How did S&W make racking the slide on the EZ 9mm ?

[preventec47]

I know a little about hammer fired semi autos and usually for higher power rounds you need a stronger spring and that makes racking the slider harder. If they used a much weaker spring...... How are they not damaging the pistol with the slide coming back so fast ? Or how did they control the slide speed while using weak spring? SW said the only way they could make racking easy was to use a hammer fired technique instead of striker fired mechanism. NEXT question... are these pistols going to blow themselves apart ? IF it is a new technology, I would like one in 10mm

[PG3464]

From what I have seen it is due to it being hammer fired. And that hammer having a strong spring mixed with the angles the slide is having to overcome when cocking the hammer as the slide moves to the rear. We see this with some other hammer driven designs as the force of overcoming the angles on the hammer plus the hammers spring can drain enough energy over time to allow it to not beat its self apart. As for if it will blow its self apart, the range I work at has 3 different ones 2 in 380, and 1 in 9mm they all work well. It took a long time for us to wear the first 380 out and it was getting rented multiple times a day for months on end. I am sure they could scale the pistol into 10mm if they wanted to but I am doubtful the juice would be worth the squeeze for them from a cost perspective as there would be months of engineering and whole new molding made that would need to be paid for before they broke even.

[SecondsCount]

Take a look at a 1911 in 10mm. Cock the hammer, then rack the slide, and see if it fits your need.

[preventec47]

On any semi auto pistol that is not pure blowback, there is some kind of barrel-slide locking mechanism that holds the slide for a split second before releasing
and I figured that they found a way to hold on a little longer before releasing the slide to move rearward when fired so that there would be less velocity
in the slide when using much weaker springs. Or another approach could be a super heavy slide or some kind of engineering design that would mimick a heavy slide
I have nine semi auto pistols including especially the 22s acquired for my wife and none of them are easy for her to rack. The SW EZ must be some kind of engineering breakthrough. I thought maybe anyone who has had one apart might know as the range I go to no longer rents them and wont even let a customer touch one until after they have bought it.

[preventec47]

Take a look at a 1911 in 10mm. Cock the hammer, then rack the slide, and see if it fits your need.

I have a SW 1006 with a stronger recoil spring to handle my hot loads and it aint "easy" to rack, hammer cocked or not.

I am building a glock copy 10mm with "lone wolfs" 6 inch slide, 8 inch barrel and body parts. I dont know yet what kind of recoil spring that I will need
but I was hoping their 6 inch slide might be a little heavier and ultimately result in easier racking.

[NH Shooter]

FWIW (and not to induce thread drift), the Walther PPQ has an amazingly easy-to-rack slide. At least my 5-inch M1 variation does...


https://i.ibb.co/X3wHpxp/PPQ-10.jpg

[CraigS]

I know a little about hammer fired semi autos and usually for higher power rounds you need a stronger spring and that makes racking the slider harder. If they used a much weaker spring...... How are they not damaging the pistol with the slide coming back so fast ? Or how did they control the slide speed while using weak spring? SW said the only way they could make racking easy was to use a hammer fired technique instead of striker fired mechanism. NEXT question... are these pistols going to blow themselves apart ? IF it is a new technology, I would like one in 10mm
Bingo. Winner. Winner. This is how it was described by Tom Gresham on Gun Talk. Think about a striker gun. Pulling the slide directly compresses the striker spring. 1/10inch slide movement = 1/10 inch spring compression. All the way til the striker is locked by the sear/trigger bar.. Think about a hammer gun. The slide moves the hammer. AT first the hammer moves 1/10 inch per 1/10inch slide movement. But as the hammer tilts further back it moves less and less for a given amount of slide movement so you are gaining mechanical advantage to use to compress the hammer spring.

[preventec47]

There has got to me more to it. Before striker guns were popular there was only hammer fired pistols and they were always hard to rack. I still have many
and they are all way harder than the EZ. There were some other technologies like the German Luger that may have been easier to rack... I dont know.
For 75 years racking difficulty was complained about with hammer fired pistols so why now a breakthrough ? Besides, as stated previously, you can manually
cock the trigger before racking and it makes very little difference on a few of my own guns. Not only that but I have a striker fired Ruger 9mm and it is easier to rack than my hammer fired 9mm pistols ? ?

