Slide release or slide grab???

[markm]

I use the slide for the simple reason that....

have you ever been doing a really fast empty gun reload and your thumb is already on the slide stop, and when you ram jam the fresh mag in the slide drops at the same time, and you wonder..... did the slide drop before the mag was seatad???

[MarshallDodge]

I use the slide stop because I had always seen the pros run that way. Recently I took a class and the instructor recommended racking the slide for the reasons mentioned above.

His instruction came near the beginning of the class, but it took me the rest of the class to get used to it, and am still not sure if that is how I like to do it. During some drills I found myself reaching for the slide stop nearly every time.

[Battlepack]

I use the slide release. Of course I mostly shoot 1911s.

My uninformed theory is that the overhand method may be popular to teach with plastic pistols that have small slide release levers and/or an improperly positioned lever not designed by JMB.

[markm]

I use the slide release. Of course I mostly shoot 1911s.

My uninformed theory is that the overhand method may be popular to teach with plastic pistols that have small slide release levers and/or an improperly positioned lever not designed by JMB.

Even when I was a 1911 Tard, I still used the slide. I guess my thumbs are too short to hit the slide stop without repositioning the weapon in my hand.

[Thylacine]

I shoot lefty. On my 1911 I use the slide release, using my trigger finger. The same finger hits the mag release..... They should make a left version of the 1911 for you right handed shooters, the controls are in the perfect spots.

[IrishDevil]

The only time I rack the slide is if the slide goes forward upon inserting the magazine. I will also rack the slide when shooting weak hand. With proper reload technique you use the support hand thumb to hit the slide release. I consider using the strong hand thumb to release the slide poor form.

[Saginaw79]

I use the slide release w/ my weak hand thumb and I dont have to change the grip on my gun

[m4carbine]

I've actually tried to train using the slide release because it is much faster and efficient, but under stress I always go back to racking the slide. Don't get me wrong, both can be fast, but the slide release will be much faster if you can train it so that it is an automatic response. The downside is that using the slide release is more of a fine motor skill that may be harder to perform under the stress of combat.....sure would suck to miss!!

[ST911]

I advocate and use the overhand grasp of the slide to operate it.

It works for the broadest range of shooters, hand sizes, strength, abilities, and circumstances, and is a simple operation to teach and use.

It is also an method that is unaffected by the dominant hand and control configuration of the gun.

It does have quirks with some systems, such as the slide-mounted safety of the Beretta. The LCD may leave it activated, or have to learn and enagage an extra step to ensure the safety is off.

Where the lowest common denominator is high, or where you're choosing only for yourself, use what works.

[1SFG]

Take the fine motor skills debate out of the question, and for me it boils down to (a) how I was trained, and (b) which one is most reliable. That leads me to the overhand slide grab/rack, whatever we want to call it. In doing it that way, I am reasonably assured that the slide will drop, whereas with the slide lock is (to me) generally a bigger risk of failure. The added possibility that I might miss it all together just makes grabbing the slide the better option for me. End of the day though, it's all personal preference.