Closing Slide on Empty Chamber = Bad?

[Patriot_1776]

I was reading a post on the 45 ACP forums (jpuke's regarding broken ejector), and I read about not closing the slide on an empty chamber.  It got me to thinking, is letting the slide of a semi-auto ram home on an empty chamber bad?  Can/does it cause damage to the gun in some way?  I've never thought of it, but it seems like a question worth asking.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

yes it is it will eventually batter your gun.

[KN]

Why would it batter your gun. Its no different than when it slams home after firing. You do not want to let it slam home with a round droped in the chamber. That causes the extractor to have to climb over the rim and will greatly shorten extractor life.Always let it strip a round from the mag to charge.   KN

[BloomGrad]

This is one of those little things that does not take much effort to prevent possible damage.  Dropping the slide on an empty chamber is very easy and everyone has done it.  It even looks cool in the movies. 

Now lets be honest.  How much extra effort does it take to just gently hold the slide to retard the speed when it's released?  It ain't that hard.  On the off chance that parts can be damaged I try to remember to hold it, but some times I forget.  Do you SLAM your door evey time you enter your home or reach into the fridge?  Better safe than get a repair bill.

I have read in the past the exact legit reason for the potential damage but have long since forgotten it.  Just like the reason I had to learn math.  Now I just know I have to try to do it correctly.  But I do recall that there was a difference in slide speed when a cartridge is being presented into the barrel.  I now just hold back the slamming speed of the slide as often as I can remember too.

As an aside two of the gun stores out of three in my area will politely correct a customer if it is done in the store.  They are then instructed not to do it again.  I hear it several times at each store every time I'm there.  90% of the time it is a new customer to shooting sports that has seen it done on THE BOOB TUBE.

Good shooting and a long gun life!

[DWTim]

Why would it batter your gun. Its no different than when it slams home after firing.

The softer, more malleable brass case is absorbing the shock. If it's not, then the gun has a severe headspace problem.

[KN]

Granted the striping of a round from the mag will no doubt take some of the slam out of it, but a pistol in no way is resting on the head of the case when it is in battery. If it is then your cases are too long. And there are plenty of pistols out there that do not have a slide lock on last round. They are simply slaming on an empty chamber. Sorry, I just don't buy that it will damage your pistol. Slaming it from the slide release will wear the catch prematurly but I see no damage to the pistol itself.   KN

[DWTim]

There's quite a bit of resistance, as the round is entering the chamber at an angle. Try chambering a dummy round without the benefit of the return spring to see what I mean. The round also has mass, and extra energy is expended to move the extra mass, thereby decelerating the slide.

As for your comment about pistols without a hold-open, less is better. If you sit there and repeatedly slam it shut without a cushion, it's going to accelerate the wear. Just like a hammer's striking face wears from hitting nails.

The OP didn't specify an action type, so we should err on the side of caution. The locking area in a 1911 is likely going to show wear. Take my Buckmark, for example. Closing it on an empty chamber has battered the surfaces of the breechface and the barrel, so I always manually shut it. We also don't know if it has cheap cast parts, like my brother's Davis .380, which developed a crack in the slide.

It's your gun and your money. If you want to beat on it, go ahead. But like the other fella said, it doesn't take much effort to do, so why not do it?

...but a pistol in no way is resting on the head of the case when it is in battery...

You sure about that? He didn't mention a specific pistol.

[williamlayton]

I started too say "here we go again" but I thought better of it and I will not say "here we go again."
Blessings 

[DWTim]

Next we're going to discuss dry-firing!

[Win 73]

I always try to dry fire.  I don't like to shoot when I am wet!

[corbanzo]

All the reasoning aside, here's what I've seen.  All of my semi-autos end up open after the clip is done, as most do.  I just drop all of them closed.  I have never had any one give me a problem, after however many times it's been done.  I also have done quite a bit of dry firing in them.  Problems?  No.  You would have to drop the hammer on the slide hundreds of times a day to cause a problem after a looooong time. 

[jimster]

The question...Closing Slide on Empty Chamber = Bad?
I'm thinking.....Closing Slide on Empty Chamber = why? (I take it we are talking about letting it slam shut with full force)
I figure metal slamming into metal will wear faster than easing the slide down on an empty chamber.
I admit that you could let the slide slam shut hundreds and hundreds of times and the 1911 will keep on ticking, but why not ease it down?
I don't make a habbit of letting my slide slam shut on an empty chamber on my 1911's, but that's just me. I'm sure this topic has lots of opinions, I've read a lot of them. I agree with the posts that say it batters your gun a bit more than if your stripping a round from the mag.