anyone heard of the "slam reload" technique for a Glock?

[CAS700850]

My bailiff carries a Glock 23 as a duty weapon. he and I went shooting yesterday, and shot a qualification (close quarters combat) course. I beat him, winning a bet. While paying off, he stated that this new Glock (he just purchased the gun to replace an issue Glock 23 he carried as a Probation Officer) is too stiff and he can't "slam reload" it yet. He then demonstrated what he was taught by a firearms instructor, that he slammed a loaded magazine hard into his Glock, which appeared to trip the slide release somehow, resulting in a round being chambered. I had him repeat it twice, to make sure he wasn't hitting the slide release with his thumb (he wasn't).

Anyone heard of this being taught as a technique, as he states he was taught (I can trust him when he says this)? Also, anyone know how this mechanically works, or if it is causing damage to his weapon? he's not paid well enough to replace his sidearm on a frequent basis due to a bad technique.

 

[jashobeam]

I police officer friend of mine demonstrated this to me with my Glock 17. He did not say where he had learned it or heard of it.

 

[Owen]

I can do it on my G17. I am surprised he was actually trained to do it, because as he noted, it tends not to work on brand new guns.

 

[Rexrider]

A friend of mine has a G23 that does the same thing. It is not something the Glock was designed to do, it just happens. Over the years, I have heard of this happening in other semi-autos as well.

My friend likes that fact that slamming the mag will release the slide. He considers it a bonus feature. His G23 runs just fine otherwise.

Personally, I do not consider this a "feature". I consider it a malfunction.

I certainly would not train myself to reload in this fashion. Releasing the slide is part of a reloading drill. You are now skipping this step if the gun is doing it for you. This will leave you unequipped to take this step in a high stress situation if the gun fails to do it for you or you are using a different handgun.

I have never personally encountered this with any of the Glocks I owned or any other handguns for that matter. If I ever do, the handgun in question will go to a gunsmith and/or have parts replaced.

My 2 cents on the matter.....

 

[Shipwreck]

Hell, I've seen people make posts COMPLAINING about this - some guns do it, some don't. In my opinion it is a VERY poor training technique.

 

[Whole Hog]

I took my CCW permit requalification course a couple weeks ago, from an instructor I'd never met. He told me the same thing and when I said I didn't believe him and that it wasn't supposed to happen, he took my well-used HK USP .45 and attempted to demonstrate. It didn't work in several tries and he told me it probably wasn't broken in enough. I asked him to demonstrate with his own SIG .45 and it would only work occasionally, and then only when he seated the magazine very hard. All I can figure is that slamming the magazine in somehow jars the slide enough to let the slide stop drop out of engagement. Seems like a bad idea to me - hard on the equipment and not reliable.

This same instructor told me hollowpoints were developed for law enforcement to reduce overpenetration in walls.

 

[Leanwolf]

It is not unusual when a loaded magazine is slammed into the magazine well, for the top round to be either completely turned around, or at best, going "nose up" out of the magazine lips. This jams the pistol.

Anyone who SLAMS his loaded magazine -- you know, like we see the gangstas do it in the movies -- is an absolute fool!

Good way -- in a REAL STREET SELF DEFENSE SITUATION -- to end up very, very dead, with a nicely jammed pistol in your hand.

But, you gotta admit, it really looks BOSS MACHO ... in the flicks.

L.W.

 

[crofrog]

It is not unusual when a loaded magazine is slammed into the magazine well, for the top round to be either completely turned around, or at best, going "nose up" out of the magazine lips. This jams the pistol.

Never seen or heard of this happening on a glock.

I have the slide drop itself on both my USPF45 and G19 when seating the mag's forcably.

My training has me racking the slide after any reload, so even if it does drop I still rack, and so far all the time a live round pops out.

I'd rather make sure I've got a working gun, and ergo don't worry about loosing one round.

 

[psyopspec]

This is mentioned in the manual that covers all the USP models. It mentions that it may happen from time to time if the magazine is slammed home hard enough.

Personally, I would never rely on it as a technique. However, if that particular gun is the exclusive carry of the baliff, and it performs that technique consistently, I don't know that I would be so bold as to tell him not to rely on it. With that newer Glock however, I don't think you would be out of line suggesting that he train with the magazine release.

 

[1 old 0311]

I shoot with a guy who also does this with his 23. He is also a LEO.

Kevin

 

[Trebor]

Having the slide go forward when a magazine is forcibily inserted is fairly common with many types of auto pistols. However, it is NOT a feature as it can not be relied upon to happen consistently. I would NOT reccomend any training technique that relied upon this.

