"dropping the slide" on an empty chamber

[Kyle1886]

I just read that "dropping the slide" on an empty chamber repeatedly can damage a pistol. The pistol in question was a 1911 type. My questions are:

1-What type of damage can result?

2-Does this apply to all pistols or is it 1911 type specific? (Striker fired Glock type -vs- Browning, etc).

Thank you for the education.

Kyle

 

[cavman]

For 1911s, I have heard that it will ruin a good trigger; i.e. the hammer/sear interface

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

If done enough, it can in batter frames and slides. With 1911s, particularly those that have sear/hammer engagement compromised - sorry, I mean trigger jobs to make the pull lighter - it can damage this as well. It is also poor etiquette to take someone else's gun and go around slamming the slide. But you would have to sit around for hours purposely doing it to damage anything. Why would you? It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer and then complaining because you have a headache.

 

[1KPerDay]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=586154

some good info there fyi

 

[Kyle1886]

1KperDay, I think that is the link that I had read and was just wondering how/what gets damaged since firing the pistol does the same thing, only one strips a round from the mag, the other does not.

That's why I was wondering if striker versus hammer/pin has anything to do with the "possible damage"??

Thanks-Kyle

 

[EddieNFL]

The rounds acts as a buffer.

Drop the slide on a empty chamber, then repeat with a loaded mag and notice the speed delta.

 

[Guns and more]

I use snap caps in all my semi-autos. Cheap insurance.
I once bought "weighted dummy rounds" on the advice here, but they have an empty primer pocket, so they are worthless as heavy snap caps. Save your money.

 

[whatnickname]

Agree with EddyNFL

The round acts as a cushion of sorts. Probably doesn't hurt to do it on a rare occasion or two. Making a practice of doing this and you can batter both slide and frame eventually until damage occurs. Besides, as someone else pointed out, it's just plain bad manners...much along the same line as flipping a revolver with the cylinder open to get it to go back into battery...you know like the do in the movies. sooner or later you're going to bend the yoke to the point that the cylinder will bind up.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

I had a young fella next to me Sunday at the club with his father's mark IV GC "NM". He kept slamming the slide shut on an empty chamber.
I couldn't help myself, I asked him to PLEASE stop doing that......:banghead:

 

[GLOOB]

Slamming two pieces of steel together, repeatedly, will change their properties. IOW, it work hardens the parts that are being slammed. Sure, shooting is violent, but the recoil spring and the round being chambered absorb some of the impact. Also, when you drop a slide with a lever, the velocity is typically even faster than when shooting or slingshotting, because of your hand's inertia.

 

[wally]

Ain't much of a gun if doing this occasionally will break it. It will happen eventually as soon as you get a mag that fails to lock back or you accidentally fail to seat a mag completely, or hit the mag release while shooting. None are common but if you shoot much you'll encounter them all eventually.

OTOH nothing good will come form a steady diet of doing this for "show". All guns break eventually -- no point being stupid to speed things up!

 

[Birdmang]

Will dropping the slide on my revolver damage the slide?


:/

 

[Drail]

While it may not "break it" it is abusive and uneccessary. The best analogy is slamming the door on your car as hard as you can. It probably won't "break it" but it will loosen up the latching mechanism a little every time you do it. Don't do it. Lots of guys do it because they don't know better or don't believe it hurts anything but ask anyone who works on 1911s and they'll tell you not to do it if you want to enjoy the accuracy of nice 1911. Like some one else posted, it can damage the hammer and sear surfaces of a gun that has had the hammer/sear engagement reduced for a light crisp pull. With the ultra light triggers available now it's less likely to happen than in the old days of steel triggers but there is still no reason to drop a slide on empty with any type of semi auto. The barrel lugs will get hammered pretty hard and start to flange.

 

[Jed Carter]

Problems may be more prevalent with MIM parts commonly used thes days. Not to mention cast frames and slides.

 

[nalioth]

Somebody probably should have told the military about this back in 1911.

