Found on Glock Talk Forum:Slide Slam on 1911

[cerberus]

BULLCARVER: posted this on the Glock Talk

I Called Colt Firearms Yesterday The Truth About Slide Slamming On Empty Chamber

I Called Colt Firearms Today with the sole intent of FINALLY "putting to bed" the seemingly never ending myth of "slamming the slide home on an empty chamber"
Presented here is the answer as directly provided by a very qualified "person of authority" at Colt Firearms.
In the first minute of our conversation I identified myself & my interest in passing on whatever answer I received on to web forum members.
Let me first state that the individual that I spoke with at Colt Firearms is a highly intelligent, knowledgeable "key and integral" member of the Colt Firearms team. It sure was NOT the Pizza Delivery Person that just happened to pick up the phone. It was my unabashed pleasure to speak "in person" with one of the Colt folks responsible for the GREAT super high quality pistols being produced at the Colt Factory these days.
We had a short but totally engaging and enjoyable phone conversation.
I did forget to ask permission to use that person's name on a public web forum so in keeping with my personal vow to always maintain correct and proper web decorum - I will not give out a name.
The exact first question that I asked first was as follows:

With a factory stock Colt Pistol "Does letting the slide slam home on an EMPTY CHAMBER do ANY PHYSICAL HARM to a properly fit COLT BRAND 1911 pattern pistol?
The official answer from Colt Firearms would be a resounding
"NO - Letting the slide slam closed on an empty chamber does not in any way harm a Colt 1911 style Colt pistol."
Me...acting as "Psychic Bullcarver" and knowing (full well) in advance that some "Doubting Thomas" forum members would STILL NOT be satisfied with one truthful answer to one simple question.... I then dived headfirst into "Round Two" with another "polite barrage" of much more specific "slide slamming" pistol questions.
Those questions were as follows:
QUESTION 1 - Does (slamming the slide on empty chamber) place ANY undue strain or stress on the slide stop pin?
Colt Answer: "NO"
QUESTION 2 - Does (slamming the slide on empty chamber) cause any undue stress on the barrel link or contribute to link breakage?
Colt Answer: "NO"
QUESTION 3 - Does (slamming the slide on empty chamber) damage the barrel or lugs?
Colt Answer: "NO"
QUESTION 4 - Does (slamming the slide on empty chamber) result in any damage to a factory trigger/hammer/sear engagement?
Colt Answer: "NO"
QUESTION 5 - (same as above) - Frame? Slide? Battering?
Colt Answer "NO"
And then...................... Bullcarver:
So...it is absolutely A-OK to slam the slide closed on a Colt pistol without chambering a round?
Colt Answer: "YES"
Naturally, the information provided above is applicable to Colt manufactured pistols and (of course) Colt cannot be expected speak for Colt clone pistols produced by other makers.
So there you "have it" from straight the Colt Horsey's Mouth.
We then talked very briefly about my "ingrained family habit" of accumulating numerous, various fine Colt pistols over the course of several generations and with a promise (by me) to bring home one of the new masterfully rendered Colt Series 70 pistols.
Your comments on any of my posted threads are (of course) not only welcome but strongly encouraged. Stay Safe!

 

[PaleRyder]

This was also posted at 1911Forum.com and hashed a long discussion, that I believe ended up being closed due to arguing.

 

[cerberus]

I sure know about the 1911 Forum

If they the powers who run the 1911 Forum can't control every post. They are quick to lock the thread down. Anyway I thought it was worth giving everyone who may not have seen it on some other Forum a chance.

 

[wildehond]

I know is a bit off the point, but it is just the reason that I left all the other forums and came here. On THR everyone seems to understand that this is a place to discuss things and what everyone says is just his own personal opinion and just that. What is said here is not the law that everyone must follow. It is just information that you can read, think over and then use what you think is usefull to you.

