One Hand Racking

M

m0ntels

New member
Was reading on THR today about learning to rack your slide without the use of your other hand. (If it was discussed on here I couldnt find it again...although I semi remember Tamara talking about some article and racking the slide on a trashcan???) So when I got home, I decided to try it with the Baby Eagle.

On my belt? Not on this one anyway.

On the table, yeah, but only if I line it up perfectly. Even so, what if I need to do it outside somewhere?

So I was looking at it and saw the front of the slide has plenty of meat on it, and here's what I came up with:

I gripped the pistol with my fingers wrapped around the reciever bottom and the slide along the inside of my thumb, middle finger inside trigger guard in front of trigger and last 2 fingers around the outside, barrel up and away from face. My thumb is now nicely positioned over the end of the slide/barrel. I hook my thumb over the edge of the slide (it's enough reach I cant really get stuck on the barrel) and as I squeeze my thumb, it racks the slide and my middle finger puts upward pressure on the trigger guard to keep it froms liding out of my hand and it keeps my finger away from the trigger.

I hope I explained it clear enough. It seems safe to me because it's real easy to control where it is pointed and my fingers are mostly out of the way of barrel and trigger by the point the gun would be able to fire. If you change the middle finger to one of it's neighbors you can adjust the grip for diff barrel lengths. It also doesnt require holster/belt/vest/what have you to do, just the fact you have a couple free fingers.

I'm sure if I ever have the need to do a one handed racking this would get the job done. May not work with everyone's hand size/strength or barrel length and spring rate, but may be worth you checking out. Just an idea...

Randy
 
Am I understanding right that this method involves having one finger inside the trigger guard and another against the muzzle? :eek: Pictures would help if possible since i may be imagining it wrong.
 
Use the front sight post or rear sight assembly pressed against your belt buckle, the lip of your holster or mag pouch, or the instep, outstep or bottom edge of the sole of your shoes.
 
C_Yeager,

Yeah, I was afraid this was gonna sound wrong without a pic, I'll see if I can get something together today. The Baby Eagle has a square trigger guard, unlike the CZ, so I think it leaves me alot more room in there and the slide around the muzzle has alot of extra meat on it too. I'm certainly not practicing this w/ live ammo or anything, but if TSHF, I'm sure I'd be alright this way. I can switch between a shooting grip and this one nice and quick and wont have to worry if my belt buckle decided to move to one side or another during the previous course of events. Opposing forces between my thumb and finger make me feel this is a rare occasion that it isnt totally wrong to have my finger inside the guard. If I needed to do this to clear a jam, the chamber would already be empty, it wont fire out of battery, and when it racks, the trigger is pulled back further than normal, giving me even more free room. I'm sure many other autos may not be safe to use this way, but this is the only one I have to play with. Like I said, I'll try and snap some pics today if I get a chance.

Randy

The simple solution is just to have my revo :p
 
One of the many reasons I hate the Novak style sights and all they have inspired. A no snag rear sight is one thing but the ramped sights are a bad idea as I see it. A near verticle front face on the sight is important for one handed manipulation. Round off the corners so it won't cut the hand, thats fine, just avoid the ramped rear sights. Never let fashion supercede practicality.
 
Used to do it all the time with a 1911

Lay an UNLOADED fire arm on the table in front of you with the muzzle facing right. Lay your right hand on the gun with your 4 finger wrapping over the top of the slide, locating your hand towards the rear of the slide works best. Pick up the fire arm and hold it out in front of you. What you will be doing is using your thumb to reach around under the hammer (were the graip safety is on a 1911.) Your are racking the slide by pulling in with your thumb. It takes a lot of hand strength and practice. Once you rack the slide and release you kind of give the weapon a little flip in the air and catch it in the normal grip.

The things you learn while on watch at 3:00 AM !

P.S. laying the gun on the table is just to give you proper orientaion.
 
wow

i really have never heard of such elaborate methods of racking one handed. anyone ever heared of "kiss" keep it simple stupid. rack the slide using the front site post or the rear on your shoe or your belt or the corner of a wall. or anything even on the ground. i would not practice a method that forced me to change grips or turn my gun around. but if you must, you can fix the pistol by placing the pistol grip in the back of your knee and kneeling barrel pointing foward. rack the slide, lock the slide and fix most malfunctions. if you need to change mags you can do the same thing only the mag well facing out. that is just my two cents, probablly not worth that. hope i did not offend anyone, i was not trying to call anyone stupid. just something i like. helps me train smart not hard.
 
i posted a pic on THR showing the one hand rack. BTW that was a very good explanation. i have been doing that one for at least 20 years and my old partner thought i couldn't do it when i showed him. works well and there's nothing to snag on. it works well for clearing a stovepipe one handed as well.
harry
 
Tried the belt buckle thing again with a little more success. If I go up it point at my face which is a no-no or if I try it pointing down, it ends up pointing at something I def dont wanna be shooting off. My method is similar to NovaSS's but backwards. I'm not saying my method is the best or safest, but if I've already had a hand disabled by my attacker, safety has already gone out the window. I made a vid clip of my method. Yes that is my finger in the trigger which I'm sure will make many of you upset at me, but I have a good grip and good control over muzzle direction with it, and you cant see it well but my finger is a good inch or so from the trigger. If you dont like it, dont use it. We all shoot diff guns and we all do it with our own style. I hope I never need to one hand my gun for any reason. Having any method is better than none.

http://www.geocities.com/m0ntels/Rack.avi
3.5mb

Randy
 
couldn't find the pics

i did not mean to sound like a shmuck before i just think that i am not sure what you are explaining.(hey i an't the sharpest knife) i am really interested in seeing how it is you do it. could you try one more time? thanks joe.

