XD slide release?

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Well I've officially joined the XD club today with the purchase of a puke brown (AKA Dark Earth) XD-9 Tactical. 

Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but in my fondling of it I find the slide stop very difficult to use and I'm wondering if it might loosen up with time.  It's so stiff that I pretty much can't release the slide with the thumb of my dominant hand and it even takes a bit of work with my non-dominant thumb.  I handled the display model they had at the shop for a while and didn't notice any issues with it so I'm hoping mine will loosen up.

Any thoughts/experiences?

Thanks.

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Smash,

Once in the open position, I change out mags andpull the slide back (one hand cupped over slide), until it stops and then release the slide. I was taught not to use the slide catch for this purpose and now its just habit. Not saying you should, but just try it next time your at the range and see if you like it.

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smash29 wrote:

Well I've officially joined the XD club today with the purchase of a puke brown (AKA Dark Earth) XD-9 Tactical. 

Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but in my fondling of it I find the slide release very difficult to use and I'm wondering if it might loosen up with time.  It's so stiff that I pretty much can't release the slide with the thumb of my dominant hand and it even takes a bit of work with my non-dominant thumb.  I handled the display model they had at the shop for a while and didn't notice any issues with it so I'm hoping mine will loosen up.

Any thoughts/experiences?

Thanks.

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You should train using it as a slide stop not as a slide release. A buddy of mine has worn his down so bad and it no longer catches on an empty magazine. A firm grip and a pull on the slide is my preferred method of training. IMO this is what works best for me.

happy carrying,


jason

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double post....still getting used to the macbook

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I agree with the others that the "slingshot" method is the better way to release the slide. One reason is that when you pull the slide all the way back and then release the slide will go forward with all the power the springs can provide, better ensuring that a round will be chambered properly.

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Interesting, hadn't really thought about that lately.

I hadpreviously beenin the habit of releasing the slide using the method you all describe because I had heard that using the slide stopas arelease could cause wear but after taking a class at SigArms Academy I started using the latter method on the advice of the instructor. Well maybe he didn't necessarily tell me to do it that way, but he wasn't all that concerned about the idea of the slide stop "release" causing wear so I took his word for it. I was young and impressionable, it was after all a whole 6 months ago!

I haven't had any trouble at all with most other guns I've used so the difficulty of releasing the slide on the XD caught me by surprise.

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I read today that the XD is now becoming amore popular pistol for Self defence along side the Glock. I have 2 XDs (XD .40cal and theXDm.40 cal. They are both really good guns.

I have never had a problem with the slide release on my XDs. I am going to start pulling back the slide as you guys said, I never thought of that before.

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I use it for it's intended purpose. It's a Slide Stop Lever. It's either used to Lock the slide to the rear manually or automatically on an empty mag. However, it's not a Slide Release button, at least that's not what any professional skematics I've ever seen calls it.

It's always called a stop, or lock. Not release.

I have used it before like that, with my XDM, but mosre time than not, I just slightly pull the slide to the rear and let it go.

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FWIW, in my CC class we were taught to NOT use the slide stop as a release after loading/reloading. The reason was driven home by the showing of an LEO training video of an LEO in a gunfight who following his reload was trying to release the slide with the slide stop instead of by racking the slide. Due to adrenaline and the natural loss of fine motor control in such situations, he just couldn't get the lever pushed down and was shot numerous times while still attempting to release the slide. Our instructor, who is also an LEO instructor, said that the incident in the training video led to LEOs nationwide changing their training to rack the slide on any reload and to only use the slide stop to lock the slide back manually when needed.

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Good call,hlh. I'verarely had occasion to close the slide on an empty magazine using the slide stop(it's most always been with at least a partially loaded magazine) and now that I've tried as you suggestit does make a difference. I'm still going to try the "slingshot" method but it's good to know that I won't have an issue should I use the slide stop occasionally.

Very informative thread everyone, I appreciate it.

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hlh wrote:

I've found the slide release is difficult to release on an empty mag,

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It's the exact opposite for every XD/XDM I've ever used.

A Full mag is heavier, and pulls against the mag release lever, making it Harder to press and release the Mag button.

An empty mag, literally shoots out of my XDM.

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hlh wrote:

Dustin wrote:

hlh wrote:

I've found the slide release is difficult to release on an empty mag,

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It's the exact opposite for every XD/XDM I've ever used.

A Full mag is heavier, and pulls against the mag release lever, making it Harder to press and release the Mag button.

An empty mag, literally shoots out of my XDM.

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We're talking about the slide release, not the magazine release.

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Well as Homer would say, DOIT !:banghead: