Last weekend I taught a women’s only Beginning Handgun Course. The ladies in the class where incredible and it was so much fun to introduce the fairer sex to handguns. All the ladies were using autoloaders (Glocks and Smith and Wessons). It took them sometime to learn how to rack the slide, but with a little instruction they all learned.
The most common mistake when new shooters are learning how to operate the slide to chamber a round or lock the slide open is to go slow. They will start applying force and then try to apply more and more force until the slide moves, and then try to let the slide go home nice and easy. It’s all those years of our parents yelling at us, “don’t break it” and “be nice.” Women seem to take those lessons better than guys.
If you are teaching someone to operate a slide, teach them to do it fast and hard. It will make it seem easier and they will get the concept faster and have more success.
After the beginner class I went to help a friend with his more advanced course. It was an intro level course so there were shooters from just starting to learn to expert level shooters. On that line, I saw the same problem from one of the expert level shooters. It seems to be the number one mistake when manipulating a firearm.
Everyone wants to be nice and gentle with their gun. The only time to be nice to your gun is when cleaning it or pressing the trigger. Everything else should be done with force and speed. Pull the slide back fast until it stops, then let it go. The gun is designed to operate that way.
Next time you are working with your gun, pay attention and make sure you haven’t picked up any bad habits.
Stay Safe,
Ben