I recently injured my right [strong] hand, and it looks like it will be a few more weeks before it has enough strength to allow me to shoot with it again.

I thought that I would take this as an "opportunity" to practice weak hand shooting, as well as injury drills.  Can someone recommend a technique for safely cycling the slide on my Glock without the use of my right hand?

Thanks.

 Try using the edge of the shooting bench. Put the bottom edge of the table against the area of the slide above the barrel and PUSH. TADA!  


 OK, OK I think I saw it in a movie or something.


 P.S. Keep your finger off the trigger.  

Rack the sights on you belt or holster.

Use the rear sight as a catch. Then cycle the slide with your belt bucke. rear of your holster, or boot heel.

It's not "range safe" but you can take a knee and use the heel of your shoe.

boot heel, or bend your knees and use the back of your thigh/calf to grab the slide and rack it.

Bomber

You're talking about "racking" the slide to put one in the chamber, correct?

Use your teeth
Use your toes
Stick is between your ass and clench up your buttcheeks.

IMHO... so far nothing said so far sounds too terribly safe to do. Do you have any function of your right hand?

Quoted: You're talking about "racking" the slide to put one in the chamber, correct? Use your teeth Use your toes Stick is between your ass and clench up your buttcheeks. IMHO... so far nothing said so far sounds too terribly safe to do. Do you have any function of your right hand?

The last story I heard where someone used their teeth to rack a Glock slide ended up with false teeth from the dentists office.

IMO, you need to practice weak handed.  Rack that shit on your belt.  It's safe enough, and if your RO won't let you do it, find another range.

Quoted: Stick is between your ass and clench up your buttcheeks.

As perfected by the pink pistols!

use the rear sight, just press it against your jeans.


We practice this at the range.


You can also crouch, and use the inside of your knee to hold the weapon for mag changes

I see a ND or AD in you future... unless you practice with NO ammo first.

Quoted: I see a ND or AD in you future... unless you practice with NO ammo first.

Not a problem with propper trigger discipline.

Quoted: Quoted: I see a ND or AD in you future... unless you practice with NO ammo first. Not a problem with propper trigger discipline.

+1



Plus, watch where that muzzle is pointing......

Quoted: I see a ND or AD in you future... unless you practice with NO ammo first.

That was the plan....

Thanks for the suggestions everybody else.

Place grip in arm pit then rack slide with good hand. Or as per FM ??-?? (I can't remember, what is the FM nimber for combat shooting with pistols and revolvers?) kneel with the grip stuck between your thigh and calf then charge the pistol. Then just keep up with the tactical reloads.

Not sure how much size or strength you have in your left hand, but I have done some magazine out empty chamber practice with my SA mil-spec using the following method.

Grasp the slide with your weak hand with the grip of the gun facing you (i.e. rotate the gun 90 degrees from how you would usually hold it).  The gun should look like you're holding an inverted "L".

Move your thumb up (like you're giving a thumbs up) so it can hook over the grip where the web of your hand usually rests.  

Pull down with your thumb until the slide has moved enough to chamber a round.

When you do this make sure that your hand is not near the ejection port or you will get a nice blood blister.  

Sorry if this is a little hard to understand.  I'd be able to show you a lot easier than it is to tell you.

And yes, I know that this is probably not the safest way to do cycle the action, but if I'm forced to use only one hand, I'm already in trouble.

Quoted: And yes, I know that this is probably not the safest way to do cycle the action, but if I'm forced to use only one hand, I'm already in trouble.

F'in ehh....that about sums it up.

Bomber

I have practiced with my belt buckle, but I have also practiced catching the rear sight on my jean pocket, that way the muzzle is still pointed mostly downrange


I ahve also done the bootheel deal, but only when I am the only one at the range



Edited to say I have never done it with a Glock only with 1911 pistols and CZ75s  (I don't care for Glocks, wrong grip angle)

With a Glock 17, I can load a round into the chamber one handed.  Just put your thumb behind the gun where the web of your hand normally goes and wrap your fingers over the top.  You'll need to stretch as far forward on the slide as you can reach.  Now, pull the slide back with your fingers.  This doesn't work if there's a round in the chamber.  Your fingers will be over the ejection port and the round will hit your fingers and bounce back down, causing a jam.  

This doesn't work with all guns.  Ones that have very heavy recoil springs and slick slides are out of the question.  If you have short fingers, this isn't the way to go either.  All I know is that I can chamber a round from a Gen 2 Glock 17.

Just please be careful man however you do it.

