people giving wrong info

[rmr1923]

a helpful customer actually saved me quite a few bucks when i was looking for an M1 Garand as a present for my dad not too long ago. i didn't know a whole lot about the gun other than the basics, and a salesman at a local gun store was, as i'd find out in the not-too-distant future, giving me all sorts of bad and incorrect info. after he walked behind the counter to check on something, a customer came up and offered his expert opinion on the rifle and actually spent about 30 minutes going through the store's inventory and telling me what the different serial numbers and stamps/markings on the barrels and stocks meant. i couldn't believe he would just come out of the blue and start offering advice like that, and from the research i've done since that day i believe that everything he told me is completely accurate, so i was real grateful that he was kind enough to help me out when he had nothing personally to gain from it. if i saw a salesman offering bad advice or completely inaccurate information to an unknowing customer, i'd probably step in and help if the salesman were to step away for a moment.

[03Lightningrocks]

If she wasn't strong enough to operate the slide release, she might as well not be strong enough to pull the slide far enough to the rear to properly chamber a round. In this case, I side with the advice. That is what Kahr, for example, states is the proper way to chamber a round.

I've never seen it called a slide release in any owner's manual (could be, just never seen it). On mine they call it the slide stop because it's primary function is to lock the slide back after the last round. With an empty magazine in the gun, the slide stop is harder to move than with a loaded magazine. So with a loaded magazine either way is correct - pull back slightly and release or move the slide stop.

Could be totally wrong but that's the way it seems to me.

Phill

You may be correct! I have to look in my manuals I never read.

[Katygunnut]

I recently had this experience from the other perspective (that of a clueless customer). This was a new experience for me, because I usually make a practice of doing my research before I buy something, and I typically know more about the item than the salesperson or other customers. Given this, I am usually annoyed by well meaning customers that want to offer their (most often times misguided) advice and perspective.

I went to the HSLR Rodeo Friday night (Alan Jackson was great), and it got me wanting to get a pair of boots. I have never owned boots aside from combat boots I wore in the Army, and I am generally very ignorant on the topic. I was out with a friend on Saturday (who is just as clueless about boots) and we stopped in at Cavendars to get me a pair on a bit of a whim. I did not do any research before hand.

The sales guy at Cavendars was very friendly in helping me find the right size and fit, etc. Assuming he was telling me the truth, they are supposed to be a bit loose in the heel, which felt different than what I was used to. In this case, I know that I would have appreciated someone speaking up if the salesguy was in fact giving me bad advice before I dropped around $250 on something I didn't know much about. I would imagine that an uninformed gun buyer would probably feel the same way.

The boots he sold me look great and are very comfortable. I also remembered why I hate buying something without doing the research. I felt very helpless by the whole situation. I won't be doing that again.

[HadEmAll]

If she wasn't strong enough to operate the slide release, she might as well not be strong enough to pull the slide far enough to the rear to properly chamber a round. In this case, I side with the advice. That is what Kahr, for example, states is the proper way to chamber a round.

I've never seen it called a slide release in any owner's manual (could be, just never seen it). On mine they call it the slide stop because it's primary function is to lock the slide back after the last round. With an empty magazine in the gun, the slide stop is harder to move than with a loaded magazine. So with a loaded magazine either way is correct - pull back slightly and release or move the slide stop.

Could be totally wrong but that's the way it seems to me.

Phill

No, you are correct. I've just gotten in the habit over the years of calling it what I'm trying to do with it at the moment. In this case, after it has "stopped" the slide from going forward, you are now switching to the "release" mode of it.

I was trying to say that one of the most common malfunctions beginners and careless non-beginners introduce in a semi-automatic is not being capable of properly releasing the slide smartly to allow it to chamber a round. So many people try to follow the slide to its closed position and don't allow it to close using the full force of the recoil spring.

That's why Kahr says the only proper way to chamber a round is to release the slide using the slide-okay-stop.

As I say, you are correct. Maybe you will be the one to let Wikipedia know. Here's what they have to say, direct quote:

"Slide stop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A slide stop, also referred to as a slide release, on a semi-automatic handgun is a function that visually indicates when a handgun has expended all loaded ammunition and facilitates faster re-loading by removing the step of pulling back the slide to advance the first round of a new magazine. In many cases, this is achieved by replacing the magazine and activating a push-button or lever release to load the first cartridge into the chamber."