Extended Slide Release M&P

[Bkreutz]

I would like to see a company come out with a thumb safety replacement that does not protrude as much as the stock safety does on the Full size and Compact... or at least one that was about half the length.

When I shot IDPA a lot (where slide lock reloads are the norm) I never had a problem releasing the stock slide stop with my strong side thumb. Maybe the reason there is no aftermarket one is that there is no perceived need??

 

[Bkreutz]

Very true. I'm still working on counting shots. I compete in local defensive pistol matches. Depending on the pistol (single or double stack), 1, 2 and even 3 reloads is not unusual. When I do it right, I'm much faster when I don't have to work the slide.

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Something I found useful in the area of shot counting... Rather than count shots you make, plan your reloads with extra rounds between the reload points and then count extra shots. When you have too many makeup shots you will then know that your reloads will come early. Works for me, but I shoot open division and I find trying to count 29 shots between reloads very difficult. I usually have a couple of different reload strategies just in case of that "Texas Star" that has it in for me.

 

[Kodiakco]

Something I found useful in the area of shot counting... Rather than count shots you make, plan your reloads with extra rounds between the reload points and then count extra shots. When you have too many makeup shots you will then know that your reloads will come early. Works for me, but I shoot open division and I find trying to count 29 shots between reloads very difficult. I usually have a couple of different reload strategies just in case of that "Texas Star" that has it in for me.

Thanks, that's a good idea!

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[zymurgeist]

It's not part of the design for the slide stop lever to be used that way. This is why no one makes an extended slide release. The whole assembly would have to be beefed up to keep it from bending and becoming unreliable. Auto forward was a fortunate mistake not a design feature, You'll notice the M&P 2.0 has been designed to keep it from happening.

 

[CB3]

If the slide stop was not designed to be used to release the slide it would not have a finger tab. On both sides.

 

[Jhp147]

Slide widget

It may not have a slide release, but it has a slide stop that works pretty handy as one. Falls right under my thumb and has serrations to enable slip free downward movement. Fast as heck to move the off hand back to grip there and is back in battery before the slingshotting guy next to me can get his hand back to the gun. Not sure if you could not bend it up a bit to "extend" it...but I've seen pictures of broken ones, so maybe not.

 

[Jim Watson]

I also shoot mostly IDPA where I routinely shoot to slide lock. With a 1911 it is easy to wipe down the large slide stop lever with the left thumb after reloading and on the way back to a freestyle firing grip.

MY Plastic M&P is very good on the "autoforward." I can only recall a few occasions when it would not drop the slide upon seating a fresh magazine and only one case where it did not pick up the top round. Unfortunately, they are not all like that. A friend's gun will occasionally fail to pick up that round or even develop a feedway jam which throws away all the time that the "autoforward" saves him.
Probably just as well that the 2.0 has a stop to prevent "autoforward." Although I have long thought that a pistol set up to drop the empty and "autoforward" on the reload would be a fine thing in a fast match. Works for the Garand and I have seen pictures of an AR derivative set up to do it.

Glock IDPA shooters come to depend on "autoforward". If the slide does not close, they bump the magazine again instead of going for the teeny button or racking the slide.


USPSA shooters do not face the issue, they avoid slidelock and throw away ammo to be sure to reload between target arrays.

 

[Rastoff]

It's not part of the design for the slide stop lever to be used that way. This is why no one makes an extended slide release. The whole assembly would have to be beefed up to keep it from bending and becoming unreliable.

Do you really believe this?

 

[JL Murray]

When I shot IDPA a lot (where slide lock reloads are the norm) I never had a problem releasing the stock slide stop with my strong side thumb. Maybe the reason there is no aftermarket one is that there is no perceived need??

I was talking about the THUMB SAFETY.

 

[Bkreutz]

I was talking about the THUMB SAFETY.

Sorry, I wasn't reading carefully enough. The topic of the thread is extended slide stop so I must have read that in. . You could always cut down the safety to the size you want. I've done it on 1911's (I don't have any M&P's with a thumb safety)

 

[JL Murray]

Sorry, I wasn't reading carefully enough. The topic of the thread is extended slide stop so I must have read that in. . You could always cut down the safety to the size you want. I've done it on 1911's (I don't have any M&P's with a thumb safety)

LOL ... Sorry, I was pretty much off topic !

