Slide drop on an empty chamber. Okay /No Way?

[NoBanStan]

For clarity, I like Massad Ayoob, but i'm curious what everyone thinks.

 

[peejman]

I don't do that as a matter of routine for the reasons he gives. But I don't worry about it if the slide drops on an empty chamber every now and then. 

[BigK]

This is news to me, been doing it for decades. 

[bubbadavis]

The only guns I really care about are 1911s for the reasons Massad mentions. Even then, it's only the nicer ones I'm very concerned about. No one wants to mess up a Nighthawk or Wilson Combat.

Personally, I don't make it a matter of practice to drop the slide on any semi-auto.

Edited January 13 by bubbadavis

[Smith]

Paralysis by analysis, way to much free time, and a need to make content. 

[gun sane]

Get a wheelgun; problem solved.  

[gary_boom]

He needs to install Wilson shock buffers on all his pistols and use Wilson’s snake oil lube.

[MrJones79]

Never heard of this before. Been doing it for a long time. Guess his points make sense though. 

[deerslayer]

I never do it.  Maybe there is something to it or maybe it's nonsense, but a lot of guys who know what they are talking about say don't do it, especially on a 1911, so I see no reason to do it.  

[-boatman-]

I don't do it but I don't think I've ever heard it shouldn't be done. It's what what feels right to me.

[tercel89]

I never let the slide slam home on an empty chamber AND I don't use the slide-stop as a "slide release". One time I saw a gun store employee at a very nice well known store in Camden sitting behind the counter locking the slide back on a pistol and then pushing the slide-stop and letting the slide slam home. He did it over and over. I just think it's not good to do that on any gun that is not yours. I'm sure the innards on the 1911's are more susceptible to damage by this action but there's no need to do this to any gun in my opinion. Also , like he said with the revolvers , I agree 100% that it's stupid to jerk a revolver and slam the cylinder inward to lock it. But this is just my opinion. 

[monkeylizard]

10 hours ago, gun sane said:

Get a wheelgun; problem solved.  

Then we'd need threads and videos about why you shouldn't do the wrist-twist to flip the cylinder in. 

[Grayfox54]

I don't do it. Pistols are designed to use the loading round as sort of a buffer to slow down the slide. On an empty chamber, you're slamming steel on steel. However, I've never heard of a gun being damaged by it either. I guess if you did it a lot? 

I can tell you for absolute fact that dropping a round in the open chamber of a 1911 and releasing the slide on it will damage the extractor. I learned that one the hard way many years ago.  

As for the wrist flip on a revolver, over time it can affect the crane alignment. Not good. 

[FUJIMO]

[Spiffy]

If you have a super tuned extractor it makes sense, but for 99% of us it's not an issue on a Glock or something like that.

[NoBanStan]

3 hours ago, Spiffy said:

If you have a super tuned extractor it makes sense, but for 99% of us it's not an issue on a Glock or something like that.

This is my thought. If you have some fine tuned designer pistol, i absolutely get it. But for a duty pistol? How often are you REALLY dropping the slide dry? Yeah i'm sure it damages it microscopically but i figure by the time it's done enough damage to matter.. the pistol is probably due other parts anyway.

[deerslayer]

23 minutes ago, NoBanStan said:

This is my thought. If you have some fine tuned designer pistol, i absolutely get it. But for a duty pistol? How often are you REALLY dropping the slide dry? Yeah i'm sure it damages it microscopically but i figure by the time it's done enough damage to matter.. the pistol is probably due other parts anyway.

I’ve seen competitive shooters do it 10 times per match.  

[NoBanStan]

22 minutes ago, deerslayer said:

I’ve seen competitive shooters do it 10 times per match.  

I was giving it benefit of the doubt

[peejman]

44 minutes ago, deerslayer said:

I’ve seen competitive shooters do it 10 times per match.  

I think this is mostly what Mas was getting at.  The "show clear" in pistol shooting generally involves dropping the slide on an empty chamber.  The issue is do you ride the slide home or just pop the release and let it slam?

Probably not a big issue for serious competitors with race guns as they get lots maintenance and parts replaced on a schedule. If that habit carries over to defensive work and you carry a 1911 variant, then that's something you might want to think about. 

[deerslayer]

23 minutes ago, peejman said:

I think this is mostly what Mas was getting at.  The "show clear" in pistol shooting generally involves dropping the slide on an empty chamber.  The issue is do you ride the slide home or just pop the release and let it slam?

I gently ride the slide so the d-bag who holds the timer six inches from your gun doesn’t add four seconds to your raw time because he also picked up the ULSC. 

[kwe45919]

So when I clean and lube and rack the slide back n forth to distribute the oil on my Glocks does that count?

I do it pretty violently and occasionally my hand slips and it slams home.

 

[tercel89]

37 minutes ago, kwe45919 said:

So when I clean and lube and rack the slide back n forth to distribute the oil on my Glocks does that count?

I do it pretty violently and occasionally my hand slips and it slams home.

 

When I distribute the oil in my rails after a cleaning , I ride the slide with my hands and control it back and forth. 

[BigK]

It's an interesting mental exercise, but I don't own a 1911 and although I've been doing it for decades, I don't think I do so frequently enough to worry myself.

But what do I'm know, I'm also that idiot who doesn't avoid stepping on cracks at the risk of breaking my poor mother's back.

[peejman]

15 minutes ago, tercel89 said:

When I distribute the oil in my rails after a cleaning , I ride the slide with my hands and control it back and forth. 

This is what I do with every new gun I get to help break it in. Sit on the couch and cycle the slide a couple hundred times. 

[Spiffy]

3 hours ago, deerslayer said:

I’ve seen competitive shooters do it 10 times per match.  

Yeah but you can slowly lower the slide if you want to. But us of the fancy shirts followers of the flip and catch can't afford that much time loss....... LOL 

 

To add to the topic most extractors are spring loaded these days. I can't think of a non 1911/2011 style handgun that doesn't have a spring loaded extractor. There was a couple of Sig 1911 styles that had one and didn't work worth a ####.