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Can you grab the slide of a semi-auto to prevent it from firing?

Well, after some pain, it seems you can. Do not try that at home. Also, when I shoot my suppressed Walther and want it extra quiet, I place my thumb on the slide to keep it from cycling. And it does not break my thumb. I would not advise trying that with a higher caliber weapon.

9 Responses to “Can you grab the slide of a semi-auto to prevent it from firing?”

  1. The Duck Says:

    I had a contractor show me that with a Glock 45, not something I would want to try, but he did it several times

  2. Rustmeister Says:

    I was thinking that the other night. I came to the conclusion that while I might not be able to prevent it from firing, I could hopefully cause a stovepipe/misfeed of some sort.

  3. Sailorcurt Says:

    To pick nits, it doesn’t prevent the gun from firing, but from cycling. It will still go bang once. Hopefully you won’t be in the way when it does.

  4. Mikee Says:

    A long time ago a police acquaintance told me that the idea of grabbing a semiauto was to push the slide out of battery, causing the gun to NOT fire. Similarly, with a revolver the idea was to either keep the hammer from moving, or to put the web of the thumb between the hammer and the rest of the revolver. He also said if he ever had to do either of those things, he would admit that he had really, really effed up.

  5. Rick Randall Says:

    Mikee —

    Agreed. You’re trying to induce an out of battery malf. Which only works as long as you KEEP control of the gun and don’t let the slide back into battery. While struggling with the gun.

    If you have to put hands on the other guy’s gun to keep from getting shot, you should be trying to chew his face off like Hannibal Lecter, screaming like a rabid howler monkey, until he lets completely go of the gun.

    Hanging on to the gun and hoping to keep it from firing is a losing proposition.

  6. Weer'd Beard Says:

    Far better to keep the gun out of battery so it simply won’t shoot (or maybe will blow up) but it not cycling is a decent deal too.

    Still I’m glad he did it so I don’t have to.

  7. Hypnagogue Says:

    Grabbing the slide will keep the gun from cycling, and it also gives you control of the gun. Leverage at the business end is about 15 times greater than at the grip for lateral rotation — if you’ve got a good hold, the gun is yours. Quickly rotate the gun around the grip axis (away from yourself) until his wrist is overextended, then shove.

  8. Kristopher Says:

    I’ll have to remember that thumb trick if I ever get a can for my High Standard.

  9. Anonymous Says:

    Ignoring the out of battery issue, if the goal is to hold the slide to keep it from cycling, it’s important to point out the difference between holding the slide of a semi-auto with a locked breech design as opposed to a semi-auto with a blowback design. With the locked breech, far less effort is required to hold the slide since the locking mechanism is assisting. What you’re really doing is holding it in the already locked position. With a blowback design you’d be holding back the entire recoil yourself – with no assist from the locking design. In a nutshell, it’s not a difficult thing with a recoil operated semi-auto pistol. My opinion, though, is that it is particularly foolish to attempt with a blowback design.

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