Ouch! Be Careful

[singleVI]

This is for those of you who use the Forward Slide Serrations to rack your slides. While watching an IPSC match I saw a man almost get his thumb taken of while using them. He was using his left hand to clear the chamber of his 1911 .38 Super while gripping the Front Serrations. He racked the slide back and the live round didn't fully clear the chamber since the meaty part of his thumb was over the ejection port. The front of the bullet was pressed against the side of the barrel and slide and when he let the slide go part of the slide punched the primer and ruptured the case. Most of the gas and brass went into his hand. It was pretty nasty and had to be very painful. so...just something to always keep in mind...

[Savage]

He must have a low mount optic on the pistol. Can't think of any other reason to rack the slide in that manner. I know of a simular event when the primer of a .40 hit the ejector when the weapon was cleared. Unfortunately his hand was near the ejection port ( he was trying to catch the ejected round). Small injuries, big scare!
Savage

[singleVI]

No it had iron sights. He tilted the gun to the left so it was horizontal and his left hand was vertical like when you hold a remote. His thumb was on the right side serrations with his wrist and thumb over the ejection port.

[Savage]

Bad move!!! Always smart to keep clear of the ejection port when clearing. I use the front serrations on the slide of some of my pistols to do a press check, never to cycle the slide!! Hope he is ok, and bet he doesn't do that again!!
Savage

[toysoldier]

I once worked on a guy who put a .45 slug through his pinky. He also had powder burns on the inside of the next two fingers. Looked like he had gripped the forward slide serrations and pulled the trigger at the same time. Amazingly, the bullet went through without disrupting the neurovascular bundles. We just trimmed the damage bone and pinned it together. He was a student at the Chapman Academy in Columbia, MO. Don't think he got a passing grade.

[Dee]

Anytime your playing with pistols against the clock, your vanity may step in and cause a mistake.

[SHOOTALL]

how do ya do a PRESS check if you use the serrations on the front of the slide ?
to press check you put your thumb in the trigger bow and fore finger on the front of the slide below the barrel and press !
for safety never open any action where part of your body is exposed !
But most do it !
the only thing front cocking serrations do for me is cut the holster !
DEE good thought !

[Dee]

Wanna be fast? Practice slow. Wanna be accurate? Practice good form. Wanna win a fight? Throw the damn clock away, and work on your mind set.
I don't condemn IDPA or any of the other "sports". But you can't pack competition into a real fight, when it comes to realism. Only an armed and determined opponent can really tell you if you can keep a clear head, and "WILL" stand and fight. And WILL YOU STAND AND FIGHT is the crux of the matter. I sat in some ready rooms and listened to some tuff men talk fight and actually "long for one", that froze on the street when reality got them by the butt.
This accident to me is no more than a carpet burn or broke neck in the NFL, a broke nose in the NHL, or a torn ligament in the NBA. You keep petting a mean dog and he will eventually bite you. This guy got bit. Lucky the dog didn't bite anyone else. JMO
I have watched some of these "shootists" on TV, that teach fighting but, I haven't seen ANY of their "graveyards". Technique is a valuable thing, but reality is not a game, and this man's Technique though allowed in the competition game "sucked".
The front serrations on my 1911 are for the most part IGNORED, other than producing DRAG, in a draw, and unnecessary holster wear. However SHOOTALL, to loop one's fore finger under the front of the slide is to me EQUALLY FOOLISH. One can use the "REAR SERATTIONS" for what they were intended for. Checking the chamber, and or emptying it. With the serrations and the off hand, one can break the slide open slightly for a peek, "without risk" of loss of the fore finger or a powder burn. It is the common sense of experience, but does not have much camera appeal. No offense intended sir, but this was never condoned or allowed on my range, as I have seen the fruits of the folly.
I also once viewed the end results of one of these EXPERTS, demonstrating that if you jam the palm of your hand against the muzzle of an auto pistol causing the slide to slightly break open, the hammer would not hit the firing pin, which would give this genius time to disarm his opponent. He demonstrated with a LOADED PISTOL (not on my range). I asked the now "left handed" EXPERT if a sweeping motion would not accomplish the same thing with more POSITIVE results. He embarrassingly concurred that it would, and quite possibly, with much less pain.

[SHOOTALL]

Dee i didn't claim to do it !
only pointed out the fact the serrations have nothing to do with press checking !
to your post i would like to add if i may ,
when a fight breaks out to live is to win ! if you must withdraw to live then it is the smart thing to do !
no sport shooting addresses this fact ! most combat sport shooting starts a stage with gun holstered on the street if you don't have gun in hand WSHTF you are at a real disadvantage and behind the 8 ball from the get-go !
that deal with knocking a 1911 out of battery . i asked a friend who was in the 101 in WW-2 about it , he said its a good way to get a hole in your hand !

[Dee]

Your friend was certainly right about that. It's is just a shame that some things accepted in the name of PROPER PROCEDURE for safeties sake AREN'T, and folks unknowingly believe what they are told.
I watch occasionally some of the programs on self-defense and note that they leave out the "viciousness" REQUIRED, in winning such a fight. I suppose though PC would not allow such a thing, and this causes folks to enter into an arena they may not be prepared for.
The American Indian was the epitome of practicality in the art of fighting. They did what they had to do, to win, and they did not allow their PRIDE, to make fools of them. If the fight were not going well, they withdrew when possible, to fight another day.

[Horsefeathers]

Although pressure on the muzzle of the auto will temporarily prevent it from firing as soon as it is released the gun can fire.Who can keep pressure with one hand? You can disable a revolver with one hand by gripping the cylinder. As was previously mentioned it is better to swipe the gun away. One can do this before the gun wielder can fire the gun. Try it. [unloaded of course!]......Horsefeathers.