PS:what the heck is THR sorry i am new to the forum. thanks more... joe.
 
Ok, so i'm pretty new here myself. So .... I get to ask a couple of stupid questions. Why would one need to rack one handed and if you have to why wouldn't you just grab the slide and push the grip against your leg until the slide moves back enough to allow the round to chamber?

As someone mentioned, I'm of the K.I.S.S. mentality myself.
 
For such rare instances as if your hand is disabled, either in a fight, or before hand such as you are in a cast from a broken hard/wrist/etc. One of them things you will never use but doesnt hurt to know. We were able to get my brother to work my Mossberg 500 when he was in a cast from hand to elbow so he could skeet shoot with us. He did alright. He couldnt flex his hand to grip the pump so we had to work around it.

Elaborate in this instance is left much to opinion I'd say. I can do it on my belt if I really need to, or fumble around trying to hold the grip in the back of my knee or whatever. This is just what at this moment works best for me and my auto IMO. I switch between a shooting grip and this one in an acceptable amount of time, with adequate retention of my weapon, and without moving the muzzle so far away from my target.

And THR = thehighroad.org...another very good site, similar to this one

Randy
 
all i can say is that it works for me, BTW thanks for the THL definition guy.
harry
 

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Let's think about this for a second...

I'm in trouble, I have one hand, and I have to rack the slide...

One would assume that I have to shoot a bad guy, who is probably close (or the pistol wouldn't do). Either (A) I am drawing for the first time (and should have done the slide at home), or (B) I am reloading and for some reason the slide went closed before I could get the magazine in, or (C) I am trying to eject a round that didn't fire for some reason.

No matter how I rack the slide with one hand, the bad guy would have to be incredibly stupid to stand there and let me fumble through it.

If (A), I'm stupid, and deserve to die.
If (B), I must miss a lot, and deserve to die.
If (C), my gun is a POS and I deserve to die.
 
good thread. racking the slide with one had is a technique i suggest everybody figure out how to master. i am one-armed due to breaking my neck a few years back in a serious auto accident. i cannot rack slides, well, at least not with two hands. hence the reason i purchased a beretta 86 and a .38 revolver for my CCWs. as for hunting rifles, can you say Ultralight....

the way i rack the slide if i'm casually sitting around is by holding the grip against my hip or the hinge in my knee, and handling the slide with my right hand like normal, (four fingers over the top and thumb on the other side). i only hold it deep enough on the grip so the slide has room to be pulled all the way back. i'm trying to figure out other ways to rack the slide as well. the pictured grip up there is pretty impressive, and as stated, it takes a lot of grip strength.

its amazing how you take two hands for granted.
 
Ah, didn't think of that - if you actually only have one hand, then you definitely need to think about how to do it.
:)
 
>>>No matter how I rack the slide with one hand, the bad guy would have to be incredibly stupid to stand there and let me fumble through it.
If (A), I'm stupid, and deserve to die.
If (B), I must miss a lot, and deserve to die.
If (C), my gun is a POS and I deserve to die.<<<

I would go as far to say all autos suffer from: firing pin fatigue, main spring fatigue, mag spring fatigue, extractor spring fatigue, oil running out of the rails while holstered, and a load of other things that occur from regular use, not abuse. Any one of those things can make a racking neccessary. You arent going to know when any of that is about to take place to the point the weapon wont operate until it happens. And Murphy says it will always happen at the worst time. The only thing stupid is lack of preparation.

Randy
 
Watch the Movie "The Medalion". A Jackie Chan movie. There is a scene that shows a woman racking two at a time. I know it's just a movie, but that's where I saw it first.
 
Strong Hand Only course

We just got finished up doing another one of our Strong Hand Only courses. Usually we go through the same routine as far as what works and what doesn't work. The best method we have seen has been using the rear sight to anchor to a fixed object. Our preference is a belt, followed by a pocket, followed by a holster. From there, cant the muzzle away from the body and then push down and away. This has been the most reliable technique to date. The one thing we caution folks on is any technique that grounds them out. If you have to be static to fix the problem then it is a less than optimum technique and one we avoid like the plague. I know it is hard to picture it from the written word, but hopefully you gleam enough.

The bad news is snag free sights suck for this, which is why we worked with a major sight manufactur to produce a very positive sight that grips just about anything.

The history to our program stems from team mates losing an extremity in training accidents and developing a shooting program for them. It laid dormiant for years until my first son was born, then became popular with many EP companies and now that we have been working so much with the integration of shields and K9 officers it has taken off. We have had two officers attend who both lost an extremity in vehicle accidents while on duty. The class is also one of the hardest physically to complete.

Anyhow, we have seen lots of things most that fall short on the success meter so take that for what it is worth.

Later,
 
good show Joerng, the back of the knee is the best method I have used. The one hand grip is good but usually only works strong side, most can't get that one off side. I have trouble using offside onehanded but the knee works both sides. No matter how it is done there will be some sort of grip change assuming the other hand has been injured in the fight. having a weapon with ambidextrous operating mechanism is also a good idea.
 
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