Slides with milled out sides/portholes

4

4V50 Gary

Staff
What's the point? I see some factory slides that have holes milled out on the side of the slide or some on top. Lighter, faster slide? Fashion? Kool factor? Tacticool? (is that still used?)

AFAIK, they allow a lot of dust to get into the action and I'm not exactly religious about cleaning like when I was younger. I'd clean them right after I'd get home. Now it can be months (like six).
 
Slide cuts reduce the weight of the reciprocating mass. With a properly balanced recoil spring and load, this results in reduced recoil
 
Not a fan of lightening slides to reduce overall weight, but to adjust reciprocating weight, as in a long-slide gun chambered in a cartridge that would otherwise result in sluggish cycling, it can be worthwhile (though the same weight could be removed from inside, with no openings to allow junk into the gun.
The slide on my 6" 1911 is lightened to about the weight of a standard 5" gun's, so it cycles at the same rate with the same loads and springs.
 
Yes, you have guns slotted and ported to adjust for function or recoil control, but the Buick Cruiserline Ventiports seen on things like the dresser version of S&W Shield EZ or a $2000 Glock are just fashion fads.
 
Lighter and maybe cooler looking. Easier to get crap in it, however. I mean, ain't that the point of the dustcover? Also, I wonder what it does to the integrity of the slide?
 
Thanks everyone.

As to integrity, so long as the mill cut are not around any stress points, it should be OK. Lighter is faster as I suspected, but reliability w/SAAMI Spec ammo? Magazine has to be fast enough to push fresh cartridge up.
 
There are competition guns and there are duty/carry/SD guns.

Some competition guns have features that gain the milliseconds to win.

That does not necessarily make them better holster guns.

And then there is "The look" Why do people put 20 inch extremely expensive mag wheels with tires that have two inch sidewalls on lifted 4wd pickups?

A goal of tuning a race gun is to have the muzzle remain "flat" and stable during recoil. Reciprocating mass is part of the equation.
Lets not forget the weight of bull barrels and comps are added reciprocating weight and comps slow slide velocity. Recoil springs may be down in the 10 lb range . Slide mounted optics can increase slide weight.
The lighter slide slamming into battery is easier on the rest of the very expensive gun.

There are very good reasons on a winning competition gun.

Lets be honest,most of the rest is about wannabes and folks in the industry making a buck.

Is there any good reason to buy a skeletonized slide for your EDC Glock 19?

Probably not.

I honestly don't know the answer to this question.I don't watch movies and TV much.
Does John Wicks have a milled slide?
 
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I just see them as ways for crud to enter the slide and foul the barrel. Even in a holster, lint and other 'stuff' can accumulate.

Am I paranoid?

Larry
 
Probably. If one is shooting and cleaning often enough, it should not be a problem.

Although I did just read a post by a guy who was having trouble disassembling his Wilson with the fashionable bobbed off and submerged slide stop pin, so a lot of guns are probably not getting checked and cleaned like they should.
 
Competition guns and duty sidearms are two different animals. The latter must function each and every time. Most cops are too lazy to fastidiously clean their equipment.
 
Magnaport puts 'em in near the muzzle and they match holes in the barrel for recoil and muzzle jump reduction. Any other holes are somebody's daft idea. In the heyday of bowling pin shooting there were all kinds of silly ideas to make both the guns and ammo take a pin off the table. I still think the most stupid was the 'teeth' on the rim the lead of a hollow point bullet. It was supposed to "bite into the pin"(said pin being heavily plastic covered wood) with even a marginal hit. The bullets looked very cool but did nothing a regular HP wouldn't.
"...Tacticool? (is that still used?)..." Explains a great deal of daft stuff on firearms.
Like HiBC says, "There are competition guns and there are duty/carry/SD guns." They ain't the same.
 
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