Automatic Holster

[Dave2]

I also don't get the motorcycle drive-by? How often do they need to do that?

I can't imagine a regular cop ever needing to do that. I can see how it's important to demonstrate that the system works from a seated position; the motorcycle part is probably just to make the video showier.

[jimlongley]

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.

I was teaching small arms in the Navy in the same era and I heard that legend several times, but never could find anyone willing to demonstrate it with a loaded gun.

[TexasCajun]

Cute. But really only amounts to one more potential mechanical failure. I'll continue to carry with one in the pipe & my booger-hook off the bang-switch until the time comes.

I guess the motorcycle part was to show how someone could carry without a round chambered but still engage without having to take your hands off of the handlebars???

[Dragonfighter]

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.

I did on several occasions when we scrambled or most times for field exercises. I only carried a rifle when we were practicing incursions. Jim is right, FWIW I carried cocked and locked.

[Syntyr]

I was teaching small arms in the Navy in the same era and I heard that legend several times, but never could find anyone willing to demonstrate it with a loaded gun.

Here in Houston there is a group called 360 tactical training that teached one handed failure drills using your holster to hold your weapon while replacing a mag and then drawing the weapon and using friction against the holseter to rack the slide... with live ammo... I would hate to be their insurance carrier!!!

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about 10 seconds in to the video

[ajwakeboarder]

Here in Houston there is a group called 360 tactical training that teached one handed failure drills using your holster to hold your weapon while replacing a mag and then drawing the weapon and using friction against the holseter to rack the slide... with live ammo... I would hate to be their insurance carrier!!!

The one handed rack isn't as dangerous as it seems. You use the rear sight to grab a belt or holster. For it to work right you have to angle the gun away from your body. It's a common technique of Israeli Mossad.

[jimlongley]

I used to shoot IDPA with a man who had only one full arm, and he had several methods to rack the slide and outshot lots of us on a regular basis.

I have also practiced several different methods of single hand/weak hand reloads and slide racks.

But the M1916 holster was NOT designed to do that, even if it happens to seem so, and practicing tried and true methods is comparatively safe when held up against a novice sailor who claims the the lump in the holster is for that purpose and then tries to demonstrate it.

BTW, the half cock notch on the 1911 hammer is NOT designed to catch the hammer falling from almost full cock, at least not more than a couple of times. I hate to tell you how many broken hammers and chewed up sears I had to replace in my armory.

[JeepGuy79]

I think Andy is right. Mossad trains or at least used to train to carry empty chambered and with their free hand they clear any shirt or obstruction rack the slide and begin to fire while moving the gun forward toward the target. At least that is how I saw it demonstrated. He pulled his weapon and had bullets on target faster than that gun in the video came out of the holster cocked. Was obvious he had practiced doing it a lot. He did not use anything but his free hand to cock his weapon although he did show me a way of racking it off a boot with one hand IF it was a last resort. didn't use a belt or anything that I saw. Not saying that is the rule for anyone anywhere. I dunno. I am not a Mossad agent.

[ajwakeboarder]

I might be wrong about it being a Mossad technique. I learned about it from a friend who trained with a Mossad agent overseas. Maybe it was that agent's personal technique. I don't know. But its still possible and fairly safe as long as the gun is angled away and your finger stays off the trigger.

[MadMonkey]

But its still possible and fairly safe as long as the gun is angled away and your finger stays off the trigger.

Agreed. I've practiced it a lot, along with one handed reloads. In a perfect world you'll have both hands free, but it's humbling the first time you see how long it takes to get a pistol out of a Safariland 6360 with your weak hand I finally figured out a technique that works though.

[Skiprr]

I wasn't Mossad either - but I did train under an old ex-Mossad guy as a newbie close-protection student. Empty chambers aren't Mossad-specific, obviously, but does seem to be recognized as a trademark of theirs; however, the various slide-racking techniques using sights, belts, etc, came from elsewhere.

Likewise, I'm sure the Mossad did adopt one-handed reload techniques into their training at some point.

I won't go into Mossad empty-chamber techniques. My opinion is that they are policy-based, not tactics-based.

But what's interesting is that, over the past several years, pistol manufacturers have begun to be more aware of one-handed slide manipulation. For example, my typical daily carry is a Kimber Ultra CDP II, in service for about six years. It's carry-melt treatment includes the rear sight: nice and smooth from slide to sight.

Fast forward to today. The new Kimber Super Carry pistols are advertised that they have "night sights with cocking shoulder."

They have the right idea. "Carry-melt" should be applicable to drawing and presenting the firearm. A rear sight with a cocking shoulder doesn't impede the critical stuff, can really help if you need to manipulate the pistol one-handed, and nobody I know needs to be in any big hurry to reholster a gun.

[grevengrevs]

Anyone else notice that around the 20-21 second mark she pretty much fires into the ground (based on gun angle) in her hurry to show how fast this system works? Looks like she was surprised the gun went off.