This is one of the reasons I got a Glock 19 Gen 5 MOS. You can use the Red Dot to help rack the slide, but it also helps when your eyes are getting a little weaker. There are two things to make sure you do.
1.) Make SURE the screws provided, or the ones you use, go all the way down to the bottom of the adapter plate for your optic. Use BLUE loctite.
2.) There is usually a gap left in the front and the rear of the optic on the slide. I will have to look for the company, but there’s a company that makes adapter plates, for specific optics, that fills in those gaps and they provide the proper length screws to go into the adapter plate. This takes the stress off the optic.
RIA .22 TCM 5 inch 1911 models. They often come with 9mm and 22tcm barrels and a recoil spring for each barrel. The .22 TCM barrel and spring – make that full size very very easy to slide.
Let me give you an idea that has helped some of the females I’ve trained. Instead of pulling back on the slide, hold the slide with one and then push the lower forward with the other hand. People tend to have more pushing force than they do pulling Force. It doesn’t sound like there should be a difference but I guarantee you if you try it you’ll see that there is a big difference
Great topic!. I have a Canik TP9sfx that is quite easy to rack. This is a pretty big pistol and might have a lighter spring (lighter but longer?) plus the size gives you more to hold onto? Check one out if you can. Also my Canik came with a screw in assist handle for the slide, like what is pictured farther down here.
I have an SW ez because I thought it was a good idea for me. This was my first pistol purchase. So far racking a slide, especially using north-south method, is manageable with all my 9mm pistols (how did I get this many?). Recoil, however, hits my arthritic thumb joints the wrong way. I am becoming more interested in 22 rimfire pistols now. Also the arthritis is worse in left thumb and I am a lefty. Switch to 9mm pistol using “correct” hand seemed logical.
In general it seems overall pistol size isn’t reliable indicator of slide racking force needed.
For recoil, if that becomes an issue, my old revolvers are heavier than polymer pistols and I think have less recoil, or maybe just less perceived recoil.
Final thought: rifles. Recently got lured into 22 rimfire reproduction firearms. Also am tempted by the Henry lever actions. I have a 9mm AK platform rifle that is a lot of fun. Just another direction to check out AND a great excuse/reason to buy more guns!
I’m not really interested in revolvers. For some reason, they just don’t “do it” for me. Never really cared for them. I don’t seem to have any issues with trigger pull. My PSA Dagger is one of my favorite range toys (once I swapped out the trigger). Most I run are 9mm. I’m a righty and I rack with my left hand which cramps and I can’t get a good grip on the slide. Especially if I rack the slide more then once within a few short while. Like with in a min or two.
Honestly Alsmith1025, I’d look into putting a full size red or green dot optic on your current 9mm. If it doesnt have a slide cut for an optic, having a gunsmith do it plus the cost of good handgun glass would still come in well under the cost of a new pistol rig. All that and the added benifit of keeping a weapon system you have trained with and have engrained muscle memory into.
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Also the arthritis is worse in left thumb and I am a lefty. Switch to 9mm pistol using “correct” hand seemed logical.