So, I looked at a P938 and showed it to my wife. She couldn't get the slide release to work. So, I figured it was because her hands are small and weak. So, I tried it...I couldn't do it either without using two hands and releasing the tension. Over the past several months, every single one I have tried at academy is like this. Im assuming its related to the heavy spring in such a small frame. Is this true? Does it lighten up to something..usable? Ive got big ass farm grown paws and found it to be a serious pain in the ass.

We can't find the P238 she wants, and the P938 shows up at Academy every day, but with the slide release as impossible as it is, she won't touch it. Id even be hard pressed to want to carry it.

It's stiff at first but gets easier after a couple hundred rounds.

Polish the surface of the slide release that contacts the slide.

Good to know.

When people complain of this common issue, it's because they were trying to operate the lever with an empty magazine in place. When an empty mag is in place, the mag follower is all the way up, and is continually pushing up against the slide lock/release lever. IOW, it is pushing up when you are pushing down.

If you remove the magazine and then try operating the lever, you will find that it is much easier to push downwards as there is no force operating against you. Of course it will also be easier with a full magazine in place, as a full mag will have the follower at the bottom of the magazine, where it cannot exert any push up against the slide lock/release lever.

Holy Crap...you know, that never occurred to me. Ill have to reconsider it. Thanks for the tip!

Just get a 600rd mag...problem solved.

[This message has been edited by civilized05 (edited 3/28/2013 11:36a).]

The slide release on my wife's 938 was difficult at first, but it has definitely loosened up after several hundred rounds of use. She has small hands and has no problem operating it.

That being said, is being able to operate it one handed really an issue? I can't think of when you would need to. If you're doing a mag change, you slam in the new mag with your other hand, pull back on the slide, and let it go. It will slam home and you never touch the slide release.

No, its not really a problem. Just curious. How does your wife like the recoil on it? Mine has picked the P238 over the P938 because she is worried about recoil. She is NOT a fan of my subcompact Glock .40.

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you slam in the new mag with your other hand, pull back on the slide, and let it go. It will slam home and you never touch the slide release

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This.

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you slam in the new mag with your other hand, pull back on the slide, and let it go. It will slam home and you never touch the slide release

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Correct.
I was taught not to use the slide release... first of all you are using fine motor skills to do that versus using your offhand to pull the slide back. In stressful situations your fine motor skills aren't as sharp.
Secondly, I was taught that you can actually wear the slide release out by using it that way.

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How does your wife like the recoil on it? Mine has picked the P238 over the P938 because she is worried about recoil. She is NOT a fan of my subcompact Glock .40.

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She doesn't mind the recoil at all, but I don't think that's something that can be accurately communicated by one person's opinion. Everybody has a different opinion on perceived recoil.

Honestly, from what I've noticed after being around a lot of new shooters, there are basically two types of people. Some people just get the idea in their head from the get go that ANY recoil is a bad thing, and any gun that has any recoil is go to be "too much". The other group basically acknowledges from the beginning that in the context of compact handguns, they are all going to have some recoil. It's just part of the game. They accept it and train with the gun enough to learn how to control it.

My wife is definitely from that second group. You mention your wife doesn't like shooting your compact Glock .40, but I used to have an XD40 subcompact (which is dang near identical to your Glock) that my wife shot very well, and she never thought that the recoil was too much. So her opinion might not be worth much to you or your wife.

So all that being said, I don't think it very productive to pick some arbitrary gun and ask another person their opinion of the recoil, because their mindset does more in deciding that answer for them than the actual recoil.

So in contrast, I prefer to compare the recoil of one gun to the recoil of another. I think that is a more productive exercise than just "do you mind it". For example, I have shot the 938 and I daily carry an XDs, and I feel like the recoil of the 938 is the exact same as my XDs. If compare the specs on them, the "power to weight ratios" are dang near identical, so the recoil ends up feeling the same to me. That's the only real comparative info I can give you on recoil.

So the best answer is try to let your wife shoot both. Let her choose which one she likes better.

That helps a lot, actually.

I am running the risk of sounding totally ignorant of anything related to semi auto handguns but here goes anyway. How exactly does firing the weapon a few to several hundred times make the slide release smoother? The empty mag scenario sounds to me as the answer the OP's question.

It just gets a little wear on everything. The tolerances open up a hair, sharp corners get rounded a bit. The spring will break in a bit too. Its the same as how some guns jam occasionally until a few hundred rounds are run through them.

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I was taught not to use the slide release... first of all you are using fine motor skills to do that versus using your offhand to pull the slide back. In stressful situations your fine motor skills aren't as sharp.
Secondly, I was taught that you can actually wear the slide release out by using it that way.

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I've heard that argument many times from tactical type instructors but working the trigger and magazine release are also fine motor skills and those manage to get done. Slide release is faster and will not wear out on any quality gun.

I've had new pistols with tough to use slide releases. It's because the surface of the slide release that catches the slide is rough. Smooth out that spot and it will release smoothly, magazine in or not. A compressed recoil spring is putting a lot more force against the slide release than an empty mag spring.

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How exactly does firing the weapon a few to several hundred times make the slide release smoother?

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Rough spots rub against each other and eventually smooth out. Polishing them will make that happen faster and do a better job. Springs also lighten up a bit.

After talking to the wife, she is more concerned with being able to make follow up shots better with less recoil.