On the same topic. I have thought about this many times. The perfect gun that I have either my FN Hi Power that I can chamber a round by pushing the slide of the gun back using any surface with an edge also my Kimber warrior works well too that way. FYI


be careful man.

Quoted: Quoted: I see a ND or AD in you future... unless you practice with NO ammo first. That was the plan.... Thanks for the suggestions everybody else.

Didn't mean to come across like a complete asshole, safety first was what I as trying to stress.

Good luck and be careful.

Have you decided which sights you are going to replace the Glock sights with after you use them to cycle the slide ?

Ok here  is how I plan to rack my G21 if I need to one handed.
1 take weapon by the top of the slide
2 Kneel
3 Trap the handle in the clamp of your bending knee. ( it should be pointing in a safe direction in the bend/clamp of the knee.
4 rack slide
5 retrieve and fire.

It is slow, but it will not dammage the sights. Use the rear sights and any table top in an emergency

theres always this thingy:

tactical charging thingy

Quoted: Quoted: Stick is between your ass and clench up your buttcheeks. As perfected by the pink pistols!

PULL THE TRIGGER WHILE IT IS STILL IN THERE BUTT YOU WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO DO IT ONCE.



Actualy I like the table Idea. I would want to be sure the bullet went into the ground instead of me or someone else incase of an accidental discharge.

So did you try the ASS CHEEK method yet?

Last night, I tried all of the methods suggested [except the ass cheeks or teeth], using an unloaded weapon.

The various "sight" methods including table, belt, and boot heel were only marginally effective, as I have Tru-Glo's which are somewhat rounded on the front edge of the rear sight.  This also didn't seem like it would be particularly healthy for the sights in the long run.

Next, I tried the left thumb behind the grip web [like when removing the slide], and it was somewhat better, although it can be difficult to get enough travel.

Next, I tried under the right armpit, and immediately abandoned the method as I didn't care for the muzzle direction.

By far, the method which offered the best control of the weapon [and hence safest], was to kneel on my right knee, and "grasp" the grip between the back of the left calf and thigh.  This also pointed the muzzle towards the ground, albeit slightly uprange.  While this is arguably a bit slower that some of the other methods, it does present the benefit of putting you in a natural "cover" position.

YMMV.

How about putting an empty magazine in the gun first before you try all of these über-tactical slide racking techniques?

Once the slide is locked back, THEN you can drop the empty, insert a fully loaded mag, press the slide release lever, and then begin your string.

Quoted: How about putting an empty magazine in the gun first before you try all of these über-tactical slide racking techniques? Once the slide is locked back, THEN you can drop the empty, insert a fully loaded mag, press the slide release lever, and then begin your string.

That is a good suggestion, but what happens if one is trying to clear a malfunction and an empty mag is not available?  Granted the Glock is hyper reliable, but it could happen.

Quoted: Quoted: How about putting an empty magazine in the gun first before you try all of these über-tactical slide racking techniques? Once the slide is locked back, THEN you can drop the empty, insert a fully loaded mag, press the slide release lever, and then begin your string. That is a good suggestion, but what happens if one is trying to clear a malfunction and an empty mag is not available?  Granted the Glock is hyper reliable, but it could happen.

If your in your hallway you get stabbed if your at the range ask for help and explane your condition if the people there are to much of a jerk to help a fellow shooter in need find out about another range. I guess for home defense you couls always have two pistols handy. Most of the time unless the round is stuck in the chamber ,which has never happened to my glock but I am sure it has for somebody, I would try dropping the mag then while you are still holding the pistol in a safe direction try putting you trigger finger and the one next to it on top of the slide (kind of like when you are stripping a normal pistol and you are trying to get the dots or lines on the slide to line uo)and see if you can work it enough to get the round or empty case to fall out. You could also pick you up one of those little snubbys in .38 and you could probably work one of those with one hand no problem. I hope my mindless ramblings help a little.  

That is a good suggestion, but what happens if one is trying to clear a malfunction and an empty mag is not available?

Well, if you're just practicing at the range there's usually a table or bench nearby.  I'd just keep the muzle pointed in a safe direction and place the slide on the edge of something where I could push the slide by itself while allowing the barrel to clear the object.  

You'll see 1911 shooters do this at USPSA matches sometimes on props when their slides get stuck real bad.  There was even a question about this in lastmonth's Front Sight magazine.

people don't use thier teeth anymore

Interesting question, murderman. I've recently begun shooting weak (left) side since I'm left eye dominant. I'm not with my Glock, but what about this, assuming a left hand grip- squat with your right knee on the ground and your left knee pointing downrange. Grip the top of the slide with your left hand, 4 fingers on the ejection port side and thumb on the reverse. Hook the back of the grip n your knee, pointing the barrel downrange, and cycle the slide. I'm visualizing this with a Glock 20. Depending on your model and hand size (and grip strength) this may or may not work. I'm going to try it tonight when I get home.