 

[zymurgeist]

Do you really believe this?

Yup if you flex that booger enough from using it on the left side it will break. The early ones were so bad they broke or bent on both sides. There are guns out there designed with really good slide releases and they work great. Unfortunately the M&P isn't one of them.

 

[Rastoff]

I'm sure you mean the right side because that's the side that will flex the most. However, you're wrong about this and it is just speculation on your part.

I have dropped my slide tens of thousands of times using the slide stop. I'm also a lefty so, I use the right side which would have the most flex and be the most damaging. According to you I should have replaced the slide stop several times now, I haven't.

I reiterate, use your slide stop how you feel like. You won't damage it by using it to release the slide.

 

[JVSIII]

So I just looked up the manual. On page 18 is says:

WARNING: UPON FIRING THE PISTOL OR RELEASING THE SLIDE FROM THE SLIDE STOP, THE SLIDE MOVES REARWARD OR FORWARD WITH SIGNIFICANT FORCE AND SPEED. TO AVOID INJURY, BE SURE NO PART OF YOUR BODY IS IN THE PATH OF THE SLIDE’S TRAVEL.

So S&W at least acknowledges that this is a practice. The manual says nothing about not using it in this manner. I'm kinda new here and was hoping a S&W rep or two would troll here and maybe comment but I guess not. Maybe someone that's all freaked out about using the slide stop to drop the slide could call and ask and have their "I told you so" moment. Or maybe all this nonsense stems from a huge misunderstanding of fine vs. gross motor skills from 50 years ago, along the same premise of not resting a rifle magazine on the ground.

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[Hammerhead64]

Actually I think all the unhelpful replies come from people wearing their asshats to tight.

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[Rastoff]

So I just looked up the manual. On page 18 is says:

WARNING: UPON FIRING THE PISTOL OR RELEASING THE SLIDE FROM THE SLIDE STOP,...

So S&W at least acknowledges that this is a practice.

Not really. Notice that it says "from" the slide stop not "with" the slide stop. Pulling back on the slide also releases it from the slide stop. Please note that on page 16 it says;

Pull the slide to the rear and release it, allowing it to carry fully forward. This strips a cartridge from the magazine and seats it in the chamber of the barrel.

Of course they aren't saying this because it's how it should be done, they're saying this because this action works whether the slide is open or closed when loading the gun. This way there is only one action. It's a simpler methodology.

The manual says nothing about not using it in this manner.

This is the important part. If it would cause damage to the gun, any part of the gun or operator, they would mention it. (See page 11 where they mention how the wrong ammunition may damage the gun.)

Maybe someone that's all freaked out about using the slide stop to drop the slide could call and ask and have their "I told you so" moment.

Good question, but this has already been done many times. The answer is always the same from S&W, "It's better to pull back on the slide, but you can use the slide stop to release the slide."

 

[Steved13]

Actually I think all the unhelpful replies come from people wearing their asshats to tight.

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And with this "unhelpful reply"; You must need to loosen your asshats?

LOL j/k I couldn't resist

And yes, I realize this post itself is an "unhelpful reply" Where did I leave that darn asshats adjustment tool?

 

[WR Moore]

BTW, something trickeled up from the depths of my memory last night. THE CURRENT M&P SLIDE STOP IS AN EXTENDED SLIDE STOP!

The first prototypes came out for T&E with a slide stop that was flush to the side of the slide. I don't recall what reason the factory rep gave for that. (The "better to pull the slide" guys argued louder? Got better backing from the lawyers?) However, everyone that carried guns for a living screamed bloody murder about it, resulting in the optional "extended" (to the side) slide stop becoming standard. The reason for all the screaming was that it was pretty much impossible to lock the slide back to clear a double feed (or clear the firearm) with the original slide stop.

Those who cleave to the "pull the slide" mantra could try to find one of those OEM slide stops. Lottsa luck.

By the way, I hope those reading this who maintain that using the support hand to release the slide is "the correct way to release the slide" regularly practice a means to do so if you don't have two hands available for firearm operation. I'm not being snarky here. While an LE instructor, I regularly required my students to demonstrate their ability to operate one handed.