The manual of arms for a 1911 involves a lot of "dropping the slide on an empty chamber".



I call this "Another case of internet information overload"

 

[JohnBT]

Maybe it took a little time after the introduction of the 1911 for anyone to notice the problem.

And what does the government care if they wear stuff out. They don't pay for replacements, we do.

 

[InkEd]

If you sit around and do it for several hours a day non-stop, eventually it would cause some excess wear to it. I wouldn't worry about it.

People seem to have forgotten lately that guns are made of strong metal and designed to guide thousands upon thousands of projectiles launched by small explosions.

I am not saying to improperly care for your firearms BUT they are alot tougher than most people will ever realize.

 

[Drail]

Use it as designed or abuse it. The tolerances on GI guns were so loose when new that any "damage" from dropping the slide is negligible and people weren't running 18.5 lb. recoil springs or lightened sear springs or aluminum triggers in them either. Comparing a GI 1911 to a modern tuned 1911 has no relevance. The people who wrote the GI manuals weren't machinists or armorers. Take a hammer and punch made from modern tool steel and bang them together long enough and look at what happens to the nice square machined surfaces. The corners will flow out and the metal will work harden and crack. It is a very tough material but it's not indestructable.

 

[nalioth]

Use it as designed or abuse it. The tolerances on GI guns were so loose when new that any "damage" from dropping the slide is negligible and people weren't running 18.5 lb. recoil springs or lightened sear springs in them either. Comparing a GI 1911 to a modern tuned 1911 is silly.

. . . and therein lies the problem.

 

[shootingthebreeze]

Which brings about another interesting concept which was brought up recently about chambering a round over 5 times which can cause failure in the round and damage to the weapon.
Have a dedicated round chambered and leave it in; fire it off at the range. Have at least a spare magazine to load and give your magazines time outs, unloaded, to keep the spring healthy. Switch magazines around.
That's the problem with semi autos versus revolvers. A semi auto is useless without a round chambered. Safety, safety safety-always treat a weapon as if it is loaded and ALWAYS clear a weapon after firing and make sure the weapon is clear of ammo before taking it apart for cleaning.
An armorer told me a long time ago that releasing the slide on an empty chamber can damage a weapon.

 

[Rail Driver]

If I'm closing the slide on an empty chamber with my Colt, I ride it forwards. I try hard not to let the slide slam home on an empty chamber.

 

[DTesch357]

"Have at least a spare magazine to load and give your magazines time outs, unloaded, to keep the spring healthy."

Sorry, that's just straight up incorrect. Keeping a magazine loaded does not negatively impact the spring - either keep the mag always loaded or keep it unloaded. The act of repeatedly flexing a spring is what causes it to wear out.

 

[ny32182]

I've dropped the slide of my Glock(s) many thousands of times. I have many friends who have dropped the slides of their 1911's many more thousands of times.

All our guns still work fine.

I filed this one under "Exhibit A: internet myth" several years ago, along with "dry firing is bad", "mag springs wear out from staying loaded", etc.

 

[ForumSurfer]

I filed this one under "Exhibit A: internet myth" several years ago, along with "dry firing is bad", "mag springs wear out from staying loaded", etc.

Oh look, a stampede of dead horses.

FWIW...dry firing IS bad on a few rimfires.

Is dropping the slide on an empty chamber going to create noticeable wear on a modern semi? No, but it will create wear. If you aren't going to put 25,000+ rounds through it, I doubt you will ever notice. The alternative to closing on an empty chamber, riding the slide home is going to create unnecessary spring wear. I usually ride the slide home since I replace the springs at recommended intervals, anyway. Never been a problem. YMMV.

 

[shootingthebreeze]

DT that was stated by a local gun dealer who knows a lot about firearms; he's been in the business for years.
ny, also stated by the local gun dealer that dropping the slide on an empty chamber can damage the gun. These people at this gun store have been in business before I moved to MI in 1971. Their business is firearms. I would listen to them for advice.