How does using the slide release damage a glock17?

[davy]

I was shooting my g17 at a range the other night and after putting in a new clip, I pressed down on the slide release to chamber a round per my usual routine. The guy watching from behind told me that I should pull the slide farther back and release it to chamber the round instead of just pushing down the slide release and let the slide launch forward on its own. Something about being bad for the gun.

I'm not sure if he's just messing with me, can somebody clear this for me please?

[In_this_city]

The metal on metal contact COULD cause wear and tear on the slide and/or slide stop. But its a Glock and Ive never had to replace the slide stop on my 17 because of using it to release the slide.

Or its because youre putting a "clip" in your gun. sorry I had too

[GL0Ck]

not sure about glock 17, but ive done this PLENTY of times on numerous autos, i dont see it being any different then the actual cycle when firing, the slide is designed to move at a high rate of speed.

if you see him again, ask him if he grabs the slide every time he fires a round and returns it gently

[Astig Boy]

Age old debate. Some say it is a slide release, some say it is a slide stop. Releasing the slide from the slide stop will wear the slide notch to the point where the slide will no longer lock back. So you should "sling shot" the slide to return to battery. Dumb. Just do what ever your comfortable with. A slide should never wear that much. You should of told him, "By the time I wear the slide notch down, I would of got my moneys worth and it would be time to buy another one." And then go on to ask him if that were truly the case, then why do they sell "extended slide releases".

[ZombieTactics]

My personal take is that it's better to rack the round into place than to use the slide-release. This has nothing to do with wearing out the gun. I've been shooting for decades and have never seen a worn out slide release cause a failure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as it's clear that it does. This just seems to be less of an issue than some would like to imply.

My reasoning goes to the fact that racking the slide is a nearly 100% applicable technique across various designs and models, while the use of the slide-release is not. This is because some manufacturers clearly tell you that on some model of theirs it is NOT designed (in that case) to be a release, but rather a catch or a stop.

It's been said that racking is also slightly more reliable in that the spring becomes fully compressed, rather than sending the slide home from the less compressed position where it is stopped by the catch/release mechanism. This makes a certain sort of sense, but I am not firmly convinced that their is a clear advantage.

[Twinsen]

Don't worry about it. Just don't do it on an empty chamber where there's no steel-brass-steel, and instead is just steel-steel.

[OneSevenDeuce]

It's not going to hurt the gun. The slide stop on Glocks isn't exactly conducive to being able to use it to return the gun to battery because of its small size though. That's why most people just pull back on the slide. It's better for defensive situations too. Gross muscle movement v. manipulating things with your digits. You aren't doing any harm by using it though.

[Ed_Hazard]

[iareConfusE]

You put clips in your Glocks?! You should have a gunsmith check that out, I don't think that's normal.

[temecula]

I was shooting my g17 at a range the other night and after putting in a new clip, I pressed down on the slide release to chamber a round per my usual routine. The guy watching from behind told me that I should pull the slide farther back and release it to chamber the round instead of just pushing down the slide release and let the slide launch forward on its own. Something about being bad for the gun.

I'm not sure if he's just messing with me, can somebody clear this for me please?

When the slide is out of battery. You can push it down but I shouldn't push it instead of let it goes by itself.

[VictorFranko]

My personal take is that it's better to rack the round into place than to use the slide-release. This has nothing to do with wearing out the gun. I've been shooting for decades and have never seen a worn out slide release cause a failure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as it's clear that it does. This just seems to be less of an issue than some would like to imply.

My reasoning goes to the fact that racking the slide is a nearly 100% applicable technique across various designs and models, while the use of the slide-release is not. This is because some manufacturers clearly tell you that on some model of theirs it is NOT designed (in that case) to be a release, but rather a catch or a stop.

It's been said that racking is also slightly more reliable in that the spring becomes fully compressed, rather than sending the slide home from the less compressed position where it is stopped by the catch/release mechanism. This makes a certain sort of sense, but I am not firmly convinced that their is a clear advantage.

ZT is spot on. Rack the slide like you mean it. Your life may depend on it some day.
Also, Glock refers to this piece as a "slide stop lever" not a slide release.

[swifty]

...can somebody clear this for me please?

You are not going to damage your Glock. The slide "stop" is designed to be a stop, not a release, that is why it is small.

In Glock firearms training, the factory teaches you to pull the slide to rear to Load, Unload, Clear a malfunction and Release the slide from a slide locked position. In training, they felt that there was no need to teach the operator to push down on an itty bitty lever for only one scenario. Racking the slide is used for all drills and functions.

[Prowler]

My personal take is that it's better to rack the round into place than to use the slide-release. This has nothing to do with wearing out the gun. I've been shooting for decades and have never seen a worn out slide release cause a failure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as it's clear that it does. This just seems to be less of an issue than some would like to imply.

My reasoning goes to the fact that racking the slide is a nearly 100% applicable technique across various designs and models, while the use of the slide-release is not. This is because some manufacturers clearly tell you that on some model of theirs it is NOT designed (in that case) to be a release, but rather a catch or a stop.

It's been said that racking is also slightly more reliable in that the spring becomes fully compressed, rather than sending the slide home from the less compressed position where it is stopped by the catch/release mechanism. This makes a certain sort of sense, but I am not firmly convinced that their is a clear advantage.

This... It works both ways, however it would probably be more reliabe to do it this way.

[shy 7th]

I figure: if they didn't want me to use it, they wouldn't have put the checkering on it and they wouldn't have put it in just the right place for my fingers to activate it.

Heck, if they wanted me to pull the silde every time, they might was well just make the slide "stop" an internal feature and not give me access to it at all (sort of like how the automatics have done away with or buried the hammer inside the gun, instead of outside like 1911s and S/A revolvers).

[BamBam-31]

My personal take is that it's better to rack the round into place than to use the slide-release. This has nothing to do with wearing out the gun. I've been shooting for decades and have never seen a worn out slide release cause a failure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as it's clear that it does. This just seems to be less of an issue than some would like to imply.

My reasoning goes to the fact that racking the slide is a nearly 100% applicable technique across various designs and models, while the use of the slide-release is not. This is because some manufacturers clearly tell you that on some model of theirs it is NOT designed (in that case) to be a release, but rather a catch or a stop.

It's been said that racking is also slightly more reliable in that the spring becomes fully compressed, rather than sending the slide home from the less compressed position where it is stopped by the catch/release mechanism. This makes a certain sort of sense, but I am not firmly convinced that their is a clear advantage.

This.