In 1721 in his book The Voyage of Gullivers, Jonathan Swift described the fierce war that had opposed for generations, the big-buddians supporters of the fact that a boiled egg must be broken by the big end, to the little buddies ready to die if they were prevented from eating their egg by breaking it by the small end. If this absurd story lends itself to smiles, a "sociological" study of the combat shooting community highlights some passionate debates whose relevance and extremism are sometimes just as questionable as the side by which to break an egg.
Indeed, beyond the opposition Weaver Vs Isocele, or 9mm Vs 45, it is also the way to reload his weapon that sometimes unleashes passions. A ruthless war has always pitted two schools against each other who share the same need: to restore their weapon to firing condition when it is empty.
In this logic, a school advocates, simply the fact of returning the slide forward by a load movement (rack).
The other school defends the idea that the slide stopper is not made for dogs, and advocates for its systematic use.
Far from the idea of offending the canine community or that of their opponents, we would nevertheless like in this small article to expose some elements of reflection concerning these two methods.
Use of the slide stopper:
Highlights:
Faster by an average of 1 second compared to the "rack" method
No loss of grip (strong hand and weak hand remain in position, only the thumb of the strong hand, or even that of the weak hand depending on the morphologies manipulates the slide stopper)
No risk of "escorting" the slide and causing a shooting incident by incomplete or slowed movement.
Weaknesses:
If the sensations are impaired by the intense stress of the fight, the shooter may not feel the slide stopper.
Even worse if he wears gloves or if his fingers are numb from the cold, wet from the rain, moist with heat, slimy because of the blood...
Some slide stoppers are just unusable or were likely created by the devil himself.
And left-handers, let's talk about it: apart from the latest generation pistols, most handguns are not equipped with ambidextrous slide stoppers.
And finally, the slide that may sometimes return to the front during the phase of introduction of the charger in case of premature action on said stopper
Some even push the cork to the point of claiming that using the slide stopper would wear out the mechanics.
The systematic "rack" load movement:
Highlights:
Unique gestures, and automated until becoming a Pavlovian reflex (Isn't that a dog story yet?)
Works Regardless of the gun
The morphology of the shooter, the positioning and the ergonomics of the slide stopper have very little impact on the effectiveness of this technique.
Increased efficiency when locking because the return spring of the slide is completely compressed (if the gesture has been done optimally).
Weaknesses:
On some weapons the safety is "ideally" located to be operated involuntarily and systematically during the movement of the charge.
Slower than the slide stopper method
Requires to reposition his weak hand at the end of the load movement, or if necessary to perform a one-handed shot (in degraded mode).
Let's be honest: Use with two hands = it's still less classy
Conclusion:
Does your method work for you?
In all conditions?
If you are a weapons professional, would you bet your life or that of your teammates on this method?
If you answered yes three times, then don't change anything!
If you have been practicing a method for many years, you might get the chargers tangled up wanting to change everything.
Anyway, in ten years no one will remember if you used this or that method. What will be remembered... it is that you have won the fight.
Ladies and gentlemen in love with the "trigger" shake hands... finally for those who do not have both hands on the weapon!
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