Slide release versus riding it closed

[sabre]

Hi All !

I took a holster course recently and the show clear drill once we were done on the line was pretty straight forward... drop the mag, eject the round, lock back the slide, show the RO empty, release the slide, dry fire into the backstop/downrange ground.

My question is when I released the slide (next step dry firing) I was thumbing the slide release and letting it slam forward. Both the RO and instructor told me to ride the slide forward with my off hand as letting it slam without chambering a round will cause damage. Is this true? being overly cautious? or a myth? (both the Instructor and RO shoot together... lots but otherwise put on a great course) I was shooting a CZ75 DB 9mm and can't quite believe chambering a 9mm round makes that big a difference, hence throwing this question out to y'all.

Thank you all for your responses, thoughts and expertise.
Sabre
( btw I am more irked at having to dry fire my CZ).

[rwb1500]

You should look for a new instructor.

[RuthlessZ]

No just no. But seriously letting your slide forward on an empty chamber will not damage anything, and in my opinion it would be a bad habit to start riding the slide forward.

[DennisH82]

How could something that happens during the function of the weapon damage it? The only thing different is no brass in the chamber. So unless someone sits there and racks their slide umpteen thousand times I don't see an issue.

[rwb1500]

No just no. But seriously letting your slide forward on an empty chamber will not damage anything, and in my opinion it would be a bad habit to start riding the slide forward.

Yes, not only wrong but potentially dangerous.

[ifman]

When I bought my first pistol earlier this year, a Glock 19, I was told by the Gun Store clerk the same thing, that letting the slide slam forward on an empty chamber could damage the Glock over time. Since then I've always ridden it back. Glad to know it's not mandatory.

[kbcobra26]

There used to be the whole thing floating around on the internet about not letting your 1911 slide drop on an empty chamber but I haven't heard that one in a long time and that was just for 1911's!!

Your instructors are wrong imao..

[Noah_Zark]

How could something that happens during the function of the weapon damage it? The only thing different is no brass in the chamber.

. . . AND the pistol does it itself MUCH faster and thus with greater force than dropping the slide with the slide stop.

The "instructor" and RO are incorrect, and have fallen victim to some urban legend.

Noah

[TonyF]

Slide velocity is retarded on chambering a live round so allowing the slide to slam forward under the full force of the recoil spring is definitely not the same as the firing sequence.

Whether it will cause damage or accelerate wear is debatable but IIRC, it will have a deleterious effect on a finely tuned 1911 FCG.

Regardless, there are times when it cannot be avoided re: immediate action drills. But malfunction clearance drills notwithstanding I can find no "penalty" associated with "easing" the slide forward on an empty chamber under certain circumstances.

OTOH, I find the "all clear" methodology used in your training class to be completely unnecessary. A tactile / visual chamber check is satisfactory.

[Exbiker]

I don't let the slide drop on an empty chamber.........just the way I was taught and it stuck with me. May not be necessary but it also doesn't hurt anything.