Magazine causing slide lock inop...

Bigdee791 · #1 12-31-2018, 01:57 AM

Sorry if this is a redundant thread but I'm having issues with my 2.0 compact slide stop (slide release) when I insert a certain magazine. I almost have to use two thumbs to release the slide. Has anyone encountered this or have a fix? Thanks for your help!

gunny4053 · #2 12-31-2018, 02:58 AM

The combination of a stiff new recoil spring and a fully loaded, stiff springed magazine, doesn't always make that lever easy to use. Slingshot the slide. Load your mag in there and grab the slide, pull it back, and let it go (don't ride it). After a bit of shooting, letting everything settle in, the lever should start to ease up making it easier to use. I have Shields that have a few rounds through them that still don't like releasing the slide with that lever.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

SoCalDep · #3 12-31-2018, 04:50 AM

Does the issue occur with loaded or empty mags?

Alk8944 · #4 12-31-2018, 05:02 AM

If you would do it correctly there will be no problem. Generally there is never any reason to try to drop the slide by pulling the slide stop down, which causes excessive wear to both the stop and the notch in the slide. Instead, place your thumb on the slide stop and pull the slide to the rear. If just closing the slide put a bit of pressure on the slide stop to hold it down and let the slide forward. If loading the gun simply let the slide go and close under spring pressure. No problems with having to use excessive pressure on the stop!

It is unfortunate that people have, for some reason, come to believe that pulling the slide stop down is the way to drop the slide, it is not!!!

SoCalDep · #5 12-31-2018, 12:24 PM

Yes it is. Ask Rob Leatham, Larry Vickers, Frank Proctor, Mike Pannone, and pretty much anyone at the top of competitive, military, and law enforcement circles. It isn’t wrong to rack the slide to load but it certainly isn’t the only way and brings with it a host of issues. I don’t know how the BS of racking being the only way to load has perpetuated this long.

LVSteve · #6 12-31-2018, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalDep

Yes it is. Ask Rob Leatham, Larry Vickers, Frank Proctor, Mike Pannone, and pretty much anyone at the top of competitive, military, and law enforcement circles. It isn’t wrong to rack the slide to load but it certainly isn’t the only way and brings with it a host of issues. I don’t know how the BS of racking being the only way to load has perpetuated this long.

I thought the military was taught to rack the slide? I'd also be interested to hear about the "host of issues" racking the slide may bring. IMHO, taking the slide all the way back by racking it is more likely to avoid problems.

I have one particular opinion that won't sit well with many, but I'm not afraid to put it out there. Competitive/speed shooting is a far corner of firearms operation and has little significance for 95% or more of handgun use.

SoCalDep · #7 12-31-2018, 01:05 PM

Basic military training on handgun sucks in general compared to what is currently known to be best practices. the USMC has taken steps in recent years to rectify this but still remains a bit behind the times. This isn't surprising considering the large number of people they have to deal with, but shouldn't be looked upon as something to aspire to.

I'll describe some of the issues I and my partners see when training the thousands of law enforcement officers we train each year. First, when racking the slide, many shooters, no matter how much instruction, accountability, and reinforcement given, will stay connected to the slide as they rack, slowing the return velocity and causing failures to feed or go into battery. Often, when they attempt to clear this malfunction they create a worse malfunction that requires a significantly more complex clearance procedure. Further, when a proactive reload is conducted (in battery speed reload or tactical/retention reload), the shooter many times racks the slide without thinking, ejecting a perfectly good round. This is evident if you watch body-cam videos from law enforcement shootings and happens fairly frequently. Lastly, while many argue that racking the slide is a "gross motor skill" and hitting the slide release is a "fine motor skill" (which is actually completely wrong), I find people actually miss grabbing the slide (hand slips off without bringing the slide all the way to the rear or doesn't release the slide stop at all) more often than people miss the slide stop.

My opinion is opposite of yours. I find those who have the most relevant experience tend to embrace things that make one better at doing the things that are required to gain experience and stay alive. If I were drowning, I want a lifeguard who knows lifeguard stuff. I'd also be really happy if that lifeguard swam like Michael Phelps.

To say that competition has little significance is to say that shooting fast, accurate, and manipulate one's equipment in an intuitive and almost subconscious manner has no application to the real world.

Yes, you may not need it, but if that's your thinking, then you may not need a gun at all so why have one. You may not need to be the best, but I find it hilarious that when one is not motivated to be their best they often resort to criticizing those who actually get in the ring.

I work with several former military, and have trained with high-level instructors from competitive, military, and law enforcement backgrounds, and no one I know that I have any respect for teaches racking the slide as the only way.

I can add more names to the list, many who don't have competitive backgrounds: Aaron Cowen, Travis Haley, Robert Keller, Pat MacNamara, Kyle Lamb, Kyle Defoor, and on and on and on. All of these people have military backgrounds. Many of the names have resumes with words and abbreviations such as SFOD-D, DevGroup, CAG, SMU, Force Recon...

But I guess they're all WRONG because the only way to load a gun is to rack the slide.

Bigdee791 · #8 12-31-2018, 02:55 PM

It only happens with an empty magazine... And thanks for the welcome gunny!

SoCalDep · #9 12-31-2018, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigdee791

It only happens with an empty magazine... And thanks for the welcome gunny!

With an empty magazine in place, and especially when new, the slide release will generally be extremely stiff. That's normal and nothing to worry about. The follower (powered by the spring inside the magazine) is pushing up on the internal tab on the slide stop which, coupled with the slide pressing forward on the external portion of the slide stop (you can see it in the notch of the slide right behind the slide stop/release lever) creates a lot of pressure and friction to overcome to press down and release the slide.

When a loaded magazine is inserted into the pistol, the follower is lower in the magazine and thus the tab on the slide stop isn't encountering any upward pressure. It only has to overcome the forward pressure of the slide, and it's much easier to push down to release the slide.

Your options to release the slide when an empty magazine inserted include releasing the magazine and sending the slide forward, or as suggested above, pulling the slide to the rear, then holding it as you press down on the slide release to allow the slide to move forward. You could also work hard to develop extreme thumb strength...