@JCN with your hand covering the ejection port with your chosen slide racking position, have you found that you’ve cause any failures to eject when working the action to eject a live or dummy round?
My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.
That’s not always true. I’ve had front irons crack / fall out and rear factory dovetail irons get knocked out of alignment with heavy use. I’ve actually had more iron failures than optic failures personally.
I like optics because then you have TWO sighting systems in case one fails or is knocked out of alignment. Two is one and one is none if we are quoting cliches.
I haven’t!
It may seem strange, but I can tell by the firing pin sound (hollow or dull) and how the vibration feels in my hand (hollow or dull) if the chamber is empty or full for what type of malfunction.
If there’s a round in the chamber, the magazine gets dropped before the slide gets pulled. So the chambered round drops down the magwell and I don’t have to release my positive grip.
I can if I need to look into the chamber.
I can also choose to keep the thumb more clear of the port, but I’d rather have the mechanical advantage.
In an urgent malfunction I will knife hand the optic and not grab at all.
It’s basically a version of what I did for the Israeli carry video when it needs to be racked RIGHT NOW (skip to 1:30 of video).
I rack using SRO, 509t2, and Acro2. No problems.
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver
LOL. Cajun Gun Works had to send me a replacement rear sight on their dime - the original cracked while shooting and flung the majority of itself a few yards away (a stress fracture by the rear sight notch). This is with a steady diet of minor PF loads as a simple chunk of steel.
Irons are simpler yes, but Mr. Murphy visits us all.
When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk. -Tuco
Today is victory over yourself of yesterday... -Miyamoto Musashi
Opinions will vary. Not sure how much agreement you will get. It is my opinion as someone who has been using slide mounted red dots for 12 years now and a professional Tool and Die maker, racking with the optic as rule instead of as the exception, is the wrong way to go, especially if using a plate system. Others will say they do it all the time and have never had a problem. If that is their experience, it is hard to argue with that.
Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics even though he tests racking off optic, he doesn’t recommend it and also doesn’t recommend holding the optic for racking.
It makes sense from an electronics standpoint, the area of buttons is often a weak or recessed point in the construction. So regardless of inadvertent activation of controls, it makes sense not to grab and pinch there repeatedly.