racking the slide
- Thread starter fast ed
- Start date
22/45 Fan
Hunter
Small, short, light powerful semi-automatics have to have stiff recoil springs and they are going to be hard to rack.
Yes, it takes a good grip and substantial pull... I think the smaller slide adds to this. I never thought about how hard it was to rack a slide until I took a woman friend shooting and she could not chamber a round on any of my semi-auto pistols... she did not have the hand strength to grip the slide hard enough.
demented
Single-Sixer
As I grow older and injuries have accumulated I can see that there may come a time when racking the slide on any pistol might become problematical. This is why my J frame revolver will be the very last handgun I own. Not the ideal firearm but better than a semi I can't load and shoot.
DGW1949
Hawkeye
22/45 Fan said:
Yep, that perty-much sums it up.
DGW
DA_TriggR4Ruger
Hunter
22/45 Fan said:
With the exception being the Sig P238 / 938
22/45 Fan
Hunter
So, how does Sig manage to overcome physics?DA_TriggR4Ruger said:
Note to jic: Obviously there are lots of shooters who manage to successfully rack the LC9S's slide and even find it not terribly difficult. That's doesn't mean it isn't stiffer than a full size pistol of the same type.
Is there a trigger scale that goes up to something like 20lbs? Mine only goes to 8 and it would be nice to be able to measure the pull needed for a double action trigger and at the same time this might allow to be able to check how much pull is needed to rack a slide.
Seems like one of the new Walthers is designed for an easier slide rack .... and is directed specifically toward women.
Seems like one of the new Walthers is designed for an easier slide rack .... and is directed specifically toward women.
usmc6433-6437
Bearcat
It will loosen up a bit with use. Think your LC9s is tough, try racking the slide on my Beretta PICO! Damn. :shock:fast ed said:
CoyoteHunter_
Bearcat
blume357 said:
The Fish DeLiar Scare goes up to 20 lbs I believe. Not sure if that would work or not but you might give it a try. I've used a digital fishing weight scale to measure my trigger pull on some of my guns.
The Walther Gun you are talking about is their Concealed Carry Pistol (CCP) which has help racking the slide by using a lighter spring and a delayed blow back gas system (piston). The weaker spring is easier to compress.
I have the Ruger LC9S Pro and I've not had any trouble racking the slide on it. I also have the Walthers PPQ M2 and I can rack the slide on it pretty easily.
What bothers me is the sharp edges on the grooves cut into the side. My fingers get cut up when I'm racking the slides on these guns.
I do remember checking out a new gun at Gander Mountain one time and I could not rack the slide on that semiautomatic pistol. The sales lady was showing me how to rack the gun's slide and she did it with ease. I wish I could remember the brand name of that pistol. I was afraid that I would get my finger caught in the slide and was not familiar with how to rack the slide. The spring was very tight and it was hard to pull the slide back. I guess one can work on improving their grip with some exercise putty. Squeezing the putty over and over again can help increase your grip. I had some of that given to me after my heart attack some years ago. Or maybe it was after I had the tendinitis problem with my elbow. It will build up the muscles in your hand and wrist if you do it long enough and do it every day.
I remember a cowboy movie years ago which starred Rachael Welch. She played this women in the movie who's father was shot and killed by some bandits. Se wanted to hunt down the men who shot her father and get revenge. So Rachael hired a gunman to teach her how to shoot a pistol. He took a broom stick and tied some string to the middle of the cut off broom stick and then tied a little rock on the other end of the string. Rachael had to stand up straight with her feet shoulder width apart and her arms straight out to her side and parallel to the ground. She then had to roll the rock up onto the broom handle and then roll it back down several times in a row. As she got stronger she increase the weight of the rock.
This exercise is great for building up the wrist and forearm muscles and I used it for improving my hockey stick handling ability when I played college Ice Hockey years ago.
I used a weight from my weight lifting equipment. It helped strengthen my wrist and forearms so that I could stick handle the puck easier.
I also added some weight on the blade/heel of the hockey stick by taping it onto the stick with tape and then practicing using the hockey stick with the extra weight on the end of the stick.
After the weight is removed and I used a normal hockey stick it felt like a feather and was really easy to manipulate the puck.
If you, your kids or wife need to strengthen the hands, wrist and forearms do some of these exercises to help build up these muscles.
One needs to be able to manipulate the gun in order to load and get the gun ready to shoot.
Heck, I am selling mine for THAT EXACT REASON, purchased new, wife can not rack it, trigger is too long for her. I can rack it but it is a pain, hands have done a lot of hard work for 71 yrs, why do more of it. have put 30 rounds through it and IT IS up for sale!!!!!!!!! Still love the P345 and so does the wife
Ruger Redhawk
Single-Sixer
I can't speak for the Ruger LC9S but I have noticed that with my Kahr CM9. Sometimes I have to try locking the slide back a time or two before I get it locked back.
DA_TriggR4Ruger
Hunter
22/45 Fan said:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Sig+p238+easy+slide&oq=Sig+p238+easy+slide&aqs=chrome..69i57j33l3.13149j0j4&client=ms-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
22/45 Fan said:
I'm a 73 year old man, I still have a strong grip in my hands, but for any person with a weak grip any auto piston is going to seem
to have a strong return spring. It's all in a person's grip.
