Manually Racking The First Round

[CPO15]

earle: your method (slingshot) was pretty much how I was taught to chamber the first round. In fact, until my Kahrs, I always thought that using the slide stop lever was harmful to the gun. After all, it is a slide STOP lever; not a slide GO lever.

[jocko]

aw, shucks, u mean people really don't read the "manuals".

I could not properly rack my PM9 with any consistency until I had a few thousands rounds through it, Now itis a breeze BUT BUT I read the manual, so I never gripped about the gun not working right, just ol jocko needed sent back to the factory for a quick tutorial in "Manual reading"

Kahrs manuals are very important reading as there are a few KEY STATEMENTS on proper insertion of the slide lock lever, proper insertion of the outter recoil spring and oh yes proper usage of the slide release lever.

[earle8888]

OK not everybody has the same experience. I thought that "sling Shot" method was grasping the slide with thumb and index finger and pulling the slide to the rear. Thats not what I was explaining. I have only two Kahrs PM40 and P45 I have used the PUSH THRU method without any problems from first magazine to the last ones, abouat 2100 40's and 2500 45's.

[jocko]

hand over the top of slide and push/pull should get excellent results. The thumb and index finger is probably used more than anything but has been stated many times that it is not the "proper" way to do it. Hell my G19 is so easy that I think if I could get me teeth around it, I could rack that slide, anyway I want to rack my G19 produces perfect results. Never have I seen a gun as rackable as my G19. Not unlike MY PM9, If it ride that slide at all, it will FTRB..

[xmanridesred]

I was told during my training not to use the slide STOP lever to release the slide, but it is so natural to me to use it as a release that it never sank in. During my break in with the pm9 i used both methods to chamber a round and didnt have problems either way. I have been trying to drill into my dads head for a while now that his motor skills will not exist during a emergency and that he needs to have a round in the chamber at all times while carrying. I doubt he will ever listen.

[wrainwater]

I don't feel 100% comfortable manually racking the slide for the first round. I feel good letting the pistol do it's thing by my using the slide release. My only contribution here is that I always carry a round in the chamber, but when I chamber the first round by releasing the slide, I never remove the magazine to top up. I figure its better to let the gun do its own thing and I shouldn't mess with the positioning of the second round and that I will not manually improve reliability by the process of topping up. I'll just go with the 6 rounds total.

[jeepster09]

Hand racking a Kahr pistol is an issue. I spoke with a guy at Kahr about this a while back and was told the following:

"When you design a small packaged lightweight pistol in a reasonably large caliber, the "rules" significantly change. One of them is, you need strong springs to ensure the slide (having diminushed weight due to smaller size) cycles properly. As a result of strong springs,2 things occur.

1 - Most people cannot pull the Kahr slide back far enough (although they think they can). Hence not enough velocity to feed the round.

2 - Most folks when releasing the slide release will "ride" it just enough to slow velocity causing a jam. "

These conditions are especially prevelant when the gun is new and everything is pretty tight. I have experienced this issue myself.

Now.... all that being said, as my PM9 has aged, the springs have taken a set and I can pull the slide back, release, and successfully load a round into the chamber. My CCW ammo is high quality and I routinely recycle it. I have all the confidence in the world that when I pull the trigger it is going to go boom. I believe odds of my getting a "dud" are slim to none.

Just my .02

Sounds reasonable, however my Sig 365 does not have this problem.