TexasCHLforum.com

It's hard for me to imagine that a company would deliberately have made the tolerances on a pistol so tight that a slide would go far enough to the rear to lock open, but not far enough to release. It cannot have been done in order to make the firearm more reliable, since anything which interferes with the rearward movement of the slide, like a bit of dirt, might then prevent it from locking open as John Browning intended it to. Nor can it have been done to make it shoot better, since there is no way it can.

If there are such pistols, in any case - and I believe those of you who say there are - I don't want one, and I sure as heck don't want to have to fight with one. Taste varies - there are even people who choose to drink light beer. That's a SEP - Somebody Else's Problem.

Well, of course you are arguing - there's nothing wrong with that. It's in the give and take in these discussion that useful information is found.

"Shok Buffs" are unnecessary in any pistol in which the recoil springs are periodically and properly replaced. Springs wear out. I replace the recoil springs in my pistols every couple of thousand rounds. And I've seen more than one malfunction created by a "Shok Buff", but I've never seen a single pistol on which pulling the slide to the rear would not release the slide lock. If there is one, it's broken and should be fixed.

And I've spent some time shaking from an adrenaline dump. I regularly practice techniques which work under the worst possible conditions - like clearing a double feed with only one hand - the one I normally don't shoot with. I hope never to need that ability, but I will continue to practice techniques which work under bad conditions - which pretty much defines a gunfight. That's my choice. Others may do differently.

There is a device on most pistols to lock the slide back. It is better to manually pull the slide to the rear than to manipulate that lock to release it, for several reasons:

(1) In a fight, an adrenaline dump will usually eliminate most fine motor skills, which is what is used to hit that slide lock. Using a "gorilla grip", where the palm of the non-shooting hand is on one side of the rear of the slide, and the fingers of that hand are on the other, to grasp the slide and pull it to the rear, is a gross motor skill.

(2) You may be fighting with someone else's pistol which you picked up. Slides locks vary in position, method, and ease of actuation. Pulling the slide to the rear will release the slide on every pistol made.

(3) Having the slide all the way to the rear, under maximum spring tension, gives the slide it's best chance of picking the round up off the magazine and getting it completely into the chamber and the slide into battery.

I prefer to develop habits which will serve me under the worst conditions I may encounter, rather than those which will give me a faster time in a match.

That's just my opinion, and your mileage may vary.

Nah - just learn to hit the magazine button with your trigger finger. That's what I do when I'm shooting left-handed. I go both ways - it's lots of fun to mess with people's heads by changing sides.