Thanks to everyone that makes THR work, including the moderators and sys admins.

wildehond

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I don't like the nasty ka-chunk sound closing any pistol on an empty chamber makes.

 

[Old Fuff]

Sure .....

Tiz' perfectly O.K. to drop the slide on an empty chamber and let it slam home. So go right ahead and do it .....

The Old Fuff however is smart enough to know that when parts slam they can batter. Not that they will, but that they can. :banghead:

He cares on one wit about what you do, but be advised that when the chamber is empty on his pistols the slide is eased down.

 

[molonlabe]

Wow, I’m glad that’s settled. I can't count the nights I have laid awake wondering if this practice that I have done you years has damaged my gold cup. I feel better now.

 

[buzz_knox]

While you might be able to do it, why would you want to? Is it really that hard to control the slide as it goes back into battery on an empty chamber?

Then again, some people like slamming doors just to hear the noise.

 

[Jammer Six]

sigh

I answered this on the other forum, before it was closed.

It's a requirement in our plate league.

I've been thinking about it since that thread was closed, too, and I have another reason. Now it's principle.

This weapon serves me, I don't serve it.

 

[buzz_knox]

That may be a requirement, but I don't it's a particularly wise one. Allowing the slam might be fine for stock weapons, but I believe that the custom gunsmiths are pretty universal on the idea that it can trash a trigger job.

 

[Jammer Six]

Then get another trigger job, another slide, a new smith, or a new weapon.

I want to shoot plates, and it's a requirement.

I don't serve the weapon, the weapon serves me.

 

[Ankeny]

Slam it, throw it on the floor, drive over it, it's just a trashy Colt. I'll take it easy on my custom 1911's and ease the slide down.

 

[Old Fuff]

Jammer Six:

I question the advisability of dropping the slide on an empty chamber, but I also understand that in this particular game (shooting plates) you have to follow the rules.

Therefore I suggest that if it is allowed, and after you have removed the magazine and checked to be sure the chamber is empty, hold the trigger back while you release the slide. This will prevent the hammer from following down - or at least it should. If it doesn't you have a potentially serious problem. When the slide has returned to battery release the trigger.

As an alternative, hold the hammer with the tip of your thumb while you drop the slide.

This will at least protect your sear and hammer from damage.

 

[Jammer Six]

I'll check into it next Wednesday. (That's plate night.)

I'll double-check that I didn't mis-understand the requirement, and I'll think about holding the trigger or the hammer back.

My first reaction is that that would be a change to the way I handle weapons, and change is bad.

But I'll think about it.

 

[wally]

I don't know about game guns, but if your defense gun will be damaged by having the slide slam forward on an empty chamber better get something else to carry as it *will* happen eventually when you get a magazine that fails to lock the slide back.

Any reasonable quality gun has to have this possibility designed into its margins. OTOH I wouldn't be surprised to see peaned parts if this is done 1000's of times.

--wally.

 

[1911Tuner]

Slam!

The slide weighs a pound. The 16 pound spring hurls the slide forward about as fast as the eye can follow. The slide is stopped by the slidestop crosspin and those little bitty feet on the bottom rear of the lower lug. That's ALL that stops it. How much abuse will these things stand before the lug feet are changed? If they get hammered farther to the rear, the barrel linkdown timing is going to change. The slide will begin to creep forward of its as-new position on the frame. The junction at the lower lug and barrel will be stressed by both impact and shear forces. No...A failure to lock the slide during live-fire isn't the same as tripping the slidestop. How can it be?

Pity the poor slidestop pin. Pity the poor lug feet. That pistol may one day be the only thing that staves off a trip down the Highway of No Return. Why abuse something that you may have to depend on to save your life or one of your children? Do you drive your car over a washboard road at 50 or 60 mph
just because it has a heavy-duty suspension? If you did that on a regular basis...will you be terribly surprised if a suspension component suddenly
lets go when you're in a curve? Will you curse the junky pistol when the
lower lug cracks at the front of its junction with the barrel?

