On page 17 of the manual (Please see attached photo) you are explicitly instructed to insert the magazine and pull the slide fully to the rear and release it to load the weapon. No where in the manual does it tell you to use the slide stop as a release.
Easy slide release?
- Thread starter frazmul
- Start date
On page 17 of the manual (Please see attached photo) you are explicitly instructed to insert the magazine and pull the slide fully to the rear and release it to load the weapon. No where in the manual does it tell you to use the slide stop as a release.
Bkreutz
US Veteran
Next thing we will see is that the instruction manual will be changed to "Chapter and verse". The way everyone argues about what words are used one would think it's "inspired". (btw, I have all my "slide locks" disabled so the slide doesn't lock open, I plan my reloads in competition so I never run the gun dry, much faster that way).
Except on page 17 where it tells you to load the weapon and by pulling the slide back and releasing it.
I couldn't care less how you load your weapon but don't be intellectually dishonest and tell me that the manuals doesn't say something that the manual does say
I said it doesn't say "not to" and it doesn't. Interestingly I was just perusing a Glock manual and it says
"If the slide is locked in the rearward position, either DEPRESS THE SLIDE STOP LEVER (27) down to release the slide and return it to the fully forward position or grasp the rear of the slide at the serrations with your other hand and pull the slide fully back and then release it, allowing it to return to the fully forward position. The pistol is now loaded and ready to be fired by pulling the trigger. "
Note that using the lever might be preferred by Glock because it was mentioned first.
So should we think it's ok for a Glock but not an M&P?
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I was always taught to use the slide stop only as a slide stop & not a slide release. I was also taught that in an emergency(ie: a disabled hand or arm) to use the slide stop to release the slide & that method was used in immediate action drills to familiarize us with that method.
This has already been gone over but yes - the manual says to use the slingshot method to chamber a round but it doesn't specifically say you can't use the slide lock.
This has already been gone over but yes - the manual says to use the slingshot method to chamber a round but it doesn't specifically say you can't use the slide lock.
No we should think the manual says what it says
JamesArthur60
US Veteran
Here's a thought for the OP, it's your gun, call it a button, or that little thing that sticks out the side between the slide and frame. What ever the name, it works both ways and it probably won't break off. My M&P Pro is used in IDPA competition. Most of the time on a fast reload the slide jumps forward on its own. When it doesn't, I use that pita hard to release slide button. For speed and back on target it's faster to depress the button rather than reach across and release the slide with a full grip. Either way it will work. The gun doesn't know what that button is called. It simple works both ways. Next time at the range, just experiment, get a feel for the gun. Several methods can be used to reload then release the slide. They will all work.
In tens of thousands of auto forwards I have caused purposely on reloading many different pistols I have not experienced what you claim to have seen.
Because pistols with unadjusted slide stops will not reliably auto forward, or allow thumbing downward of the slide stop in many instances,the overhand sling method is the most universally reliable way of getting a slide stop to release. I know and use this release method regularly, as should everyone. Using it primarily has many advantages, but there are potentially challenges associated with it, especially on smaller pistols, when using gloves, having only one hand available, etc. Using this one method is no guarantee it will always work to get a reload accomplished. Having one's slide stop set up to work with many slide release methods is more advantageous than not.
I would appreciate an explanation of how the "malfunction" you describe is possible.
The contact of the base of the mag with bottom of the grip is what causes the slide stop to "auto" release through inertia. The slide stop return spring helps with this action. Since the loaded mag is inserted all the way into the grip before the slide stop releases and the slide comes forward, in my experience the slide will always chamber the top round.
If the mag is not inserted all the way into the grip, the slide stop will not have released the slide--there has been no application of inertia to drop the stop.
If the slide came forward before the mag was seated, missing the top round for chambering, and yet the mag was then seated, what released the slide stop? Did the user prematurely thumb the stop down? That would be a user induced error, not a problem with the auto forward operation. The same user error, i.e., releasing the slide stop manually before having inserted the magazine properly, would foul any reload.