 

[The-Fly]

my glock 17 does it all the time. While i am not concerned about my G17's reliability, i'd prefer for it to not do so, as my G26 (carry gun) doesnt do it, and i was taught to load the mag, slingshot the slide, then go bang.

 

[ready4shtf]

If you rest your thumb on the slide release while you slap a mag, it will release when fully inserted. My 21 and my 26 both do it. Try it with an empty mag.

 

[Bill2k1]

I can share a few things as said already, but if you tip the pistol up a bit while doing it, it will happen much more often.

 

[Kentak]

I think Trebor stated it correctly.

When I was still fairly new to Glocks, I noticed that *sometimes* when inserting a loaded mag smartly (not slamming, but not babying either), the slide would unlock and chamber a round.

I even posted about this on THR and asked how to "fix" it. I found out this was not an uncommon occurrence with Glocks, and, indeed, happens with other semi-autos as well. What happens is that the force of reloading can often cause the slide to move upward and back just enough to allow the slide lock lever to disengage. It's not a defect, but neither is it something you can count on happening, although a *really* hard slap seems to do it every time.

I agree it's not a "feature" one should count on in a SHTF situation. Train to slap the mag home smartly for positive engagement, and immediately pull the slide back to release the catch.

K

 

[Kentak]

I can share a few things as said already, but if you tip the pistol up a bit while doing it, it will happen much more often.

Exactly. And that helps demonstrate the physics of what is happening. Slamming the mag home "unweights" the slide momentarily. The fact that the pistol is tipped up makes it more likely the slide will move back slightly and allow the slide lock lever to disengage.

If you have the pistol tipped downward, or push, rather than slap, the mag home, it almost never happens.

K

 

[Yosemite**Sam]

I've seen guys and gals that I am teaching slam the magazine into the well of the weapon in order to drop the slide. I highly recommend against it. Like others have said, magazines that are not fully loaded are likely to tumble the rounds inside causing a malfunction.

Slam loading is a magazine can work, but is it really worth the risk of running a malfunction.

 

[Zundfolge]

The "Slam Reload" is not a "Feature" ... its simply a side effect of the design of autoloading pistols designed to lock the slide back after the last shot is fired.


I wouldn't rely on it.

 

[warriorsociologist]

I never do that with my pistols, but I have sent the bolt hold between mags in my AR before by giving it a swat on the buttstock. Same concept I guess.

 

[sargenv]

Well, I can say that all the people shooting IPSC who shoot Glocks use this technique to save time. I can also say that when I go to slide lock on my Sig 229, it does the exact same thing. Smartly slam the mag home and the slide goes forward and peels a round off the mag and I resume my course of fire.

Vince

 

[stevelyn]

I wouldn't teach it.

I think it's too unreliable and hokey of a method to rely upon when your's or someone else's bacon is about to drop into the fire.

 

[WeedWhacker]

One more reason to not encourage this, and in fact, discourage it:

All that excess force on the magazine is impacting against something in the receiver. We're talking cartridges or magazine feed lips/lip supports, most likely, both of which must remain within relatively tight specs to operate safely and reliably. Apparently, the whole point of the "slam reload" ... "technique" is to reload faster when you need it, do you REALLY want to be shooting bent brass or beating up the top of your magazine?

I don't. I use my Glock 17's slide stop/release lever.

 

[Leanwolf]

WEEDWHACKER - "All that excess force on the magazine is impacting against something in the receiver."

Correct!!

In fact, with any good quality semi-auto, the weakest link is the magazine, and within the magazine, the biggest problem can be the lips of the magazine.

Why take the chance of buggering up the magazine's lips by SLAMMING the mag up into the butt????

I say again, that "slam magazine" trick is in the same class as using the gangsta style of "aiming." You know, turning the handgun on its side. Of course, it surely looks super cool ... in the flicks.

L.W.

 

[dctag]

When my gun does it I still rack the slide to make sure that a round is in there. If you have an instructor teaching it as a method then you should go get some different instruction.

-David

 

[ApexinM3]

This happens with my USP as well, though I would absolutely NOT rely on this "feature". It seams to me to be too unpredictable, and as mentioned can potentially send the top round nose up. I've seen this happen (to myself at the range), and I don't *think* I'm slamming the magazines in that hard, but since it hasn't happened in a while I'm thinking I may have gotten out of the habit of clobbering my weapon/magazine so hard.

I can see how being an LEO and this happening could be a bad thing, so all the knuckleheads out there who train to rely on this "feature" are begging for trouble down the road. JMHO, FWIW.