I'm not disputing that different pistols have different strength springs.
woodsy
Buckeye
To go on a slightly different path with this thread:
Ruger (and most range officers) specify the "slingshot" method of racking the slide. However, much easier is the "squeeze hands" method, especially for women. That's the one which is very similar to pushing one's hands together (then asking someone else to separate them). To satisfy safety concerns, simply make sure that the muzzle is always downrange, even if it means turning the body 90 degrees to do so. One of the Gunblast videos shows this, though I don't remember which one. Keep the finger away from the trigger guard, and release the slide smartly after it is all the way back.
Ruger (and most range officers) specify the "slingshot" method of racking the slide. However, much easier is the "squeeze hands" method, especially for women. That's the one which is very similar to pushing one's hands together (then asking someone else to separate them). To satisfy safety concerns, simply make sure that the muzzle is always downrange, even if it means turning the body 90 degrees to do so. One of the Gunblast videos shows this, though I don't remember which one. Keep the finger away from the trigger guard, and release the slide smartly after it is all the way back.
"As I grow older and injuries have accumulated I can see that there may come a time when racking the slide on any pistol might become problematical."
That's why I carry a P95. Easier to rack and lower recoil are both advantageous when one's hands aren't what they used to be.
That's why I carry a P95. Easier to rack and lower recoil are both advantageous when one's hands aren't what they used to be.
NixieTube
Blackhawk
It's not "easy" but it's not "Schwarzenneger Level" either. I do the overhand thing when I have to lock it open, otherwise I slingshot it when it locks back on an empty mag.
I will say that on all my Ruger semiautos I've found that having a nice firm grip and a "snappy" motion that puts a lot of kinetic energy into the slide helps you not look foolish. Don't "ask" the slide to move. Tell it to move. :)
I will say that on all my Ruger semiautos I've found that having a nice firm grip and a "snappy" motion that puts a lot of kinetic energy into the slide helps you not look foolish. Don't "ask" the slide to move. Tell it to move. :)
CoyoteHunter_
Bearcat
fast ed said:
You have problems racking the slide back or is the problem that the slide won't lock back into position?
If it's the latter then check the slide lock switch and see if it's working. There is a little notch in the slide at the bottom on the port side and that is where the slide release lever is located. If you depress the slide release lever it lowers a piece of metal that is spring loaded ( I think) and that metal piece is what holds the slide back once it all the way back. The spring inside the slide is compressed in this position and tries to force the slide back into battery. The metal piece fits into the slot on the bottom of the slide and holds the slide locked back. When you depress the slide release button on the port side of the gun it lowers this metal and the slide can move forward.
It's a pretty simple design IMHO. I lubricated the slide release button with a little drop of oil. I also took some gun grease and put it on a paper towel. I took a small dab of that gun grease and put it on the end of a tooth pick. Then applied a very small amount of the grease in the metal cut out area on my slide where the slide release metal tab fits into that cut out area of the slide to hold the slide back locked. This is a metal to metal area and the grease may help keep the metal to metal contact damage down some. Bad thing is that the grease also attracts dirt and carbon. But I clean my gun after I shoot it so I'm not that worried about dirt and carbon getting in this area. It's easily cleaned. And I don't shoot my Ruger LC9S Pro very much anyway.
But I don't have any problems with the slide or it locking back into position after the last round is fired.
woodsy
Buckeye
I did not take any special measures for lubrication like CoyoteHunter did (no grease on a toothpick, etc.), but simply cleaned my LC9sPro as usual with all my other handguns, and lubed it the same. I have NEVER had a problem racking or locking back the slide. It also eats all factory loads, and almost all reloads without problem (other than a deliberately loaded batch of VERY light 82 grain bullets in front of the lightest powder weight imaginable). And, I shoot the thing at the range quite often. My only continuing complaint is the long distance and unpredictable direction of the fired brass. (I reload, and save my brass.)
fast ed said:
I see this question asked often.
Nope, I don't think for a second that the slide on a LC9 is difficult. And what is often a similar concern, is the recoil of such a firearm. Nope, I don't think the recoil is horrendous, either.
If a person is such that that they are overwhelmed by the operation or recoil of such a gun, maybe it's time to re-think the gun. I would guess if ya can't rack the slide, ya probably can't load the magazine, either.
So, a revolver would be my next suggestion. Actually it would be my first suggestion.
WAYNO.
NixieTube
Blackhawk
WAYNO said:
Wayno posts a balanced reply! He's correct and NO the slide on an LC9s is not "hard" to rack. Like most Rugers they're stiffer when new, right out of the box. When you fire a couple of magazines through the gun and take care of it, it gets a bit easier (but not too easy.) As I said: snappy motion. Overhand if necessary. You are in control of the pistol and YOU tell it what you want it to do, not the other way around. Put some emphasis into what you're doing and you won't have trouble. It's just as important not to wussify your handling of the slide as it is not to limp-wrist the gun while firing it, and it's very much in the realm of possibility for most women and men that I've seen.
