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How To Load & Unload Your Semi-Auto Pistol

Always good to review the basics...and this article is pretty clear cut (that’s usually good, imho).
One thing disappointed - they make no reference- that i saw - to reading over the owners manual. That’s where you’ll find any specific ‘irregularities’ or recommendations particular to your new gun.
Major oversight; your opinion may differ...
(Disclaimer: I only read the article quickly. Didn’t watch any vids)
 
I always get a flashlight and peer down the muzzle to see if my handgun is loaded.
As an aside, it works well for revolvers, rifles and shotguns.

All kidding aside, when loading the semi-auto it is always preferable to use the retained spring pressure of the slide to load the chamber.
Allowing the slide to ride forward under restraint from the hand is a sure way to produce erratic function including jams.
That is the primary reason the chamber should always be loaded in a self defense handgun carried as part of one's kit.
I have been carrying semi-autos since 1982 and have seen first hand the results of improperly loading the semi-auto (of all makes and models). This also applies to semi-auto rifles and carbines.
I would assume it also applies to the Ma Duce and other heavies.
 
This article recommends grabbing the slide with your dominant hand in the overhand method. Not sure I can agree with this. I use the overhand method more than not, but I hold the frame with my dominant hand and rack the slide with my non dominant hand in a push-pull action. I can’t even imagine grabbing the slide with my dominant hand, then switching hands to hold the gun to shoot. Am I missing something?
 
uspatriot1960 said:
This article recommends grabbing the slide with your dominant hand in the overhand method. Not sure I can agree with this. I use the overhand method more than not, but I hold the frame with my dominant hand and rack the slide with my non dominant hand in a push-pull action. I can’t even imagine grabbing the slide with my dominant hand, then switching hands to hold the gun to shoot. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
I wondered about that... like so many of these articles it’s probably just hurried writing, followed by hurried proofreading by a non-gun editor who has no idea what’s being said.
This is what they invented the “Technical Writer/Editor” job specialty for.
 
uspatriot1960 said:
This article recommends grabbing the slide with your dominant hand in the overhand method. Not sure I can agree with this. I use the overhand method more than not, but I hold the frame with my dominant hand and rack the slide with my non dominant hand in a push-pull action. I can’t even imagine grabbing the slide with my dominant hand, then switching hands to hold the gun to shoot. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone does that. I suppose as advice to new shooters who may or may not be able to comfortably rack the slide it could make sense to use your dominant hand, but to me it seems like a lot of unnecessary moving the gun around for little/no real benefit and some increased risk.
 
uspatriot1960 said:
This article recommends grabbing the slide with your dominant hand in the overhand method. Not sure I can agree with this. I use the overhand method more than not, but I hold the frame with my dominant hand and rack the slide with my non dominant hand in a push-pull action. I can’t even imagine grabbing the slide with my dominant hand, then switching hands to hold the gun to shoot. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
I think this is addressing doing this as an administrative function—that is, doing it when you are not under any pressure and have all the time in the world to do it right.

Doing it a couple of times with my dominant (right) hand, I discovered it’s a lot easier to catch the ejected round; it falls right into the palm of my hand.
 
Meh, maybe...
HansGruber said:
I think this is addressing doing this as an administrative function—that is, doing it when you are not under any pressure and have all the time in the world to do it right.

Doing it a couple of times with my dominant (right) hand, I discovered it’s a lot easier to catch the ejected round; it falls right into the palm of my hand.
Click to expand...
actually u could be right Hans; I can see that possibility. But I kinda doubt it, and obviously , they didn’t say.
Either way, they made a writer’s error by forcing a reader - or a message board like this - to untangle what they meant. I stand by my “tech writer/editor” post earlier (not that anyone took issue with it).
Wanted to throw this out to trained gun instructors and those teaching informally such as mentioned on some Mother’s Day threads:
One of my BCs (battalion commanders) COL Rust once told us on staff: “ Orders have to be issued so they can be understood by everyone- but also such that they cannot be misunderstood by anyone! “
like everything else these gun articles are edited for brevity & space (gotta get those ads in!), but it has the potential to be dangerous. Wonder if thats why I generally see the same kinda stuff over & over: kinda sorta useful, most often only reminder-ish... but almost never anything “new”.
 
uspatriot1960 said:
This article recommends grabbing the slide with your dominant hand in the overhand method. Not sure I can agree with this. I use the overhand method more than not, but I hold the frame with my dominant hand and rack the slide with my non dominant hand in a push-pull action. I can’t even imagine grabbing the slide with my dominant hand, then switching hands to hold the gun to shoot. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
This would apply only if you were left-handed.
Good catch!
 
I noticed the switching hands thing also. I thought maybe the article was written by a woman, and her thinking was that some women may lack the grip strength in their non-dominant hand to grip the slide tight enough to rack it. If that were the case for a woman of my acquaintance, I would likely discourage her from using a semi-auto.
 
somorris said:
I noticed the switching hands thing also. I thought maybe the article was written by a woman, and her thinking was that some women may lack the grip strength in their non-dominant hand to grip the slide tight enough to rack it. If that were the case for a woman of my acquaintance, I would likely discourage her from using a semi-auto.
Click to expand...
Excellent point!
Revolvers eliminate most of the issues presented by the semi-automatic.
My wife, owner of a Ruger 45, a Walther PPKS, and a Glock 36 wound up with the Colt's King Cobra.
Smooth trigger, potent caliber, stainless steel, positive loading/unloading but a tad wider that the semis.
She had been grousing about needing better hand strength for over a year.
 
Thanks iklwa! There is a tendency sometimes to forget that a lot of shooters, especially new shooters are women. That is a great thing, but often forums like this are majority men and we tend to forget we have women around, even here. :)
 
somorris said:
Thanks iklwa! There is a tendency sometimes to forget that a lot of shooters, especially new shooters are women. That is a great thing, but often forums like this are majority men and we tend to forget we have women around, even here. :)
Click to expand...
Hey, I had two younger brothers.
I couldn't wait to finally have a woman of my own!
Of course, they didn't give classes on how to choose a good one so I made a poor decision on the first go.
Thank God He put me on the right track for the second go and did I get a peach!
We have been together for 34 years and married for 33.
Everyone should be so lucky.

Retailers also need to remember, the Ladies have half of the money (at least). So do smart manufacturers and magazine writers/editors.
 
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