One Hand Racking

WOW...great point

S.

I am curious what your reasons are, I know you say it is more effective advantegeous, but how?

If you don't mind sharing or if you would want to email me offline. I would be curious.

Like I said, the folks we work with have been more comfortable with the semi-autos so I would like to see another perspective.

Thanks,
 
The answer is: Browning Hi-Power. It was the handgun closest at hand when I started reading this thread, so I grabbed it and it is a no-brainer. It's just like a 1911, except no guide rod, so only the barrel sticks out when you rack the slide. You hold it normally pointing straight down, put the front of the slide on the edge of the desk with the barrel hanging off the edge, and push it straight down.
 
Okay, here's how my one handed buddy does it with his Beretta:
1)clear the chamber (can be done one handed by tucking the thumb under the flange and placing the fingers ahead of the rear sight).
2) Install an empty clip.
Rack the slide by snagging the rear sight on loose clothing. The empty cartridge will force the slide lock to engage.
3) drop the empty
4) install a hot clip
5) disengage the slide lock
6) decock.

He tells me that it's the fastest way to do it safely. And naturally, he carries with one in the hole :D
HTHs
-John
 
Jeff, when I say a revolver is more adventageous, I meant for its ease of use right off the bat compared to a semi auto (at least in my case). they are basic; load, point and shoot. in a serious situation, there is less chance of a misfire than with a semiauto. although i will say, i wanted to stay with a semiauto regardless. not to mention i have more experience with a semiauto than with a revolver.

Now if course, you get into the pros and cons of each gun...for instance available shots: semis have 7,8 or 10 rounds, compared to the revolvers, which are typically 5,6 or 7. but revolvers are less apt to jam during round fire. i guess caliber-to-size of gun can be compared as well. really though, there are pros and cons for each gun. it just depends on the situation and preferences.

I think that right out of the box, a revolver is easiest to figure out and be prepped for. now reloading in a quick pinch, that is another thing yet to be figured out....just one of the ongoing things i have to think about and be ready for.

I mentioned a post or so up that i have a revolver for carry (.38 sp). It is small enough for me to conceal on me (5'3" 106 sopping wet), but it still has some bang for the buck. I also have a beretta 86 (.380) fulfilling the semiauto category right now. i want more semiautos to play with (larger calibers of course). but i also have to be fairly realistic :o if the stuff ever hit the fan, i don't want a problem sneaking up on me that we anticipated when i made my list of cons for carrying a semiauto. wouldn't that be a kick in the pants? i would like to be wholey confident carrying either gun and prepared when malfunctions and simple operations come up. and to do that takes gobs of practice.

ok, i hope this reply doesn't start the "which gun is better" post - not my intention, just ponying up my reasonings. maybe that will shed some light.

hmm, let me add, i just read the post above. my beretta is pretty easy to use. the tip up barrel allows me to put on in the chamber, then a full 8 stack in the mag. i'm ready to go in DA for the first shot. at the range, i go through all 9, and the slide stays open on the last shot. i drop the mag, put a new one in and hit the slide release, then fire off 8 shots in SA.

its pretty easy at the range. my biggest enemy is a feed jam. depending on the ammo, it will or it won't. for the rest of my time with that gun, i'm only using the ammo i have a perfect non-jam record with.
 
short...

i have always said that a revolver was a better choice for a bug because it was more reliable than any auto. but it think that your primary should be an auto just because of capacity.
 
Geez Folks

Everyone should know 2 ways to rack a slide single handed.

First step is always cock the hammer! This greatly reduces the effort.


1. Sight Snag - catch the rear sight on the edge of a hard surface with the muzzle pointed down and push the frame downward.

2. Alternate for Novak sights: Hold gun inverted, muzzle pointed down and at about your 4'oclock. Press top of slide very firmly against your thigh, hip or even buttocks and shove the frame down. Unless you have a slick finish on top of your auto or your pants are slick this should work.

3. Put the lower rear corner of the frame against a hard surface (ideally one with an edge - table, chair, tree branch) pointed up at about a 45 deg. angle. Grasp slide forward of eject port and pull rearward.

In a real bad situation, the ground works. Invert gun and press firmly down as you move the frame. Note that grass/turf is not good because it may clog the ejection port or other parts. If you've had one arm disabled in a fight, it's serious enough that you shouldn't worry about scratching up the gun or damaging the sights. Get it working!
 
