Does slamming slide on empty CZ damage it permanently?

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I know you are not supposed to let 1911A1 slides fly back into position without a round ready to be stripped from a magazine - you are supposed to ride them back on an empty chamber.

I figure it is the same for CZs (is it?) Someone once racked my CZ hard when it was empty, so my question is, besides increased wear, what kind of damage does that do? It has only happened once, maybe twice to my CZ-85 Combat.
 
This is what I feel like doing every time I see some wannabe slam the slide shut on a semi-auto with an empty chamber.... :slap:

Kinda like snapping the crane shut on a wheelgun... :slap: :slap:
 
You could end up with a chipped sear or hammer engagement surface or a burr on both, but if that kind of mistreatment continues you had better hope the halfcock notch is still intact.
One of the examples that really gets the point across is ask the offender if they have ever had a tooth chipped and that usually gets the point across.
 
Letting the slide slam forward on ANY semi-auto is automatic grounds for a major ##### slap for the 'perp'!
I will forgive it from a 'newbie' ONCE...if he doesn't get the significance he'll never be touching/handling any of my firearms again.
 
One of the newbies was the same one who did slam my cylinder shut on my revolver too. I think it's the first thing you have to teach newbies, right after safety, because it's happened to all of my pistols now.

But you think a couple of times to a CZ-85 is okay? I sure don't let it happen regularly. Any way to test for damage?
 
Take off the tin-foil hats, gentlemen.

If manufacturer's thought it was as damaging as you think it is, there would be warnings all over the instructions manuals of these guns not to do it. Kind of like how they say not to dry fire -- EVER.

I've never heard of this in the 4 years I've been involved with the sport. Of the 4 pistols I own now, I'll estimate that in total, I've racked (on an empty chamber) each of them more than 500 times. No damage here. They all still work and function fine. There are no chips or burrs.

Either I have AMAZING luck with all of my guns, or you guys are a little....ummmm....whats the word? Paranoid.

I'm going to Google this right now to see what comes up.
 
not only newbies

It's not only newbies who will let the slide slam on an empty chamber, I've seen older gents who have been into guns for decades do that at gun shows, more than once.

Just shows that they don't know as much about guns as they would have you believe sometimes.
 
You're not supposed to let the slide slam shut on an empty chamber?? OOOOOOOOOPS!!! I've done this with my Beretta a bunch of times. I don't recall reading in the instructions not to do it.
 
Of everything I've read in the last hour, this is what I can say.

#1. Slamming the slide shut with an empty chamber only seems to affect 1911 style guns. (of which I own 0).

#2. There is about an 80% consensus that doing this is hard on the gun (including a PDF manual from an Ed Brown 1911.)

#3. It seems to affect guns with special trigger jobs adversely.

All of this considered, I'm not going to stop doing it. If I've done it as many times as I think I have and it hasn't caused me any problems so far, thats all I need to know. As far as I'm concerned, if your gun breaks somehow because you let the slide go on an empty chamber, you need to upgrade your collection of 1973 Norinco 1911's and get an XD or Glock.

"I don't serve the weapon, the weapon serves me."
 
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NAA said:
This is what I feel like doing every time I see some wannabe slam the slide shut on a semi-auto with an empty chamber.... :slap:
Click to expand...

I let some guy look at one of my guns I had on display at a gun shot. He turned out to be the Rambo type and slammed the slide shut. Boy did I want to slap him :mad: but told myself to relax because he will never get a second chance to do it again.

For those who have done it hundreds of time and think it has done nothing I hope you are right. And I'm sure you know all about metal fatigue.
 
I really don't know if it causes damage or not, but to me it does show a lack of respect for either A.) the owner if it's not yours, or B) the firearm if it is yours. I think it says more about the individual than anything.
 
Thanks for the advice. I've had my CZ for 20 years and this is the first I've ever heard that it's damaging and / or poor etiquette to let the slide slam closed. Sounds like maybe a 1911 specific thing to me.

