competition magazine change, how best to release the slide

[zhunter]

...and if you are at slide lock, the extra time you use to sling shot the slide won't matter anyway.

Why do you say this?

No way that is correct, no way

[Nimitz]

You got it . .

for all those out there who think it's faster to do some other technique than use your strong hand thumb, your perceptions are simply wrong. Get someone to time you and you will see that the strong hand thumb method is the fastest. Now, if you're shooting a sport where time isn't a factor do whatever you want. However, in a sport like USPSA or IDPA where it's all about points per second then it does matter.

In USPSA a slide lock reload is a huge error, particularily if you are standing still when it happens, however, if you do one, do it as fast as possible to minimize your mistake. Don't compound things by doing a less than optimal technique slowly ...

Edited July 22, 2014 by Nimitz

[b1gcountry]

Ok, i will bite just to stir the pot, but I do it in fun...

How is it faster to insert a mag, then hit the mag release, then wait for the slide to go into battery.

..As opposed to..

Insert the mag with authority, and let the slide come forward automatically?

[alma]

See my video earlier is this thread. Pushing the release with my strong hand thumb and is as fast as jamming the mag in and hoping that the slide will close on its own buy much more reliable. It the slide closes on its own then that's great but I will be making the motion to hit the slide release regardless.

[pmt]

A little late to this thread Being left-handed, strong hand vs weak hand thumb is a moot point. I seat the mag with authority and the slide releases itself. I don't know if it's faster or slower than racking over the top - but it works for me.

[Sac Law Man]

Another lefty here.. I too like it when seating the mag releases the slide, but its not guaranteed so I dont count on it.. If I were a righty I would definately use the support hand thumb. Since I am not, I train to use my trigger finger to release the slide release...its already close as its lying along side the frame.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Sac Law Man

[alma]

I made this for another thread talking about finger placement while reloading but it works here too. You can see when I hot the release with my right hand thumb on my slide lock reload pretty easily.

[open17]

1911, CZ, Glock, M&P----I hit the release on all of them with my weak hand thumb as I roll the gun

counterclockwise and get a grip. But then I have short thumbs, and would have to break grip with

the strong hand and do a little "flip" to hit it with my right thumb.

Slingshot and over the top? Why in the world would you do that?

[alma]

Lefties definitely get a free pass. I guess it's nice that more guns have ambi controls as an option now.

[racerba]

...and if you are at slide lock, the extra time you use to sling shot the slide won't matter anyway.

Why do you say this?

Because you already lost time with the slide lock. The extra .5 sec to slingshot vs. thumb release isn't going to hurt your HF by much more. Hence it won't matter anyway...you already screwed up.

[Nik Habicht]

...and if you are at slide lock, the extra time you use to sling shot the slide won't matter anyway.

Why do you say this?

Because you either forgot a reload, or planned a position without knowing your limitations.....

In other words, you've burned so much time already going to slide lock, and then making a probably static mag change, that you're out of the running for whatever you were trying to accomplish....

[alma]

Sometimes I just shoot until it runs out on purpose. Not during a normal field course. It usually happens on big steel arrays on stages that shouldn't be legal in USPSA. I am comfortable enough with slide lock reloads that I don't think it slows me down significantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uOcofyXGPE&list=UUh6vnp0V06CfO1Jgyx5gZqw

I do the same thing with my shotgun at 3 Gun matches. Where everyone else is counting rounds I just blast away with my A5 until it runs out, turn it over, quad load a couple of times into the tube and repeat. It works well since I never have to port load with that shotgun because of the auto load feature.

Edited August 6, 2014 by alma

[Just4FunLP]

I shoot an XDM and I'm fairly new to all this. I thought my gun was malfunctioning because it sometimes didn't lock the slide on the last round. I finally figured out that my thumb was riding on the release button so I had to train myself to hold the tip of my thumb out just a little while shooting. The rest of my thumb can still pin the gun tightly so its not detrimental to my grip.

All that being said, I cant imagine not using my strong hand thumb to release the slide. In fact, of all the things to go wrong (as they often do for me ) this is the least of my worries. I just reload as I normally do and if the slide doesn't release itself I simply touch the button while I'm aiming and pull the trigger. No time wasted. It's nice to follow up a minor screw up with the minor victory of getting back to shooting again without a hitch.

