SR9 slide lock behaving strangely after cleaning

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willydstyle

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Messages
9
I just cleaned my SR9 this morning, and re-assembled the pistol. During some dry fire practice I noticed that the slide lock is not behaving the way I am used to. With the magazine in but no rounds in the mag or chamber, I'm used to be able to simply pull the slide back to drop it. However it is not allowing me to do this. I have to depress the slide release button. Is this normal operation and I'm just mistaken, or did I potentially reassemble it incorrectly?
 

GunnyGene

Hawkeye
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
9,284
Location
Monroe County, MS
willydstyle said:
I just cleaned my SR9 this morning, and re-assembled the pistol. During some dry fire practice I noticed that the slide lock is not behaving the way I am used to. With the magazine in but no rounds in the mag or chamber, I'm used to be able to simply pull the slide back to drop it. However it is not allowing me to do this. I have to depress the slide release button. Is this normal operation and I'm just mistaken, or did I potentially reassemble it incorrectly?

Normal operation with an empty mag installed, if you rack the slide all the way back. If you are dry firing, only rack the slide enough to reset the trigger - about 1/2" or a little over. You should not dry fire without a empty mag installed.
 

willydstyle

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Messages
9
GunnyGene said:
willydstyle said:
I just cleaned my SR9 this morning, and re-assembled the pistol. During some dry fire practice I noticed that the slide lock is not behaving the way I am used to. With the magazine in but no rounds in the mag or chamber, I'm used to be able to simply pull the slide back to drop it. However it is not allowing me to do this. I have to depress the slide release button. Is this normal operation and I'm just mistaken, or did I potentially reassemble it incorrectly?

Normal operation with an empty mag installed, if you rack the slide all the way back. If you are dry firing, only rack the slide enough to reset the trigger - about 1/2" or a little over. You should not dry fire without a empty mag installed.

Thanks for the reply. Called Ruger customer service and they said the same thing, the follower prevents the slide release from operating by pulling the slide if there is no ammo in the mag. I removed the magazine disconnect block so dry firing with no mag inserted should be safe though.
 

22/45 Fan

Hunter
Joined
Dec 8, 2001
Messages
2,123
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
That is indeed "normal" operation. The purpose of the slide lock is to lock the slide back when the magazine is empty. Yours is doing what it's designed to do.
 
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