Now, how about a little more respect for others and quit the holier-than-thou self-righteous crap you guys are spewing? It's your responsibility as the more experienced guys to educate people, not sneer at them.
 
I was thinking about that Mike!

I am a weapons tech. I cant say that I have ever found a fault with a pistol that I could say was due to letting the slide fly forward under spring pressure without any ammunition in the pistol.

The forward action of the slide on a Browning HP ends as the slide locking lever pin cams the barrel up into the locking lugs. The strain would be to the pin, and to the locking lugs. I very rarely see any trouble with these areas, even given the age of the pistols. (1942 manufacture)

If damage has resulted to the hammer and sears of other pistols, I dont understand how yet. Aside from striker fired pistols, they all engage though their own spring's pressure, and not through any direct action of the slide on the hammer or sear. So the force that this operation happens with would be relatively constant and set by the force of the sear spring and hammer spring.

I always thought that this was an etiquette point myself. Controlling that slide's forward action clearly demonstrates that you intend to take good care of a pistol someone is letting you try out. I wouldnt want to recommend anyone do it with a CF weapon though. It would be a bad habbit to get recruits (or anyone for that matter) into, just to have to break them of it again when they proceed to do it all the time.

When we talk about damage to firearms resulting from people letting the action fly, the only thing that comes to mind are the innumerable C6 and C9 machineguns I have had to fix because somebody saw fit to conduct dry fire training without the bolts! (This bends and chips the firing pin and/or spring as its a part of the carrier and not the bolt itself) It keeps me in a job, but its a sure way to screw your entire platoon's MGs!
 
toomanyhobbies said:
Now, how about a little more respect for others and quit the holier-than-thou self-righteous crap you guys are spewing? It's your responsibility as the more experienced guys to educate people, not sneer at them.
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You obviously have never met me, I never sneer at anyone. My opinions are based on my experience - which involves handling many new guns which were "FOR SALE". If you watch carefully in a gunshop when someone dry drops a slide you'll see the guy behind the counter wince, just a little. This is because the practice can cause wear to the finish of the "FOR SALE" firearm - anyone who has had to answer the question 'are you sure this is new?' because of handling scars knows what I mean. I really don't care what you do with your own stuff - it's none of my business, but I prefer that anyone handling my firearms treat them the same way I do - my experience tells me it accelerates wear, if only to the finish, I like my toys to stay shiney.
 
Funny, I always taught that "don't let the slide go on an empty chamber" came from users of "modified" 1911...

I don't do it on purpose, then again, I don't loose any sleep over it... firing the gun is bound to put more stress on the part then just leting the slide go...
 
ian_in_vic said:
I really don't know if it causes damage or not, but to me it does show a lack of respect for either A.) the owner if it's not yours, or B) the firearm if it is yours. I think it says more about the individual than anything.
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+1, it's kinda like slamming your car door. Not really harmful here and there but you don't make a habit of it and you get upset when someone else does it to you. It's all about respect.
 
targettarget said:
If manufacturer's thought it was as damaging as you think it is, there would be warnings all over the instructions manuals of these guns not to do it. Kind of like how they say not to dry fire -- EVER.
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I wonder if that has more to do with the manufacturer wanting to insulate themselves from possible liability from a negligent discharge as opposed to concern for potential damage to the firearm from dry firing.

Been shooting semi's for going on 30 years now.... The advice not to allow the slide to slam shut on an empty chamber came from a friend many, many years ago. He is a dealer & has been in the business for a few decades. His advice also extended to snapping the crane shut on a wheelgun. I wonder if he knows he has a tin-foil hat... :p
 
Put it this way.. how much is the weight of a round? how much does it actualy slow down the slide when the you chamber a round..

Now compare the difference in energy the slide has when a is being pushed and without.. NOT MUCH difference.... you probably have more energy in closing a slide, when it bounces back from recoil (and catches a round) then if you close it with no round by hand..

I call B.S. ;)
 
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