Slide drop upon mag insertion.

[HughJaynus]

Hello I was hoping anyone could offer me some advice on an issue I have been experiencing on my Ruger American 45 pistol. I have had the gun in storage for a few months, removed excess oil and took it to the range a few weeks back. I went to try some Fiocchi 45 self defense rounds as well as, some regular blazer brass ball rounds to see how they perform.

I locked the slide open and as I put the first mag the slide falls and chambers a round prematurely on the Fiocchi ammo. The gun gets locked up and would not get free after multiple times taking the mag in and out of the gun. Eventually the I get the gun out of derp mode and clear it. I proceed to clean the oil off gun, cycle some rounds take it down and repeat the process. Still the magazine insertion causes the slide to drop.

I clearly may have over oiled the gun for storage, my question is would oil getting into the passages of the striker or other components cause the slide drop issue, or is this common in other firearms? I have been fortunate to have never experienced this in any other firearm. Anyone's help or input is greatly appreciated.

[gabe123]

I have no experience with Ruger, but it is reported to be quite common with HKs, especially with standard cap mags. But with HKs, the first round would be loaded successfully and the gun ready to go, not jammed. Not slamming the mag home would help.

[Robert1234]

The gun jamming is probably an ammo issue.

Gun auto forwarding is either the best thing since sliced bread, or worse than actual armageddon, depending on who you ask.

Me, I'm a fan of the auto forward, its what I need to happen when I change mags,, and saves me a step. Others feel differently and will be here in a minute to start arguing the issue. If you stick around long enough, you might get to see some name calling and aspersion-casting. Cause, Calguns.

[Fastattack]

Can't talk about Ruger, but it's been known to happen to me more than once on my M&P if I slam the mag real hard with the heal of my hand. It just jars the slide free on impact.

[crufflers]

Wasn't that a on-purpose "feature" on some guns?

[Gun Kraft]

It's all physics. There are four forces involved:
1. The force the the recoil spring pushing the slide forward. (relatively strong)
2. The force of the slide catch spring pushing the slide catch down. (very weak)
3. Both of those cause friction between the side of the slide catch and the notch in the slide. Oil will reduce some of that friction. If you use the slide catch to drop the slide that wear and polish will reduce friction as well, resulting in less effort needed for the slide catch to release the slide.
4. How hard you slam the mag in causes the entire pistol (and slide) to move up while inertia will initially delay the slide catch's movement. If that inertia can overcome the friction, the slide will drop.

That's all there is to it. If you're not used to the slide dropping by itself it can take you a moment to realize what happened before you proceed. If you're used to it happening occasionally then it may not cause any delays. Like anything it's a matter of practice.

[ABR]

Wasn't that a on-purpose "feature" on some guns?

My HK USP does it since day one.

[Fastattack]

It's all physics. There are four forces involved:
1. The force the the recoil spring pushing the slide forward. (relatively strong)
2. The force of the slide catch spring pushing the slide catch down. (very weak)
3. Both of those cause friction between the side of the slide catch and the notch in the slide. Oil will reduce some of that friction. If you use the slide catch to drop the slide that wear and polish will reduce friction as well, resulting in less effort needed for the slide catch to release the slide.
4. How hard you slam the mag in causes the entire pistol (and slide) to move up while inertia will initially delay the slide catch's movement. If that inertia can overcome the friction, the slide will drop.

That's all there is to it. If you're not used to the slide dropping by itself it can take you a moment to realize what happened before you proceed. If you're used to it happening occasionally then it may not cause any delays. Like anything it's a matter of practice.

Agreed, and as an aside, the opposite issue has also happened to me, where the knuckle of my thumb bumps against the slide-stop lever on recoil and it holds the slide open. This happens on my Sig Mosquito (yeah, I know, not much recoil, yet it happens). It took an observer to help me figure out what was actually happening.

[WWDHD?]

Can't talk about Ruger, but it's been known to happen to me more than once on my M&P if I slam the mag real hard with the heal of my hand. It just jars the slide free on impact.

My S&W M&P 9mm will auto-forward if I shove a full magazine in hard with the slide locked back. Cool trick but I don't do it often and mostly practice with it as I'm used to things- insert magazine, reach over the top and grab the back end of the slide between my fingers and base of my palm and yank the slide back hard to chamber a round.
I have not noticed this happen with any other pistol I own.

[hermosabeach]

With Glock, it can become a regular thing. When training, don't rely on the auto slide release function


this is a normal occurrence- gun is fine

[broadside]

I hate it when it does NOT happen!

[OCEquestrian]

My HK VP9's all have done it from day one. I would be upset if they did not. As long as the slide always locks to the rear on an empty mag.. its all good!

[Olav]

That’s what she said

[enorbit3]

My G19 does this when i slam in a mag. I think its a normal occurrence, as others have mentioned

[jyo]

Does not happen with my HKs!

I have no experience with Ruger, but it is reported to be quite common with HKs, especially with standard cap mags. But with HKs, the first round would be loaded successfully and the gun ready to go, not jammed. Not slamming the mag home would help.

I own several HK pistols in 9mm and 45 ACP---none of them close the slide upon inserting the magazine. They are both full-size and compact pistols with standard capacity and 10 rd magazines... Just sayin'...