Local slide machining?

[russellmn]

I'm looking to have some work done on my G17. After running through Handgun Fundamentals yesterday with Learning Firearms, I've decided I need serrations on the front of the slide, previously I thought I had enough grip strength to be ok without them... Is there a somewhat local shop that can take care of this for me? Would rather not send the thing halfway across the country...

thanks for any suggestions.

[hard h2o]

Could you not just add grip tape or is that not adhesive or durable enough for holster wear?

[FJ540]

Did you ask Dave if he can do it with his mill?

[Seismic Sam]

Could you not just add grip tape or is that not adhesive or durable enough for holster wear?

In addition, putting grip tape on the front of the slide might substantially increase the force required to pull the gun out of the holster, particularly if it's a molded holster that's supposed to have a tight fit for retention. Plus, if/when the leading edge of the tape rolls over and adheres to the gun AND the holster, you're really screwed....

[russellmn]

Just getting back to this, forgot about it... Dave has my slide now and is milling the forward serrations in it. Thanks all

[DiscDog]

Looks like you have this solved but I have to ask, what are you doing at the front of your slide that makes you think you need serations?

For future reference, Another option would be to pick up a brownells stripped slide and just move over your slide internals/sights.

[russellmn]

I manipulate the slide at the front. Loading, reloading, clearing, all done forward of the ejection port. During a long day on the range, I occasionally found my hand slipping rather than racking the slide. Using other pistols with forward serrations I found this didn't happen. Easy fix for a decent price.

[DiscDog]

Ive seen way too many peoples manipulation skills fall apart horribly under a decent amount of stress. Risk isnt worth the reward for me. Each to their own but I dont want my hand that close to the muzzle if I can avoid it. Front serrations look cool though

[russellmn]

I see what you're saying, but in my case, it's a G17 so not so close to the muzzle to begin with. I also have a fair amount of combat experience which helps me deal with stress efficiently. With practice, you're not so much moving your hand forward as you are rotating the gun and pinching the slide with your support hand, so little risk of sliding out the muzzle end. I think it's faster than grasping the rear of the slide, and more consistent than using the slide stop/release (I've never been able to get on the slide stop consistently under stress well enough for me to be confident in it). And while I do think the look cool, appearance of a firearm is probably not on my top 5 requirements.

[Scratch]

I have 3 G17's right now and one of them has front serrations. I love it so much I can't remember the last time I've even touched the other ones. And it's not just for the looks.
I probably won't touch them again until THEY get front serrations!

If you've seen people's manipulation skills fall apart enough to cause concern about that, I'm not sure I'd want them shooting near me...

Practice practice practice.

[russellmn]

Scratch, from what I've seen of you (not talking about your tattoo) I'm not sure I'd wanna be around you when you're shooting!

[Scratch]

Scratch, from what I've seen of you (not talking about your tattoo) I'm not sure I'd wanna be around you when you're shooting!

Probably not.

[DiscDog]

If you've seen people's manipulation skills fall apart enough to cause concern about that, I'm not sure I'd want them shooting near me...

Practice practice practice.

Please note that I qualified that with "a decent amount of stress". Im not talking plinking at the range or even tacticool drills but during force on force work.

And I couldn't agree more that continual practice is the key! For some reason, there is a subset of gun owners who think that firearm skill is somehow magically imparted just by ownership and dont seem to realize its safe and effective use is just like any other technical skill and it takes time and practice to become proficient.