Hello everyone.....newbie to S&W and first time poster here.

I just bought a 22A 7" pistol. It has not yet been loaded or fired. I found that the slide is difficult for me to grip and to slide rearward. I'm hoping it will loosen up and that my technique will improve as time goes on. I've lubricated the 4 points around the slide as detailed in the manual. I'm in my late 60's so I'm wondering if this was the right gun for me. I own other guns and they are much easier to pull back the slide. Is there a lighter recoil spring that can be used?

Sweeede

Welcome to the Forum!

Don't forget that you are also cocking the internal firing mechanism as well as overcoming the slide's recoil spring when you move the slide rearward. But I'm an arthritic 66 year-old and while a little stiff, the slide on my 22A-1 isn't challenging to cycle so I would shoot a few hundred rounds through it and see if it changes. A lighter recoil spring would allow the gun to beat itself to death every time the slide crashed into its stop.

Ed

I agree , the best thing to do is shoot the snot out of , it will wear in , it may not make it that more easier to retract the slide , but you sure will have a ton a fun , Enjoy You have a fun pistol there.

Thanks guys, It's cold at my firing range(an unheated machine shed) so it's a little easier to pullback when the gun is a room temperature. I have a pair of inexpensive rubber fingered cotton gloves that helps, but I still have to switch to my dominate hand for enough strength.

Also here's a thread on this very forum site I found. Someone on Ebay is selling pull device for the 22A.Slide racker Avaialbe for 22A?

Thanks again. I'll be breaking in my 22A but may have to make a pull for myself.

Best Regards,

S

I recently did just the opposite! I have over a dozen pre-IL, pre-MIM S&W Model 66, 686 and 629 revolvers and no longer can get the cylinder faces clean without a lot of pain in my finger joints and hands, so I'm shooting my 1911s almost exclusively. They're SO much easier to clean and just as much fun to shoot except I have to use a shell catcher for the brass. If I cock the hammer first, moving the slide back is no trouble at all.

Ed

How are you grasping the slide? The easiest way is to cup your non shooting hand and grasp the slide between the fingers and the heal of your palm of that hand. You can then push the frame forward with the shooting hand while you pull back on the slide with your cupped hand.

Thanks for your input guys.

gdauth-
Good idea. It works good and also using the thumb rather than the palm works. But as I 'play' with the gun, using different methods, the slide is getting easier to pull back.

Thank you all.

Sweeede