[JAFO]

I used to slingshot the slide all the time with my 226 when I started. When I moved to an X5 with an extended slide catch lever, using my strong hand thumb became much more natural. I will say that the time I spent using the slingshot method seems to make my malfunction clearances faster. I have occasionally seen newer shooters, who perhaps have never used anything but the slide release lever to manipulate the slide, attempting to clear a feed jam with the slide release. Of course, that can easily come by practicing clearance drills.

Most times, I'm hitting the lever as the gun is going back out, so I'd agree with alma that there seems to be very little (if any) time lost between a slide lock reload using the release and reloading prior to slide lock. That's assuming you planned a slide lock reload, of course.

[ericridebike]

Strong hand thumb for me.

[wanttolearn]

i had the opportunity to ask Mr. Leatham as to his preferred technique. He was very generous with his time and stated that he prefers to use the weak hand thumb to release the slide

[Sac Law Man]

As a lefty, I am also toying with the idea of using my support hand middle or ring finger to hit the slide release. After searing the mag, your middle finger is pretty much right there...

[Willz]

Ok, i will bite just to stir the pot, but I do it in fun...

How is it faster to insert a mag, then hit the mag release, then wait for the slide to go into battery.

..As opposed to..

Insert the mag with authority, and let the slide come forward automatically?

Both my G17 and my G21 will do this. If I slap a mag in with force the slide runs home chambering a round. That was great when it happens everytime. But, lately it has been inconsistent.

Some times the slide returns to battery without picking up a round. I'm not sure why.

There have been times I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber and other times not knowing for sure if it chambered a round I 've racked the slide only to kick out a live round.

Maybe my mag springs are getting a bit weak.

Maybe I should slap it home and keep my eyes on the ejection port to see if it's picking up a cartridge. Not sure but the slide stop/release is more consistant

Edited August 14, 2014 by Willz

[pperez550]

What about lefties? On a 1911 I use my trigger finger, extended, to swipe down on the slide release if I reload after a lock-back on empty.

[lstone]

My thumbs are short too. So I use the weak hand thumb too. I also use weak hand for mag release too

[theblacknight]

Ok, i will bite just to stir the pot, but I do it in fun...

How is it faster to insert a mag, then hit the mag release, then wait for the slide to go into battery.

..As opposed to..

Insert the mag with authority, and let the slide come forward automatically?

Because reloading is a finesse thing. Doing the slam load,inertia bump, etc etc load is quantifiably slower and less efficient because of the force used. Using the "preload" method appears to be the exact same thing to those who don't know, but what more people then just myself have found is preloading is more reliable and more efficient.

I shoot Glocks. I can reach the slide release and don't find it to be slippery. Strong thumb>weak thumb>rack for me. If you have smaller hands, that flow chart will be different.

different guns and different people get different answers.

[theblacknight]

Sometimes I just shoot until it runs out on purpose. Not during a normal field course. It usually happens on big steel arrays on stages that shouldn't be legal in USPSA. I am comfortable enough with slide lock reloads that I don't think it slows me down significantly.

Truth. Unless your positions you've chosen are only 1-2 seconds of movement away from the last, a slide lock reload isn't adding anymore time, because you are moving.

[rowdyb]

Most lefties I know use one of three methods. 1. slam the gun down to auto release the slide forward when inserting a new mag at slide lock. 2. use their trigger finger to push down on the slide release lever. or 3. as the support (in this case right) hand seats the mag the fingers from that hand reach around under the grip and over the strong hand to hit the lever.

When I have shot left handed I used #3 almost all the time. I shot left handed for two months due to a finger injury last year.

With ammo, not dry fire, on the clock, on video I have show to myself over and over that the fastest slide lock reload I can do is 1.50 seoncds. The fastest speed reload I can do is 1.0 seconds. At a minimum I lose half a second going to slide lock. In a match it's probably closer to 1 second. In uspsa if you've gone to slide lock you've most likely made a mistake. In idpa the goal is often to get to slide lock where you want, as it is almost always faster and better stage management than a rwr.

Short answer to the original question, I just use the thumb of my right hand (I'm right handed) to release the slide on a slide lock reload. I already had to cant the gun just a tiny bit to hit the mag release button so my thumb easily moves to waiting on the lever.

[burttrans]

New shooter to USPSA only shot one match so far thanks for the insight on this subject.

Just for the record I use thumb of strong hand; I'm a right handed.

[EdwinG]

I use strong thumb on the slide lock lever.