Intentionally causing the slide stop to release by subjecting it to inertia is no more a malfunction than causing the stop to release by pulling back on the slide or thumbing the stop down. It's simply a user controlled mechanical action that is one way to reload an empty, slide locked back pistol. When practiced with a gun set up to do it, I find it as reliable as any other method, but much faster. If the slide does not come forward, as with any unexpected lack of function, one trains to go to plan B to get the slide closed.
Concerning terminology, what is that button on the left side of the grip of most pistols right behind the trigger guard? It's primary mechanical function is to lock a magazine into the grip without any manipulation by the user.
After it has performed this task, it has an external tab that the user must depress to release the magazine from the grip. It is called a magazine release, but it could not perform this function if it had not first locked the mag into the grip.
So shouldn't it be called a magazine stop, since that is its primary function, just like the slide stop?
See the similarity to the slide stop in function yet the difference in nomenclature? Nomenclature is far less important than function. Both these mechanical devices function similarly yet are described with different terminology. Why? Who cares!? It's the FUNCTION we are concerned with. They both BOTH stop AND release. They both require some user manipulation and some spring assistance.
Would you adjust your mag release to operate easier if it was so tight in its channel that you could not depress the external button all the way with your right thumb like on the M&P full size I just bought?
Adjusting the mechanical functions of your pistols is not taboo when done correctly and with a justifiable reason for improving the pistol's performance. Availing oneself of a variety of slide stop/release methods is good pistolcraft. There is nothing wrong with not making such an adjustment, and admittedly most people don't, but it does reduce options that some day may be critically advantageous. Training on multiple methods of slide stop releasing is a good thing.
A: I've seen it happen.
c: If you'd read my first post, (Post #2, by the way) you'd see that I advocate exactly the method you first describe.
2: Hit the bottom edge of the magazine well with the edge of a magazine as you insert it so forcefully, or have the magazine strike a stiff magazine catch on the way in, and see what happens.
D: What are parts 17 and 18 called?
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Muss, I appreciate what you are saying about premature release. Any premature release is bad. 
However, if my pistol ever auto released prematurely because of either of the two reasons you state, I would adjust my slide stop tension immediately (add some friction) so that doesn't happen, and/or adjust my mag release so it does not interfere with fully inserting a magazine.
Here again, if a mag release is fouling magazine insertion, it would do it on any reload, not just the auto forward. This is not a fault of methodology, it is user error in not setting up and maintaining a pistol correctly.
I will absolutely admit a person can make the slide stop holding tension too light and cause problems, but that is not a properly adjusted stop. Any mechanical adjustment when done improperly
can reduce reliability.
However, if my pistol ever auto released prematurely because of either of the two reasons you state, I would adjust my slide stop tension immediately (add some friction) so that doesn't happen, and/or adjust my mag release so it does not interfere with fully inserting a magazine.
Here again, if a mag release is fouling magazine insertion, it would do it on any reload, not just the auto forward. This is not a fault of methodology, it is user error in not setting up and maintaining a pistol correctly.
I will absolutely admit a person can make the slide stop holding tension too light and cause problems, but that is not a properly adjusted stop. Any mechanical adjustment when done improperly
can reduce reliability.
zymurgeist
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Previously it didn't say not to use Preparation H orally. Now it does. What changed? Not saying you can't do it, just that assuming it's okay to do something just because it doesn't say not to is faulty logic.
Here's a fun experiment. Remove your magazine, clear your pistol and lock the slide back. Make sure your fingers are clear of any pinch points. Sharply rap the back of your pistol grip on any surface or just use the heel of your hand. What happened? That's why I don't stick my finger in a gun to check the chamber is clear. Some lessons are more painful than others.
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TAC
Member
Slide Lock / Slide Release, call it what you want. But H&K defiantly had 'slide-release' in mind, when they designed their guns. It's longer than any other that I've seen, and gives you enough leverage, and a easy grasp, to release the slide with very little effort, if that's how you want to use it. Shown below is a USP. But many of their pistols have similar slide lock levers.
So what catastrophe will occur by releasing the slide with the lever?
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Lee in Quartzsite
Member
Can't someone please put an end to this ridiculous Thread??! it has been discussed over and over again over the years. If you wanted a gun with a SLIDE RELEASE you shouldn't have bought a S&W. Didn't you try it BEFORE you bought it?? The gun works the way it was designed, period!
