I'm a lefty when it comes to shooting. I carried the SIG P220 and the P245 for the first six years of my law enforcement career (2000 - Present). By the end of my time at the police academy (Idaho P.O.S.T.) I had gotten pretty adept at pushing the de-cocker lever with my trigger finger. However I also fired a couple thousand rounds through my P220 during the time at the academy; not to mention many hours of dry-firing and drawing and re-holstering my trusty SIG P220 (Made in W. Germany). I had to switch to the GLOCK 19 in 2006;department went to uniform issue of GLOCK pistols G21/G19. I have small hands and the G21 has a big grip. For a couple years after switching to the G19 my trigger finger would routinely push a ghost de-cocker. It never hindered me and as time went by it became less and less frequent. I don't use the slide release lever. I rack the slide. Once again a technique taught at the academy and one that I have used for the past 21 years. Habit, training, conditioning. Not saying one technique is better than another mind you.

I'm curious, who here actually uses the slide stop as a slide release and who just racks the slide? I rack the slide, mostly because I pretty much always shoot with gloves and on some guns it can be hard to feel the slide stop. Also, I feel that my dominant hand has enough fine motor skills to worry about so the other hand can take up the slack with some gross motor skills.

First of all: Great topic and great collection! Wondernines have always been my favorites. I have quite a collection of 1990s-vintage wondernines now (Beretta 92FS Inox, two Taurus PT-92s, Glock 17 Gen 2, SIG-Sauer P226, and H&K USP). I do plan to add a S&W to that collection soon - I like the 5946 the best.

I have to admit that I still use the slide stop as a release on all of my Glocks. I don't subscribe to the "slingshot" technique, especially for normal everyday shooting. I really think Glock should extend the slide stop/release (whatever you want to call it) based on the consideration that for some folks' situations, racking the slide every time is not ideal. Maybe I'm just too used to using slide releases...

If I can hit it with my trigger finger, I use it, due to it being ingrained in me from all my S&W auto and 1911 shooting