slide cuts

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Willie Lowman

New member
I have been seeing more and more custom shop guns with material removed from the slide. Very few of these guns look good to me. The few that do, I am still left wondering "why"

What good does it really do to mill a few ounces of steel out of the slide? A stronger spring will be needed to slow down the lighter slide. I don't see what has been gained.
 
I have wondered the same. All I can figure is the latest in cosmetics like the elongated beavertails with the sharp tip and skeletonized triggers.

If there are good reasons for them, I would appreciate the new found knowledge.
 
I would say a lot are just cosmetic these days however it started in the gun gamers realm. Stiffer springs, lighter slides, translated to less "dwell" time and hypthetically faster shooting. I would say only the top 1% of shooters could actually probably harnass that difference if at all.

Also I have seen cut slides with different fit barrels in custom guns, depending on the course of fire, someone can run a milled slide, with a normal barrel for a Limited gun, and then switch over to a ported and comp'd barrel with the cut slide for an unlimited gun.

As far as extended beaver tails.... I won't shoot one of my 1911's without one, they are worlds better than the old GI style.
 
I would say a lot are just cosmetic these days however it started in the gun gamers realm. Stiffer springs, lighter slides, translated to less "dwell" time and hypthetically faster shooting. I would say only the top 1% of shooters could actually probably harnass that difference if at all.

Also I have seen cut slides with different fit barrels in custom guns, depending on the course of fire, someone can run a milled slide, with a normal barrel for a Limited gun, and then switch over to a ported and comp'd barrel with the cut slide for an unlimited gun.

As far as extended beaver tails.... I won't shoot one of my 1911's without one, they are worlds better than the old GI style.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
As long as the cuts are limited to removing an amount of metal that can be considered only cosmetic, then it's "to each his own". I really dislike forward cocking serrations, so a 1911 with "Browning cuts" that mimic the appearance of a Hi-Power slide, by removing the FCSs, looks good without removing much material.
I have a 6" 1911 chambered in .45 Auto, and the extra weight of the long slide, combined with reduced-power competition loads, can result in (relatively) sluggish cycling, so reducing the weight of the long slide to match a 5" gun can improve the handling qualities.
What I don't understand, is removing material from the slide of a compact gun, apparently as a means of reducing a gun's overall weight. I'd leave the slide alone, as I want that weight to resist unlocking, and for momentum on the feed stroke.
 
Except for work done to reduce recoiling mass for light loads, most of this stuff falls under the same heading as barrel fluting according to Mr McMillan: It's main purpose is to transfer money from your pocket to the machinist's.
 
More curiosity on my part and not a disagreement, please tell me what an extended beavertail does for a shooter. I have heard getting pinched or hammer bite but have never had it occur from personal experience.

Is it your belief it gives you a better grip? :confused:
 
Undercutting the trigger guard along with the beaver tail grip can raise the hand, relative to the barrel.
Possibly resulting in better recoil control and faster shooting, for an experienced shootist who has good technique.
 
Lamar,

I am not much bothered by hammer bite myself, but I shoot IDPA and find that a properly upswept beavertail helps locate my hand as I go for a firing grip in the holster.

It also spreads the area impacted by recoil.

I understand the high hand hole logic but have a hard time telling it in action. It takes a tall gun like a Sig for me to feel any more flip than a plain 1911 grip.
 
I've never seen a someone at the range with a cut slide. If I did, I'd be thinking he's either a top flight world class shooter or he's a mall ninja with too much money, and there's way too many mall ninjas with money and not that many world class shooters:D
 
This is a phenomenon with which I am quite familiar these days, though indirectly. A good friend of mine is obsessed with anything "tactical". He finally admits, after some effort on my part, that it is all about the appearance, not really practical considerations at all. He has been "modifying" his Glock 26 ever since he got it.....and has now gotten to more or less the final stages of the process, which include having ports cut into the slide, as well as laser engraving a pattern on the outer surfaces. Oh and he has now decided to have the slide milled for installation of a $500 red-dot sight (an "RMR" or something like that).

So, I have had to endure hearing about (and discussing) all of this for over a year now.

He has a fancy aftermarket trigger, recoil assembly, sights, undercuts on the trigger guard, some reshaping of the backstrap portion of the grip.....and soon, a bunch of holes cut into the slide, a skull pattern engraved on the slide surfaces and a red-dot costing as much as the gun was new.

All in all, he will have about $1800 - $2000 (total) invested in his $500 Glock.....which in no event will ever improve his shooting performance one iota.... and the resulting contraption will be worth less than the original (unmodified) gun was as new. :rolleyes:

D%$@*ed load of nonsense, if you ask me. To each his own, though. Even though he is my friend and I try my best to be supportive, I find myself referring to him as a "mall ninja" under my breath and to mutual friends now. We just sit and roll our eyes when the subject comes up.

The worst part is, he is NOT a teenager. This guy is 32 years old (at least, chronologically....perhaps not mentally).
 
For "gamer" shooters it is a HUGE gain. But, the gain is only found with "major" loads of heavy for caliber projectile (200 or 220gr in .40sw) and super fast powder. Odd as that sounds, it makes for a marshmallow soft shooting gun, like .22lr soft. But then you need a weaker spring and that drives a need for a lighter slide. Put all that together and you get a gun that has almost zero muzzle raise and can shoot super fast and stay on target.


But, probably many are in the hands of mall ninjas.:rolleyes:
 
I have heard getting pinched or hammer bite but have never had it occur from personal experience.
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The only one I've experienced hammer bite with is my Colt Anniversary Tier III -- a reproduction of the early 1911 model (not 1911A1). It has a long hammer and not even the standard Colt "duckbill" grip safety. That said, a beavertail does help me get a higher grip which means quicker back on the target.
 
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