and surprising.

Those 8 round mags are tight!

Love the pistol :)

Jim
 
It pays to make sure you can pull back the slide before buying any pistol. Some are much harder than others, a Glock 17 is pretty easy, a 40 cal XD is very heavy. Most are in between somewhere. A model 15 or 19 S&W revolver don't have a slide. Both work great for anyone.
 
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