jimlongley wrote:MoJo wrote:threoh8 wrote:Didn't Bianchi once offer a holster for the M1911 that had a step for racking the slide? Maybe the model 66?
The WWI - Vietnam M1916 holster was set up that way.
I have an original M1916 (WWII era) and a reproduction, and neither one of them is "set up that way." The prevailing legend that you could rack the slide. and that it was designed to do that, has to do with the lump sewn in the inside of the holster which served to keep it from collapsing entirely when there was no gun in it and as a support at the trigger guard to position the gun properly.
You could, conceivably since I have seen it done in a few places, swivel the gun sideways as you were drawing it, and snag the front sight or the slide on that lump and rack the slide with a downstroke, but I have also seen as many demonstrations of how dangerous it is to do such a thing with a gun that has a manual safety that can't be engaged while the slide is being racked.
My bad on that, I was just passing on what the pistol instructors in Infantry AIT told us way back in nineteen ought sixty seven. I never tried it since I never carried a .45 while in the Army.