[Will Fennell]

There has got to me more to it. Before striker guns were popular there was only hammer fired pistols and they were always hard to rack. I still have many
and they are all way harder than the EZ. There were some other technologies like the German Luger that may have been easier to rack... I dont know.
For 75 years racking difficulty was complained about with hammer fired pistols so why now a breakthrough ? Besides, as stated previously, you can manually
cock the trigger before racking and it makes very little difference on a few of my own guns. Not only that but I have a striker fired Ruger 9mm and it is easier to rack than my hammer fired 9mm pistols ? ?

Preventec47,
I can't comment on the EZ because I haven't messed with one yet, but on MANY hammer fired autopistols, cocking the hammer GREAT reduces the effort needed to work the slide. Beretta 92's have a ridiculously light recoil spring to overcome. I think my wife's 92 compact runs a 14 lb recoil spring( with a 14 lbs hammer spring). She can work the slide with the hammer down, but finds it tremendously easier to do so if she thumbs back the hammer first. 1911's generally have fairly heavy hammer springs and fairly light recoil springs. Cock the hammer first and they are easy to work the slide. If you are interested in 10mm, on a 1911, use a 25lb hammer spring, square bottom firing pin stop, and a relatively light( for 10mm) 18.5 to 20lb recoil spring. Runs great, and makes the forward stroke of the feeding cycle much smoother.

YMMV

Best,

Will

[PG3464]

Nope, no more to it. There are multiple ways that pistols (and rifles) can eat up energy and this is one of they ways they do it. Take a 1911 for instance and with the hammer down rack the slide, then turn around and try and rack the slide again. The second time it will be noticeably easier as you are having to not overcome the the hammer or the angles in place where the root of the hammer meets the firing pin stop as this is the portion of the slide that actually cocks the hammer. So other than the contact the hammer makes on the bottom of the slide, which will account for some energy you are not feeling the hammer the second time and just the recoil spring and lockup. Additionally if I remember right ( it has been a few months since I cared to look into a Smith EZ) it is a browning style locking breach not a true blow back so the unlocking of the barrel will drain energy, at the same time it is trying to overcome the hammer. Lastly you mentioned that your other pistols were harder to rack, If they are of the same size and older pistols are they true blowbacks like a PPK? if so yes it needs more spring as it is a true blowback and that is one of the three forces keeping the slide closed while under pressure (mass of slide, recoil spring, and hammer).

[Nephrology]

...Why 10mm?

[claymore504]

FWIW (and not to induce thread drift), the Walther PPQ has an amazingly easy-to-rack slide. At least my 5-inch M1 variation does...


https://i.ibb.co/X3wHpxp/PPQ-10.jpg

Nice! Wish i would have never sold my 5 inch M1!!!!:(

[preventec47]

...Why 10mm?

It is what I have fallen in love with after many years of shooting and loading for my 1006. The Glock "LoneWolf" project with the
8 inch barrel and 6 inch slide is just a kind of goof off project and after I shoot it a while with regular sights I plan to put some kind
of optics on it. I am hoping to have some outstanding accuracy with some potential for minimum hunting.

[willie]

On pistols with a hammer, the force needed to overcome hammer spring resistance plays a greater role in retarding slide velocity than does the recoil spring. Recoil spring weight is a variable, of course, but not the primary one. I limit my comment to locked breech semi autos. Weight of slide and weight of slide and barrel together are variables. Another is the bevel or lack of put on top edge of hammers. No bevel gives added resistance.

Hopefully none of us owns a Hi Point handgun. These lack locked breeches and employ massive, heavy slides to retard slide velocity. Some say they are indestructible. One day I hope to test one but will hide and do it so no other person will see me.

[Wise_A]

I mean, I have zero interest in the thing, but I do enjoy the amount of hate that gets dropped on them for making a pistol with cute little slide ears milled-on. FWIW, I think what they really need to think about is making a Performance Center C.O.R.E. version.


One day I hope to test one but will hide and do it so no other person will see me.

God will know.