Racking the slide---a psychological thing???

D

DaleA

New member
I’ve run into this a few times and not just with women and girls. People that have never handled a semi-auto and don’t particularly care about shooting can’t rack the slide.

My (middle teen-age) daughter never much cared for shooting and could not rack the slide of my full-sized 1911 .45 ACP. Then one day she decided she wanted to go to the range with me. We went over the basics at home, she grabbed the 1911 in one hand, grabbed the slide with the other and racked it just fine. After that she knew she could do it and never had any problems.

The person has to want to rack the slide and know they can do it and then they won’t have any problems.
 
I think it has to do with popular entertainment. The movies and TV make it look easy, and when they find out it's not quite as easy as it appears then they get a bit intimidated. To top it off, so many commercial products are made so flimsy these days, that if you breathe on them too hard they break - so people are conditioned to think that something as small as a gun is gonna be easy to break so they become afraid to really rack it.

Thus, many new shooters get caught-up with the gun being harder to operate than they thought - but also caught up in fear that if they use too much force they're gonna break the gun. Kinda leaves them in a jam.
 
Well, racking the slide does need a certain degree of explosive strength, for want of a better phrase. By that I mean it is harder to rack a slide if you grip it and then start slowing building rearward pressure through you hand than it is if you grip and make a sharp, firm snap back and release.

So sometimes I think people don't realise that and/or they don't realise how firm that snapping rearward action actually needs to be and thus they fail to rack the slide.

Often one try and subsequent fail is enough to convince them of the futility in trying again. Perhaps that is why it happens.
 
What James described is what my gf did at first with her LCP slide and had a heck of a time, granted she had hurt her hand pretty good recently so grip strength was an issue as well. Then I showed her how violent I was racking it and after that she had no issue.
 
Many with the slide racking problem,are not holding the handgun right.
They have it far out from body,where it needs to be flat against front of body,and being supported.
Then with the free hand you push the slide against the hand holding the handgun.
Hope i am being under stood.
 
Some of it is psychological. My wife had a "hard time" racking the slide on my 1911 in 22TCM. That's an 8 pound recoil spring on a full size gun. Easy to hold, all metal, no breaking it, and she struggled with it at first. Got her out shooting a few times and now she has no problems with a Jeminez JA380. Some of those little 380 "pocket pistols" have pretty stiff slides coupled with being small. As her comfort level has gone up it has gotten easier for her. I knew she could do it the whole time, just had to convince her that she could. Her accuracy is even improving :cool:
 
Many with the slide racking problem, are not holding the handgun right.
They have it far out from body, where it needs to be flat against front of body, and being supported.
Then with the free hand you push the slide against the hand holding the handgun.
Hope i am being under stood.
Click to expand...

Not only are you being "under stood," you are being "understood."

I really appreciated this insight into a definite problem for some and this should help many people who have problems with this, and just need some guidance. Excellent! Thank you! Technique is everything, isn't it...?
 
Been doing it for over fifty years. Now having problems with gripping strength and recently shopped for a revolver so I could continue shooting. Dealer showed me a device called EzeeRacker. It works on all my pistols, Glock, Taurus,Colt 1911, Ruger. Cost me $15 and "saved my shooting hobby".
Check out the EzeeRacker by emailing ezeeracker@gmail.com
 
So I've seen in the gun stores bf showing gf how it's done. He points the pistol forward about 45 degrees down, arm stiff, and jerks the rack back with the off hand. I call that the bow and arrow, 'Robin Hood Rack'. No one ever said anything to me or taught me proper slide racking techniques. It just always seemed easier, to point the pistol down about 4 o clock against your abdomen and scissors your hands to rack.
 
...Then with the free hand you push the slide against the hand holding the handgun.
Click to expand...

It may work even better for some folks if they hold the gun close to the body, use the off hand to hold the slide (with the arm pressed against their body as a foundation), and then push the gun while holding the slide static.
 
It is more difficult all around if the beginner starts with something that is going to be anywhere close to the limits of their hand/upper body strength. I always have beginners start with a 22. After that, some of my 32's are easy to operate. By the time they are ready to shoot a 9mm, they have a pretty good idea of how they are going to rack the slide. Shooting should always be taught incrementally, IMHO.

And cocking the hammer first makes it WAY easier. :)
 
My P7 doesn't have a hammer !

I found that many want to be gentle when cycling a pump shotgun. I have to carefully explain that it's designed to be Vigorously operated ,or it might jamb.

As for cycling the pump to" show him your serious " or to frighten the BG, think of it this way. Will a drugged up psycho hear it ? will he care ? :eek:
 
I think a lot of new shooters are intimidated because there are a few actions that they are not used to. Rack the slide, finger off the trigger, set the safety (if it has one) all while pointing it in a safe direction vs having the gun already chambered and in safe. For some brand new shooters it's a little nerve racking (pun intended):D Some of my compacts are a little to hard for my wife to rack. She can rack her SR9 like a pro. Familiarity and confidence with the gun goes a long way.
 
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What Walt said...

It may work even better for some folks if they hold the gun close to the body, use the off hand to hold the slide (with the arm pressed against their body as a foundation), and then push the gun while holding the slide static.
Click to expand...

Hold the slide stable and push the frame forward. A good and strong method particularly for those with weak or injured hands.

The gun close to the body helps with leverage and retention.

Most folks new to handguns are somewhat nervous in handling them for the first time and overly cautious in racking the slide. They should be, guns are dangerous. Folks should be instructed in how to handle a piece and to do it safely.This takes a bit of time.

tipoc
 
How many times have we seen someone walk into a firearm store, ask to see a handgun that will protect them, or something like that.
And a store employee hands them, say a Glock22, they look at it then say i will take it, paper work is filled out BG check done.
Store employee asks you want Ammo. right, handgun with Ammo. is boxed up stuffed in a bag, and out the door the guy and his new handgun gos.
I have seen this very thing happen many times.:rolleyes:
 
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