When we issued 5906’s we taught using the front sight on the heel of a boot.
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I've never tried it with a S&W 3rd Gen pistol, but I've racked the slide one-handed on a 1911 equipped with Novak sights a lot. As someone above suggested, it takes more inward force -- try to practice enough so that the shape of the rear sight doesn't matter. I've gotten bruises on my hip from doing it with a 45 but it works with practice.
I like the look of a low mount Novak and I like how it carries by not digging into my side; but I switched to 10-8s mainly because of one hand slide racking. I figured if I am injured and racking it one handed I want to make it as easy as possible. I thought Novak made a rear sight with a raised front edge for easier racking at one time but I could of find a photo of one