Hey! Slam'em if ya got'em...but if you purposely let one of mine slam shut,
please don't be surprised if I am unkind.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Slammin Flame War.

Cheers!

 

[Old Dog]

Maybe I missed something ... Why? Why would anyone WANT to let the slide slam home on an empty chamber? Because it's "cool?" All I know is, I never do this on any of my 1911s, not even the base model Colts and SAs ...

Okay, just read over Buzz Knox's post ... anyway, I'm with 1911Tuner.

BTW, I've always found the 1911Forum quite civil (well, as civil as internet forums can possibly be) and don't think that threads are normally closed arbitrarily ...

 

[B36]

Clang

With one of those 22lb womper stomper springs, it should sound good!!

Me, well mine will get closed as they have for many years, slowly when empty.

 

[45auto]

I slammed the slide on my first 1911 many, many times. No one told me different. It seemed logical to do.

On my second 1911, only once...by accident because I missed the slide with my guiding hand.

 

[bountyhunter]

With a factory stock Colt Pistol "Does letting the slide slam home on an EMPTY CHAMBER do ANY PHYSICAL HARM to a properly fit COLT BRAND 1911 pattern pistol?

For the record, the answer is YES is does stress the parts in question and the probability of screwing up the hammer/sear and or barrel lugs increases linearly as the trigger weight is DEACREASED (ie, lighter trigger jobs with narrow primary sear faces are more easily damaged by inertia chatter).

Since I have wasted too much of my life on this subject, I will simply say this to anyone who wants to know the real answer:

Go ask Tuner over in the gunsmithing forum and he will set you straight. Or, just keep doing an empty slide drop and ignore this. It ain't my gun.

 

[bountyhunter]

If they the powers who run the 1911 Forum can't control every post. They are quick to lock the thread down.

AMEN.

 

[Dave Sample]

Wow. Can't we find any new subjects to discuss? Who cares what you do to YOUR 1911. anyhow? I agree with Colt. If it isn't tough enough to take that kind of punishment, I don't want it on my hip! If you want a reason to drop it like that once in a while, it gives you a quick check of how that "Trigger Job" you paid big bucks for is holding up. If that hammer follows or goes to half cock, you got screwed. If your 1911 is too delicate to do that, then you don't have much of a gun. Yes, I know all the "so called pistolsmith BS" about dropping the slide and I hope that once again, I am in the minority. I have yet to have a hammer fall in 20 years so I suppose it is too soon to tell about whether or not I know anything about this. One day Tuner says it's a tough little machine and the next day it is just too flimsy to even take a chance on shooting it. One thing about me that both Tuner and Old Fuff will agree on that is that if I am wrong, I am consistent about it! I am through with this one!

 

[1911Tuner]

Wow

mm hm...mm hm...Well all righty then! Ya'll carry on!

If alla you Slide Slammers and Hammer Jammers ever get curious about it ...I gotta suggestion. After it's whopped on the lug and pin a couple hundred times...let your fingers do the walkin' through the Yaller pages til ya find an automotive machine shop that builds racin' engines. Take your thoroughly whopped barrel to'em and have'em magnaflux the lower lug area for ya.

Cheers!

 

[R.H. Lee]

Why would you want to do something that has no useful purpose and will accelerate wear?????? Makes no sense. I don't do "trigger jobs" on my 1911's and don't allow any "pistolsmiths" to do them either, so I have no reason to let the slide slam on an empty chamber. If it doesn't seem like a good idea, it probably isn't.

 

[Jammer Six]

Maybe I missed something ... Why?

Yup, you did. Twice, so far.

Why would you want to do something that has no useful purpose and will accelerate wear??????

You, too. You're two for two, too.

Or, just keep doing an empty slide drop and ignore this.

OK, see you at plates.

Oh, wait, no I won't.

Dave, I want to be Just Like You!