After my “Don’t be that guy” post I received the following comment from Some Guy (No really, That is what he listed as his name)
Web of the hand shooting with a .40? $100 says it was a Glock 22/23/27.
To release the slide in a Glock for stripping, you have to move two slide buttons down on either side of the frame and keep pressure on the slide. To do that, you almost have to have the web of your hand covering the muzzle while you’re pushing back on the slide (unless you have super pinkies). Oh, did I mention you can’t do any of this with the “hammer” back, which means you have to pull the trigger to reset? The first time I disassembled my Glock 22, I was sticking my finger in the chamber and shining a flashlight in it to make sure it was clear before I followed this ABSOLUTELY INSANE disassembly procedure. And the second, and the third. I’ve been handling pistols for decades, but I’m still scared of shooting someone every single time I strip a Glock.
So, yeah, $100 says this guy shot himself in the hand trying to field strip a Glock 22/23/27.
This inspired me to respond in post form…
There are 2 major issues I have with this argument, the 1st is simply that the guy shot himself clearing a weapon not disassembling it, so the process he outlined isn’t germane to the discussion. However, pulling the trigger during clearing is part of my process.
It is no secret that I am a fan of competition for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones is that it engrains safe gun handling skills better than any other method I can think of. I have also repeatedly discussed the range commands given at the beginning of a stage, but I don’t think I’ve ever discussed the ones at the end…
SO: “If you are finished, release the magazine and show me a clear weapon”
This is the shooters cue to drop the magazine and pull the slide back to the rear. This process sends a live round flying through the air. After the SO looks into the chamber of the gun for a brass casing (never look for an empty chamber, always look for a brass casing) he gives a series of 1 word commands.
SO: “Slide”
This is your cue to drop the slide.
SO: “Hammer”
The shooter is required to then pull the trigger with the gun pointed into the berm to prove that it is unloaded. This is also why many competition shooters despise the magazine drop safety.
SO: “Holster”
You then place the now unloaded and uncocked pistol into your holster, where it remains until another SO tells you to get it out again.
For competition shooters, this becomes the procedure for the nervous twitch of clearing any firearm and doesn’t hamper the take down process of 3 of the 4 brands of firearms I frequently recommend.
Once you have internalized this as the procedure for clearing a weapon, the Glock is no different from any other gun, EXCEPT that it is easier to take down, it doesn’t need any tools, and you never have to stick your finger into the ejection port.
Ruger actually has the following text in its manual for disassembly of the SR series of pistols … “Remove fingers (or whatever you used to push the ejector forward) from ejection port. From the right side of the pistol, press inward on the takedown pin and remove it from the pistol.”
I do not own a Ruger, so it isn’t included… but just for fun and to demonstrate the process I use to clear and take down the other 3 I made the following video and to show that there is no reason to ever cover yourself when field stripping a pistol, especially a Glock!
Ron is the Founder and President of When the Balloon Goes Up! He competes regularly in IDPA as an ESP/Expert, his focus is on concealed carry, home defense and analyzing equipment to find “Gear that Just Works!”
