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Racker Side


RileyLV

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As a right handed shooter I have the racker on the left. 

 

It would be helpful to hear from some right handed shooters who have the racker on the right.  I see that the right handed shooters who have the racker on the right generally turn the gun a bit counter clockwise in order to reach the racker when they eject an unfired cartridge and usually they catch the cartridge in the air.  Is this the primary reason for having the racker on the right or are there other reasons?

 

I am curious what advantage they feel they have with the racker on the right.

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Racker should be on the weak hand side, regardless of which handed someone is. Having the gun propped up on table starts is faster, not having to cant the gun over to rack the slide during malfunction clearance or unloaded starts is faster.

 

Having to remove the racker to pull the slide off is a minor grievance for the many advantages. 

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I used to run my tanfog race gun with a racker on the right side, simply because that's how it came to me. Always worked and I never had issues with it; easy to take the slide off for cleaning. Since I've gone to my ASI Racegun, its a longer racker on the left side, with a ball detent as retention. I think it's a little quicker to be honest, because you don't have to recover from the gun being tipped over.

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I have some guns with a racker on the left, others with a racker on the right, and while I prefer it on the left, I don't think it slows me down at all being on the right.  A racker on the left is nice for table starts, but the clubs I shoot don't do them often; I have long thumbs so the dovetail has to be cut I a very specific place so the left side racker doesn't block my thumb from the safety.

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My experience is,

racker on Right = easier to take slide off / points for being lazy, and no double trips (because you forgot an Allen) to safety area during a match to check something out, this doesn’t matter at home.

 

racker on left= better table starts (but can be negated depending on optic mount and/or thumb rest, lots of double trips to safety area, back to bag and back for an Allen during a match.

 

The other thing I’ve noticed is racker in Right can be easier to rack the slide depending on gun and lateral fit of the slide. I think it’s easier to fight the twist of the gun with the racker on right side because it’s easier to fight the outward rotation. When racker is on left the muzzle moves more laterally to the left because it’s less natural for your wrist to fight an inward lever.

 

at the end of the day I think it’s a matter of comfort and convenience, or table starts biased and I don’t think there is a tangible time benefit either way as long as you’ve practiced the way your gun is setup

 

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7 hours ago, Gooldylocks said:

Having to remove the racker to pull the slide off is a minor grievance for the many advantages. 

This is absolutely correct. It is much more natural to have the racker on the left for a right hand shooter. With a ball and detent, it takes a whole 1 second to remove the racker for gun cleaning.

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 In my  experience, I found that using a horizontal mount,  *thumb rest [generic]* and left-sided racker  caused too much crowding on the left side. A short horizontal racker on the right alleviated the issue

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This is absolutely correct. It is much more natural to have the racker on the left for a right hand shooter. With a ball and detent, it takes a whole 1 second to remove the racker for gun cleaning.
Even with an allen, it's all of 3 seconds maybe. I don't take my screw out certainly, just back it off like 2 turns and pull out the racker

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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I have learned that the right side racker is the only option for me.  Every racker I have tried on the left side I have eventually hit in the middle of a stage with my right thumb and induced a malfunction.  All the other arguments to me are irrelevant, since a left side racker causes me to stop the gun and therefore that's a deal breaker.

 

Figure out what works for you and run with it.

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On 10/9/2017 at 10:01 PM, Gooldylocks said:

Racker should be on the weak hand side, regardless of which handed someone is. Having the gun propped up on table starts is faster, not having to cant the gun over to rack the slide during malfunction clearance or unloaded starts is faster.

 

Having to remove the racker to pull the slide off is a minor grievance for the many advantages. 

Very True! I had modded my racker on my Czechmate to work on the left side and it is a huge improvement. There are so many benefits!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/9/2017 at 11:01 PM, Gooldylocks said:

Racker should be on the weak hand side, regardless of which handed someone is. Having the gun propped up on table starts is faster, not having to cant the gun over to rack the slide during malfunction clearance or unloaded starts is faster.

 

Having to remove the racker to pull the slide off is a minor grievance for the many advantages. 

I agree, weak hand side, I moved my first one and now with the detents, you should be able to flip it to either side if done right. 

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5 hours ago, 1911builder said:

Am i the only one who doesn't run a slide racker? I also run a dpp so I have a lot of real estate on the back of the slide 

I do not run one on my steel gun because if you have to rack it, its already too late!

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On 10/27/2017 at 3:56 PM, 1911builder said:

Am i the only one who doesn't run a slide racker? I also run a dpp so I have a lot of real estate on the back of the slide 

 

I don't run one either...  With an RTS2 there is as much rear slide grip area available as a Limited gun...  Don't see a need for one...  Just extra weight on the slide...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Big hands means danger to your thumb (I have big hands and sometimes push my strong hand thumb sticks up). I just run mine on the right right side of the gun (right handed shooter) to not have to worry about it. If you're worried about table starts, stick an empty mag under the gun unless the WSB says otherwise.

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28 minutes ago, sstephns said:

. If you're worried about table starts, stick an empty mag under the gun unless the WSB says otherwise.

“No propping” or “Gun lying flat on table” are in every table start WSB I see. I guess we know why.

  As to a racker, weak side ball detent for the win.

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17 minutes ago, Loudgp said:

who does a ball detent slideracker? any pics?

Any good gunsmith can do it. Rackers don't come that way. Gunsmiths have to make them that way.

IMG_0636.jpg

IMG_0637 (1).jpg

Edited by Sarge
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