One of my other guns is a Bersa and the lever is called a "slide catch". According to the manual, pull the slide back, then release
the slide. The gunsmith on the Bersa forum's feeling was that the slide was soft steel and the engagement area becomes rounded when folks use the slide lock as a "slide release". I think that is logical.
the slide. The gunsmith on the Bersa forum's feeling was that the slide was soft steel and the engagement area becomes rounded when folks use the slide lock as a "slide release". I think that is logical.
None. It's just a lot harder to do under pressure, or even sitting in your recliner, than wrapping your off hand over the top rear of the slide and yanking the slide back forcefully while at the same time pushing your strong hand, in a shooting grip holding the frame, forward with purpose. One is a fine motor skill, one is a gross motor skill. One of those skills is the first to leave the body's control under pressure. You pick . . .
Rastoff
US Veteran
Why do people get all bent out of shape over this tiny little lever?
Every action with a handgun is a fine motor skill.
Even so, the point is not lost. You're correct to say that when the pressure is on, it's easier to get it right by using two hands and racking the slide overhand. That doesn't mean using the slide stop to release the slide is wrong. In fact, to say that, "Anybody teaching real world tactics doesn't teach using the slide stop lever to release the slide" is disingenuous. The truth is all the good real world instructors teach both methodologies. Why? Because the time may come when that second hand isn't available to operate the slide. What do you do then? Well, pushing down on the slide stop is one way.
You can also rack the slide on a table, your pants or the holster. There are many ways to operate your gun and manipulate the slide. Yes, H&K calls it a slide release and in their manual (page 23) actually shows a picture demonstrating how to press the slide release to release the slide. Glock did, at one time, recommend using the over-hand method. They also built mags that didn't drop free when the mag catch was pressed. One good thing about Glock is they're not stuck in the past. Now they suggest either method for slide release and manufacture mags that drop free. If they can learn, why can't we?
For those who say a person CAN'T or SHOULDN'T use the slide stop to release the slide, tell us why. Please show us one gun that was damaged by using this method.
I thought you were better than this. Calling someone a liar when clearly they are not, is beneath you and not in the nature of this forum.
Nope. They're both fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are those using small muscles like your fingers, hands and eyes. Gross motor skills are those that use large muscles like walking, sitting or rolling over.
Every action with a handgun is a fine motor skill.
Even so, the point is not lost. You're correct to say that when the pressure is on, it's easier to get it right by using two hands and racking the slide overhand. That doesn't mean using the slide stop to release the slide is wrong. In fact, to say that, "Anybody teaching real world tactics doesn't teach using the slide stop lever to release the slide" is disingenuous. The truth is all the good real world instructors teach both methodologies. Why? Because the time may come when that second hand isn't available to operate the slide. What do you do then? Well, pushing down on the slide stop is one way.
You can also rack the slide on a table, your pants or the holster. There are many ways to operate your gun and manipulate the slide. Yes, H&K calls it a slide release and in their manual (page 23) actually shows a picture demonstrating how to press the slide release to release the slide. Glock did, at one time, recommend using the over-hand method. They also built mags that didn't drop free when the mag catch was pressed. One good thing about Glock is they're not stuck in the past. Now they suggest either method for slide release and manufacture mags that drop free. If they can learn, why can't we?
For those who say a person CAN'T or SHOULDN'T use the slide stop to release the slide, tell us why. Please show us one gun that was damaged by using this method.
Most semi autos' slides are operated by a thumb and not 2 hands for many tac reasons; even my PM9. Since this is a new Shield, I've been operating the slide to loosen the spring tension + shot 200 rds, but still cannot release it with right thumb. Already using the grip machine, but anyone else having the same problem and/or solutions.
In the OP the poster states that he can't manipulate the slide lever and asks for alternative solutions. So in his case the catastrophic result is he's stuck with a weapon he can't load.
In the case of you SLAMMING the magazine home to force the slide to close, I've had competent gun smiths tell me that's a good way to break the extractor which, of course, will take you out of the fight. I also question what's going to happen the one time you have to do it with some one shooting at you And. It. Doesn't. Work?
Duly noted . . .
