Proper way to lock back the slide on a 1911

[Vern Humphrey]

Just racking the slide a few times does NOT Certify that the gun is clear!!! Your eyes and perhaps a finger up in the chamber are the only ways to verify that it's empty. Should that gun have a broken extractor...it could still be live and many will function normally even without a functional extractor

Exactly right. I had a Ruger MKII break the extractor, and didn't even notice it -- the gun fired and ejected as normal. Only because I lock the slide back and visually check the chamber (and feel it as well) did I know there was a round in the chamber when I thought it was clear.

 

[Baron_Null]

This really is getting ridiculous. There is more than one way to show a semi pistol is clear. Mike I did not mean to derail your thread, my initial intent was to maybe learn something about 1911's. And I did, as far as the slide action goes they're the same as other semi's. I apologize for getting off topic.

Ridiculous is right. I have never once seen someone so vehemently deny the utility in basic firearms handling technique.

It's better safe than sorry, as they say. When the consequences of poor handling technique can result in death or massive bodily harm, I would assume that saving effort would be last on the list of priorities, but I guess that doesn't apply universally.

You're trying to argue against years of established safety techniques that were developed by people who spent their entire lives around firearms. Safety concerns are safety concerns because it's almost guaranteed that someone at some point has died because they (or others) didn't take those concerns seriously.

If you're more concerned about ease instead of absolute safety, it might be time to take a step back and evaluate on an objective basis how you treat firearms. The consequences of a lapse in safety are too dire to try to take the path of least resistance.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Ridiculous is right. I have never once seen someone so vehemently deny the utility in basic firearms handling technique.

It's better safe than sorry, as they say. When the consequences of poor handling technique can result in death or massive bodily harm, I would assume that saving effort would be last on the list of priorities, but I guess that doesn't apply universally.

You're trying to argue against years of established safety techniques that were developed by people who spent their entire lives around firearms. Safety concerns are safety concerns because it's almost guaranteed that someone at some point has died because they (or others) didn't take those concerns seriously.

If you're more concerned about ease instead of absolute safety, it might be time to take a step back and evaluate on an objective basis how you treat firearms. The consequences of a lapse in safety are too dire to try to take the path of least resistance.

All guns are always loaded. As I mentioned before, if you are uncomfortable with the way in which you have been presented a gun then check it yourself, which you should be doing anyways. Put another way, any time you pick up or are handed a gun you should be checking it for yourself. If someone hands you a pistol with the slide locked back do you not still observe the chamber and maybe poke a finger in, or just take it for granted that since the slides back everything's GTG?


I've never been much for coddling other people. If I know a gun is clear when I hand it off to someone I'm fine. What they choose to do from there is up to them.


That being said, 99.9999% of the time I set a pistol down or hand it off the slide is locked back. However it's never been in a manner in which was mentioned, with no mag in, or having to drop a mag that's still loaded. I think my lack of understanding this mentioned technique has to do with maybe me not shooting competitively and not going to "formal" ranges. I did try it last night after I completed my cleaning and while by no means is it impossible it's a bit finnicky. I now know how but don't know that I'll ever have a use for that technique.

 

[mikemyers]

The rule of slide back, and magazine out, empty chamber, is from the county-operated gun range at Fellsmere, Florida. To shoot at that range, when the range officer calls for everyone to stop firing, so they can look at their targets, that is the way the gun needs to be left on the table. If I want to shoot there, I need to follow their rules.


Let's let this discussion go back to how to lock the slide in place, which I think has already been answered, so this thread is more or less finished?

 

[Sam1911]

Probably. If anyone has anything else to add, send me a PM.

Thanks,