Looking for 1911 accessory

[Old Time]

My daughter gave me a Rock Island 1911 for my birthday. It shoots really well and seems to be a quality arm. My problem is the darn thing is brutal to rack. with both arms I can just barely get the slide retracted.. I just don't have the grip in my hands to rack it . I remember years ago seing a 1911 with an L shaped device on the right rear of the slide. You hooked your finger in it and pulled, the slide restracted. Do any of you know whee a person might get something like this?
Thanks and take care. Old Time

[RWO]

There are several on the market. Here is one : https://www.usacarry.com/racking-pis...ent-technique/ Google "pistol slide racking aid".

RWO

[Der Ami]

Old Time
You might also try a different(weaker) mainspring- check Brownell's
Mike

[Illinoyance]

I have the same problem. I bought a couple of plastic racking aids from a local gun shop. They work great. They grip the front of the slide. Even with the racking aid I have trouble with my .40. I have to set the racking aid against a solid surface and push the gun into it with my right hand.

[[email protected]]

My Rock River 1911 came with a rail to mount a red dot sight and with the sight in place grasping the serrations on the back of the slide was difficult so they included a "T' shaped feature on the aft end of the rail to assist with charging it. Similar to the charging handle on an AR. That part or something similar might work, tho the rail needs some tapped holes to mount it.

[danlb]

There are aftermarket charging handles for the Ruger Mk I - Mk IV hand guns. It's a very simple part that can be made pretty quickly in a home shop. The problem, of course, is that the charging handle is sticking out when the slide cycles.

Dan

[Darrp]

The rackers work pretty good, but some of the designs are much more user friendly than others. My favorite was the Tee at the back above the hammer like bikr was talking about, but some of the other guys liked the stick style. We used them because the scope mount was in the way.

Do you cock the hammer before you rack it? Cocking the hammer reduces the effort substantially.

[TRX]

If you want to be able to shoot anywhere, but won't be using the gun for concealed carry, the clamp-on cocking handles mentioned above will work just fine. They're ususally called "slide rackers" and they're widely used for some kinds of competition where add-on sights interfere with being able to cock the gun normally.

If you don't want to make any changes to the gun and you don't mind carrying something with you, take a piece of 2x4 and put a hole to take a piece of plastic pipe with an ID suitable for the barrel and an OD that will clear the dust cover with the slide fully back. Then just put the block on the bench, put the muzzle of the gun against the pipe, and push the slide back.

Most people who have problems racking a slide, it's not that they lack the arm strength to retract the slide as much as they lack the finger strength to grip it while completing the cocking stroke.

A few years ago skateboard tape (basically, sandpaper-faced tape) was the New Hotness with some classes of competition guns. It's cheap and (technically) removeable. Or... my local hardware store sells gloves that have a grippy rubber coating on the palms and fingers. I don't know what they're for, but they're less than $10 last I noticed. Might be worth a try...

[Rock]

Try cocking the hammer first, then see if you can rack the slide. You will only be resisted by the recoil spring, and not the the main spring for the hammer. It makes quite a difference.

[Rock]

Try cocking the hammer first, then rack the slide. You will only be resisted by the recoil spring, and not the main spring. It makes quite a difference. Fifty years ago , I use to practice racking a 1911 one handled. I had read an article in the American Rifleman about it. If your left hand is shot, disabled, you can grip the gun with your thumb behind the grip safety, fingers on top of slide and manipulate the slide. After you cock the hammer back, it is much easier to do this .

[Ringo]

Is it brand new?
Is it still tight with machining tight tolerances?
Shoot it a thousand rounds, and check back later?
Besides, those things get lonely sitting in a gun safe, they enjoy being shot.

[cruisor]

I tried the cocking the hammer technique and this helped me considerably. I think Ringo has the right idea!!!