How do you prefer to close the slide on your semi-auto?

[Fsorrent]

by pistol whipping liberal moonbats...

 

[Scrivener]

by pistol whipping liberal moonbats...

Nah - might break the fiber optic rod on my front sight.

 

[kevin9]

Nah - might break the fiber optic rod on my front sight.

I think ZainAnak might have a Auto Ord available cheap just for pistol-whipping.

 

[Gabe]

First, why would you ever want to release the slide on an empty chamber? The fact that it is locked back means, "FEED ME!"

Second, in defensive situations, speed (not tactical) reload! Don't even worry about how to release the slide, just make sure you've got your nonshooting hand on the next mag! If you've got a 1911, which you should, and you're starting with +1, which you should, and you use 8-rounders, count to 7 (maybe 6 just to be safe), drop the partial mag on the ground, and slam the full mag in! If you're worried about ammo counts, carry more mags!



But seriously, I use the slide release when it's loaded, and I do a controlled drop it when it's not. I hate the slingshot since it is so associated with idiotic and ignorant gun myths on film and television. And I don't like having to exert unnecessary force anyway. Besides, I can release the slide with one hand without difficulty, though my hands are a little above average sized.

 

[Coyote33]

First, why would you ever want to release the slide on an empty chamber? The fact that it is locked back means, "FEED ME!"
...]

When you are all done and ready to go home?


I try to slingshot when I remember it as that is how I was taught at GOAL's training class. When shooting the .22 at the range, I use the release for some reason though.

 

[M1911]

I all of the mail line classes that I have attended, only one school recommends the slide stop. The only benefit to using the slide stop is speed, if all goes well. The down side is that slide stops are small and you could fumble it.

And your hand could slip on the slide and you could fumble that too. I find it a lot easier to slip on a flat slide than on an angled slide stop.

If the gun is a battle pick up, you may not press it at all.

You know, the reality is that most likely none of us will ever get in a gunfight. If we do get in a gunfight, it is unlikely that we will have to reload. The chances of us getting in a gunfight where 1) there is another gun we could pick up, 2) we actually run out of ammo on our primary, 3) we are able to pick up that other gun, 4) we run out of ammo on that pick up gun, and 5) we also picked up a spare magazine for that gun is so infinitesimally small as to be non-existent! I am not going to give up 1/2 second on my reload for that possibility and I suggest that you reconsider the odds if you are actually using that as justification.

Oh, and btw, you better hope that your battlefield pick up is not a 1911 with a shockbuff in it, because overhand won't work from slide lock.

The two surest ways are methods #2 and #3, although I prefer #3, because it is the way that I rack the slide. Someone asked about the difference between fine and gross motor skills. The easiest way to explain is to think of them as "Dexterity = Fine" and "Strength = Gross".

You have offered absolutely no proof that 1) cycling the slide is easier than thumbing the slide stop, or that 2) it is less likely to be messed up under stress, or that 3) it is actually a fine motor skill rather than a gross motor skill. Once again, all you have done is to repeat the assertion that cycling the slide is somehow less error prone than thumbing the slide stop. This is what always happens in this discussion -- the proponents just repeat that it is less fumble prone without providing any proof whatsoever of that assertion.

As to your definition of dexterity versus strength, sorry but you'll have to be a lot more specific about why one is dexterity and the other is strength to convince me. Seeing as none of us here is an expert in the physiology of hands, I doubt that any of us is qualified to say what is and what is not "dexterity."

BTW, we only teach the #3 method.

Then you are seriously short-changing your students. You should do what Ayoob does -- teach them both methods, discuss their pros and cons, give the students your recommendation, and let them make up their own minds. I respect instructors who teach me all the options and trust me as an adult to decide what works for me.