On my Glock pulling back on the slide does not always release it.

Grip tighter, push harder.

Sounds like you may have the slide lock installed incorrectly, or the large frame pin is putting pressure on the slide lock. I have done it a few times.

Try taking the slide off and flipping the slide lock up to see it there is spring tension that pushes it back down on the frame.

The slide stop is pushed upward by the magazine follower after the last round is fired, ejected or with empty magazine to engage the stop notch in the slide.

The slide stop is spring loaded to make it drop from engagement in the slide notch when the slide is retracted a bit and the magazine is missing or loaded. The stop notch in the slide has a slight backward cut to it to help retain the slide stop.

Only a few things will prevent the slide stop from releasing and they are:

1. The slide must be retracted enough to allow the stop to free itself.
2. An empty magazine is left in the gun and the follower is preventing release.
3. The spring on the slide release has broken or been removed preventing release.
4. The shooters thumb is preventing the slide stop from releasing.

Did you put a recoil buffer of some sort in it? A buddy of mine did on a 1911 and had this problem.

First thing I would check is wether I put the slide lock spring in place as I replaced the smaller frame pin.

Sometimes when the slide is locked back and I insert a new magazine, the slight tug back does not release the slide right away. Takes 2 or 3 tugs..... what could be the cause of this.

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Um not using the slide release

mavracer said:

Um not using the slide release

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I always thought the primary function of the lever was a slide stop, not release?

It is and that is how the factory designed it on the original G17...It is a Slide Stop, Part #27 below

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sorry just used the term the OP used. It also says you can use the slide stop to release slide. prolly why they put the lever on the outside instead of a internal part

I know the slide stop on my XD can get pretty tight if I haven't fired it in a while, but after one magazine its easy to release again.

9mmepiphany said:

It is hard enough getting folks to refer to parts and functions by the correct names, can we at least use the names the manufacturers gave them, rather than making up our own...to make communication clearer

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^^^ Agree ^^^

Actually the slide stop is placed on the outside so that the slide can be locked to the rear, without inserting an empty magazine, to show that the gun is clear during inspection. It's tactical use is to lock the slide to the rear when clearing a Type 3 stoppage

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Just in the mood to argue eh, prey tell why then are the serrated/checkered gripping surfaces of so many guns appear on the top side of the slide stop.
Also the OP's problem is the best arguement against training to slingshot the slide.

9mmepiphany said:

Actually the slide stop is placed on the outside so that the slide can be locked to the rear, without inserting an empty magazine, to show that the gun is clear during inspection. It's tactical use is to lock the slide to the rear when clearing a Type 3 stoppage

The original G17 slides were not hardened in the area where the slide contacts the slide stop as it was not intended that users would release the slide in that manner. American users experienced the slide wearing down in that area, causing the slide to not lock back on an empty magazine, due to users using the lever to release the slide

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This is good information!! I did not know that about early Glocks! Learned something!!

Since this is my first post, I'm certainly not inclined to "just argue," particularly with a moderator. However, I do believe that, from the beginning, Glock slides and barrels were Tenifered, which IS the hardening treatment. I don't believe that any part of the slide was NOT Tenifered. I don't use the slide stop lever as a slide release. I do use the "four-fingers-over-the-slide" method for cycling.

9mmepiphany said:

I never teach clients/students to release their slide by slingshoting it. I teach retracting the slide by grabbing it in an overhand grip and pulling it to the rear while the frame is pushed forward. This would have addressed the OP problem...as noted in post #7

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I bought my first g17 in 1996 as a duty weapon. We were taught in the academy NOT to use the slide lock as a release without first pulling back in the manner 9mmepiphany described above because, as he also stated, that part of the slide was prone to wear.

I don't know why they texture the top of the slide lock, I wasn't around when they started and I've never questioned it. However, I suspect it is for the same reason that many pistols have a squared/hooked triggerguard and forward slide serrations...which shouldn't be used at all.

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first you claim ignorance then try to state an opinion as fact like your all knowing. maybe if you'd read the Glock manual instead of just looking at the pictures, you wouldn't seem so confused.

glock owners manual said:

After the last round has been fired, the slide remains open. Remove the empty magazine from the weapon by pushing the magazine catch (19). Insert a new magazine and then either push the slide stop lever (27) downwards (see photo), or pull the slide slightly backwards and allow it to spring forwards. The weapon is now again secured and ready to fire.

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I own eight Glocks and I've never had this problem. I have had Glock replace an entire gun (1993 Gen2 23) and years later the frame on that same gun. I've also had them replace a couple of magazines. All at their expense totally.

Give them a call. You just might get a deal like I got.

You've use poor judgement in presuming that I haven't read the Glock manual or that I'm confused. I read it before attend training prior to our department evaluating the Glock as a duty weapon. I'm not saying that you can't use the slide stop to release the slide. What I'm saying is that I don't recommend it and that the original G17 (early 80s) wasn't designed to be used in that manner.

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Well if you've read the glock manual which says " push the slide stop lever (27) downwards" and still contend that "the original G17 (early 80s) wasn't designed to be used in that manner."
Then very obviously there is a lack of understanding somewhere on your part.
But then again if the army asked JMB for a thumb safety be added to the 1910 model so that a soldier could safely reholster it with a round already chambered and he designs it so that the thumb safety locks the sear and slide and it will only engage while the hammer is in fact cocked and a holster is by it's very definition a means to carry. Then how the heck can you say he didn't design the 1911 to be carried cocked and locked.

Sorry to jump into a month-old thread, but I noticed this and thought I might...just for giggles.

Then very obviously there is a lack of understanding somewhere on your part.
But then again if the army asked JMB for a thumb safety be added to the 1910 model so that a soldier could safely reholster it with a round already chambered and he designs it so that the thumb safety locks the sear and slide and it will only engage while the hammer is in fact cocked and a holster is by it's very definition a means to carry. Then how the heck can you say he didn't design the 1911 to be carried cocked and locked.

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"Cocked and Locked, the way JMB intended!" is a popular cry, but unfortunately...it has no basis in fact. If Browning had any intent...which is doubtful...it was to use the half-cock as a safety since that's how he designed all his other hammer guns prior to the 1911.

Browning provided several options, and left it to the US Army to decide how the pistol was to be carried. Beyond that, he probably didn't give a rotund rodent's rump. The 1911 pistol was an assignment. He gave them what they asked for. Nothing more.

"For reholstering" was meant for the mounted cavalryman in order to free up both hands when he found himself trying to hang onto a bucking, frightened horse...and it was assumed that he would then redraw the pistol and carry on with the action at hand. If offers no proof or indication that it was meant to be carried in Condition One.

Neither did Army protocol allow for continuous carry in that mode, and plainly stated that wasn't the intent of the thumb safety in early field manuals, cautioning the conscripts not to carry it in the holster in that manner.

The pistol can be carried cocked and locked...but it was neither designed nor intended specifically to be carried that way.