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"Air racking"

1813 Views 14 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Old4Eyes
I just saw a couple of videos demonstrating the craziest thing ever. They purportedly showed how to "air rack" a pistol:
Specifically the guy says he is using a Smith & Wesson 9mm EZ 2.0. (I assume this is in the M&P line?)

It's a misnomer. Instead of "air rack" it should be "inertial rack." Air has nothing to do with it. First he pulls the pistol in, toward his chest, quickly. This makes the slide come toward his chest, too. Then he pushes the grip and frame forward forcefully. The inertia of the slide keeps it moving backward for a split second rather than traveling immediately forward along with the frame. Since he's doing it with an empty magazine, the slide stop catches and it stays open. But that must be some seriously weak slide return spring in there, right?

Apparently this trick was performed in one of the John Wick movies. That's all well and good, but I have a pretty strongly held opinion that folks should not believe everything they see in movies. And maybe the guy in the video is pulling a fast one, too.

I can't imagine that the recoil spring in an XDM could ever be made light enough to "air rack" and then function properly without doing serious damage to the pistol. Right? Please discuss. (Hopefully this is relevant enough for this forum.)

If this is a real thing, I must admit it looks cool. Or is every bit of this Hollywood-style voodoo?
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Would like to see him drop the striker and try it. I can see someone trying that with live ammo, losing control and either shooting them self or someone else. Everyone just needs to operate their weapons properly and safely and quit worrying about being cool. Remember Hollywood is built of fantasy’s and illusions.
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The EZ - meant to be easier to rack than most other pistols.

I'll stick to tried and true methods.
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Would like to see him drop the striker and try it. I can see someone trying that with live ammo, losing control and either shooting them self or someone else. Everyone just needs to operate their weapons properly and safely and quit worrying about being cool. Remember Hollywood is built of fantasy’s and illusions.
True enough.

Don't get me wrong: Many things that look cool can be stupid or dangerous. If that gun were loaded, I could see how he could manage a ND.
The EZ - meant to be easier to rack than most other pistols.

I'll stick to tried and true methods.
I’ve never had the opportunity to fondle one of those. Do you know how they accomplish the ez racking without the gun beating itself to death with regular ammo? If they used a heavy striker spring to help I would think it would have a heavy trigger pull too.
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They are not striker fired.

They look like it but have an internal/hidden hammer.

When you pull the slide off you can see the hammer down in the frame at the back. That's how they get by with the lighter recoil spring. Cocking the hammer takes some of the force from the slide as it moves rearward. They came out with the .380 first (piss ant recoiling little cartridge), then the 9MM. They've recently released a new model called the Equalizer that uses the same design. Nothing in the name that leads you to believe there's any "EZ" there but it's the same. Another funny thing about it is there is no M&P on the box or the pistol. Just S&W. The slide gripping surfaces are different (wide and vertical vs. the usual M&P scalloped look) and the grip surface is different (rough all over but more so in places and still different than the previous models.

Only thing it has in common with the M&P pistols is using the same mags. the Shield Plus uses with the addition of a 15 round magazines in states that don't limit magazine capacity. The Shields come with two mags. The Equalizer comes with three (10, 13 and 15). It also comes with a maglula magazine loader in the box.

Pay no attention to the Mantis on the front rail. My wife is trying to get used to the (not as good as a Shield) trigger. It's a SA semi auto with more drag/bumps/catchiness than her Shield 9MM. Oh, the optics cut accomodates the Holoson with no modifications required. Again, different than the Shields.

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I’ll stick with the power stroke.
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Nothing new...just finally put in front of the influenced. I've seen this done quite a while back with high end 1911 pistols.
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They are not striker fired.

They look like it but have an internal/hidden hammer.

When you pull the slide off you can see the hammer down in the frame at the back. That's how they get by with the lighter recoil spring. Cocking the hammer takes some of the force from the slide as it moves rearward. They came out with the .380 first (piss ant recoiling little cartridge), then the 9MM. They've recently released a new model called the Equalizer that uses the same design. Nothing in the name that leads you to believe there's any "EZ" there but it's the same. Another funny thing about it is there is no M&P on the box or the pistol. Just S&W. The slide gripping surfaces are different (wide and vertical vs. the usual M&P scalloped look) and the grip surface is different (rough all over but more so in places and still different than the previous models.

Only thing it has in common with the M&P pistols is using the same mags. the Shield Plus uses with the addition of a 15 round magazines in states that don't limit magazine capacity. The Shields come with two mags. The Equalizer comes with three (10, 13 and 15). It also comes with a maglula magazine loader in the box.

Pay no attention to the Mantis on the front rail. My wife is trying to get used to the (not as good as a Shield) trigger. It's a SA semi auto with more drag/bumps/catchiness than her Shield 9MM. Oh, the optics cut accomodates the Holoson with no modifications required. Again, different than the Shields.

Thank you for the excellent explanation! I figured it had to have some extra springing somewhere in the system and having a hammer explains allot.
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I think it's the new bump fire. Something young shooters on the internet learned about and now they think its the greatest trick ever.
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High Points will do it...the inertia on their slides is huge... :ROFLMAO:
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Would like to see him drop the striker and try it. I can see someone trying that with live ammo, losing control and either shooting them self or someone else. Everyone just needs to operate their weapons properly and safely and quit worrying about being cool. Remember Hollywood is built of fantasy’s and illusions.
I have a video of my air racking the exact same pistol with Live Ammo. BUT i have optic, which adds some weight to any already EZ pistol, and it still haven't malfunctioned for 800 rounds. (its my EDC)
They are not striker fired.

They look like it but have an internal/hidden hammer.

When you pull the slide off you can see the hammer down in the frame at the back. That's how they get by with the lighter recoil spring. Cocking the hammer takes some of the force from the slide as it moves rearward. They came out with the .380 first (piss ant recoiling little cartridge), then the 9MM. They've recently released a new model called the Equalizer that uses the same design. Nothing in the name that leads you to believe there's any "EZ" there but it's the same. Another funny thing about it is there is no M&P on the box or the pistol. Just S&W. The slide gripping surfaces are different (wide and vertical vs. the usual M&P scalloped look) and the grip surface is different (rough all over but more so in places and still different than the previous models.

Only thing it has in common with the M&P pistols is using the same mags. the Shield Plus uses with the addition of a 15 round magazines in states that don't limit magazine capacity. The Shields come with two mags. The Equalizer comes with three (10, 13 and 15). It also comes with a maglula magazine loader in the box.

Pay no attention to the Mantis on the front rail. My wife is trying to get used to the (not as good as a Shield) trigger. It's a SA semi auto with more drag/bumps/catchiness than her Shield 9MM. Oh, the optics cut accomodates the Holoson with no modifications required. Again, different than the Shields.

Thank you! I wanted to say just that...its a internal hammer fired gun. Not a striker. Its already EZ, add an optic and a baby can air rack it.
Funny, Air Racking in my mind translated to Hare-Brained Racking.
Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it. But I'll check with Alex Baldwin to be sure.
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