I was at a gun shop today, I was checking out an HP and I removed the mag and locked the slide to the rear. I finished inspecting the gun and hit the slide release and the clerk snapped at me to not do that. I asked why. This was his reply. It damages the sear and will make them go full-auto because there is not a round being chambered to slow the action down. My first response was to grin and say, Oh really? is this an inherent problem with the HP design? He responded No it's ALL automatics, I've seen one go full auto before. My second response, I handed the HP back to him (still grinning)and told him to have a nice day and walked out.
I have been handling 1911's HP's and countless other automatics for 20 years and I have been thinking about it real hard all day. It is not possible to damage a sear by hitting the slide release to close the action. The slide and the sear are in two different group assemblies of a handgun. The trigger sear is already "locked" (for lack of a better word) into the hammer sear notch, and cannot possibly move until the trigger is pulled. Even over time the repeated manual closing of the slide on an empty chamber can't possibly cause enough vibration to wear or break the sear. What do you think?
I think whoever told the clerk that bit of information was on crack.
BTW the clerk is a "gun guy" and has run the counter for at least 2 years that I know of. But this is the first time I had ever dealt with him.
RH
I have been handling 1911's HP's and countless other automatics for 20 years and I have been thinking about it real hard all day. It is not possible to damage a sear by hitting the slide release to close the action. The slide and the sear are in two different group assemblies of a handgun. The trigger sear is already "locked" (for lack of a better word) into the hammer sear notch, and cannot possibly move until the trigger is pulled. Even over time the repeated manual closing of the slide on an empty chamber can't possibly cause enough vibration to wear or break the sear. What do you think?
I think whoever told the clerk that bit of information was on crack.
BTW the clerk is a "gun guy" and has run the counter for at least 2 years that I know of. But this is the first time I had ever dealt with him.
RH