Racking a slide and locking it to the rear can be a difficult challenge for a lot of shooters and there can even be a level of frustration involved because they can’t do it.

In this Pro-Tip I will introduce a series of steps so that you can rack a slide and lock it to the rear easier.

The first step is getting a good grip on your firearm with you strong hand.

A lot of shooters that struggle with dexterity, or strength, like to place the gun in their weak hand. This is definitely not a good thing. You want to keep the gun in your strong hand because this is a position of power.

Next, you want to keep the muzzle pointed down range at all times, but we are going to turn into the gun. And this is going to set our body up for that power position.

Another power position, this hand. Your strong hand is holding the gun. Your support hand needs to fuse the fingers together, instead of trying to grasp the slide with individual fingers, by placing them all together and pinching like a vice you will be much more powerful.

Finally, you are going to punch forward with the strong hand and, congratulations, you’ve just racked the slide.

The next step is to activate the slide stop and that is going to allow you to lock the slide to the rear.

On this M&P Shield 2.0 its right here. It may take you a good bit of practice to learn how to lift up with your thumb to lock the slide to the rear and that can be difficult, but you can do it.

If you still struggle, however I have a tip for you. If you grab an empty magazine, make sure your slide is forward, insert the magazine and then push forward with the strong hand. The follower in the empty magazine is going to activate the slide stop for you.

Now even after practicing these steps you still find that you struggle with manipulating the slide and locking it to the rear, well now it may be time to explore a different firearm.

This is the M&P .380 Shield. It was specifically designed to help you be able to rack the slide. It has a tapered slide with a little bit of a handle here to help you be able to manipulate it.

You get a good grip on the gun and employ those same steps, but even with a poor grip, a bad grip, you can still activate the side.

This is the gun that will solve this problem and, the best part, it’s a lot of fun to shoot. The combination of the shorter and softer shooting .380 caliber with a lighter recoil spring make this slide easy to manipulate. If you struggle with hand strength or dexterity then the M&P .380 Shield may just be the gun for you.

Until next time be safe and have fun.  
Related Links:  M&P 380 Shield EZ