I can confirm that BillCA's option 2 works fine with my P-11. Just use friction from your pants. "Wipe" the slide real hard in a downward direction and it will rack. I was able to successfully chamber a round 10 times for 10 tries the other day. It left a bruise on my thigh, which tells you how hard I was working it. I figure if you need to do this, you're in panic mode, so might as well "wipe" hard enough to get the desired results.

This may not work for polyester pants, but nobody wears them anymore...
 
the sound? sounds like metal clicking.

i'm doing it right now with snap caps on my belt. maybe its different with a hand on the slide. what difference does the sound make, may i ask.
 
All this talk about safety has worked it's way into here when it was mainly just to stir up ANY idea. BillCA picked up on it best I think:

>>>Everyone should know 2 ways to rack a slide single handed. <<<

It's not safe, and none of these methods really are. You want to rack on a brick wall and have it go off a foot from your face as opposed to in your hand as in my original method? One doesnt seem better or worse than the other to me. I dont want to be shot anywhere.

Other things that worked into this are well I'll never be one handed or why dont you carry a revolver. You've never slipped in the shower or seen someone get hurt at work or be in a car accident? Any of these can leave you at least temporarily with one less arm. As to just carrying a revolver...that's all I'd ever carry as long as I have a choice. But I also own autos, so I'd like to know how to use them in every way possible.

The one last thing is this is on the tactics forum, not the semi forum. I thought this is the place for what-ifs, not safe range practice. I dont mean to sound like an ass, it just seems as if this thread is being taken every which way but the way it was intended, and maybe that was my fault for not being clear enough. I know safety, but not being prepared for any situation you can think of is the biggest risk of all. I seen my guns jam before, and if some emergency comes up.

Randy's What-If: All Randy has left for target practice is his 357HPs and he's having a great day and decides to polish them all off at the range. He has plenty of 9mms left cuz he has a billion to begin with. Driving home with revo now empty, crazy drunk runs a red and smashes Randy's Tbird. Of course crazy drunk is alright and is coming up on the Tbird with tire iron in hand, swinging madly and smashing the already smashed car sayign how he's gonna kill ME for ruining HIS car. Randy's arm was smashed in the accident and he's now out the other side of the car scramblin to load up a mag with crazy drunk in hot pursuit so he cant stop to rack it on his car. Hmmm...I never thought it was neccessary to learn any other ways to rack with one hand. Boy am I kicking myself now as I have a gun I cant figure out how to rack and drunk Bubba is getting ready to split my skull.

Big what-if, but is it impossible? My revo is out of the picture, my arm is out of commission, and I somehow must rack my gun with no foreign objects and no time to grab it on the back of my knee. I'd risk losing my figure tip again (a piece got cut off at work once cuz I tried to hurry) if that was the only way I could think of in a pinch to do it. That's enough rant for now. Basically though, safety was not to be part of this thread, open mindedness was.

Randy
 
Interesting Thread.

I prefer the 1911 style and mine do not have FLGRs. Yes I have / do practice various one handed drills, strong and weak handed.

My thinking is bad stuff happens to good people, has a tendency to do so at the worst possible time. I subscribe to learning how to deal with these situations before they happen. Some call it "what ifs" , some call it "training" . I also subscribe to the One learns from mistakes - a whole lot less expensive and painful if someone else's mistake .

Some areas I "think outside the box" on :

- Something other than the 1911 platform, and Revolvers.

-Persons for whatever reason, that are challenged; be it injury, recovering from surgery , arthritis ,or born with a problem that a normal healthy person never considers.

-For whatever reason one is in a Serious Situation, name of the game is survival. Even so , and doing best can to obey the 4 Rules, that Threat needs immediate attention, so yep that muzzle might sweep oneself, using the other 3 rules keeps you safe.

Now I have helped folks that were challenged, the Tip-Up Beretta in .380 allows one to chamber a round without racking the slide. Allows them to make safe, and double check the firearm is safe, be it cleaning, range use , whatever. First rule : have a gun. Forget the caliber wars and such, have a gun.

I/ we also worked with folks using 1911 with FLGRs, Glocks, Keltec P-11s, revolvers....whatever... they had in one hand drills. Matters not why or what they have what they do, maybe the new CCW student, Have a gun and learn to use to best of abililty. That single mom on a budget just can't up and buy a new one - she can learn the Model 10, the P-11 or the Tip Up .380 she has.

Just some of MY thoughts.

Steve
 
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