Oh yeah, we had B series M&Ps, trained in using the slide stop to drop the slide and to the best of my memory only suffered one broken slide stop. Yes, it broke on the right hand side and it was a right hand shooter.

 

[Dieselscout80]

Can the slide lock aka slide release be replaced without removing the front and rear roll pins?

 

[Walt Sherrill]

When people complain about "Slide Stop Nazis" or "Clip Nazis", it's about folks who seem to think there's only a right way to do anything (or call anything) and they have the OLDEST copy of the "rule book" stashed in their gun safe. I don't think the person using that term was trying to make a personal attack on anyone here, but was describing a mindset we see too often on forums like this.

Calling a multi-function lever just one thing doesn't change the fact that the lever can be used to STOP the slide (automatically) or release the slide, if that's your choice as a shooter.

• That same mechanism in some guns (like my CZs) can be pulled out of the frame and it becomes, in effect, a take-down lever, too. Three functions for one metal part!

I've seen "Clip" used in a major gun maker's ad to describe a magazine. Technically, a CLIP and a MAGAZINE are really two different firearm parts, so when people are told that clip isn't the proper term for a magazine, it's generally done GENTLY, with an explanation of why it's not being used correctly when the term "clip" is applied to a magazine.

I've also seen the terms "slide stop", "slide release", and "slide catch" used interchangeably. Some owner's manuals actually suggest that you can release the slide by pulling back on the slide and letting it go forward, or you can press the slide "stop/catch/release lever" to let the slide go forward. S&W focuses on pulling back the slide and releasing it as the method of choice. But other gun makers suggest doing that or pressing down on the slide stop. Kahr says AVOID slingshoting, and recommends pressing down on the slide release/slide catch as slingshoting with a Kahr might not let the slide go fully into battery. (It's in all their user manuals.)

• I've seen extended slide releases advertised on gun sites, but I don't think I've seen many extended slide stops offered for sale. If extending that lever a bit wasn't done to make it easier to press (when releasing the slide) without changing one's grip on the pistol, why would anyone bother with extending the lever?

NOTE: The U.S. Department of Defense changed handgun training some years back, dropping the slingshot (or handover) slide release method and teaching instead, pressing the slide stop lever on semi-autos. It worked with all guns used by the U.S. Military.

The change was due to the fact that they were having a lot of problems under combat conditions, in Iraq and Afghanistan, with slides not going fully into battery when they were released using the slingshot method. That generally meant racking the slide again, and letting it go forward, losing a round, losing time, and maybe repeating the problem.

Part of the problem in Afghanistan and Iraq was likely due to the fact that so many G.I.s wore gloves -- as protection from the harsh climate (hot and cold!) or because of the rocks and rubble. When the DOD changed the handgun training program to have the shooter press on the stop lever after a reload, the frequency of the problem was greatly reduced.
​

A lot of folks prefer the handover method, with the hand over the rear of the slide, pushing the slide back forcefully. They almost never have to press that little tab on the lever! That works very well, and unlike the traditional "slingshot" method, you don't really have to take the gun off of a potential or actual target -- you can keep the gun up and on target as you do a mag swap and then release the slide. With traditional "slingshoting" you must pull the gun away from the target to properly grasp the slide.

The Hand-Over Release method works well with most semi-autos, but doesn't work well with Beretta M9, because using the hand over the rear of the slide can unintentionally decock the M9. If you're shooting a SIG, S&W or Glock, or even a CZ, it's a non-issue. As they switch over to SIGs as the handgun of choice in the Army (and elsewhere), maybe we'll see the training changed to include the hand-ever technique, but I'll be surprised if they do.​

I would note, too, that a few older semi-autos had slide catches but no lever that could be used to release the slide. When nearly all gunmakers started adding an external lever that COULD also release the slide, it became a popular modification. Calling what a lever DOES (not just what it's been called) sometimes has merit, if you're talking about GUN FUNCTION and not GUN TERMINOLOGY.

Call that little multi-purpose lever whatever makes you happy, but don't be too dogmatic about it in trying to force what MAKES YOU HAPPY on someone else. Just remember: what you call it doesn't limit how it's used or dictate how YOU CAN OR SHOULD use it.

But, if the owner's manual says DON'T RELEASE THE SLIDE USING THAT LEVER, that's different.