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adjective
5) On the left side; left.
6) Situated on or being the side of a shield on the wearer’s left and the observer’s right.
Numbers for Teachers
Did you know the worldwide average of left-handers is 10.6% of the population, while here in the United States, it is nearly 11%—per Psychology Today. So, generally, one out of every ten shooters will be left-handed. That number goes up to about 12.9% in the Netherlands, the UAE, and Israel, while it drops down as low as 2.6% in the People’s Republic of China.
Why do I bring this up? If you’re an instructor, be it firearms, arrest and control, or field training, you are likely to be teaching lefties how to perform those skills. While striking with a baton doesn’t seem to change from one hand to the other, keeping the gun side away looks different—I’ve seen one field training officer who could not grasp that, to a trainee’s detriment.
Some of this is the shooter’s mechanics, and some may involve intentional equipment modifications. These are not the only viable methods; they are just ones that have worked consistently for my students and me.
Working the Slide
There is nothing wrong with using an overhand grip to manipulate the slide. Just make sure that your hand does not block the ejection port, unlike here.
To unload or load the pistol, you will need to manipulate the slide in both directions. Rotating the ejection port inboard or downward, depending on how you view it, works best. You should pay attention to your support hand and whether it is blocking the ejection port. You mitigate any blockage by grabbing the top of the optic, with the majority of your support hand behind the front window. You will want your fingertips reaching downward on the far side of the slide.
With the ejection rolled in-board, you can pinch the slide towards the front and work it without blocking the ejection port.
Alternatively, you can grasp the slide’s forward cocking serrations between your thumb and index finger. One of those requires the use of the thumb, the other doesn’t – consider what injuries can happen in the lead-up to a shooting.
A third option on the reload—if the slide stop is big enough—involves reaching up with the support hand’s middle and index fingers after seating the magazine. They touch the slide stop and pull down on it to release the slide.
Slide Lock
You can lock the slide to the rear, while keeping your grip, by pressing upward on the slide stop with your straight trigger finger.
When locking the slide back, I maintain my shooting grip. As I work the slide rearward, using my trigger finger, I’ll push upward on the slide stop until it pops up into any cutout on the bottom of the slide. This isn’t just an incidental push and release but constant pressure until it seats in that cutout or notch.
The P22- series is awkward for lefties. But after clearing the chamber, you can work the slide while your support thumb pushes up on the stop.
The one series this will not work with is Sig’s classic P22_ line. On those, the slide stop sits so far to the rear that I can depress it administratively – barely. However, I must significantly compromise my grip to apply sufficient pressure to lock it back. “A way” is maintaining your shooting hand grip while rolling the ejection port inward and pinching the slide. If your support thumb is on the slide behind the ejection port, it can reach the stop. Then, enough upward pressure can be applied to it so you can lock it back.
Slide Stops
What about ambidextrous slide stops? Currently, I have about an equal number of pistols with them and without. My daily carry, a 4″ Shield, does not have an ambidextrous slide stop, but my other defensive and teaching pistols do. As a result, I overhand grip the slide and pull it rearward—even though I deliberately practice with the right-side stop.
Given the repetitions I have, I am more likely to grab the slide rather than depress the stop. The gun’s design may well determine which method the shooter adopts.
Magazine releases?
You can use your trigger finger to eject the magazine.
Most newer defensive pistols have reversible or ambidextrous magazine catches—the majority, not all. And then there are the older ones, many made long before the idea of accommodation took root.
If you stick with the magazine catch as shipped – on the left side of the frame – you can work it in two ways. First, you can press it inward using your trigger finger, with only minimal adjustment of your grip. You can do that as the support hand goes for the reload. Second, with two hands on the gun, press it with your support hand index finger. Now, that will slow down your reload because you must discard the seated magazine before you can begin to go for the next one.
Or, you can press it with your support hand index finger (shown without the shooting hand on the gun). It is surer but a bit slower.
A drawback to leaving the magazine release on the left side of the pistol is that you are dependent on the holster design. The holster needs to cover and protect enough of the catch so that it cannot be released by incidental contact. One duty holster I carried caused this to happen a lot when I carried a 1911a1. That combination made me check the magazine every time I got out of the driver’s seat.
No protection for the mag release. If you stick with the mag release on the left-side, ensure your holster is designed to protect. This is the author’s original duty holster, but the pistol isn’t.
If the frames allow it, I reverse the magazine release on my defensive and teaching guns. Sadly, though, not even all the newer pistols allow you to do this. It seems strange, but I have a Beretta 92FS and a Sig P226 that allow for reversed magazine catches.
I would prefer a truly ambidextrous release on any future defensive pistols, whether it’s the Echelon’s push-in on either side design or another H&K’s paddle offering.
Final Thoughts
While having one operating system would make it significantly easier – that is not always the answer. If you are a lefty reading this, find a platform with multiple models that works for your role. If you are a right-handed instructor, spend time with a competent left-handed shooter, take a class left-handed or from a lefty, and see how to perform these skills. Be able to teach that new shooter who happens to be left-handed.
If you, the readers, are interested, there will be future articles on left-hand manipulations of carbines, rifles, and shotguns.