Quoted: Interesting question, murderman. I've recently begun shooting weak (left) side since I'm left eye dominant. I'm not with my Glock, but what about this, assuming a left hand grip- squat with your right knee on the ground and your left knee pointing downrange. Grip the top of the slide with your left hand, 4 fingers on the ejection port side and thumb on the reverse. Hook the back of the grip n your knee, pointing the barrel downrange, and cycle the slide. I'm visualizing this with a Glock 20. Depending on your model and hand size (and grip strength) this may or may not work. I'm going to try it tonight when I get home.

Pretty much that is what worked best for me had you read the entire thread.

Quoted: Rack the sights on you belt or holster.

Yup.

That's the way we got taught to do things. Works pretty good on Glocks with standard fixed sights. Darn near impossible with Novak sights.

Quoted: Have you decided which sights you are going to replace the Glock sights with after you use them to cycle the slide ?

The stock sights stand up to it quite well, believe it or not.

Quoted: Quoted: Have you decided which sights you are going to replace the Glock sights with after you use them to cycle the slide ? The stock sights stand up to it quite well, believe it or not.

Unfortunately, that has not been my experience.  I like the look of yost-bonitz Glock sights a lot.

Depending on your strength and the spring in the gun, one method that has not been mentioned is to just firmly press the top or side of the slide against your outer thigh and push firmly down and outward.  Friction will be enough to allow you to work the slide.  

Quoted: Depending on your strength and the spring in the gun, one method that has not been mentioned is to just firmly press the top or side of the slide against your outer thigh and push firmly down and outward.  Friction will be enough to allow you to work the slide.

I decided to stop reading and try some of these techniques with my G26 and G19 and Kimber Compact. The G26 has a XS 24/7 rear sight, the G19 has Heinie Slant Pro. The G19 has a 18lb spring (factory weight). The Kimber Compact has a 22lb spring (factory weight).

I tried these methods for one-hand cycling the actions. The action had to both extract the round in the chamber and chamber a new round successfuly for me to count it as "working."

1: hook front edge of rear sight on buckle of my Wilderness belt

2: hook front edge of rear sight on top edge of my Wilderness belt

3: When kneeling, catch rear sight on edge of the heel of the shoe

4: Press top of slide against thigh and push (sights catch on seam of jeans)

5: Catching the rear edge of the ejection port on belt

6: Back of the knee pinch", calf capture and similar

Results:

#1-3: No problem with any of the guns.  #2 and #3 would tear up the material (belt or jeans) in short order, but they both work!  #3 was by far the most "sure" -- the edge of the heel and the rubber sole made this easy.

#4: Only worked reliably with the Glocks, I suspect due to the lighter spring weight more than the Heinies, but the edge of the Heinies would catch on the seam in my jeans and that helps a little.

With the Novak sight and the heavier spring on the Kimber Compact I could use this method about 75% of the time. The rest of the time it would slip off before full slide travel was achieved.

#5 worked with all the guns but required too much careful (ie slow) placement -- maybe I was being too gentle, trying not to tear up my Wilderness belt.

#6: I didn't care for these at all. WAY slower than any of the above, less "sure," especially setting it up with the weak hand.


I took a HALO group class awhile back where we had to do a lot of this kind of stuff. At the time I had Mepros on my Glock and catching those on the edge of my belt was by FAR the fastest.

Quoted: Quoted: Interesting question, murderman. I've recently begun shooting weak (left) side since I'm left eye dominant. I'm not with my Glock, but what about this, assuming a left hand grip- squat with your right knee on the ground and your left knee pointing downrange. Grip the top of the slide with your left hand, 4 fingers on the ejection port side and thumb on the reverse. Hook the back of the grip n your knee, pointing the barrel downrange, and cycle the slide. I'm visualizing this with a Glock 20. Depending on your model and hand size (and grip strength) this may or may not work. I'm going to try it tonight when I get home. Pretty much that is what worked best for me had you read the entire thread.

Worked- sort of. On the other hand, I might consider throwing down the Glock and raising my hands. The angle of the grip makes it awkward to pull the slide straight back. Need to experiment.

I wear carpenter jeans for this.  The kind that have the loop on your thigh for a hammer.  Well that works for me, I use the loop and the rear sight.  Haven't tried it with the factory sights but I know it works fine with steel sights.