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Friday, March 15, 2013

Another tip from your ol' buddy Wirecutter

I keep hearing that the proper way to reload a 1911 is to drop the empty magazine, let it fall, insert a new magazine then rack the slide with your left hand and begin shooting again.
Bullshit. Do all of the above steps except racking the slide with your support hand. That requires an extra motion. Use the fucking slide release - not the stock slide release but an extended one.
I popped an extended slide release on my 45 twenty years ago and have never looked back. Afraid of it hanging up on your holster or clothing? Dehorn it. If you fuck it up, buy another one. They're cheap, 35 bucks from Wilsons. Order it HERE from Brownells.
Look, it's a drop-in part. No fitting required and that second or two you save getting back into action may save your life. There is no disadvantage to using it - I've had one on my 45 for 20+ years now and I carry my pistol in an inside-the-pants holster most of the time. I have never had it snag on anything. Period.
When it comes time for that slide to return to battery, I'm already back on the sights, I hit that extended slide release with my thumb and dump another magazine back downrange. That quick - no shifting the gun in my hand at all.
You're welcome.

*****

And as soon as I get this fucker posted, Orbitup sends me a link from his blog showing where he posted the same damned thing 2 months ago.
Godammit.
Anyways, it goes to show that while I may be right, I'm also slow.
Godammit.
View his post HERE

*****

Keads brought up a very valid point in the comments.

I'll buy that. I also tell students that racking the slide is a universal thing that may help if they shoot and carry different handguns. Just saying.

Thanks for that thought. I never really considered it as I own one automatic carry gun. But it's also something to keep in mind if you do have to pick up an unfamiliar firearm in a stressful situation. The second or five you waste trying to find out how to drop the slide might be the death of you.
Thank you.

8 comments:

  1. No argument here. I've even posted about it myself.

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  2. Godammit.
    Don't know how I missed that post.

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  3. What Ken said. Wasted motion is wasted time, energy (we're not all young here) and noisy. KISS.

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  4. I'll buy that. I also tell students that racking the slide is a universal thing that may help if they shoot and carry different handguns. Just saying.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If I owned more than one automatic carry weapon, I'd probably rack the slide too. Good point and I'll add that to the post.

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  6. I have a couple M&Ps. When I reload from slidelock, I run the mag in hard. This releases the slide without having to do any other manipulations. Works on all of my M&Ps, and did on my Beretta 92 back when I still had it.

    Not all guns will do this, but some guns will do this every time if you learn how. Some models of guns will do this more reliably that others, my 1911 won't do this at all ever.

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  7. While in an IPSC match (Para-Ordnance P14-45 with Pachmayr extended slide release) about 20 years ago, I released the slide with my right thumb as I'd practiced countless times - a split second before the magazine was fully inserted. When I pulled the trigger there was a mighty click! of the hammer falling on an empty chamber. Needless to say, I blew that stage because of the extra time used to tap,rack,bang.

    I changed my reloading sequence, now my left thumb releases the slide as I reestablish my two handed grip after reloading. No problems.

    Regarding Keads advice, I would add that it's possible that some of you, who only shoot 1911s, in the future may be using a battlefield pickup Glock or M&P (God be with you if you are, because if you're using a captured secondary weapon it means your primary and secondary weapons are empty) from a recently deceased government agent. . The special forces troops of the world train with the enemies weapons for this reason. If you're cut off from resupply you have to know how to use what's available.

    Al_in_Ottawa

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  8. Though my tribe has adopted a common model of sidearm, we train to rack the slide with the support hand. Reasons are that slide stop manipulation is a finer motor skill, sometimes difficult with cold hands or gloves, and not always the same feel if using a field pickup weapon.
    Also consider the weapon may not always be in the operators right hand. While some time reduction may be observed using the slide stop for release, I have seen too many shooters fumble with it under pressure especially when using a pistol they are not used to.
    In the end, we leave it to the operators choice,but make sure they are familiar with racking that slide as a fail safe.
    We also beat into our heads that a field pickup is considered to jammed or condition 3 and the slide must be racked before use.

    Jim.

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