Two fingered slide racking...

[hakr100]

...well, what I mean is this:

Sometimes on TV or at a movie (yeah, yeah, I know...) you see someone rack the slide on a semi-auto pistol and it looks as if it takes virtually no effort at all. Typically, this seems to be done on a fairly small semi-auto, but usually the pistol is not identified.

Now, I have messed around with semi-autos from SIG, Glock, CZ, Beretta, Ruger, and a few others, and I've never encountered a pistol whose slide I could rack with two fingers with no apparent effort.

So...is this just made for TV movie nonsense, or are there really semi-autos sprung (sprang? sprunged? ) so lightly that you can do this?

 

[Todd v.]

Hollywod guns are made to fire blanks, they have very light slides and springs so they will cycle....

 

[joppaj]

I've seen this too, and never fired a semi-auto where it was feasible. I suspect that Todd v. has hit it right on.

 

[aquaman]

How about in Valkyrie where tom cruise racks the slide of his walther by pressing the edge of the slide against the table and pushes down on the pistol. (due Von Stauffenbergs loss of fingers) I tried that with a similar pistol and it was hard but plausible

 

[JMintzer]

How about in Valkyrie where tom cruise racks the slide of his walther by pressing the edge of the slide against the table and pushes down on the pistol. (due Von Stauffenbergs loss of fingers) I tried that with a similar pistol and it was hard but plausible

Not so implausible. In Tom Peroni's class, you'll learn to rack the slide on your belt buckle, your shoe, etc...


Jamie

 

[aquaman]

Belt Buckle? lil too close if you know what i mean.....

 

[alucard0822]

How about in Valkyrie where tom cruise racks the slide of his walther by pressing the edge of the slide against the table and pushes down on the pistol. (due Von Stauffenbergs loss of fingers) I tried that with a similar pistol and it was hard but plausible

surface racking is a "real" technique, mostly for use if one arm is injured, for the most part the rear sight is used though, aggainst a table, belt, holster, or basically any edge that can hold up to it.

As far as 2 finger racking, basically falls into the same category as 10 shots out of a 6 shot trevolver without reloading, full auto UZIs that dump rounds for minutes on end, 80lb girls firing a pair of desert eagles without being knocked on their azz, and cars that lose a dozen hubcaps in a single chase scene.

Now, if 1 of those "fingers" is a thumb, or we are talking about lugers then that is an entirely different story

 

[snavematt]

two finger racking? My Glock is easy to rack. Can someone post a vid of what is being said?

 

[joppaj]

How about in Valkyrie where tom cruise racks the slide of his walther by pressing the edge of the slide against the table and pushes down on the pistol. (due Von Stauffenbergs loss of fingers) I tried that with a similar pistol and it was hard but plausible

Trained to do it in the academy with our Glocks. As noted it isn't fun, but it works if you're working onehanded.

 

[kalister1]

I grip my XD 40 by the slide serrations near the rear of the slide, just under the rear sight with my thumb and forefinger. I try not to hold my hand over the slide. During USPSA shoots the last thing you do before holster is show clear, the RO wants to see inside the chamber area to verify clear. Hard to do with your hand over the top of the slide.

 

[aquaman]

surface racking is a "real" technique, mostly for use if one arm is injured, for the most part the rear sight is used though, aggainst a table, belt, holster, or basically any edge that can hold up to it.

As far as 2 finger racking, basically falls into the same category as 10 shots out of a 6 shot trevolver without reloading, full auto UZIs that dump rounds for minutes on end, 80lb girls firing a pair of desert eagles without being knocked on their azz, and cars that lose a dozen hubcaps in a single chase scene.

Learn something everyday here.

 

[MrWhiteRabbit]

two finger racking? My Glock is easy to rack. Can someone post a vid of what is being said?

Same here... A finger and a thumb is pretty easy. If you wan to take it literally, I imagine index and middle finger would be tougher, but I don't think that's what you are talking about. Pics, please.

 

[Blazin]

I routinely show a 1911 clear in USPSA with my left thumb and index finger (under the slide), however the hammer is already back so it's quite a bit easier. The gun has a 14 lb recoil spring.

 

[clandestine]

The locking area on blank shooting firearms is milled away at an angle. For instance; when you look at a semi auto handgun in a movie thats shooting you can see an angled cut on the barrel at the begining of the ejection port. Its often shiney or polished to make things slick so it often stands out. Doing this makes the slide operation smoother and unlocks with less pressure, thus the 2 finger manipulation.

 

[Gunner71]

Learn something everyday here.

Aquaman, nice avatar

 

[IcedC]

Hollywod guns are made to fire blanks, they have very light slides and springs so they will cycle....

not necessarily.... my company used to own part of this company www.centrefirearms.com

their theatrical weapons are quite often just a live weapon with a blocked barrel and proprietary blanks... I don't have a problem racking a slide with just 2 fingers

 

[Streetgang]

Never had an issue with the two finger rack. XD 45, 1911, MK-23, P-226, M-9 (blech)... Maybe I'm missing something. It's actually part of a malfunction drill, Tap, rack, bang. All done while the weapon is up and on target...
Sounds like we need to do a little pt..

 

[Kashmir1008]

I think it depends on the gun. My Ruger P91 and S&W 6904 have the decocker lever on both sides, I can straddle the slide between my index and middle finger and grab the decocker levers on each side and rack it or just pinch the slide between my thumb and index finger and rack it pretty easy.

My sig p229 is a lot harder to rack though. I can grab the slide with thumb and index and rack it by pulling on the slide but I can't effectively grab the slide with thumb and index and push it back.

 

[rob-cubed]

I had a hard time when I first started shooting, but after a while your fingers just know what feels right and index+thumb is enough for most guns I own.

One thing that helps is not relying on the slide hand to do all the work, but rather getting a firm grip on the slide and pushing the frame itself forward with the grip hand.

 

[hakr100]

It's not the two-fingered rack itself that mystified me, since I only use two fingers to do that job myself. It is the effortless of the racking that intrigued me.